Chapter 9
KITTY SAT ON THE FENCE, adjusting the cowboy hat she’d once again stolen from JW, who gave up trying to steal it back and wore one he constantly complained about not being broken in enough. He’d offered to give her any of his hats, except the one on her head.
But not a single hat smelled like a combination of wild flowers being blown around by a warm summer breeze and the musky pine scent of the sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on.
JW stood across the pasture talking with a couple of ranch hands, holding the reins of a gigantic horse that made him look like one of the seven dwarfs. The animal’s tail swished back and forth, and his spectacular muscles twitched. The closest she’d ever been to a horse was when Preston had taken her to a racetrack in upstate New York. She remembered enjoying the open country air and the small-town feel of Saratoga Springs.
Her heart thumped in a slow, steady beat. She hated that she desperately wanted out of Baltimore. When she’d married Preston, she’d been thrilled to move from the city into the suburbs and still be close to her parents. However, after that trip to New York, she wanted to be surrounded with mountains and lakes and all the beauty of the wild outdoors.
The only thing keeping her in Baltimore were her parents, but they constantly told her to go wherever she wanted, that there was no reason to stay.
But where would she go?
She had five grand to her name, and that savings wasn’t growing any, and her student loans were only going to get worse and worse.
She twitched, nearly falling off the fence as her phone buzzed in her back pocket. Her jerky movement caught the attention of King and Kong, who had been following her around like little magnets. Even when JW called them to him, they whined like little babies, nuzzling their snouts in her feet, or on her lap.
Kong raised up on his hind legs, resting his front paws on the wood railing next to her butt.
“Sorry to have disturbed your rest.” She scratched the back of the dog’s neck while checking her phone.
A text from Preston.
He’d called her last night but hadn’t left a message.
He called her again this morning, leaving a message that she hadn’t listened to.
And now a text message that she wasn’t going to read. Whatever he was up to, she wanted nothing to do with it. She’d trusted him once, a mistake she would never make again.
She turned her phone to silent, so it wouldn’t vibrate again and stuffed it back in her pocket. She watched in awe as JW tugged on the reins and the horse leaned forward. There was no saddle, so nothing for JW to put his foot in, but he managed to heave himself on the horse, tapping his heels. He adjusted his hat three times as the beast carried him across the pasture, his body moving in rhythm with the horse.
“Sexy man, isn’t he, Kong?”
The dog cocked his head, staring at her, and making a noise that sounded like Scooby Doo.
“Okay, not your type, I get it.”
The dogs left her side and meandered in the field, sniffing the ground before King jumped Kong, and they started racing around each other like wild bulls.
“Howdy, ma’am.” JW tipped his hat. “Hop on.”
“No way. No, thank you. I’m not getting on that animal.”
JW guided the horse right next to her, his thick stomach pressing against her knees.
“Rudy is the most docile Quarter Horse we have.” JW held out his hand. “Come on.” He pushed back, making room in front of him. “I’ll hold on to you.”
“Now I’ve got that song, Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy, stuck in my head.”
“You can ride this cowboy a little later.” He circled his arm around her waist as she eased her leg over the massive creature.
“I’ve never been on a horse before.” She sucked in a deep breath, leaning against JW’s strong frame.
JW made a clicking noise, and the horse rocked forward.
“Whoa,” she said, grabbing his thighs, digging her fingers into his flesh. As scared as she was, she felt more alive than she had in a long time.
“Just relax,” he whispered in her ear, his hot breath sending a wave of goosebumps across her skin.
“Please don’t go any faster.”
He wrapped his arm around her stomach, his lips pressed against her neck, the brim of his hat pushing hers back. “Rudy is an old horse, and he just likes to walk.”
Her heart rattled behind her ribs as her body jostled with each hoof stomping the ground. After a few minutes, the sensation felt more like rocking in a hammock.
He led the horse out of a gate where one of the ranch hands had been waiting and closed the gate behind them. The ranch seemed like it went on for miles with barns and buildings nestled in meadow after glorious meadow all with a backdrop of woods.
“You really are in the middle of nowhere out here. Don’t you get lonely?” While she felt crowded in the city, she couldn’t imagine having to drive thirty minutes just for a gallon of milk. She nearly laughed at the thought. With all the cows on the farm, JW had never-ending supply of milk.
He pointed off to their right. “See that?”
“The golf cart? Is that the one—"
“Not that, the building.”
“Oh yeah.” The golf cart raced in front of them about fifty yards away and disappeared into the woods.
“I’ve got over a hundred ranch hands that live there and if you look just to the left, you can see the front porch of a cabin. There are fifteen where some of my employees have moved with their families.”
“They rent from you?”
“I take a small fee to cover the water and utilities. Ranches often have a high turnover, and I learned that if you take care of your people, they will stay for the long haul.”
“You have your own little village,” she mused.
The shrill of children laughing stole her attention. When she turned her head, she saw a dozen or so young children running out of the woods into the open field, followed by three adults.
“Who are they?”
“Some of the kids whose parents work for me.” He waved as the children approached.
“Hey, Mr. Whiskey,” one of the young boys said. “I went ten seconds on the mechanical today.”
“That’s great progress.” JW tugged on the reins, and the horse stopped walking.
“Who’s the girl?” the same boy asked, pointing to her. “She the new tutor?”
“No. This my girlfriend, Kitty.”
Half the kids covered their mouths, giggling.
Kitty swallowed her breath. Things were going too fast, and she had no idea how to slow them down.
If she even wanted to.
The idea that she was honestly toying with a long-distance relationship with JW told her she was certifiable and should be hauled off in a straitjacket. There was no way this could work.
Yet, she would bend over backward right now just to have a repeat of this week, even if for just one night.
Or an hour.
“Hi, everyone.” She wiggled her fingers at the children, who she guessed ranged from ages six to twelve.
“Mr. Whiskey, we didn’t expect you back so soon,” one of the young adult males said, “some of the children have been working on a show. Perhaps you could stop by the training pasture tomorrow and give them some pointers.”
“I’d be happy to. Did the maintenance crew fix the AC in the daycare?” JW asked.
“Yes. Thank you,” the young man said. “Enjoy your day, sir.” The kids took off running through the open field toward the buildings on the other side of the meadow.
JW tipped his hat and clicked his heel against the horse’s belly.
“Daycare?” she questioned with a faint whisper. “You have one on the ranch?”
“The closest one is over a half-hour drive, so a few years ago, we built one just for my employees, but we now have a couple after school and summer programs we’ve extended to the community.”
She took her hat off, resting her head on his shoulder, and raised her hand to cup his cheek. “That’s amazing.”
His lips brushed her nose in a delicate kiss. “Not really.”
She slid her fingers behind his neck, drawing his lips closer to her mouth. “Many bosses wouldn’t go out of their way like that.” She kissed him tenderly as his hand covered her flat stomach.
The melding of their mouths was slow and romantic. It was the kind of kiss that long-time lovers shared when they wanted to express their devotion, and the accidental sexual arousal that ensued after was the icing on the cake.
Something scurried in the tall grass, and the horse raised his front legs about a foot in the air and jerked to the left, flinging her right out of JW’s arms. Her ass landed on the ground with a thump. Rudy looked down at her with apologetic eyes as he pushed his big nose in her face.
“Shit. You okay?” He jumped down off the horse as if it were an easy slide at the playground.
Rudy snorted, scraping his hoof in the grass.
She took the hand JW offered. “I can feel the bruise forming on my butt already.”
“Shall I kiss your boo boo?” JW bent over, grabbing something from the ground. “You dropped your phone.” The home screen showed another missed phone called, an email, and a text message from her ex-husband.
“Looks like someone wants to get ahold of you. Shall I go for a walk while you call him back?”
“No.” She swallowed, staring into his dark, sad puppy eyes. She held his gaze for a long moment, not knowing what to say. Preston meant nothing to her anymore, but she owed JW no explanation whatsoever. “I’m not interested in whatever it is he wants.”
“All right.” JW clasped his hands, lacing his fingers together.
With her hand on his shoulder, she pressed her foot in his hands and swung her leg over Rudy. Once JW climbed on, he made that clicking noise, and the horse stepped onto the path heading into the woods.
The next five minutes seemed like they ticked on forever. He said nothing, and she had no idea what to say. He had no right to be upset, yet she could feel the tension seeping from his pores. When he'd met Preston in the bar, he hadn't acted like the jealous type, something that would be a total deal breaker, especially in a long-distance relationship.
Birds squawked, flying overhead, rustling the treetops. The sunrays streamed between the branches and thick leaves.
“It’s so nice not to smell exhaust.” She sucked in a deep breath. The rich, floral smell tickled her nose.
“I could never live in the city,” he drawled as he pulled the reins across her body, steering the horse down another path.
“I can’t see you leaving this ranch,” she said, blinking her eyes as Rudy came to a stop in front of a blanket lined with a picnic basket and a bucket filled with ice and a bottle of white wine.
“I won’t ever leave the ranch.” He slipped off the horse, pulling her down in his strong arms, holding her by the hips. “Not really the best conversation to start off a romantic lunch.”
“No, but it is something we should probably talk about.”
She sat on the blanket, watching the horse nibble on grass while JW unpacked their lunch, contemplating her mistake and how to correct it. JW was an amazing man. An incredible lover. There wasn’t a single thing she didn’t like about him. Her phone cut into her butt, so she pulled it out, tossing it next to the basket.
He handed her a plastic glass filled with wine. “Cheers.”
“Cheers.” The tangy pear flavor flowed neatly into her stomach, but it didn’t help her growing concerns. “What are we doing?”
“Having lunch.” He pointed to the tray of sandwiches.
Hunger got the better of her as she found an egg salad sandwich. “I’ve got a year left to get my bachelor’s, that is if everything goes as planned. Then I need to find a teaching job and still have to get my master’s degree. That’s the next two to three years in Baltimore, and while I want the hell out of that city—”
“That’s good news.” He smiled, grabbing a sandwich and stuffing half of it in his mouth.
“What?” She picked at the crust.
“You’re willing to relocate. And we have a great university. You could get your master’s degree here.”
She dropped the sandwich in her lap. “You’ve got to be joking.”
“Yes and no,” he said, pushing his hat back. “I haven’t been willing to take a risk on even dating since I broke up with Bella, much less introduce a woman to my dogs and my family. I don’t know if we can make this work. For all I know, in a couple of months, we’ll be like yeah, it was fun while it lasted. But what I do know is I want to see you again, and I don’t care if that means I have to fly across the country to do it.” He leaned over, wiping the egg mess from her leg with his index finger, popping it into his mouth.
When she imagined moving from Baltimore, it had been maybe in Upstate New York, or somewhere in the mountains of Virginia. A couple of hours drive from her brother and parents. Not a six-hour flight.
“Can we at least enjoy the next couple of days?” he asked, reaching in his back pocket. “Shit. I have to take this.”
Saved by the phone. She nibbled on a new sandwich, which was truly the best egg salad she’d ever eaten. It had a slight mustard flavor and wasn’t doused in mayo. But what really made her taste buds explode was the sliced cucumber.
“What’s up, JD?”
While he focused on his phone call, she took the time to look at one text from her ex-husband.
Preston: Call me. I need to talk to you about JW Whiskey.
Her fingers shook as she tried to delete the text. She’d never told him his name.
“Where’s the vet?” JW asked into his phone.
She opened her email, and one of the subject lines was: I have some information about your new friend you need to know.
“What about Georgia Moon?”
Quickly, she closed the app, shoving the phone back in her pocket. Preston had been known to be jealous when they first got together, but he mellowed their first year of marriage. Of course, he got so preoccupied with his pending problems she could have walked around the house naked, and he wouldn’t have noticed.
“All right. I’ve got Rudy. I’ll be right there. Can you send someone out in the cart to get Kitty?”
“What?” she asked, but he shushed her by holding up his index finger.
“Great. Thanks.” He tapped his phone as he rose. “I’m sorry, I’ve got a cow in labor with a calf coming out ass first, and my vet is at another farm dealing with a problem there. Georgia Moon could handle it, but she’s in a meeting at the town hall.” He spoke so fast she could barely keep up. “Someone will be out in a few minutes to get you and take you back to the house.”
Before she could protest, he’d hopped onto the back of his horse, making that clicking noise, digging his heels into the horse’s side.
Rudy snorted, rising on his hind legs. JW leaned forward. “Come on, boy.”
Dirt turned up under Rudy’s hooves as he took off in a full gallop.
Something told Kitty that horse wasn’t old and preferred running over walking.