Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“You lost, Sweetheart?” I don’t have to turn around to know who that voice belongs to. I close my eyes, taking a deep inhale before turning, and I swear to everything that nothing can prepare me for him right now. He’s on top of the most beautiful black horse I’ve ever seen, wearing jeans and a black thermal shirt with a black jacket on. His eyes are on me, but my eyes go to the cowboy hat on his head. His mouth goes into a grin as I check him out, and my panties instantly get wet.
“Hey.” I turn around to see Casey on his own horse. “Look who is out of the house,” he says, getting off his horse and coming to me. Two horses follow him, with another one in the distance. The rest of the horses that were just running free are in the distance.
“I am,” I reply when he bends to kiss my cheek. “Thought it was a great day to take a walk,” I tell him, “but then I saw the horses running, and I just followed them.”
“Do you ride?” Casey asks me, and I shake my head.
“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten on a horse,” I admit.
“We should get you on one, then.” He smiles at me.
“I got her,” Gabriel says from behind me, and I look over my shoulder. “You can ride with me, and we can get you a horse.”
“I don’t want to be any trouble.” I try to act as normal as possible. If it wasn’t Gabriel, I would probably jump up and down with excitement, but I can’t do that. I can’t show anything.
“No trouble at all, Sweetheart,” he says, and I grit my teeth.
“Do you two know each other?” Casey takes off his gloves and puts them in his back pocket.
“She locked herself out of the house last night,” Gabriel fills him in. “Sofia called me to get her the key. I told her I would make sure she is okay.”
“Is that so?” Casey looks behind him to the other three men.
“Yup,” Gabriel says to him. “Let’s go, daylight is a wasting.” He holds out his gloved hand for me. If I don’t go, his uncle is going to know, and if I do go, he’s going to think I want him—and well—he’s not wrong.
I walk over to him and his horse as he moves his foot out of the stirrup. “Put your right foot in there, hold my hand, and swing your legs when you get up,” he instructs me. “If you can’t do that, we’ll get one of the guys to lift you.”
“I think I can do it,” I tell him, putting my foot in the stirrup as he pulls me up. I grip his jacket as I move side to side, trying not to move.
“Hey, Sweetheart,” he whispers softly, looking into my eyes, “did you miss me?”
I look over my shoulder to see if Casey is near us and almost fall flat on my face, so instead, I worry about keeping my ass on the horse. “You good?” He looks over at me as I grip his jacket in my hands. “Wrap your arms around my waist, Sweetheart,” he urges softly, and when I do, he looks over at Casey. “We’re out,” he says as he moves over to the three guys who are at the end of the clearing. “Hey,” he says to them, and they look over, “this is Zara.” The younger one smirks at me as he chews a piece of hay. “That’s my father.” He points, and I wave at him. He’s so different from Gabriel. Where Gabriel has pitch-black hair, he has blondish-brown hair, but their eyes are the same.
“We met a couple of times,” I tell him, “at the family vacation one year. I’m Matty’s sister.” I smile at him, knowing full well he isn’t going to remember me, especially since there were a million people there.
“How are you doing?” he asks with a big smile. “How long are you here for?”
“Couple of weeks,” I admit and feel Gabriel go stiff in front of me.
“You have to come out to the family barbecue.” He smiles at me. “Let everyone make you feel at home.”
“That sounds like fun,” I lie to him. I mean, it sounds like fun, but now that things went too far with Gabriel and we have to hide it and lie about it, I’m not sure it is going to be as much fun as I say it is.
“I’m taking her riding,” Gabriel tells him. “See you guys later.”
He turns the horse around while the other two shout, “You didn’t even introduce us!” I can’t help but laugh, which makes Gabriel look over his shoulder at me.
“I’d hold on if I were you, Sweetheart,” he advises and kicks the horse. The horse takes off, giving me no choice but to hold on to him. He makes his way back to the forest, following the trail. The wind blows in my hair as he does it, and I close my eyes just taking it in. The way the peace rushes over me almost leaves me breathless. I put my head to the side on his back and just take it all in. Living in the moment, seeing the light from the blue sky trying to peek into the trees but the fullness of the trees keeping it out.