Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Feeling better about this deal, I excuse myself to get ready for work, which she acknowledges with a faint lift of her chin, not sparing a glance my way.
When I step into my bathroom and see myself in the mirror, I curse. Not only was I shirtless in front of the new nanny, but the time spent standing in front of the cold fridge, making my shake, and drinking the frosty beverage has dried all the sweat on my chest and hardened my nipples into fucking points. Plus, the ring of sweat at the waist of my shorts doesn’t leave much to the imagination as to what’s inside the polyester fabric. Luckily, even with the shrinkage from the cold, I’m not exactly small.
Not that it matters. I shouldn’t even be worrying about it, anyway.
Because Riley is the new nanny, nothing more. I don’t care if she thinks I have a micro-penis or a monster in my shorts because things are strictly professional between us. She’s here to take care of Grace, and that’s it.
But it does explain why she was staring at me so blatantly.
“Way to go, asshole. Start the first full day with a little sexual harassment, why don’t you?” I growl at my reflection, but he doesn’t grant any mercy.
RILEY
After school, I follow the GPS to the barn where Grace has horseback riding lessons, and when I pull in, she tells me where to park. “You can sit in your car if you want. Or you could watch?” She says it casually, but she cuts her eyes toward a fenced-in area I can see in the distance. She wants me there.
“I’d love to watch you,” I assure her genuinely. “Tell me where to go and show me whatcha got.” She’s been doing that for the last couple of days already, but based on her excitement to get to the barn, I have a feeling I’m about to see a new side of Grace, and I can’t wait.
“Really?” Her smile is wide and filled with joy, and she virtually leaps from the car. “Come on! You can meet my horse, Pegasus, and the barn cat, Cricket. He tried to ride on Pegasus’s back one time and it was so funny. That’s how Pegasus got his name, because he was literally flying, trying to get Cricket off him.”
Her exuberant chatter carries us into a large barn, where I see rows of half-doors on either side of a wide aisle. Grace runs up to one stall and stops. “Hey, Pegasus,” she coos, her entire energy changing and her voice calming as she greets the horse, who answers her with a whinny. “This is Riley. She’s my new nanny. Yeah, another one.” She rolls her eyes like she and Pegasus have had this conversation countless times before.
As I come up to the door beside Grace, I see the horse for the first time. Pegasus is huge, or seems like it to me, but I’ve never been around horses, so what do I know? He’s beautiful, dark brown with white socks on all four legs and a long black mane and tail, and his nose is wiggling, scenting the air. I hold my hand out, letting the horse sniff me too. He seems friendly, so after a moment, I risk gently rubbing above his nose. When he presses into my touch, I gasp, feeling like a Disney princess. “I think he likes me,” I whisper to Grace.
“He kinda likes everyone,” she says, ruining my fantasy. Totally comfortable with the horse, she pets along his neck and tells him, “I’m gonna get you out of here, ’kay? But let me show Riley where to sit first.” She waves for me to follow her, and I do, though I walk while she runs.
Back outside, she leads me to a set of bleachers set beside a big ring surrounded in white fencing. “You can sit here.” I do as instructed, taking a seat high enough to be able to see everything. Grace nods her approval. “I need to change and get Pegasus ready for my lesson. That’s part of my responsibilities.”
I can’t help but smile at her excitement. “Do your thing. I’ll be right here.”
When she disappears back into the barn once again, I close my eyes and take a deep breath, enjoying the warm sunshine on my face and the beginning hints of fall in the air.
“Can I help you?” a voice asks.
My eyes pop open and I see a guy in faded jeans, a blue T-shirt, and a cowboy hat. His face is tanned like he spends a lot of time in the sun, but I’d still estimate him to be in his twenties. Resting one booted foot on the edge of the bleacher, he lets a friendly gaze skim over me like he’s trying to figure out what I’m doing here, which is understandable given my leopard print skirt and tennis shoes don’t exactly scream ‘cowgirl’ the way his dusty, work-worn outfit says ‘cowboy’ loud and clear.