“Sexual congress... It sounds like you need to gavel the meeting to order before proceeding.”
“Would be far better than the congress we’re all stuck with.”
“You’re not kidding. But let’s not talk about greedy old men who fail to do the job they were hired to do. Let’s discuss the good type of sexual congress, rather than the useless one.”
“I’m all ears.”
“So, right now, I’d love to take you up into Eleanor’s barn and have my wicked way with you, but I’m not sure you’re ready for that.” He grinned and cocked his brow. “But as a plan B, what say you and I take the day tomorrow and get to know each other a little better? I’d love to take you out riding if you’re up for it.”
“Riding?” She squinted at him.
“Horses, silly. Maybe if you’re lucky I’ll show you my own barn.” He winked. “But seriously, we’ll make a day of it. You can help me groom and saddle them up, and I’ll show you exactly why I upended my life and moved to this little slice of heaven here in Montana.”
“I’ve never stepped foot on a horse in my life, Sully.”
“Well, then, that’s good—no bad habits to break. Because you should never step foot on a horse, anyhow.”
She laughed. “I’m serious. I would hardly know the head from the tail. Besides, they kick don’t they?”
“I can assure you, my Missy is a lover, not a fighter. Kind of like her owner. She’ll treat you like a lady. Kind of like her owner.”
Izzy shook her head. “I’m convinced you are too good to be true, Sully Forester. I can’t promise I’m going to be great at getting on—and staying on—your Missy, but I’m game if you are.”
He grabbed hold of the belt loops of her jeans and pulled her toward him.
“I’m starting to think I’m game for anything that involves you.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, then pulled her tighter for a kiss. The warmth of her mouth, still tasting vaguely of hibiscus tea, made him groan. He could so get used to this. His hands swept across her back and finally tucked into the waistband above that amazing ass of hers, and he pressed her toward his swollen cock. Damn, he was going to have to go home and take care of that ASAP as soon as he could extricate himself from kissing and touching this vexing woman.
Izzy slid her hands up along his chest, massaging his pecs and tracing her hands along his sides. She moaned into his mouth and he deepened the kiss, his tongue stroking along hers. In the distance, he could hear a car slowing along the road, but, too preoccupied with the business at hand, he paid no attention to it.
The next thing he knew, the whirring sound of a camera along with a succession of clicks, one after another, echoed in the background. Blizzard—off chasing imaginary prey—at last came racing toward the sound, barking loudly.
Izzy broke the kiss and looked over her shoulder as Sully glanced that way as well, to see a man hanging out the window of a large black SUV, snapping away at them. He paused, gave them a thumbs-up sign, snapped a few more shots, and drove away.
What the ever-loving fuck? Paparazzi? In the middle of nowhere? In this pristine land he called home? Great. Fucking marvelous. Right when he thought things were starting to look up.
Chapter Fifteen
“Oh my God,” Izzy said. “I mean seriously. Oh my God. What was that all about?”
He looked at her with a sheepish grin. “My fifteen minutes of unwanted fame, coming to a theater near you?’
“You’re not kidding.” She sighed. “Look, Sully, that’s a little more than I was bargaining for. Who the hell knows what they’re going to do with that picture. Imagine if that had been earlier today! I need to get back to Zoey’s. This has been a bit too much.”
Sully frowned. “But we were having a good time.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I know. But now this—” She pointed down the road. “This makes things weird. I’m not sure what I want to think about that. It’s not my scene, being anonymously photographed while I make out with a man I could easily have been in the middle of undressing.”
Wait a minute, did I actually say that?
Sully’s eyes opened wide. “You could have?”
She waved her hands as if erasing her words. “I mean in theory. I could just as likely have been at a coffee shop ordering a café Americano. It was a figure of speech.”
Sully pursed his lips and nodded. “Gotcha. No intent behind it but kind of throwing it out there.”
“Exactly.”
“Okay, I’ll take you back. As long as you keep your promise about tomorrow.”
“I promised something about tomorrow?”
He nodded. “You sure did. We’re going riding, remember?”
“Yeah, but I’m not sure about this now. I don’t know that we should be seen together. It’s going to arouse all sorts of suspicions.”
Being with him had, after all, aroused all sorts of other things too, like her damned betraying libido.
“Impossible. We are going to be out where no one can find us. It’ll be you, me, and Mother Nature.”
“And by Mother Nature, do you mean what Eleanor described in the barn loft?”
He laughed. “I’ll make no promises about loft action. I mean you and me in the great outdoors with whatever wildlife decides to make its presence known. And the other part of nature? We’ll have to let that take its course.” He paused and stared into her eyes. “Oh, and wear those boots.”
“OH MY GOD, IZZY, I can’t believe you were going at it with Sully! That’s fantastic!” Zoey clapped her hands with glee. The two of them were sitting on the back deck, Snowball weaving figure eights between their legs as they sipped wine and watched the sun descend behind the jagged peaks of the Rockies. The setting was spectacular.
“I’m not sure about fantastic. I mean it’s kind of weird. Because I came here with that delusional thinking that I’d swoop in and make him fall for me. And then I met him not knowing it was him and I hated the hell out of him. When we saw him at Harry’s, I thought he was a bit of a jerk with all the women around him. I so dreaded spending the day with him, but it turned out to be quite awesome. He was sweet and thoughtful and hardworking and Eleanor was delightful and well, let’s say he is good with his hands if you know what I mean.”
Zoey’s mouth dropped open. “You mean he got you off?”
Izzy’s face warmed as she nodded. “Um, with precision skills, I might add.”
“Oh man, imagine what it’ll be like with his precision tool then.”
Izzy’s eyes grew wide. “I’m not going to sleep with him.”
“Well, at some point you are, aren’t you? I mean isn’t that what happens in a relationship?”
“This isn’t a relationship. This is a-a-a—”
“Relationship.”
Izzy knit her brows. “No. I mean we went and worked together for the day.”
“And you swapped spit. And you fondled his hard body. And he had his hands down your pants. I’d say two plus two plus two equals two—in other words, the two of you in a relationship.” She winked at her.
“Can’t this be a one-night stand? I mean a one-day stand?”
“Why would you settle for a one-off when you might be able to aspire to more?”
“Because he’s got this crazy amount of rabid women on a mission to land him, for one thing.”
“But he doesn’t want them, Izzy. It sounds to me like you’re the only one on his radar screen. Why don’t you relax into it and enjoy the ride.”
“Speaking of rides, I committed to going riding with him tomorrow.”
“Now that’s a good girl.” Zoey patted her hand. “Go do fun things with the man and see how much you enjoy each other’s company. It’s what people do when they’re getting to know each other better.”
Izzy knit her brows. “What if I don’t want to get to know him better?”
Zoey wagged her finger at her friend as she took a sip of wine. “Ahhh, but you do. I’ve known you long eno
ugh—you’re at least intrigued by him. And if nothing else, you wouldn’t mind a try at that precision tool of his.”
With a shake of her head, Izzy smirked. “Your mind is in the gutter, Zoey Richards.”
“Takes one to know one.” She refilled their wineglasses. “Now I want you to go tomorrow with an open mind—and possibly open legs—and report back to me about that precision tool of his.”
Rolling her eyes, Izzy wasn’t sure if it was wise to heed her friend’s advice. But the idea was becoming more and more appealing with each minute she was away from Sully, left only to replay the events of the day and counting the minutes till she could go riding: with him or on him remained to be seen.
Chapter Sixteen
Izzy pulled up to the Circle XOXO Ranch and stared at the name of the place for a few minutes as Sully wandered up to greet her.
She pointed at the sign hanging over the entrance to his property. “Circle XOXO? Really?”
“It’s kind of got a dual meaning,” he said as he leaned in to kiss her gently. “First off, because, well, I love it out here. I love it to death. More than I ever knew I would. But yeah, also at first, the idea was that it was where she-who-shall-not-be-named and I were planning to start our married lives together. It seemed fitting.”
“It was a sweet idea,” she said. “Even if that bit didn’t work out.”
“But the rest did, big-time, so it’s all good. Part of the journey, right?”
“Speaking of journey—I’m a little nervous about this. I’ve got zero experience on a horse.”
“And Missy has zero experience with you on her, but that’s fine. She’s a sweet girl and gentle as a mama with a baby. You two will hit it off, I’m sure.”
He hopped into her car as she drove back toward the house, parking in front of the barn, which was larger—and more pristine—than your average home.
Izzy leaned back as she looked up to take in the grandeur of the place.
“Well, I wanted a barn my horses would be happy in, and I was fortunate to be able to afford it,” he said. “I had an architect come out and design something that was kind of modeled on the old Sears barns, but I let him take a lot of liberties with the design.”
“Annnd you got a horse mansion. Nice.”
“Whatever makes Missy happy. I like to keep the women in my life satisfied.” He grinned. Maybe he was laying it on thick, but why not let Izzy know he liked her and was interested in exploring a relationship? Never could he have imagined finding his way back to a place where that mattered. For the first time in forever, he was excited about a woman, both emotionally and physically. Nothing wrong with that.
They entered the barn’s interior—complete with polished tongue-in-groove oak ceilings with skylights and white beadboard wainscoting with chair railing lining the walls throughout.
“So I’m going to take you through the entire process to prepare for this ride. Every time I go out on my horse, Chunk, I do all of this. It’s good to learn the proper way from the start.”
“The only thing I know about horses I learned from Mr. Ed, one of my mother’s favorite old TV shows,” she said. “This will be quite an education for me!”
Sully chuckled and proceeded. “The first thing we do is tie up the horse to keep her from running scared.” He secured a rope to the horse’s chest and tied it to the wall. “Once that’s in place, you want to brush the horse well to be sure all the dirt and grit is off of her—you don’t want anything that’ll irritate her underneath her saddle and cause chafing. If Missy starts getting sores from something rubbing wrong, she might misbehave on you—and I wouldn’t blame her.”
Izzy nodded. “Neither would I.”
He handed her the brush and stood behind her, his front pressed to her back, and his hand led hers in stroking along the horse’s hair. “Be sure to do it nice and easy, and get anywhere that saddle’s gonna come in contact with her body.”
They stood that way for a while, stroking in unison. Sully was tempted to stop what they were doing and get straight to the loft action, but it was premature for that.
Once he was satisfied Missy was brushed well, he started readying the saddle.
“You’ll saddle from the left, and first we’ll fold the saddle blanket in half, placing the fold to the front—positioning it forward, over the withers.” He pointed to the area that was where the neck met the back. “Then slide it back into place. This keeps the hair flat on the back. Be sure the blanket is even on both sides and not wrinkled or folded, or it’ll be uncomfortable for Missy.”
He hooked the stirrups over the horn—to keep them from hitting either horse or him as he lifted the saddle—and raised it high enough to place it on the horse’s back. “Be careful not to knock the blanket out of position after you’ve taken great care to place it right. And then we’ll settle the saddle on her gently, so she’s not spooked, placing it slightly forward and shifting it back.”
He pointed to Missy. “Now I want you to check the pads for wrinkles. Make sure her hair is smoothed down. Don’t be afraid to touch her—she likes it.”
He pulled the stirrups down, then reached beneath the horse, grabbing the free end of the cinch.
“Now I’m cinching her gently, so she doesn’t get upset. I’ll wait for a minute till she exhales and tighten it a bit more. Not too much—enough to hold the saddle in place firmly. You need to be able to slide your fingers between the cinch and the horse. You wouldn’t want a corset binding you, and the horse doesn’t want to feel that confined either.”
He paused. The idea of Izzy in a corset was such a freaking turn-on he couldn’t even go there or he’d never be able to mount his own horse.
Lastly he stood at Missy’s head, facing back, and checked to be sure there were no wrinkles in the skin under the cinch.
“This is such a complicated process,” Izzy said. “To think I assumed all you had to do was hop on the thing.”
“It’s all about doing it right so your horse is happy and comfortable. Now we’re going to undo the halter, slide the noseband of the halter down over Missy’s nose, and slip the crown back up over her ears. You stand beside her neck, facing forward, with the bridle in your left hand, then slip the reins over her neck. See how easy this is?” He smiled at her.
“It’s kind of fun.”
“Now comes the actual fun part. You get to slide the bit into her mouth.”
“The mouth with those huge teeth that could make quick work of my fingers?”
“You’ll be fine.” He stood behind her and guided her. “So with your left fingers, move the bit against her lips and insert your thumb into that space between her front and back teeth. You might need to wiggle your thumb to encourage her to open her mouth wider, but Missy is usually cooperative. There you go. Now slide the bit in and lift the bridle higher with your left hand so she can’t spit it back out. But don’t pull too hard. Good job. Now pull the crown over Missy’s left ear, gently bend her right ear forward to slip it beneath the crown, and pull that over her ear. Great work, Iz.”
He helped her finish preparing the bridle and led her horse out of the stable, grabbing a helmet for her on the way out.
“Now it’s time to get on top of her. You ready?”
Izzy pretended to nibble her fingernails.
“I’m as ready as I’m gonna be.”
“Let’s do it. Stand right here, next to Missy, holding the reins in your left hand with a little tuft of mane alongside the reins. Facing slightly forward, you’re going to put your left foot in the stirrup—”
“The last time I had my feet in stirrups nothing good came out of it.”
Sully stopped in his tracks to ponder that visual. “You’re killing me here, Izzy. Here I’m trying to get you on a horse and you’re talking about being spread-eagled naked in a doctor’s office. This is not helping me right now.”
She laughed. “Sorry. My bad.”
He shook his head. “You are bad... As I was saying, your left fo
ot is in the stirrup and you keep hold of the reins, then grab the horn and push up with your right leg, lifting it up and over the saddle.”
He stood behind her with his hands on her butt and right thigh, trying hard to exorcise visions of her splayed wide at the gynecologist’s office and trying harder not to notice that his hands had free rein over her butt and thighs. On the third attempt, she was up and in the saddle.
“Woot. I’m golden. Now when can we gallop?”
He laughed. “We’ll work our way up to that. Let’s take baby steps for now. That means making sure you’re seated right on the saddle. You’ve got both feet in the stirrups now”—he closed his eyes and imagined that scenario again—“and your sit bones comfortably in the middle of the saddle seat, your legs hanging loose on each side.” Jesus, never in his life had he been jealous of a saddle before, but damn if the saddle wasn’t getting the best of things with her legs straddling it. “Don’t slouch, but do be relaxed. Missy is your friend and she won’t do you wrong. Your feet should lightly rest in the stirrups with the widest part of your foot, your heels angled slightly but not pressing down. Hold the reins in one hand while the other rests on your thigh. Some people like to rest it on the horn of the saddle. Hold your hands at an angle to the ground with your fingers closed around the rein in a relaxed fist. You might want to hold it between your baby and ring fingers.”
“This is getting complicated! So many things to remember.”
Sully clipped in his helmet and mounted Chunk in one swift move. He looked at Izzy next to him and smiled.
“You look like you belong there. And now you have to move! Gather your reins so you can feel a light contact with them. Use both lower legs to squeeze her lightly behind the cinch,” he squeezed his legs together to show her. “Push forward slightly on your seat muscles to indicate to Missy you plan to move forward. Your hands should follow your horse’s head as the neck naturally extends to move forward. As soon as she does what you tell her to do, stop cuing her. Once you start walking, enjoy the slight rocking with her pace and relax into it. Keep looking forward in the direction you want to go and keep your shoulders even with your arms relaxed at your sides and elbows slightly bent. There should be a straight line from your elbow to the bit and your reins should be fairly loose.” He nodded at her as she followed his instructions.
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