by Jean Carroll
She realized she was prying again when he paled at her question.
Oh, great. I asked him the wrong thing again.
“Uh … just some old Irish stuff I got once when I was drunk. One of those really stupid things guys do, you know.”
“Oh, it’s cool. I wondered what …
“Are we going to the show this weekend?” He asked, deftly changing the subject again.
“Yes, I’d love to go if you want to. If you feel up to it.”
“Let’s plan on it then. The weekend after there’s one up near McLean that you might like. It’s got a basic dressage class that would be good for Cloudy,” he suggested.
“That sounds like fun. Do you think I’m up to it?”
“We can go over the basic test routine until then. It shouldn’t be hard for you. You want another soda?” he asked.
“No thanks.”
“I want to ask you a favor.”
“Okay, sure, what?”
“Can I start riding Sandman seriously and do some dressage? I know he’s your horse and I won’t mind if you say no. I just like the way he moves and he’s feisty. What do you think?”
“That’s fine with me; you can handle him better than I can.
I hope I’m not going to regret this. If he gets hurt again, Keary will kill me. I suppose I’m liable if he’s injured using my horse. Oh, boy. I want to help him start riding again, but I’m getting a bad feeling.
“Okay, thanks, Meg. We can have fun with him. Hey, let’s watch TV. You have a choice- Live Free or Die Hard or Shoot’em Up?”
“How about The Wedding Date?”
“Sorry, no chick flicks today!” he said laughing.
“I guess the Die Hard one, if we must,” she huffed.
“Good choice, lady.” He put the movie on, leaned back on the sofa and scrunched closer to her. It felt so delicious to be that close to him and she wanted to get closer. They talked a little bit about the movie, but she could see he was getting sleepy. His eyes were half closed.
“Are you planning on taking a nap? Maybe I should leave.”
“I was, yes. A nap would be grand. Would you care to join me?” he said with a sly smile.
“Uh, I don’t think that would be such a good idea. It’s a little soon, I mean we’re not ...
“Oh, no, no! I just meant do you want to actually take a nap with me, here on the sofa, I wasn’t being lecherous.”
Yeah, right. But the idea of being near him and sleeping turned her on.
“Well, I am kind of tired.”
“Good,” he scooted closer and settled in to watch TV.
It wasn’t long, he was asleep and she wasn’t far behind him. They must have slept for a couple hours. When she woke up, Blackie had his head on her shoulder and an arm thrown over her waist. He was nice and warm and she got a rush being up against his body. She reached out and stroked his hair which just intensified the feeling.
This guy’s going to make me absolutely crazy.
He stirred and she moved her hand away quickly as he opened his eyes. He looked up at her, smiled and the full impact of those incredible eyes, took her breath away.
“Hi,” he said, softly, “what time is it?”
“It’s about six o’clock,” she said.
“Mmm, it’s almost dinner time, I’m hungry,” he said as he stretched languidly.
“You can’t possibly be hungry already.” The man had to have warp speed metabolism.
“Hey it’s been a couple of hours, let’s go.” He scooped her up and they walked up to the house.
“How was your nap?” he asked her.
“Good, I feel incredibly refreshed.”
“See, I knew you’d like it and it’s always more fun with someone else.” He smiled and she wondered if he just liked sleeping next to someone or he was putting a move on her. Hmm?
They had a nice dinner. No one said much except Blackie who was chattering away about going to a horse show on the weekend.
Keary said, “Where’ve you been Blackie? We haven’t seen you since last Thursday or Friday.”
“Oh I wasn’t feeling so good so I just stayed in and rested,” Blackie said evasively.
“Didn’t you eat?” Jill asked him.
“I did, yes. Meg brought me some food.”
Blackie stood up and stretched, “I’m going to crash. I’ll see you in the morning, Meg.”
“All right. Good night.”
Blackie left to go down to his apartment and Meg stayed to talk.
ELEVEN
It was Sunday and by the time Meg got to the barn, Blackie was up, had braided the horses’ manes and loaded the tack. He was walking out of the barn with Sandman when he looked up and saw her. She got a smile and could tell he was in a great mood.
“Good morning, then, Meg, great day for a show. The weather’s going to be perfect. If you want to get Cloudy out, I’ll load her for you.”
“Good morning to you too,” she said and gave him a little flirty smile in return. He did a double take and his smile widened.
When she was in the stall giving Cloudy her morning carrot, she heard a car crunch on the driveway gravel. As she led the mare out of the stall, she saw Blackie approaching some man. When she got closer, she recognized, Bob James, an old friend of hers from college.
“Can I help you?” Blackie said.
“Yeah, I’m looking for a friend of mine, Meg Connors?” Bob flicked his eyes to her and said, “Oh, there you are!”
“Bob, what a nice surprise! I haven’t seen you in ages.” Meg gave him a hug which Bob return affectionately. Blackie scowled at her, looked at Bob and said with a slight edge to his voice, “And you would be?”
Bob looked at Meg hesitantly and then back to Blackie.
“I’m sorry, Bob James, an old friend of Meg’s. I heard she had her horses here and I thought I’d drive by to see if she was going to the show. If you’re going, Meg, how about I drive your van and help with the horses.”
“I always take her to the shows, if that’s okay with you,” Blackie said with a sharper edge to his voice and stiffened body language.
“And just who are you?” Bob now seemed a little confrontational himself. Meg wondered what the hell was going on and why Blackie was getting his back up.
“I’m Blackie O’Brien and this is my farm.”
“What on earth did you just say?” She exclaimed. Bob scanned back and forth between Blackie and Meg, hesitated, raised his eyebrows and said, “You’re the Blackie O’Brien?”
“I don’t know how many are there?” Blackie said defiantly as Meg stood there with her mouth open.
“I’ve followed your career for years. You have to be the most brilliant race rider in the world!”
“Thanks, I guess.”
“What are you talking about? This is your farm?” She sputtered as she grabbed Blackie’s arm but he shook her off. Blackie and Bob stared daggers at each other.
“Maybe I better just go and, hopefully, I’ll see you at the show, Meg,” he said.
“Good idea,” Blackie said standing there with his hands relaxed at his sides but with an attitude like a snake ready to strike.
Bob turned and started walking back to his car when Meg exploded at Blackie.
“What do you mean? Since when are you the boss around here? And your name is O’Brien?” Meg said, throwing her arms in the air.
“Since I was born,” Blackie yelled back.
“I thought Sean was the boss! I signed a contract with S.B.L.O’Brien. Who the hell is that?”
“Oh, excuse the shit out of me! I’m sorry I didn’t inform you, but I’m S.B.L.O’Brien and I sign all the contracts.” He said getting louder. “Blackie’s a nickname and Sean’s my cousin.”
“I thought Sean owned the farm and Keary is manager. All this time you led me to believe you’re a stable hand. What’s that about?” She demanded.
“I didn’t lead you anywhere! You didn’t need to know my fucking last
name for me to help you with your horse! You don’t seem to care who I am when I’m mucking out your stalls! What the fuck difference does it make who I am?” Blackie was livid now. “And another thing, forget who I am, who the hell is that guy?”
“A friend.”
“How close a friend? That was a cozy little hug you gave him.”
“None of your damn business. It’s deceitful as hell not to tell me. All this time you’ve been acting like a stable hand, cleaning stalls and grooming,” by this time she was screaming at him.
“I always do that stuff. You think I walk around here like some big shot and never get my hands dirty?” He was now in her face with his fists clenched.
“You lied to me,” she shrieked and punched him in the chest.
“No I didn’t, damnit, I just wanted you to like me for me and not because I was the boss. No one treats me like the boss around here anyway. Sean and Keary run things and I’ve always done the race riding!”
“You mean you’re their jockey? Why didn’t you tell me? I can’t stand liars!” She yelled and threw another punch but he caught her fist before it connected. He slammed her up against the tack room wall, pinned both her hands up with his and pressed his body against her. He kissed her violently, ravishing her mouth with his tongue and she got a rush that went all the way down to where it counts. He pulled away from her and stared, wide-eyed.
Meg was just as shocked as he was but it only took her a couple of seconds to recover. She jumped on him and he caught her. She wrapped her legs around him and kissed him as passionately as she could. He moaned and staggered backward into the tack room, sitting down hard on one of the trunks with her on his lap.
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again, harder and deeper, his breathing getting ragged. He moved his head back and looked at her with lowered lids, his eyes electric with desire.
She kissed him again and he put his hands on her butt and pressed her down into him as he moved his hips up to meet her. She could feel that he was rock hard under her and it felt fantastic. They kissed again, franticly and he groaned, or maybe that was Meg.
Oh, God. This is moving too fast. I can’t control him. I can’t control me! Ohhhh, I want his mouth on me. I want more ... Ahhhh.
It drifted into her lust fogged brain that things were getting out of hand fast. She didn’t want to stop, but someone had to control this. She pushed away from him and got up.
“What the hell just happened?” She said, panting.
“I’m not sure,” he said breathing hard, “but I liked it.”
“We’re going to be really late for the show if we keep this up.”
“Or we could not make it at all,” he said with a wicked smile.
“Get over yourself, we have to get moving, I’m in the third class!”
They left the tack room, put Cloudy in the van and took off for the show. They rode in silence for a while.
“Why were you so hostile to Bob?”
“I’m not sure. When he said he was taking you to the show, I got this flash of anger. Then another emotion popped up ... jealousy.”
“Jealousy! Really?”
“Yeah,” he said gruffly.
“You don’t have any reason to be jealous of Bob. He’s just an old friend from school and besides he’s gay.”
“That’s good to know, but I don’t have any right to be jealous of you and some other guy. I guess I’m assuming more than I should be at this point. I haven’t sorted out what my feelings are yet and today surprised and confused me a little. I do have feelings for you, you know.”
I can’t believe he just said that. I’m overwhelmed and I wasn’t planning on any distractions. Boy, was I wrong
There was a long silence. Then she said, quietly, “Well I guess I have feelings for you too.”
He smiled.
“What just happened in the barn caught me off balance and we need to talk about it. I like you a lot but I wanted our relationship to progress farther before it got complicated with the sex thing. That’s one reason why I didn’t tell you who I am. My whole life has been filled with women who were attracted to me, because of who I am, my celebrity, the money, the connections.”
Is he kidding? He thinks that’s why women were attracted to him.
“Are you really that famous?” She asked.
“Well, apparently not, you never heard of me. I’m mostly well-known in European and UK racing circles. I did win Aintree four times.”
“Aintree, like Grand National, Aintree?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, now I am impressed.”
“Well that’s all ancient history now.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Let’s don’t talk about my old crap. I’d rather talk about us.”
“Good idea. So who owns the silver Porsche?”
“Me.”
“And you own the whole farm?”
“I do, yes, but we all share in the profits from the racing stable. Well, Sean and Keary do and the lads all make around sixty thousand a year. I live on the money I made racing. I don’t actually spend much. I live there and the racing stable is incorporated so it pays for all the farm supplies and any living expenses. I buy my own clothes and cars.”
“What do you want to do now?” She said hesitantly, “You know, about us?”
“I think we should start dating like any normal couple. This deal of the princess and the stable hand is getting old.”
She laughed nervously. “You think we’re a couple?”
“Well, I guess I want that.”
“I agree about dating but how are we going to decide when the sex thing won’t complicate our relationship?”
“Let’s just go out and have fun and see what happens. I haven’t had any normal dating experience. I’m certainly not going to force you to do anything you’re not ready for.”
“I think I was ready back there at the barn.”
“I know, I could tell and so was I.”
“Okay, show time,” Blackie said as they pulled into the show grounds.
They unloaded the horses, saddled Cloudy and left Sandman tethered to the van. Blackie gave her a leg up and she trotted to the ring and got in line for her first class-Novice Hunters. During the class as she was moving around the ring, she saw Blackie leaning against the railing sipping a beer. After a few minutes, she saw Bob approach Blackie.
Great, another pissing contest.
Bob said to Blackie, “Sorry if I interfered with anything going on between you and Meg.”
“Don’t worry, you didn’t. I was being possessive when I don’t have the right to be. Not yet anyway.”
“She’s a great girl and I don’t want to see her get hurt.”
“I don’t ever intend to hurt her.”
“I don’t know if I trust that coming from someone like you.” Bob replied.
“And why is that?”
“Well, you’ve got quite a reputation; as a world class steeplechase rider, but also as a real womanizer, someone who’s heavy into alcohol and drugs, and also as a man who can be very dangerous.”
“Gee thanks, but most of that is over. I haven’t ridden since the accident or
done much of anything except recuperate. However, I can still be dangerous if the need arises.”
“I’ll remember that.” Bob said as he walked away.
After her last class, they loaded the horses and the equipment and got in the cab of the van. Blackie didn’t start the engine and they just sat there.
“You did well with the classes today. You had some nice wins.”
“Thanks.”
He turned and looked at her. “We have to talk.”
“I know.”
“I think it’s obvious that we have the hots for each other. What I need from you are some ground rules to control the situation until we’re ready to move our relationship to a different level.”
“I thought we had decided to date and see where it goes.”
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“Well, I guess I’m asking if I can kiss you whenever I want, you know that sort of stuff,” he asked.
She smiled and said, “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”
“Great!” Scooting across the seat, he pulled her close and kissed her.
He can move fast. Oh, boy.
At first, his mouth was very soft and gentle. Then he kissed her deeper and more insistently. She was suddenly on fire as he moved his mouth down her neck and kept going until he got to lace. She couldn’t breathe so she pushed him away.
Oh, my God, he’s got to be the world’s greatest kisser.
“I won’t be able to control myself if you keep kissing me like that. Look, Blackie, I don’t exactly have a lot of experience in the ... ah ... sex department. So if you’re expecting ...”
“I’ll keep that in mind and I’m not expecting anything, Meg. I promise I’ll ratchet it down a notch from now on.”
“That’s good.” She said, closing the front of her shirt. Right then she wanted him to ratchet it up two or three notches.
“I guess now I have a ...” he stopped and looked at her, hesitating.
“What?”
“A ... girlfriend?” He just sat there staring at her for, she guessed, confirmation.
“Is that what I am?” She smiled.
“I think so. I hope so.” He smiled big and said. “I’ve never had a girlfriend before.”
“You’re not serious?” She said in shocked disbelief.
“Seriously, never.” he said. “That makes me feel great.”
“Uh, me too.” Meg couldn’t believe he thought of her like that already. She also wondered what on earth was wrong with the rest of the women in the universe, that this guy had never had a girlfriend.
“You want to go out to dinner and maybe a movie tonight? I actually clean up pretty good.”
“Sounds like a deal to me. Pick me up around seven o’clock.”
“Perfect.” he said and gave her one of those sexy smiles that lit up those big, blue eyes.
Dear Lord, what have I gotten myself into? He’s incredible.
TWELVE
Meg drove home to get ready for her first date with Blackie. She was so excited. She took a long, hot shower and went through her closet, trying to decide what to wear.
