by K. M. Hill
Sabrina steamed at that. She was known for being very tight BECAUSE OF ALL THE WORK SHE DID WITHOUT HER STIRRUPS! What an ass he was. Because of the move and her travel, she hadn’t been able to get in many no-stirrup sessions so she was a little loose but he didn’t need to call that out. Ugh.
Sabrina took a few minutes to cool Ben out and walked him back into the barn. Together they cleaned him up and put him away for the night.
“Why don’t we head over to my house? I’ll shower and change and then we will go to your house and you can do the same.” Zach suggested.
How presumptuous of him. This wasn’t a date and he would not be driving her, never mind waiting while she showered in her house.
“No, I’ll go home by myself and meet you at the restaurant.” Sabrina corrected.
Zach smiled.
“What now?” Sabrina asked with an exasperated tone.
“Sabrina, you don’t have a car, remember?” Zach said trying to hide his laugh.
NO, she did not remember.
“Fine, let’s get going then,” and she stormed out of the barn towards his car.
Zach chucked to himself. This was going to be fun.
Chapter 12
It had taken no time for Zach to get ready. She roamed through his downstairs while he was upstairs. His house was very warm and inviting. Deep blues and soft greys. The deck overlooked a gorgeous pool and green grass as far as the eye could see. She was surprised. Riders and trainers weren’t known for making a ton of money. This place had to cost a fortune. He was probably renting.
At just that moment, Zach came up behind her in the library.
“The house is lovely. How did you ever find such a great house to rent?” Sabrina inquired while still examining the paintings without turning to look at him.
“It’s not rented.” Zach stated simply.
Wow. Between the house and the car, he must have some big time sponsors, thought Sabrina.
“I was admiring your artwork. They are lovely. I’m not familiar with the artist. Where did you get them?” Sabrina asked without turning around.
“Someone I had a chance to get to know very well did them. She’s an up and coming artist. She’s smart, gorgeous and she does beautiful work.” Zach said with obvious pride.
Why was Sabrina asking all these questions? She was furious with herself. Besides, she had no interest in his clearly prior love affairs. She merely asked for the name.
Sabrina gave a little humph and asked again, “That’s nice but I asked who is the artist?”
“Technically you asked where did I get them?” Zach pushed.
He was insufferable. She turned on him to give him a sharp-tongued response but her tongue was stuck. He looked delicious. He was in a black blazer, white ribbed shirt that cut across his well-developed chest, and jeans that cut just right at all the right places and was wearing black loafers with no socks. This guy didn’t fight fair. He looked soooo yummy.
Sabrina finally had the sense to close her mouth and move her tongue again. Focus Sabrina. So what if he’s hot. Big deal.
“Fine. Who is the artist that you clearly have had a relationship with?” Sabrina said with annoyance.
Was it annoyance with him or her? She wasn’t sure.
Zach laughed.
“What’s that, Sabrina? Do I detect some snarkiness in your comment? Since you asked so nicely, the artist is Riley Chase.”
“Riley Chase? Any relation?” Sabrina asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes, of course. That’s my little sister.” Zach replied with a smile.
Someone who he ‘got to know very well? He’d set her up. He’s poking fun at her!
“I’m ready. Are you?” Zach asked.
“Yes, of course, I’m just waiting for you so let’s go.” Sabrina retorted.
They made their way out to the large circular drive and he walked to her door to open it, as he had the previous time. Sabrina climbed back into the Ferrari.
“You’ve got quite the car for yourself here.”
“Yes. It’s not my style but it’s what was available so here I am with it.” Zach replied.
Zach made his way to his door and climbed in.
“You couldn’t have told your sponsors you wanted a different car? I mean clearly they wanted to please you getting you such an extravagant car," inquired Sabrina.
“What are you talking about?” asked Zach, thinking he knew where she was going with this and he wanted her to have full rope.
“Your sponsors … where the car came from?” Sabrina said.
“I don’t have sponsors?” replied Zach.
“What do you mean you don’t have sponsors? Everyone at your level has sponsors? Isn’t that how you could afford such a car?” Sabrina continued.
“First of all, I don’t have sponsors. I own all of my own stock. I don’t want sponsors interfering with what I think are the right things for the horses. I’m trying to do some big things here and the horses have to go to the right competitions and be worked the right amount to achieve those things. So even though I have had a number of offers, I do it on my own.
Second of all, I won the car when I won the Double Diamond Invitational.” Zach explained, watching her take it all in.
“Third of all, before you ask another inappropriate thing, I own the house too. Not that it is any of your business. Now, give me your address so I can put it in the GPS.” directed Zach.
Sabrina could not believe how rude she was being. It was so unlike her to probe into someone’s personal life like this. And on top of it, she was wrong in her assumptions and her assumptions made him look like he was sponging off of someone else. Enough with putting her foot in her mouth. That’s it. She was done making conversation.
Chapter 13
The car ride was very quiet on the way to her house. He wasn’t surprised. He was a little rude in putting her in her place. She probably realized that she was rude in her questions so between being chastised and feeling awkward about her interrogation, she had clammed up.
That’s fine, thought Zach. It will give him a few moments to get himself back in line. He didn’t intend to lecture her but it irked him that she thought he was taking a free ride, so to speak. He worked hard and made his own way.
Zach was surprised to see that Sabrina’s address was bringing him close to the marina. She didn’t mention that she lived near the marina when he suggested dinner at this new restaurant. Actually, as he recalled it, he didn’t suggest. He said they were going here.
He pulled up to a three story Victorian house that had 3 porches and was the prettiest shade of yellow that he had ever seen. The driveway was lined with an overflow of impatient flowers on both sides giving off brilliant color. There was a hammock between two large oak trees. The place had a serene, lazy, comfortable feeling to it. Zach was surprised. It was not what he expected. He thought he would find Sabrina’s living situation to be something new, modern and very antiseptic.
As he pulled up to the front of the house, a pair of Great Danes barreled around the corner from the back and toppled Sabrina over as she got out of the car.
“Sabrina! Get away. Get away you two. Sabrina, are you all right?” Zach raced over to her.
“Yes, I am fine for goodness sakes. Boys! Triton! Sebastian!” Sabrina scolded.
“These are your dogs?” Zach said with surprise.
“Yes. And they are supposed to be in the backyard.” Sabrina said with annoyance although she was clearly overjoyed to see them.
Just then, a young girl came flying around from the back of the house.
“Sabrina, I am so sorry.”
The young girl saw Sabrina dusting herself off and knew exactly what happened.
“Are you ok? They got you again, didn’t they?” the young girl said.
“Yes, they did. Zach this is Bella, Bella this is Zach. Zach is one of the trainers at the new barn.”
“Nice to meet you Zach. Sabrina, I am so sorry.” stamme
red Bella, clearly upset that the dogs had knocked her over.
“Why weren’t they in the backyard with the gate closed? I told you that they needed to be managed closely.” Sabrina scolded Bella.
“They were! As soon as they heard the car pull up and your voice carry around the back of the house, they looked at each other, started off at a full run, jumped the fence and got to you.” Bella explained.
“Brats. Boys, boys! Sit.” commanded Sabrina.
The jubilant dogs immediately obeyed her.
“You two are naughty. You have to behave even when you aren’t with me. Sebastian, sit still. Triton, stay. Naughty boys. Come on; let’s get in the house. Free!”
At that, both dogs leaped and bumped into each other and in turn shifted and bumped into Sabrina. They almost knocked her down again. Zach caught her right arm to give her support.
“Seems as if I’m always giving you a hand to get on or stay on your feet.” Zach smiled.
“Yes, indeed it does. I’ll need to stop making a habit of it.” Sabrina quipped.
Zach wanted to reply to her sharp-tongued comment but nothing that came to mind that was appropriate for a client relationship. He kept forgetting she was a client. She fascinated him. The riding ability, the horse, the dogs, the control, the job, the house, the flowers, the hammock... She was an enigma. And he was intrigued.
He watched her make her way to the porch and watched the dogs fall over themselves trying to get her attention.
“They haven’t seen you since you went on the trip and they have been coming to the front window all day looking for you. I’ve never seen two dogs more attached to anyone.” Bella commented.
That much was true. Those dogs loved her. So the ice princess had a heart. Nice to know, Zach thought.
Chapter 14
Sabrina was racing around trying to pull together an outfit while throwing on some mascara. What should she wear? The real question was…why did she care? She was just fulfilling some stupid obligation that in reality, she shouldn’t have to do.
What did it matter what she looked like? It wasn’t like she was out to impress Zach. He was her trainer. He took care of her horses. Period.
So why was she feeling excited when she should only be annoyed? Why did the idea of having dinner with Zach make her want to hurry?
Because she was a fool, that’s why. Control yourself girl! She told herself.
So what if he was sexy as hell and looked like someone who should be on a magazine cover in those jeans and blazer. Who cares if he had a nice car or stunning house? Not her. Not interested.
So what was she going to wear?
She finally grabbed a green shift dress and put it on. She grabbed a pair of very high heels and a wrap because it was going to be cool soon down by the marina. She ran out of her bedroom and started down the stairs with shoes and wrap in hand.
At moments like this, she felt like a young girl full of excitement. As she rounded the corner, she saw the banister and conjured up memories of her teenage years.
She loved to ride down the banister and had a flash of doing it but realized she wasn’t alone in the house.
She came up abruptly at the bottom of the stairs just short of bumping into Zach. He stood there directly in her path with hands in his pockets.
Zach’s heart leaped when he watched her come flying down the hall to the open staircase and start down them. She looked like a little kid and for a minute looked like she actually considered riding down on the banister. Her feet were bare; legs went on for miles, tan toned arms showed through from her strapless dress.
The dress clung beautifully, wrapping around her body. For a moment, he was jealous of that dress.
She looked so carefree and sexy all wrapped in one. Her hair flew behind her as she ran down the stairs, her green eyes with lit with excitement.
Until she bumped into me! She must have realized how she looked because she put the guard right back up. It was immediate. It was like a garage door closing the way her eyes shut down and she straightened up. I wonder why she feels like she has to do that when she is around me, Zach pondered.
There seems to be many layers to our new client. Not clothing layers. That little dress left little to the imagination. That was troublesome because she was a client indeed.
“Ready?” Zach asked.
“Yes, just let me put on these shoes. They are a killer on the stairs.”
“Especially if you intend on sliding down the banister, I would imagine they would make that difficult.” Zach said with a crinkle at the corner of his mouth.
She just looked at him. So he saw her contemplate that. Ugh. She needs to get out more. She shouldn’t have been so excited upstairs to get down here. There, now she was back in place and would control the evening from here on, Sabrina planned.
As soon as they saw her, the dogs starting whining. They were standing behind a gate in the kitchen and clearly wanted her attention. She walked over to them, still barefoot, and bent over and gave them each a kiss on the heads. She is perfection, he thought.
“You two maniacs be good.” Sabrina chided.
“Bella, I’m leaving. Once you feed the dogs and let them out again, you can go. Thank you.” Sabrina yelled.
Bella came to the gate where the dogs stood.
“Ok, Sabrina. I’ll see you next week? You leave on Monday morning again, right?” Bella asked.
“No, Sunday night. Can you be here then? I’m sorry, my plans changed and I have to be in Dubai for a meeting in the morning so I am taking the red-eye flight.” Sabrina informed.
“So I’ll plan on being here at 7:00 and staying until you get back Wednesday night. Ok?” Bella verified.
“Great. Thanks again Bella. And make sure you get that paper done that you spoke to me about. Send it to me if you want more input.” Sabrina said.
“Thanks Sabrina! I will.” Bella beamed.
It was clear that it wasn’t just the dogs that were her fans, observed Zach.
“Ok, let’s go.” Sabrina directed towards Zach.
“After you, my lady. The chariot awaits.” Zach said in an accent.
Wow, Zach cringed. He sounded like an ass. What was it about her that kept making him abandon his normal self?
If she can get herself in line quickly like she had done several times, he damn better do the same. He settled her into the passenger seat and gave himself a little pep talk as he walked to the driver’s door.
Time to get back to client-trainer relationship.
Chapter 15
At the restaurant, they were escorted to a table on the deck overlooking the marina.
The sun was setting. It made the boats coming in and still going out shine with brilliance and made the entire setting feel so serene and so beautiful, Zach thought.
Sabrina was not feeling the atmosphere. The more she thought about this, the further away she wanted to be from this dinner. Reflecting on her behavior over the last few hours, she was disgusted with herself. She was rude, unfocused and acting like an immature teenager. Enough was enough. Back to business mode!
Zach noticed her stiff body language as he held the chair for her when she sat down. He wondered what was going through that pretty head of hers. He snapped in his commitment to stay focused on Sabrina as a client and as he sat down. He put aside the wine list. No need to get alcohol involved in this already strange dynamic.
“So, Sabrina. Tell me about your job. What exactly do you do?” Zach inquired.
Sabrina released the breath she was holding. This she could handle. She launched into talking about work and the anxiety began to ebb away.
“Well, I work in a large company that has offices and businesses around the world. I am responsible for making sure the businesses are healthy and the talent in those businesses is the best we can get. I’m the Chief Talent Officer.” Sabrina offered.
“What does that mean? What do you do on a daily basis?” Zach probed.
“Well, I work with th
e CEOs of our businesses and coach them. I coach them about their business strategy. Is it strong enough? Is it aggressive enough to drive growth for the next five years? Does it create new opportunities for growth? I also coach them on their own leadership effectiveness. Is their team as strong as it can be? Do they have a pipeline of very strong players in their organizations? Do they understand the impact they are having as a leader and being intentional about that? Do they have any behaviors that are working against what they are trying to accomplish?” Sabrina explained.
