by K. M. Hill
“First of all, it’s a birthday dinner for my friend Lillie. Second of all, he is my ex-fiancée. Third of all, you are the one who stepped in and insisted I go.” Sabrina replied.
Zach regarded her quietly.
“What is it Zach? What’s really on your mind?” Sabrina asked.
“Nothing. I’ll drop you off at the club on my way back to check the horses.” Zach said.
“Thank you but I called a cab and it is outside waiting for me.”
“Oh. I guess you have it all set,” he said mater-of-fact.
“Zach, what’s wrong?” she asked again.
“Nothing I told you. Well, have a good night.”
Zach moved to walk by her and she touched his arm. That made him stop. He didn’t look at her but stood by her.
“Zach, I’m sorry I was a bit unnerved this morning. Last night was amazing. I didn’t know how to handle what happened, though. I still don’t. But you are acting like we barely know each other. “
“You are right, Sabrina.” He looked into her eyes and she saw fire brewing there. “We know each other well already, don’t we?”
At that, he cupped the back of her head and brought her down to meet his warm lips that devoured her. He literally stole her breath. The kiss easily could have pushed them back up the stairs into bed. But Zach made it come to an end. He rested his forehead on hers as she worked to get her breathing back. Her eyes still closed.
He kissed her on the nose and walked about of the house.
Chapter 40
Dinner felt very familiar. Lillie was ecstatic to see her and everyone was very friendly and polite. Troy stood by her side during the entire cocktail reception with his hand on the small of her back. She couldn’t deny that it felt easy and comfortable. He was extremely attentive. He pulled her chair out and filled her wine glass as they chatted about what was new.
He went to pour another glass of wine and she limited him to only half.
“I’m so tired from showing today that I really shouldn’t drink much more.” Sabrina offered.
As dinner was finishing up, Eve announced that the cake was being served at the house and everyone should meet back there in 15 minutes.
“I should get going.”
“You have to do cake.” Troy insisted.
“No, I’ll just get caught up at the house. I should call for a taxi now.” Sabrina said.
“By the time the taxi gets here, you can be at the house, have a piece of cake and I’ll drive you back.” Troy countered.
Sabrina considered this. Timing wise, he was right. Meanwhile, Lillie had breezed by saying she would see Sabrina at the house.
“Ok, a quick bite of cake,” she conceded.
As they drove over, Troy asked how she felt the horses were going.
“They feel amazing. Zach really knows his stuff.” Sabrina said with pride.
“Yes, he seems to. Lillie said she has seen him quite a bit, especially at various charity functions. With a different woman at each even, she mentioned.” Zach said, testing her.
“He’s the chairman of a charity he started with the proceeds of his parent’s company. He goes to a lot of functions,” she said a bit defensively.
Zach blinked when he heard the name of the company. This guy is loaded.
“No offense, Sabrina, but why is he training people if he can clearly ride and he’s got money?” Zach asked pointedly.
“He did it as a favor to his partner, Lewis. Lewis got hurt as I was moving into the stable and Zach agreed to work with me. He doesn’t usually take students.” She explained.
I bet readily agreed to work with my Sabrina, Troy thought.
“Oh, that was very generous of him. What made you come to Saratoga? That’s pretty quick in terms of starting to work with him and showing already.” Troy said casually but not feeling casual about at all.
“Yes, but the horses had some break through right away. Zach was coming and I decided to come too. I’m so pleased I did. It is just the right venue to test them out.” She offered without sensing his mood.
Don’t you think it was a little fast? I mean, look at what happened today. Are you sure you were ready to show? Maybe your new trainer doesn’t have a good grasp on your abilities and needs to slow it down a bit.” Troy looked for her agreement.
Her eyes flared. “No, Troy, my trainer very quickly assessed my capabilities. You know very well that I am looking to move up competition wise and with my travel schedule and everything else, this seemed like a great idea. Besides, today was only an issue because you over-reacted. I was fine.” She was steamed at his commentary.
“I bet you were happy to get back to the Springs Inn and your regular room.” Troy switching subjects to diffuse her anger.
Sabrina stayed silent.
“What?” he asked, noticing her silence.
“I actually am not staying at the Springs this time,” she said.
“What, that is one of your favorite places in the world!” Troy said with surprise. “Why not?”
“Well, Zach already had made arrangements for accommodations,” she explained.
Did he now, Troy thought. “What hotel are you staying at?”
Sabrina was silent again. What was her problem? She was not engaged to Troy anymore yet she didn’t want to offer him this information.
Troy watched her face trying to figure out what she was wrestling with in her mind.
“I’m asking because I need to know where to take you home later, Sabrina.”
“Right. I’ll give you the address later. Zach rents the same house every year. It makes it more manageable with the grooms and everything. I’m staying there in one of the guest rooms,” she spit out. But as she thought about it, she hadn’t seen the grooms once at the house.
“Oh,” and let the rest hang in the car between them.
Troy was crazy with jealousy but worked hard to stuff it down. He didn’t want to put any distance between her and he needed to figure out how to navigate around this dynamic of her new fucking trainer. They pulled up to his family home.
Chapter 42
As she walked in the house, a servant walked by with a tray of champagne and Troy grabbed one for Sabrina and one for him.
“I really shouldn’t drink much more. I’m going to fall asleep on my feet,” she said, trying to deny the glass.
“One glass to toast Lillie.” Troy insisted.
She accepted the glass and took a sip. She was quickly swept into the room and the conversation. The cake was cut and distributed. All the while, the champagne class was getting refilled whenever she put it down for a moment.
“Troy, I’m going to step outside for a moment, I need some air.” Sabrina said.
She was exhausted. All of a sudden, the toll of the rides and the excitement of the day caught up with her. She sunk into one of the comfortable chairs on the deck. Troy came out and he took a seat beside her.
“Sabrina, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you. I’ve missed you so much.” Troy said eagerly.
Sabrina smiled. She didn’t know what to say. She was happy to see him too but very confused. With her current state of feeling and the affects of the champagne, she didn’t want to say anything.
Troy continued to talk to her and looked over at one point when she didn’t answer his question. She was fast asleep.
She woke with a start. Where was she? It took her a few moments to get her bearings, particularly with the pounding headache that was trying to kill her. She was in Troy’s bed in his family’s home. She looked over and saw him sleeping. She looked at herself and realized she was in one of his t-shirts. What had happened?
Nothing. She was sure of that. No matter how tired or buzzed she was a girl knows if something happened, she thought with relief. She fumbled for her watch. It was 5 am! She quietly slipped out of bed, dressed, found her phone and made her way downstairs. In the kitchen, she called a cab and headed back to the house she shared with Zach.
; Chapter 43
Zach had been a wreck all night.
Where the hell was she? How long does a dinner take? He thought at 10:00. At 11:00, he was pissed.
He had no right to be pissed. They weren’t in a relationship. Or were they? What were they doing? He was unsure of it to begin with but now with Troy on the scene, he had no idea.
At midnight, he was worried. What if something happened to her? How was she getting home? What could possibly be taking so long? He tried her cell but it just went to voicemail.
He tried going to sleep at 1:00 but tossed and turned for the next three hours. Images of making love to her downstairs, the searing kisses, her perfect body, her sharp tongue responses, her laugh all filled his head.
Around 4:00 he admitted he was screwed. He was in deep. She consumed him. And she was with another man at this very moment. That can be the only explanation.
He got out of bed and showered. No use trying to go to sleep now when he had to head to the stables to feed the horses. He grabbed his keys off the kitchen table and was heading to the front door when she slipped inside.
The dogs must have heard the cab or they have a sixth sense about her because they were already at the door, trying to knock her down. She had leaned down to hug each of them and gave each a kiss on their head. She then looked up at Zach.
He stopped cold in his tracks. He was furious again.
She saw it all over his face.
“Zach.”
“Sabrina, I need to go feed the horses,” he tried to move past her.
“Zach, please, wait a minute.”
“What?” he spit out.
“It’s not what you think,” she said with a little pleading in her voice.
“You don’t know what I think.” He snapped.
“Zach, I stopped back at the Duncan house because that’s where they were doing Lillie’s cake and I had a glass of champagne. I was so tired from riding and the whole day, went outside to get some fresh air before I headed back here. I sat down and I fell asleep. I woke up at 5:00. My phone was dead so I couldn’t call. I called a cab from their kitchen phone and here I am.” Sabrina looked into his eyes.
Zach didn’t say a word.
“I guess they felt bad that I was tired and didn’t wake me. At least that’s what I assumed. I didn’t speak to anyone before I left,” she continued.
“You didn’t see anyone? Won’t Troy worry?” he asked with a bit of edge in his voice.
She blushed for a minute when she thought about waking up next to him. Best to keep that to herself.
Zach still didn’t say a word. Her explanation seemed reasonable but something flashed across her face? Guilt? Embarrassment? Hard to read. But the reality was she didn’t own him an explanation.
“Well, I was worried but then I figured that since you were surrounded by all of your future in-laws that you were in good hands. And didn’t need me.” Zach spit out.
He let that hang.
“Zach, it wasn’t like that.” Sabrina defended.
“Sabrina, you don’t owe me an explanation.” Zach said but not meaning it.
“That’s right. I don’t. But I gave you one anyway. Can you wait a few minutes while I shower and I’ll go over with you?” She asked hopefully.
“No, I need to get going. You don’t need to go over early anyway since you aren’t showing. Take a taxi later.”
And with that, he walked out the door.
Fuck him, Sabrina thought. She didn’t know what to expect when she arrived home. Their relationship was so confusing. With Troy’s arrival to the scene, she was more confused than ever. She had thought she was finished with what she felt with Troy but being honest with herself, it all felt very familiar and easy last night.
Chapter 44
The taxi dropped her at that stabling area. She had packed her things because she was heading to the airport later today. She was heading to New York tonight for a three day meeting and then heading to Hawaii from New York for the wedding.
She hopped in one of the golf carts and headed to the show arena. She was dressed in a white pencil skirt with a sleeveless top. Her strappy sandals weren’t suited for being around the horses. But she wasn’t showing and was traveling later so decided she would manage.
She walked through the VIP tent to grab a coffee and fruit when Lillie motioned her over to their table. Troy stood as she approached.
“Sabrina, I am so happy that you made it to my birthday last night.” Lillie said giving her a big hug.
She hugged Lillie and gazed at Troy over her shoulder. He met her gaze and she saw the familiar pull in them.
“Come sit with me and let’s catch up since we didn’t have much time last night.” Lillie patted the seat next to her.
She did miss Lillie and with everyone around her last night, she didn’t have a chance to chat with her.
“I’ll be back to do that in a few minutes. I need to go find Zach.” Sabrina explained.
She saw Troy’s jaw tightened at that.
Seriously.
She found Zach walking into the warm up ring on his horse about to start preparing for his time in the arena. He pulled the horse up when he saw her. He could feel his stomach tighten at the sight of her. As brilliant as her mind was, she was drop dead gorgeous on top of it. His question to himself previously about if he slept with her whether that would that get her out of his head was now answered with a resounding, screaming “NO!”
Not knowing how he was going to be coming off their words and his departure at the house, she decided to just plow ahead.
“How’s he feel?” Sabrina asked about Gulliver.
“He felt great this morning when I took him out for a hack. He should be good today.”
“You go last in the jumping order?” she confirmed.
“Yes, Scott set quite a pace in his jump off. If we are clean in the first round, I’m going to have to pull a few tricks out to beat his time,” he said reflectively.
“You’ll do it.” She said with a beautiful smile that distracted him.
This wouldn’t work. He needed to focus on his ride.
“I need to warm up. Why don’t you grab a seat?" Zach told her.
“You don’t want help? I was hoping to watch you warm up.” Sabrina said hopefully.
“Brine. You distract me. I just want to look at you. I need to concentrate on those big jumps and this tough course if I am going to win this for you as you challenged me to yesterday.” He smiled at her. He loved her being with him even in spite of the disaster of last night. But she was terribly distracting to him.
“Ok, good luck.” she said with another beautiful smile and a little knowing laugh. She gave his horse a kiss on the nose.
Lucky bastard, thought Zach.
Sabrina made her way back to Lillie and the table. As she approached, she saw Lillie was engrossed in a conversation with a woman who was now sitting in the chair that Lillie was saving for her. So much for that. She turned to find another seat when she heard Troy call her name.
He has stood and pulled the chair out next to him.
Damn. She was hoping to avoid him but looks like that wasn’t going to happen.
“Did you sleep well?” Troy asked intimately.
“No. And it wasn’t right what you did,” she said with a little edge.
“What did I do? You were tired, sound asleep and I let you sleep,” he said innocently.
“Troy, you put us in bed together,” she said in hushed tones.
“Sabrina, believe me. Nothing happened. Much to my disappointment. You never woke up. I was hoping that was going to change this morning but you were gone before I woke.”
“You should have worked harder to wake me last night so I could have taken a cab home,” she insisted.
“Why? What’s the big deal?” he asked.
He was taunting her, she realized. He was testing her. Did he suspect that something was going on with Zach?
“Sabrina, I know you f
elt it last night. It feels so right when we are together. It is comfortable and we know each other so well. Last night at dinner and at the house, it felt like nothing had changed. So when you fell asleep, it was natural to just pick you up and put you into bed.” Zach looked in her eyes as she spoke.
“Troy, we are no longer engaged. It’s just not appropriate,” she snapped.
