“Don’t I know it.” Taking another long drink, he cruised to the back door.
Ben followed. There had to be a secret, something he was missing. As crazy as his mother was, his parents had actually been happily married for almost forty years. And he couldn’t get a relationship to last more than three months. “How’d you know she was it?” he asked before Bryce could leave.
He got a funny smile on his face. “I knew when I met her. She got to me pretty good. Fought it hard like the dumb-ass I am.” He held the door open for Ben and gave him a meaningful look. “I guess when it’s right you just know.”
Ben glanced to the doors where Paige had disappeared earlier. She got to me. He could relate to that. The only problem was, how could he get to her?
“Shoot. I’m late. See you in the morning.” Bryce flicked him a wave and trotted across the dining room and out of sight, leaving him all by his lonesome.
Far as he could tell, he had two choices. One, go back to the cabin and apologize to Gracie so he could rekindle their argument. Or two, go outside and see if Paige was still around.
Without wasting any brainpower on that decision, he opened the French doors and slipped out into the darkness.
All around him, torches flickered and gave off the perfect mood lighting. The perimeter of the patio was so dark it reminded him of being on the ranch, underneath a wide-open sky with pinpricks of light. Except these stars and washes of galaxies looked so close it seemed as if he could reach up and feel their heat.
Yep. Looked like the perfect ambiance for a conversation with a certain guide. He strode across the patio, but stopped when he heard voices. Straining to see in the dim light he gazed down at the fire pit.
Well, damn. Paige and Julia sat side by side chatting away like they’d been friends for years. Not that it surprised him. J made friends wherever she went. Probably because she got so bored in that chair. She’d talk to anyone about anything. And that was what made him nervous right now.
He crept down the steps, clinging to the edge of the shadows and straining his ears.
“He’s always had issues with women,” J said in her know-it-all tone. Damn her. Of course she was telling Paige the abridged version of his love life. Of course. Leave it to his sister. He hurried the rest of the way down before the little informant could spout off more information that wouldn’t help his cause.
“Evening, ladies.”
Was it his imagination or did Paige’s back go stiff?
“Ben!” Julia’s face was pink with the chill in the air. Reminded him of the way her face would glow with excitement when she was little.
“Paige said she’d take me riding tomorrow!”
His chest locked. “I’m sorry. What?” Riding? As in on a horse? He eased down onto the bench beside J, wondering how to put his next sentence. “Not gonna happen, J. Understand? You can’t ride a horse.” He spit it out before he could tame the words into something pleasant.
“Actually—” Paige leaned forward and draped her elbow on her knee. It was a nice knee. His gaze drifted higher. Attached to a pretty sexy leg…
“It’s safe. I have tons of experience helping riders with special needs.”
Uh, huh. Still studying her toned thigh, he realized he was nodding. No. Wait. His head shook. He peeled his gaze off of her tan, sculpted body. “Sorry. What was that?”
A shy smile softened Paige’s mouth. She raised her gaze to his. “I said I have tons of experience helping people like Julia ride.”
“That’s great.” It was. In addition to being a knockout, she seemed compassionate, which was a trait most of his exes seriously lacked. “But J doesn’t want to go riding.”
His sister jerked her head to gape at him. “Yes, I do.”
He ignored the flash of anger in her eyes. “It’s too dangerous. What if you fell off? Or got thrown?” After everything she’d been through, why risk it? Why let a horse finish the job?
A reddish hue stained J’s cheeks.
Oh, boy. Here we go.
“I’m sorry. You want me to sit around all day and do nothing like I’ve been doing for the last twelve years? That’s not fair!”
Nothing was fair. Her accident wasn’t fair. But he couldn’t let anything happen to her. He wouldn’t. “I’m not gonna let you ride a horse, J, so you can forget about it.”
She looked at him like she was trying to figure out the most painful way to kill him. “Forget what I said earlier.” She glanced at Paige. “My brother can be a real ass.” In a huff he recognized all too well, she wheeled herself past the fire pit and up to the ramp.
“Come on J,” he called.
“Leave me alone. I’m going to bed.”
He jumped up. “I’ll get you back to—”
“I don’t want your help. With anything.” She cruised up the ramp and disappeared from sight.
He took two steps in J’s direction before Paige tugged on his hand.
Her skin was chilled and he had an overwhelming instinct to wrap his hand all the way around hers to warm her.
“She’s a lot more capable than you give her credit for.”
He looked down. Realized he still held her hand in his. She’d only meant to stop him from chasing J, but he couldn’t seem to let her go.
She tore her hand away. “Also, I’m pretty sure she’s an adult and can make her own decisions.” Her eyes flashed with the same intensity he’d noticed at the café. “She doesn’t need your permission. If she wants to ride, I’ll take her riding.” The edge in her voice challenged, but there was something else there, too. Something almost fearful.
He said nothing. Only stared down at her, the softness of the wily waves that had escaped from the bun-thing on top of her head plunging down past her shoulders. He stared at the way her cheeks curved to her mouth, at the way her lips held firm, neither smiling nor frowning.
She’s more fragile than she looks.
Elsie would know, but to him she didn’t look fragile. She looked like the most intriguing mystery he’d ever wanted to solve.
“So my opinion doesn’t matter at all. You’ll take her riding, even if I don’t want you to.” He sat next to her on the bench, fully aware that he was too close, violating her personal space.
Her shoulder tensed against his, but she didn’t move away.
Good. He liked a woman who could stand her ground. Even if he’d never in a million years let her get her way.
“If I have to, yes.” Her shoulder shrugged against his. “I’ll ignore your opinion and take her anyway,” she murmured in a formal tone, which he saw right through. She wouldn’t. She was too worried about what Bryce would think.
He turned so that his knee brushed hers, so he could study her face, gauge the reaction in her eyes. “In twelve years, J’s had seventeen surgeries on her legs.” He’d been at the hospital for every one of them. He’d seen her coming out of the anesthesia, sick as a dog. He’s seen her anguish during physical therapy. He’d seen her weep when the doctors told her, yet again, it’d all been for nothing. Her legs would never regain the strength they’d lost when they’d been crushed. She wouldn’t walk.
His gut ached the same as it did every time he relived the direction her life had suddenly taken because of his adolescent stupidity. Felt exactly like his Arabian had kicked him in the stomach again.
He forced his gaze into Paige’s. “After four of those surgeries, she contracted a raging infection.” Four times as he’d held his sister’s weak hand in his, he’d begged God, made all kinds of promises that he’d never be able to keep. Four times he was willing to give up his own soul for her. The memories lured him into the cold darkness that leaked through him whenever he let that truth sink in. He moved away so Paige wouldn’t feel his weakness. “Four times I thought I would lose her.”
He heard her slight intake of breath, although her neutral expression didn’t change.
“She’s experienced enough pain, Paige. I’m sure you can understand why I wanna prot
ect her from more.”
Paige stared down at her hands, eyes shifting as though she was caught in some internal argument with herself, and when she finally gazed up at him, something in the world had changed. Some wall between them had fallen down. She was no longer so guarded, so distant.
“You want to protect her. I get that.” Sympathy widened her eyes. “But what does she want, Ben?”
This time he looked away. Studied the shadowy outline of the trees that bordered the patio. The fire’s light flickered and danced over them, lighting their pointed tips, then retracting back into darkness. He couldn’t think about what she wanted, only what was best for her.
“You should’ve seen her face when I told her about the horses.” Paige bent her head so he had to look into her eyes. “She lit up. She said she’d give anything to be able to ride again.”
It was stupid. He knew it. He should let her ride. But he still carried the trauma of being the first one on the scene of the accident. Seeing her covered in blood. Gasping for every breath. Unable to move. And he’d been useless to her. Helpless.
“She can do this. I can do this. I spent three summers working at an equine therapy center. We have special equipment designed for this very purpose.” Paige laid her hand on his shoulder.
The touch wiped the lexicon clean out of his brain. He’d given speeches in front of a room full of media wolves, baring their ugly questions, and he hadn’t once lost his ability to talk. He could yammer on and on until his cows came in from the pasture, but Paige laid one touch on him—one touch that left him with a stark, yawning yearning, and he was done. It was over.
“I know how to keep her safe.” A new energy seemed to bubble over into her voice. “Trust me. Please,” she begged, even though she didn’t have to. He already knew he’d be no match for Paige.
Exhaling a sigh of surrender, he shook his head. “Fine. You win. I’ll bring her to the stables in the morning.”
“Thank you!” She squeezed his shoulder, and he glanced down at the shimmering swimming pool below them, clamoring for the sweet heat of her body against his.
Ah, hell. He was whipped. He’d pretty much agree to anything, if it would make her happy.
Chapter Eleven
Everything has to be perfect.”
For what could have been the thousandth time, Paige tightened the modified saddle that hugged Sweetie Pie’s wide back.
The massive Arabian stood obediently still, head and neck tall and straight, exactly as she’d been taught.
“Atta girl, Sweetie Pie.” She gave the horse’s glistening neck a good scrub with her fist, then wiggled the saddle to make sure there was no give.
“It’ll be fine.” Standing across from her, Shooter rolled his eyes. Stable Boy, she called him, though she had to admit, he had a way with horses. That was why Bryce had put him in charge. Most people thought of Shooter as an oaf, and once upon a time, she had, too. But he kind of grew on you after a while, with those tufts of reddish hair sticking up all over his head, and his large, teddy bear frame.
“Man, you’re obsessed,” he complained. “You’ve adjusted that thing for a half hour.”
She’d adjust it another hour, if that’s what it took. Running her fingers along the leather, she inspected the straps and buckles once more. “I promised Ben nothing would happen to his sister. And I intend to keep my promise.” She had to prove to him that Julia could ride, that she could do so much more than he thought she could. Or should.
Though she had to admit, the whole protective older brother thing was pretty damn appealing. The thought of Ben made her heart squeeze in a painfully exhilarating clench that seemed to bunch up her throat. After he’d told her about Julia’s surgeries, she’d had to fight hard not to throw her arms around him. Seeing that blank look of pain in his eyes, hearing the sorrow in his voice…it’d done something to her.
Pathetic as it was, she’d actually brushed her hair and applied makeup that morning, careful to mimic the natural look Ruby had taught her. Then she’d spent a half hour sorting through her closet, instead of the five minutes she usually took to get dressed. Finally, after consulting with Ruby, she’d selected her nicer jeans—the ones without any holes or snags—and a faded flowered button-up, leaving the top buttons undone for good measure. Yes, she had to keep things with Ben professional, but a little cleavage never hurt anyone, right?
And what could she say? It’d been a while since someone had looked at her the way Ben did. He didn’t gawk at her boobs like other guys did. He took his time, swept a long gaze over her before settling on her face. He looked into her eyes when she talked, too, which was more than she could say about most men.
After she’d finally gotten dressed, she’d stood in front of the mirror for a good fifteen minutes and decided she looked decent. Good, even.
And yet she still felt like a peasant girl waiting to see the king.
Straightening, Paige gave the stables a critical glance. It definitely wasn’t a palace, but it was everything a stable should be. Comfortable stalls for six horses, a small tack room, and a packed dirt floor covered with hay. Though she’d arrived at six that morning to muck it out and straighten things up, the grassy scent of manure still lingered, mingling with the sweet smell of the lilacs Avery had planted right outside.
After she’d cleaned, she took Sweetie Pie on a warm-up ride, telling her all about Julia and how she’d have to use all of the training she’d had to give this special girl a great ride. Sweetie Pie was a great listener.
“Come on.” Shooter lumbered over in his ex–football player’s unsteady gait. “Nothing’ll happen to that girl. You spend all your spare time doing this stuff. It’s your life.” His strategic emphasis on the word life raised her hackles.
She zoned her gaze in on his smug face, ruddy cheeks, freckled skin. “What’re you saying?”
“You know what I’m saying.” He hobble-stepped to the opposite wall and pulled down a bridle. “You don’t have a life.”
“I’m focused.” She stalked over to the other horses, Hooligan and Gypsy, and checked their saddles, too. Just in case. Couldn’t have Ben falling off, either…although legend had it that a horse accident was how Bryce and Avery had fallen in love. They’d gone on a ride much like the one she was about to take Ben and Julia on. Then Buttercup threw Avery into a pile of rocks and the rest was history.
Behind her gate, Buttercup snorted and pawed the ground.
“Not this time, girl.” The appaloosa was too unpredictable. Going senile at a young age, too, the way she tended to wander off the trail.
Shooter popped up behind her and spit past the wad of chew in his mouth. “You’re boring. You used to be fun. Go out and have a drink. Play some pool. Now all you do is hang out with the horses.”
“That’s because the horses smell better than you.” Sidestepping the brownish splotch he’d spewed on the ground, she crossed back to her favorite horse in the whole wide world and smooched Sweetie Pie’s nose, feeling the tickle of her whiskers. “They’re nicer, too.” Paige dug a carrot out of her pocket and balanced it on her flat palm. She held it under the horse’s nose. “Wait, Sweetie, wait.”
A slight quiver was the only sign that Sweetie Pie was dying to eat the carrot. She stood still, ears perked, but totally in control.
“Okay, girl,” she gushed. “You can take the carrot.”
Gently, Sweetie Pie gobbled it out of her hand, those huge horse teeth crunching in the cutest way. She laid her cheek against the horse’s snout. Sweetie Pie was ready. She’d trained her and worked with her and bonded with her. She’d be the perfect one for Julia. “You’re a good girl, aren’t you, love? Such a sweetie pie.”
Shooter gagged.
She shot him a look over her shoulder. “Make yourself useful and get that ramp set up. Will you?”
Muttering to himself, probably obscenities—he had more intriguing combinations than anyone she knew—he dragged over the aluminum ramp that would enable Julia to whe
el herself up and get settled in the saddle.
Taking a knee, Shooter fiddled with a socket wrench and started to twist the parts into place. “What’s so special about Ben Noble anyway?”
Her stomach lurched the same way it did when she sat on a plane and the wheels left the ground. Stay grounded, she commanded herself. She had to stay grounded. “He’s a senator.”
Shooter stood and stared right into her cleavage. As if her boobs could respond to him. “Not yet, he ain’t.”
“Well, he will be.” If his charm got its way. “Not to mention, he’s a good friend of Bryce’s so we have to impress him.” Yeah. Keep telling yourself that. It had nothing to do with the fact that she lay awake most of the night thinking about the way his manly-man hand had clasped around hers, about the way his eyes seemed to follow all the contours of her body, about how warm his powerful shoulder had felt against hers…
“’Morning y’all.” At the deep drawl, she spun to the door in time to see Ben wheel his sister into the stables.
A burn raced up her neck and exploded in her cheeks. Um, yeah. It could be a challenge to keep things professional if he insisted on wearing those body-hugging jeans every time she saw him. Just sayin’. The tight white T-shirt and straw cowboy hat didn’t help, either.
“Hi there,” she managed to croak, then covered the weakness in her voice with a cough. It seemed to be a common problem when Ben was around. Most of her body went weak at the sight of him.
“We all set?” He scanned the stable the way a spy would, his eyes narrowed into slits of suspicion.
“Sure.” Somehow, she found her footing and went to kneel in front of Julia. “Are you ready?”
“So ready!” She leaned over and dusted off adorable red cowboy boots. “Ben bought these for me in town this morning.”
Of course he did. Her heart melted into a warm puddle deep in her chest.
“Everyone woman should own a pair of boots.” He sauntered closer, his eyes doing that lazy inspection of Paige’s body, as if he had all the time in the world to simply take her in.
Something Like Love Page 10
