“They are pretty intimidating, aren’t they? The fences start at four feet nine inches and go up to about five feet six inches. In the jump-off they may be higher, but there are less fences, and they are technically more difficult, and time is a major factor. The challenge is more than just the height. The difficulty is in negotiating that triple combination, then having to do a hairpin turn to get to that vertical wall where you have to get right up to the base and then rock the horse back to get over. And then you have another tight turn before you get into a full gallop to clear a spread jump like those oxers. The water jump may be anywhere between five feet to fifteen feet wide, and if your horse ‘puts a toe in the water,’ you get a fault.”
The afternoon’s event started with a flourish, as the crowd of thousands in the banks of seats lining the jump field stood to sing the “Star Spangled Banner.” The spectators were thrilled to be able to watch the presentation of “official” Olympic jackets to the U.S. Olympic Team members, all of whom were present. Many of them were to compete that afternoon and were easy to spot in their crimson-red riding jackets.
Tori and Zack were as excited and awed by the spectacle as the other clamoring onlookers. One after another, the sleek, powerful jumpers made the rounds of the colorful jumps that all seemed impossibly high. The bystanders alternately cheered wildly or gasped in dismay as the various competitors made “clear rounds” in which no poles were knocked down, tipped poles off the tops of some of the jumps, or plowed through fences placed close together in scary combinations. Some jumps were over water, while others were over high brick walls or triple combination fences.
Everyone was busy flipping through programs, marking scores, faults, and times. Finally, as the afternoon sped by, the event proceeded to the jump-off, a timed trial in which the day’s leaders competed against each other and the clock for the best times, trying for clear rounds.
“Watch this thoroughbred mare. Her name is ‘In the Moment.’ She’s really something. I think she’s at least twenty, but she’s all heart,” Tori said.
“She doesn’t look big enough to clear those huge fences. From down here they look taller than I am.”
“She’s small, only about 15.2 hands, but just watch her!” Tori exclaimed. To the delight of the awestruck crowd, the gallant mare, In the Moment, made a clear round in record time and placed first.
A gray-haired gentlemen sitting next to Zack leaned over and said “Excuse me, but could you tell me what a ‘hand’ is? My granddaughter is really getting interested in horses, and I keep hearing that term.”
Zack smiled and replied, “A hand is four inches. It’s the standard measurement of a horse’s height. In the old days, a man would put his hand sideways and count off how many times he could lay it horizontally from the ground to the top of the horse’s withers, that big bone at the base of the horse’s neck. That would be how many hands high, or ‘hh,’ the horse was. In this country, anything 14.2hh and under is technically a pony, and 14.3hh and over is a horse.”
The old gentleman smiled his appreciation and said, “I can see I’m in for it now. I don’t suppose this is a stage that will pass?”
“Not likely.” Tori smiled. “Once horses get in a person’s blood, the malady is usually permanent.”
“Yeah,” Zack added. “But thank goodness it’s not fatal.”
On the ride back to the ranch on Sunday night, Tori was in a quandary about how to thank Zack for his hospitality and help. They had spent three full days and evenings together, and she couldn’t believe how they had “clicked.” The whole weekend seemed like a dream. She really liked this guy, and she thought that he might be feeling the zing as well. Maybe that was why he had turned a little quiet.
“I’m going to miss you, Zack. I can’t thank you enough for all the help you’ve given me.”
“Me, too. What do you think…”
“Would you like to…” Tori laughed as she spoke at the same time. “Drive up to Ocala with me?” she finished.
“I was just working up the nerve to invite myself along,” Zack admitted with a rueful grin.
“That’s great. I’d like to have your company, and you’ll love it up there. My farm is on a small lake in the northwest corner of Marion County, way out in the country. We can trail ride, eat, drink, relax, and—”
“That sounds terrific,” he interrupted. She could see that he had some other ideas about things they could do, but apparently he wasn’t about to say them out loud and jinx his chances. She had to grin to herself. She was pretty sure she had some of the same interesting ideas.
“Do you want to bring a horse? I have a small barn and paddocks. We can put Rosebud in a carrier in the back of the truck and bring a horse for you. The third slot in my horse trailer is full of hay bales.”
“Good idea. I’ve got a retired polo pony that I ride when I check on the stock and the like. He should get along fine with the terrible twosome.”
* * * *
Zack’s heart was in his throat. He wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity, but he knew he was walking a fine line. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure that Tori was working on the Z-Tech law suit, but if he was a betting man, the odds would be good that she was. It was too big of a coincidence. It would only take one phone call to check it out, but he didn’t want to make that call. This woman had knocked him off his feet. He didn’t want to do anything that would put an end to the magic before they knew where their relationship was going. He couldn’t believe how strong his feelings for her had become in such a short period of time. He knew he would have to look into it more carefully—but that could wait until they returned from Ocala. He was treading on dangerous ground, but at the moment, he simply didn’t care.
Chapter Nine
The next morning, Zack and Tori loaded the horses into the trailer and Rosebud into a carrier bolted to the bed of Tori’s truck. The trip to Ocala was a good four-hour drive from Palm Beach. As they rolled north on the Florida Turnpike, the scenery gradually changed from pancake flat to beautifully rolling hills. The palm trees and Australian pines gave way to pitch pines and live oaks draped with Spanish moss. This was the Deep South.
The conversation was desultory and relaxed. Occasionally they would lapse into silence and quietly hold hands and listen to music. Zack wanted to know more about Tori but didn’t want to steer the conversation toward work. “Tell me about your family,” he requested.
“I was born here. I’m a real Florida cracker.” She grinned. “Great-great granddad, Tobias Aldrich, worked for Henry Flagler building the Florida East Coast Railroad in the late 1800s. He made a fortune in land speculation and built the house I live in. Back then Coral Gables was the boondocks, and the house was part of a large estate. In the ’20s, stock speculation and the crash thinned out the family coffers, but they weren’t wiped out. There were still hundreds of thousands of acres of land. My grandfather developed large tracts in and around Miami and Coral Gables, and the family was in the chips again. Later, the property around the house was sold off. Now, it’s just a big house on about an acre and a half with lots of tropical foliage and trees. When my father died, Gram lost her only child, and she threw all of her emotional and financial resources into raising me. So I inherited the house and a very comfortable trust fund. What about you?”
“I was born in Atlanta, but my family moved to Palm Beach County when I was a kid. I went to the U.S. Naval Academy, and after my stint in the service I got my MBA at Harvard. My dad raised cattle and grew sugarcane. When he died, I sold most of the land and kept the five thousand acres I have now. I was doing my own thing and wasn’t interested in raising sugarcane. My mom lives in Palm Beach. At seventy-eight, she’s still a force to be reckoned with over there. She’s on every damned committee and always after me for one thing or another.”
“You’re lucky to still have her, you know,” Tori admonished. “It wouldn’t hurt you to participate…”
“Oh yes it would. I don’t have much tolerance fo
r that ‘Old Palm Beach’ social business, the Everglades Club, and all that snobbish BS,” he replied with a grimace.
* * * *
It was midafternoon when they arrived in Ocala. Tori’s farm house was a 1920s Old Florida clapboard house surrounded by huge old oak trees and deep shady porches dotted with big wicker rocking chairs and hammocks. It was situated on a twenty-five acre parcel that was all that was left of the five-hundred-acre thoroughbred breeding farm that had been sold after her grandfather’s death. The house and farm had been part of her grandmother’s estate. Tori had many lovely childhood memories of summers and long holiday weekends spent at the farm. Years ago she had built a small barn with fenced paddocks so that she could bring her horses with her for trail riding, sometimes trailering across the county to the Ocala National Forest or forty-four-thousand-acre Gothe Wilderness Area, and sometimes just hacking out and about the old farm and neighborhood.
“Well, we’re finally here,” she sighed in relief. “Let’s unload the guys first, and then we can relax a bit.” Tori directed the unloading of the horses and Rosebud and settled them into their stalls with thick, green pads of hay.
* * * *
Zack, not knowing what exactly to expect of “the farmhouse,” was surprised to see that it was a sizable cottage with a green tin roof, three bedrooms, and a modern kitchen. The lawn sloped gracefully down to a small lake. A long dock extended toward the center of the lake and was capped at the end by a white gingerbread gazebo jutting out over the water.
“First things first. How about some coffee?” she inquired. Zack thankfully sat down in a comfortable, old leather armchair made for a man’s proportions at the head of the claw-footed oak table in the country-style kitchen. He stretched out his legs and groaned. “That chair was my grandfather’s. I can’t part with it.” As Tori busied herself with the coffee preparation, Zack was able to admire her unobserved. She was tall for a woman and beautifully built with a small waist and a lush sweetheart bottom. But aside from her physical attributes, he was growing to appreciate her formidable intelligence and sense of humor—which was sharply witty but never unkind—as well as her strength of character. As much as he was beginning to care for her, he was aware that he could be about to embroil himself in a very touchy situation. Her involvement in a litigation matter to which his company was a party could prove to be a bigger problem than he could tackle. She was as yet unaware of the possible conflict of interest. He didn’t want to apprise her of the situation, and put her in a position of having to take action. Once she knew there was a potential problem, she would be in a precarious legal position. He decided to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.
Tori turned to face Zack, and he enjoyed her blush at his look of frank appreciation. “Would you like to stretch out on the hammock on the porch and take a nap or something?” she inquired.
“Only if you join me,” he replied. He knew he had a gleam in his eye when her blush continued to darken her fair skin.
“That can be arranged. Let me finish up in here, and I’ll be right out.”
“Don’t go to any trouble. Why don’t we eat out tonight? After that drive, I’d rather keep it simple.”
Tori and Zack snuggled up in the double hammock on the shady front porch and promptly fell into a deep sleep. As the sun went down and the air temperature dropped, the chill woke them both. As Tori stretched sensuously against Zack, he pulled her back against his broad chest, and she relaxed into the security of his muscular arms. “What do you want to do now? Get some dinner?” she asked with a yawn. Her warm breath against his cool skin was delicious, and he shivered with pleasure.
“Don’t ask what I want to do if you aren’t ready for the answer,” he whispered in her ear. Having Tori’s round bottom pressed closely against his hard dick sent a wave of desire rolling through his nervous system like a freight train. It crashed head-on into the realization that they might be on a dangerous collision course. He couldn’t believe their incredible chemistry, but he was afraid of where it would take them.
* * * *
Tori could feel his arousal as his hard cock nestled against her bottom. “Zack, we have to take this slow. I’ve been among the walking wounded for a long time,” she whispered.
“Babe, we’ve spent more time together getting to know each other in the last four days than some people who’ve been dating for months, and for some reason I feel so close to you already.”
“But Zack…”
“All right, no pressure. Where can we go to eat?”
“Hmmm…I know. The Wild Horse Saloon up US 27 in Williston. They have good food and country western music.”
“Country western? I thought you were strictly of the classical persuasion,” he said with a grin.
“I’m a woman of many colors!” She grinned back. “Let’s go, lazy bones. I’ll show you to the guest room.”
* * * *
A short while later, Zack was once again amazed at the transformation in Tori when she came out of her bedroom dressed in a frilly white blouse, long denim skirt, hand-tooled leather vest, and matching cowboy boots. “So this is your ‘country’ persona? Very fetching.” She is amazing. He had admired her clad in old sweats, fancy riding clothes, a classically tailored business suit, jeans, and now cowgirl chic.
“You don’t look too shabby yourself,” she said. He knew the snug black jeans, cowboy boots, a crisply pressed white button-down dress shirt, and a nubby tweed sports jacket suited him, but he enjoyed her admiring glance as she looked him over from head to toe with a grin.
The Wild Horse Saloon proved to be more than just a little wild. As they waited for orders of baby back ribs to be served, Tori hopped up to join the press of line dancers on the hardwood dance floor who were whirling, stomping, and turning in unison to the tunes of “Redneck Girl” and “Boogie Woogie Choo-Choo Train.”
When the music ended, she sat down at their table, her face flushed pink with exertion. “Wow, what a workout. Obviously I don’t do this often enough not to get breathless.”
“You make me breathless,” he replied, his voice a low and sexy growl which just kicked up the sexual tension between them another notch.
* * * *
Their waitress brought their orders of ribs, and Tori was spared having to answer. She knew she was going to have to make a decision soon. Her body voted for taking a chance on Zack. Her heart and mind weren’t so sure. I can’t let that snake, Alberto, ruin the rest of my life. I’ve wasted too many years as it is. Maybe it’s time to just let the chips fall where they may.
After they finished eating, Zack stood up and pulled Tori toward the crowded dance floor for a slow dance. “I don’t know any of those fancy line dances,” he rumbled in her ear as he pulled her tight against him, “but this old-fashioned buckle polishing never goes out of style.”
The spot lights were flashing sparkles of light off a spinning mirrored glass ball hanging from the ceiling, giving Tori the feeling of floating in the dark. Zack’s strong arms held her close, and her inhibitions were definitely starting to slip. They spent another hour sipping beer and occasionally getting up to dance to a slow tune. “Let’s go home, Tori.”
“Okay, I guess we’ve both had enough of this,” she replied glancing around the crowded, rowdy dance hall.
“Oh, I don’t know. I can always use a good excuse to hold you tight and rub against your body. There is nothing sexier than slow dancing with a pretty girl.”
“I’m beginning to think you don’t need any excuse.” She grinned up at him.
The atmosphere in the truck was warm and intimate as they sped along the winding two-lane country roads. The headlights illuminated the trees reaching up and across the road making a tunnel. As they turned into Tori’s long, tree-bordered driveway, she said, “Let’s check on the horses and then go for a walk.”
As Zack jumped back into the truck after opening and shutting the gate, he said, “It’s pretty nippy out there tonight. You’ll need a jacket.”
“I thought you were going to keep me warm,” she replied with a saucy grin as he drove the truck up the drive toward the barn. She knew her defenses against Zack were definitely weakening.
“I’m willing to do more than keep you warm, Tori, but get a jacket anyway.”
Rocky and Rosebud were snuggled up together in the deep wood shavings bedding their stall. It always amazed Tori that despite his huge size, Rocky was very careful not to crush or kick Rosebud in the close quarters of their stall. They then looked in on Shadow, Zack’s black Morgan horse. Tori was glad to see he was also relaxed enough to lie down to sleep.
“Let’s go sit in the gazebo,” Tori suggested as she picked up an old barn jacket that had belonged to her grandfather from the row of pegs on the tack room wall.
The full moon on the water was beautiful, and the sky was full of stars. Waves of moonlight were reflected on the ceiling of the gazebo as they sat on the railing overlooking the lake. A brisk breeze blew over the water, and Zack put his arm around Tori’s shoulders, pulling her securely into the protection of his warm chest and shielding her from the cold wind. His body heat felt wonderful as she snuggled closer, and the scent of his spicy aftershave teased her senses. He turned and took her into his arms and brought his mouth down on hers in a powerful kiss. Teasing her lips open with his tongue, he plundered the soft recesses of her mouth. Tori groaned, letting herself feel the waves of pleasure he aroused so easily. She slipped her arms in under his jacket and ran her hands over the strongly sculpted muscles of his back.
Zack’s strong, long-fingered hands slid slowly down Tori’s back, around her rib cage, and up the front of her blouse to cup her breasts. Her nipples were sensitive and tingling as her breasts filled his hands to overflowing. He flipped several buttons on her blouse open and pulled her closer to his body. The arousal that she had been aware of all evening rippled through her system.
The Appearance of Impropriety [The Horsemen] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 5
