Everything was just falling into place and I was never so excited in my life, as when I boarded the Amtrak train that warm September evening.
Ms. Chester had offered to send a plane ticket, but momma had declined, arguing that the other lady had done more than enough, which indeed she had.
I was just happy to be starting my new journey in life; I didn’t much care how I got there. The train ride was going to take days because they had to break it up. Momma and daddy couldn’t afford one of those sleep in cars, but they had a bathroom that you could use to wash up, which I made great use of.
I was very excited to be on my own for the first time in my life. The only time I’d ever been outside my little town is through the TV screen, and I couldn’t wait to get started on my little adventure.
I had dreams of making it big and going back home in style, interspersed with bouts of raw terror where I just wanted to turn right around and head back to the sanctity and safety of the only home I’d ever known.
But as the days wore on, as I watched the dry cornfields fly by out the train window, that beat of hope started up again, and I said goodbye to my youth. I was fleeing the shackles of home and looking forward to my bright new future.
I didn’t meet anyone on the train, as I had been warned by my daddy over and over again not to engage anyone in conversation. So I kept my head buried in a book the whole time, until the train pulled into Penn Station.
I don’t think I’d ever seen so much movement and so many people in one place at the same time. The sights and sounds bombarded my senses at once and I looked around in amazement, probably looking like the hayseed I always thought myself to be.
Aunt Marion, as I had been told to call my benefactor, was supposed to pick me up near the waiting area, and since neither of us really knew what the other looked like, she would be holding a card with my name.
We didn’t have web cam and what not on the old computer daddy kept in his office at the farm, or it would’ve been an easy matter to Skype or any of the other things the other kids were always raving about.
But mom said the last picture aunt Marion had seen of me was as a baby, apparently that was about the last time the two women had really had any contact with each other.
Mom had settled into her life as a farm wife, while her good friend had gone on to a big time university and later, the editing chief of a major magazine. Just being in the same room with her was going to enrich my life, so I was way beyond excited.
Chapter 2
I was hot, thirsty and tired as I trudged up the stairs at the train station, my small body pressed between the other travellers that had alighted from the train.
I felt the excitement start to beat in my chest, as I took in the sights. If the train station was this fascinating, I couldn’t wait to see what the city had to offer.
I was determined to make it here no matter what it took, make my family proud of me. That was my goal.
I fought back the nausea and fear and let a little bit of the excitement through, as I watched women dressed in their fancy designer jeans carrying bags that probably cost more than I’d ever make in my life milling about on the platform.
That was a bit of an exaggeration, but maybe not too far off the mark. It was a task keeping my mouth from hanging open, and this was just the train station. I can’t imagine what the world outside looked like.
I’d been waiting ten minutes and starting to get a little nervous when there was no sign of aunt Marion. I was starting to attract attention as well and that more than anything else fed my anxiety.
You see I’m sure I stuck out like a sore thumb around here. People wouldn’t need the three ratty bags at my feet to peg me as an outsider; I looked like what I am, at least in my own mind I did anyway.
I had bright blue eyes, my best feature if you asked me, wild reddish blonde hair that curled and spiraled all over my head and down the middle of my back.
My skin was spotless because mama always made her own creams on the farm from all natural products, and they kept our skin and hair healthy. Better I think, than a lot of the store bought stuff my friends paid loads of money for.
My body was okay I guess, I didn’t have much boobs to speak of, they weren’t tiny nubs but they weren’t full like some of the other girls had been either.
My legs were too long, and I hardly had any hips to speak of. Of course it could be my height that was drawing all the eyes. At five ten, I’m considered tall for a girl, as if I don’t have enough to feel self conscious about, what with my crazy hair and my outdated second hand clothes.
With my head down I was able to avoid most of the stares which seemed to come mostly from men, but after a while I had to pick it up, how else was I going to see aunt Marion?
I glanced up at the digital clock over the schedule prompter and felt my palms begin to sweat. What if there had been a mix-up and I wasn’t expected until later, or even tomorrow?
It would be just like me to have botched things up like that. I pulled the ticket stub from my pocket to recheck it and make sure.
After I’d started well on the road to panic, I finally saw someone holding up a cardboard with my name on it.
Odd; aunt Marion must’ve asked someone to pick me up, because the person holding my name was most definitely male and not just any male. I stood like a statue and I’m sure my mouth was hanging open as well, as I took in his male beauty.
He was simply gorgeous; dark hair that curled around his ears and piercing green eyes that even from this distance looked captivating.
I’d read that word in one of my books long ago, now I knew what it truly meant as it took a lot of effort for me to drag my eyes away from his.
I made my way over to him a bit hesitantly at first; maybe there was some mistake.
“Are you waiting for me?”
He pulled the sign down in front of him and looked me over. There wasn’t a speck of interest in his eyes, and no wonder. I must look a sight after days on a train with a few bathroom wash-ups as my only grooming. “Are you Gabriella?”
“Yes sir.” I looked down at the ground feeling more inadequate than I’ve ever felt before in my life. His voice was like a dream; I bet he had some kind of training to sound like that.
“I’m Cal, Marion asked me to pick you up, something came up last minute and she couldn’t make it.”
“Oh, sorry to be such a bother.” I’m sure he had better things to be doing with his time than running to the train station to pick up a little nobody like me.
“It’s no trouble; is that all you’ve got?” he pointed his chin down at the threadbare bags at my feet.
“Yes sir.” My face heated up and I felt very gauche in front of this obviously sophisticated man who had to be the most beautiful human being on the planet.
“The name’s Cal sweetheart.” He grabbed my bags and turned to walk off and it took me a few seconds to get my tail moving.
***
CALLAN
This was going to be trouble; I could see it plain as day, poor kid. Marion was expecting a little hayseed hick as she’d been bitching and moaning to me about for the last couple of weeks. “If you feel that way then why did you agree to have the girl come here?” I’d finally broken down and asked, not that I really gave a fuck.
“Well it’s my good deed for the year, plus it looks good if people know that I reach back and help others in need.
You know they’re doing that story about me in the times and giving me that award; and what better way to drum up some good publicity than to let the world see how charitable I am. Besides I need this after the lies that hag told about me when I had to fire her.”
“Which hag would that be?”
“Don’t be cute Callan. Anyway this little plum fell into my lap just at the right time. How could I say no? I’ll have her here until she realizes that every little hayseed from the sticks doesn’t have a Hollywood rags to riches story and then she’ll be on her way.”
; “You really are a piece of work.” That’s why I’d called it quits with her a month or so ago. She might be nice to look at, but once you get to know her she’s…well she’s a stone cold bitch.
I maybe could’ve overlooked her shallow, overbearing and pushy ways, if it wasn’t for the fact that she tried to dominate me in and out of bed. That was never gonna happen, so why prolong the agony?
I’d told her that it wasn’t going to work out between us, and though she’d taken the news rather well, I’d seen the look of fury that had flashed through her eyes a split second before she covered it.
I wouldn’t want to be one of her subordinates, I’d heard the stories and was more than convinced that they were true, but she’d always known better, even at her worst, not to fuck with me.
“Well we can be friends still can’t we?” that was her comeback as we sat in the restaurant where I’d taken her that last night to break things off. I didn’t want a scene and wasn’t interested in recriminations.
Her last stunt had been the last straw for me. I’d told her I wasn’t interested in something and she’d tried to make an end run around me then tried to play it off. I don’t have time for games and if you can’t trust the woman you’re fucking, well then, you ought not be fucking her.
I’d done things as amicably as I could, since there was still a working relationship of sorts, and I didn’t need the headache; but no amount of pleading on her part had been able to sway me.
Once my mind’s made up, it’s pretty much a done deal, and not even the formidable Marion Chester could get me to move from my stance.
She’d called me up last minute after a couple weeks of no contact to go pick the kid up, and I knew it was one of her power plays. She was trying to see if she could still get me to dance to the beat of her drum.
The only reason I’d done it was because I had this vision of some poor orphan Annie standing in Penn Station, lost and alone, while that human succubus left her there all night.
I wouldn’t put it past her to do something like that and the thought of it, even though I didn’t know this girl whoever she was, was too much even for a hard ass like myself.
From the description Marion had given me though, I’m sure this is not at all what she’d been expecting.
The girl walking beside me was no orphan Annie and she was no hayseed either.
She might have that wholesome look about her, with her flawless skin and that hair that made me think of sinful things, but she was far from the bucktooth frump that Marion thought her to be. Have mercy on whoever fed her that misleading information.
I watched her out the side of my eye as we headed out of the station. Nope, she wasn’t at all what I’d been expecting, that ass alone was worth the ride to the train station.
Calm the fuck down Cal she’s a kid; you’re too old for her. Besides you were fucking her aunt a month ago.
‘Yeah, but she’s not really her aunt remember?’ shut up you. My dick likes to have his say when he thinks I’m being stupid, he’s landed me in more trouble than I like to remember.
I wasn’t sure what, if anything I should do, it wasn’t my problem after all; but I know Marion, this girl is everything she hates. She’s young, gorgeous and sweet; the trifecta, that will be like a stake through Marion’s black heart.
She hates the fact that she’s getting old, though thirty-five is far from old, and any female more beautiful than she, was considered an enemy.
There is no way she was going to be able to live with this girl for more than a day, further more a few months, or however long she thought it would take before she could safely send her packing without looking like the bitch that she is.
“Have you eaten sweetheart?” I looked over at her as I threw her bags in the trunk. She hadn’t said a word since we left the station, but I could see from the way she looked around at the hustle and bustle of the city and the bright lights, that she was entranced.
“I had some crackers on the train.” She blushed after giving me her answer and bit the corner of her lip.
Fuck little girl, don’t do that. How the fuck do I get myself into these things? I opened her door for her and seated her, that blush never went away.
I had to adjust myself as I made my way around to the other side. This was not part of the plan; I was supposed to be picking up a halfwit with bad skin and scarecrow hair, that’s the picture I had in my head from Marion’s description.
Not some bombshell that was making my cock ache from just the fucking sight of her. And if she kept up that little girl, I’m too timid for my own skin shit, there was a safe bet that my dick will talk me into having her under me in sixty seconds flat.
That’s my thing; I’m a dominant fuck. That’s one of the reasons Marion and I was a bad bet.
I’d known it going in, but with the stress of the past few months riding my tail hard, I’d given in. It beat going on the prowl, or so I’d told myself at the time.
My grandfather had up and died on me when I least expected it. At least he’d died doing something he loved. Why the fuck he’d wanted to climb Kilimanjaro at seventy-eight years old was anybody’s guess, but he was never one to listen to anyone else’s advice.
So off he’d went and had a damn heart attack in the middle of the climb. I hadn’t seen him the week he left and that was a sore point for me. For all that we had our differences the old guy was just about my favorite person in the world.
He’d wanted me to go into the family business, but I’d had other ideas. From the time I was a young man I was fascinated with car racing, so as soon as I’d fulfilled my obligation of going to college, I’d taken off for parts unknown.
Gramps hadn’t spoken to me for almost a year. That had been almost ten years ago. Now he was gone and I missed him more than words can say.
Of course the fucker had got his way in the end by leaving me all his worldly possessions. And since I couldn’t just say fuck it and sell off the company he’d worked his whole life to build, I was here now instead of in Europe somewhere on somebody’s racetrack.
I had always known we were well off, I’ve never known need in all my days. But to go from a millionaire to a billionaire overnight isn’t as easy to take in as some may think.
It’s two entirely different playing fields. I never wanted that life, was never really interested in the glitz and glamour and I damn sure wasn’t interested in sitting in some stuffy boardroom or office all day poring over papers and shit, I’d lose my fucking mind within a week.
We had a board of trustees, but the old codger had made it so that I had to remain stateside for at least a year and get involved.
If at the end of that year I still wasn’t interested, then the company and all its holdings will be broken down and sold off. He knew I would never do that, so basically I was trapped.
After settling in though, things weren’t that bad, and if I played my cards right, I might still be able to do both. Maybe not on the same scale as before, but it beat giving up racing altogether.
My body was tense as I sat behind the wheel and maneuvered throughout traffic. I hadn’t been this uncomfortable in the presence of a female since I was twelve and I wondered at the reason for it now.
She sat like a piece of wood in the seat next to me, that damn lip still caught between her teeth as she looked out the window when she wasn’t stealing peeks at me out the side of her eye.
I wonder if she knew what that biting the lip thing meant to a man like me? I doubt it, from what Marion had said, this girl came from the sticks and was probably as green as it was possible to be; then again Marion’s estimations haven’t been so spot on so far.
I should probably start up a conversation, break the ice, but I needed all my concentration to deal with the shit that was going on with me.
I had a niggling feeling in the pit of my stomach that something big was going on here, what that was I couldn’t say, but I know that feeling.
I’ve experienced it before every maj
or win of my racing career, only this time I’m afraid it had something to do with the half frightened girl sitting next to me.
My mind started heading in the wrong direction and I had to catch myself. No way Callan, that’s what my head was saying but my dick had other ideas.
I’ve been hit, by the instant attraction train before, but somehow this felt different. Now wasn’t the time to think about it though, this was something I’d have to take out and reexamine at a later date, when my senses weren’t so full of her.
I took her to a nice little Italian bistro for a bite to eat. She seemed nervous and kept her head down as we sat at the table.
Damn, she was ringing all my bells at this point and so effortlessly too. “What would you like to eat Gabriella?” I lifted the leather bound menu and perused the fare on offer.
I wasn’t really hungry but I figured she needed to eat and knowing Marion, all that would be on offer was sparkling water and lettuce.
The woman starved herself to keep up with the models and starlets that graced the covers of the magazine she worked for.
Besides, I wasn’t quite ready to relinquish her company just yet, but I wasn’t gonna look at the reasons for that too closely right now.
She had another dangerous affectation, dangerous to me anyway. She held her tongue in the crease of her lips as she studied the menu.
I knew she wasn’t doing it on purpose, that it was just something she obviously did naturally, but that just made it worst. “Is it okay if I have a burger?” She finally felt brave enough to look up at me.
I could cry, really. She was just so…fuck; the way she looked over at me as she waited for me to tell her yes or no to a question that the average person would’ve taken for granted had my cock doing hand springs.
“If that’s what you want sweetheart.” It was a wonder my voice remained calm and level. There goes that blush again. She ducked her head again and went back to gnawing on that lip.
My Little Farm Girl Page 2
