“I was going to call them,” he started. “But then I realized you designed clothes. So I called this morning and asked if the studio also made male clothing, more specifically tuxes.”
Fallon was picky about the projects she worked on, and bridal clothing was even rarer. She had showed me a couple of wedding dresses and tuxedos she had made over the years, but as she said it, I had the impression she was done with that kind of work. She was now focused on a larger fashion industry, even if her clientele was selected.
However, this wouldn’t be a project for Fallon. It would be for me.
“You want me to design your tuxedos?” I asked, my voice tentative.
“Is that so hard to believe?” Gui asked.
“Sort of,” I admitted.
“It’s true.” Leo stood. “So, Hil, are you going to design our tuxes or not?”
A smile crept across my face and pride that these men would trust me with this task filled my chest. “I will.”
Gui
Before the guys and I left the studio yesterday, Hilary approached me and asked me to go to her first self-defense class with her. I didn’t tell her, but I was planning on going anyway. Like a fucking stalker, I had already planned everything. I would go out for a run, and today’s path would include the front of the gym. I would remember about her class, and stop my run to go check it out. Hopefully, it wouldn’t look too bad.
As bas as a fucking stalker.
So, on Wednesday, I went down to the building’s lobby almost thirty minutes prior to the start of her class and waited for her.
When, ten minutes later, the elevator’s doors opened and Hilary stepped out, I stopped breathing.
She was a vision. A freaking goddess from a dream. And she was totally clueless. Her long hair was tied in a ponytail, but a few strands got loose and framed her beautiful face, and she wore workout clothes—a sports bra, a tight top and an even tighter cropped pants—that hugged her perfect body the way nothing, no one should.
Only me.
Closing my jaw—which I hadn’t noticed had fallen open—I did my best not to stare at her perky breasts or round ass, but it was too hard. Too damn, fucking hard.
She turned her face to me, her bright green eyes shining with worry and fear. “Hey,” she said.
I inhaled, forcing my lungs to breathe again. “Oi.” I glanced away from her, not sure I could trust myself. “Ready to go?”
She nodded.
We exited the building and, side by side, we walked the three blocks to the gym. On the way, Hilary looked nervous, like she could bail at any second. I had to distract her.
“So, is my tuxedo ready?”
That made her smile. “Ha, sure! You can pick it up tomorrow.”
“Wow, your studio is really great. Super fast. I’m gonna recommend it to everyone I know.”
She chuckled. “I just started drafting some ideas today,” she said. “I want to do something new, but not too new, you know. I don’t want the guests to look at you guys and wonder what the hell you’re wearing.”
“That would be ideal.”
She rolled her eyes. “But I want to give your tuxedos a special touch. Something unique.”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” I said, glad she had relaxed a little. “Are you working on anything else besides the dresses and tuxedos for the wedding?”
She hesitated. “Well, actually, I have a design project for school due at the end of summer. After a couple of weeks just thinking about it, I think I finally came up with an idea.” She glanced at me, a little mischievousness shining in her eyes. It made my heart pump faster. “But it’s a secret for now.”
“Oh, come on. You can’t tease someone like that. Tell me at least one detail.”
Her smile widened. “Nope.”
My chest squeezed. Shit. She was too beautiful for her own good, and when she looked at me like that, when she smiled like that, I was a goner. I knew I was a goner, and I knew I should have turned the other way and run as fast as I could … but that was the thing. I couldn’t.
My interest in her had grown, and it was out of control. Out of my control. The more I spent time with her, the more I saw a side of her I didn’t know before. Before, she had been hiding from the world, even from her friends, from us. Now I knew her better than the others did, probably even better than her sister did, which made me a little proud.
I let out a long breath.
She tilted her head toward me. “Are you okay?”
The question caught me by surprise. “W-what?”
“You’re always asking me that, but I never get to ask you if you’re okay. And you just let out a huge sigh. What is it?”
“Nothing, just polo stuff,” I lied.
“Oh. Okay.” She lowered her gaze.
What? I had to think like a chick here, or I was going to lose her. What would Gabi or Bia say? That Hil was upset I wasn’t telling her what my problem was. But how could I tell her that my problem wasn’t polo, it was her?
Not wanting the moment to end, I searched for something to say. “A club from Florida has been asking me to go play with them for a few months now, and it’s getting harder and harder to say no.” Which, in the end, wasn’t a lie. It was true that a Florida team had been asking for me, but that wasn’t a problem.
“I thought you liked doing the visiting player thing.”
“I do. It’s just that with Leo and Hannah’s wedding coming up at the end of summer, I would like to be around.” I pulled on my shirt as if I were straightening my tuxedo jacket. “Best man, you know.”
She smiled again.
Meu Deus. I let out a long breath. It was all I could do not to pull her to me and kiss her right then.
At the gym, I introduced her to John, who I had already talked to. He didn’t need much convincing to let Hilary join the class. She followed him inside the classroom, her hands shaking.
A sudden urge to go to her, to hold her tight, to tell her everything would be all right swept through me. I even took a step toward her before I stopped myself. I was a fucking idiot.
To pass the time, I worked out on the weight lifting floor. Graças a Deus, the classroom had a glass wall and I could watch Hilary every few seconds. Otherwise, I would be going nuts now, trying to imagine what she was doing in there. To be honest, if the glass wall didn’t exist, I would probably peek through the door after each rep set.
There were only eleven women in the class, and John and another instructor who helped him demonstrate the moves. As I expected, Hilary looked nervous and reserved. It took her at least twenty minutes to relax a little and put some effort in the movements.
As the minutes passed, Hilary’s stance shifted. She stopped shaking and acted. Her movements became surer and determine, and during an exercise with John, she was the one who escaped from him the fastest.
He said something to her, making her smile. I smiled too.
“What’s that sappy grin for?”
Surprised, I turned and found Malcolm behind me.
“Hey,” I said, not surprised to see him here. He lived nearby, and the guys and I bumped into him here a lot. “Working out late today?”
“Yeah. Practice ran late today. And you?”
I shrugged. “Was bored.”
He chuckled.
I started a new rep set, and he settled on the machine beside the one I was using. When he finished his rep set, his eyes scanned the place. He did a double take at the classroom.
“Is that Hilary?”
Did I pretend I didn’t know she was here? I sighed. “Yup.”
“Man.” He let out a low wolf whistle. “She looks absurdly hot in those clothes.”
Rage flowed through my veins and I clenched my fists. After another long breath to calm me down, I shrugged. “She’s okay, I guess,” I lied.
“You know, I think Reese has a thing for her.”
“What?” I knew Reese had a thing for her, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked
her out, but I wasn’t prepared to hear that from his teammate.
“He’s always trying to get close to her when she’s at the club, and whenever the topic is girls, he keeps going on and on about her.” Malcolm tilted his head, thinking. “Yeah, I’m sure. He certainly has a thing for her.”
What did I say to that? Ask him where Reese was so I could threaten him? Tell him if he ever tried anything with Hilary, I would punch him?
Like a fucking stalker.
“I didn’t know about that,” I lied again.
“It’s fucking annoying actually. He’s smitten.”
I frowned. “I didn’t know they were friends, or that they were close.”
“They aren’t. As far as I know, Reese and Hilary have only spoken a few times, but he has been watching her since he joined the team and he’s definitely smitten.” Malcolm shook his head. “Which I don’t get. Reese knows about what happened, with Eric, you know. Even though I admit Hilary is one of the hottest girls I have ever seen—” He gestured to her as she again escaped from John. “—she is damaged. I’m not sure I would date a girl like that.”
The rage I had been fighting exploded, and I let it out on the machine, almost breaking it with the force I was exerting.
When I was a little less prone to strangle Malcolm, I spoke up. “It was not her fault. She was a victim and I don’t think she deserves our pity. I think she deserves our admiration. She has gone through so much, but look at her now.” I jerked my chin to the direction of the classroom. “She’s fighting it. Maybe it’ll take her a long time to feel whole again, but she’ll get there.”
Malcolm paled. “Hey, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I was just commenting. Sorry if it’s a touchy topic.” He stood from the machine he had been working on. “I forgot you and her are practically family now. You must know her better than the rest of us.”
I cleared my throat. “Exactly.”
“Sorry again. Didn’t mean to assume anything.”
“It’s okay,” I lied. It was so not fucking okay.
Malcolm walked toward another machine, one far away from me. Good for him, otherwise I would have beat him to a pulp.
However, his words clung to me. I forgot you and her are practically family now.
It was true. One more reason why I could never, ever act on this infatuation.
Chapter Fifteen
I woke up the next day energized. I didn’t know why, except that last night I had had my first self-defense class, and even though I still wasn’t prepared to take on an attacker, I somehow felt lighter. More confident. And happy. Which was odd since it wasn’t even the weekend yet, just a normal Thursday with a day full of work.
That energy turned into nervousness as I parked my car at Hannah’s ranch in the evening and didn’t see Gui’s car there.
Hm, had I gotten the day or hour wrong? I pulled my phone from my purse and checked the messages. Nope. I was here at the right time. Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
So … where was Gui?
I walked by the stable—not even Jimmy was there—then checked at the arena, and finally came back to my car. I still held my phone and considered calling Gui, to ask him if he was on his way or if he had forgotten.
I chewed my lower lip. I didn’t want to impose, though. If he had forgotten, it was because he had something better to do than play the Good Samaritan. Who was I to blame him? I certainly didn’t understand the appeal of helping me.
Sighing, I opened the door of my car. Better to go home and work on my school project—the one I still had no idea for. At first, I thought about the wedding clothes and during the presentation, I could tell the story of how Hannah and Leo met, but that was too personal. I could avoid mentioning Eric, and what he had done to Hannah and me, but it was still too close. And I didn’t want to associate the wedding with something so horrible.
I slid inside my car.
“Hilary!”
I froze upon hearing my name, just a whisper on the wind. Slowly, I climbed out of my car and looked around, searching for the voice that had called me.
“Here,” it said again, a little clearer, a little closer.
I turned toward the entrance road and gaped.
A beautiful dark brown horse trotted on the road, approaching the parking lot, and Gui was on top of him.
I took several steps back as the horse approached, but Gui pulled on the reins and the horse came to a complete stop twenty yards from me. The fashion designer in me couldn’t help but notice he was wearing dark jeans, black polo shirt, black cowboy boots, and a black and orange baseball cap.
“Oi,” Gui said, smiling.
“H-hi,” I managed to say.
“Sorry I’m late. I wanted to surprise you with Pampa, but it seems I miscalculated how long we would take to gallop from our ranch to your sister’s.”
I frowned. “Pampa?”
Gui patted the horse’s neck. “Yeah. This is my horse, Pampa.” He dismounted the animal and, grabbing the reins, took a few steps closer. “Pampa, this is Hilary. Say hi.”
I smiled, amused by the way he talked to the horse, but then Pampa moved his head up and down, as if he was nodding at me, and I gaped.
“Oh my …”
Gui’s smile widened. “See? He’s a good boy.”
“That’s incredible,” I whispered. I took in the rest of the horse. He was tall and strong, with thick thighs and neck, and his dark coat was shiny and lush. The color of his coat darkened near the extremities, giving the impression that his legs were black. “He’s beautiful.”
“Thanks. He was born on our ranch in Brazil five years ago and, when it was time to move, he was the first thing I chose to come with me.”
That was so sweet.
“It still boggles my mind how you guys brought horses from another country.”
“Me too.” Gui turned his baseball cap to the back. “Come with me. Let’s put him in a stall.” He gestured for me to walk with him.
I stood my ground for five seconds, while trying to rein in my fear, but then I took a deep breath and went with him. I kept a safe distance from Gui, and Pampa was on his other side. Besides, I knew Gui could take control of his horse in case he decided to lunge at me. As if horses just lunged at people for no reason.
I shook my head, getting rid of that ridiculous thought. “So, you play polo with him?”
Gui let out a chuckle. “I see you don’t know much about polo, do you?”
I scrunched my nose. “Sorry?”
Gui chuckled some more, then explained as we walked in the stable together. “No, I don’t play with him. In fact, Pampa never played polo. There are certain breeds that are better for polo, and certain requirements, like a certain height range, and Pampa doesn’t fit those. Which is fine by me, because polo ponies don’t last long. On the field, I mean. We have at least two polo ponies for each player when playing because the horses get too tired and they need rest. And polo is a sport that wears them out too fast.” He opened an empty stall and guided Pampa inside. “Polo ponies retire too fast, if they don’t get injured while playing.”
“I see.” I observed as Gui locked the stall and turned on the water system. “So, all of you have horses like Pampa and Minuano, and also the polo ponies?”
“Sim. Although, we don’t get too attached to our polo ponies. Don’t get me wrong. We still take good care of them, but they don’t become our friends like this one.” Standing in front of me, he jerked his chin toward his horse.
“Understandable.” At least, it sounded like it. I looked at Gui and found him staring at me with a lopsided grin. “Hm, so, what are we doing today?”
Still sporting that mischievous smile, Gui turned to Belle’s stall. “How about we give the round pen exercise another try?”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “What if I panic again?”
“Do you think there is any reason to panic again?”
I stared at him and realized there was no reason to panic again. Not right now at le
ast. We were alone, and he sometimes looked at me in ways that made my stomach fill with butterflies, though I didn’t think he did it on purpose, but we had been alone several times before. Gui had proved to be a good friend, and I knew he wouldn’t hurt me.
“No,” I said, my voice sure.
He nodded. “Good. Then let’s go.”
***
The perfect Friday night: my PJs, me seated on the floor, my drawing pad on the coffee table in front of me, my pencils and charcoals and accessories spread around me. And the tub of ice cream in the freezer that I would soon devour.
I stared at the drawing pad and nothing came to me. Nothing.
How would I pass this class, present this project, if I couldn’t even come up with an idea? What did they want me to do with a design that has history or a story. The wedding dresses and tuxedos popped in my head again.
And from there, I imagined Gui in a tuxedo. Next, was an image of Gui with his tuxedo riding Pampa. A smile tugged at my lips.
Last evening had been good. Gui had taken Belle to the round pen, and she ran and ran as we settled on the fence and observed her. After a while, she approached us and I touched her with my feet. When she didn’t pull away, I leaned down and brushed my hand over her forehead.
“Now, jump in,” Gui said.
I stared at him, frozen. Until he jumped down and extended his arms to me. I let him help me down, and for a moment, I didn’t know what I was more stunned about. That Gui kept a hand at my waist, or that Belle hadn’t run away and was sniffing me.
I didn’t ride her, I didn’t try to make her feel crowded, but that hour I spent in the round pen just walking around Belle, having her walk around me, and touching her smooth coat every few minutes … that hour had been amazing. Practically magical.
Mindlessly, I had started drawing a horse on my pad. Sure, why not design a clothing line for horses?
I chuckled.
The doorbell rang and I froze.
Slowly, I stood and walked to the door, knowing who it was. I looked down at myself, at my short shorts and my tight tee. Crap, if he kept on showing up like that, I would have to buy new pajamas.
Breaking Through (The Breaking Series Book 3) Page 15
