Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
We walk down the stalls, and I look over at Rosy, knowing I would love to send her to the barn, but she isn’t ready. We make a list of fifteen horses that can be transferred, and I’m standing next to my desk when I hear her voice.
“Bye, guys,” Lilah says, sticking her head into the barn. I look over, seeing her smile at Sammy and then Bobby, who holds up his hand at her. My jaw gets tight as soon as she looks at me. “Bye, Emmett.” I don’t say anything to her. Instead, I silently grunt as I give her a chin up and watch her walk to her car.
Her tight jeans hug her ass perfectly as she looks to someone at the side and gives them a smile and a wave. I inhale deeply before I take my eyes off her car. “You okay there?” Charlie asks when he comes into the room.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I snap. I’m not fine. Anytime Lilah is around me, I feel like my whole body is alert. Like one touch and I’m going to explode. No matter how often I tell myself I should walk away from her when I see her, I do the complete opposite. Like this morning when I got here and saw her riding Rosy, the new horse. Instead of letting her be, I stood there for fifteen minutes, watching her on that horse. My cock was hard like a rock and straining in my jeans, and then she stopped. Just like a million times before, my chest seized just by looking at her, which pissed me off, so I made sure I snapped at her. Fuck, I was a dick. “Why?”
“I don’t know, I heard you yelled at Sammy?” His eyebrows go up as he waits for me to say something.
“I didn’t yell at him.” I roll my eyes. “I simply told him he’s not allowed to let her get on a fucking horse without anyone around. You were the one who made the rule.” I point at him, and he nods. “It’s not safe, and she’s careless with the horses, pushing them until they look like they’re going to collapse. She has to stop being reckless.” My mind wanders back to the first time she got here. She was so scared of everything. Every little noise scared her off, except the horses. I saw her go from a scared little bird to a fucking hawk soaring through the sky. Over the years, I have had to remind myself that she is just a girl, and the last thing she needs is an old man. Especially an old man who has nothing to give her.
“You done?” Charlie asks, and I glare. Was I done? No. I would never be done when it came to Lilah. “One, you know she’s better than that. Fuck, she’s been riding horses since she was five years old. She can ride better than some of the stable guys, and you know it.”
“Whatever,” I bark, annoyed that he’s right, but there is no way I’m going to admit it. “I’m done for the day.” I get off of my desk. “I’m going home, showering, and we’re going to hit up Thatcher’s.”
“Not sure,” he says, picking his baseball hat up and scratching his head, “depends on the wife.” Charlie and Autumn just got their happily ever after, and it came out of the blue. When Charlie lost the love of his life in a car accident, he blamed Autumn for it since her boyfriend was drunk while driving them, and she knew about it. He went into a downward spiral after that happened, and I’ve stayed close by him since then. He’s become my brother, or at least the closest thing to a brother I would ever have. I would lay down my life for him, and I know he would do the same for me. I wouldn’t let him, though, especially not now that he has a baby boy to take care of.
I nod at him, turning and walking out of the barn. I get into my old pickup that has seen better days but can’t seem to part with yet. Even though I know it’s a matter of time before she dies. I park on the gravel by the side of the house, getting out and walking up the two steps to the black front door.
The house is at the edge of the property between both barns. Entering the code on the door before opening it, I step into the big house. Without telling me, Casey built me a house when we were building the barn. When he tossed me the keys, I threw them back at him, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. One does not say no to Casey Barnes. I was fine living in the trailer I had, but he said it was time I put roots down, find myself a wife, and start my family. I didn’t tell him that was never going to happen. I was never going to settle down with a woman, and I especially was never going to have children. It wasn’t in the cards for me, and I’d come to terms with that when I was fifteen and setting up in one of the foster homes I was in. Over the years, I’ve hooked up with women for a couple of months here and there, and as soon as I felt them getting too close to me, I moved on. There was no point anyway since it always led to them wanting to have children.