Loving Cara (4 page)

“This is one of the smaller horses,” Seth informs me as he rejoins us with an apple in his hand. He holds it out for Magic and she eagerly, and gently, takes it from him, munching happily.

“Okay, you’re going to put your left foot in the stirrup, and I’m going to boost you up into the saddle.”

“No.” I try to take a step back but crash into Josh’s hard chest.

“Why are you scared, honey?” Josh asks gently.

I swallow as I look up at the saddle. “It’s really high up and I don’t like heights.”

“Once you’re up there, you’ll see it’s not that far.” He’s running his hand up and down my back in a soothing, calming pattern and leans down to whisper in my ear, “I’m right here. I won’t let you get hurt.”

“What if she takes off running and I hit a tree branch?”

Josh laughs and shakes his head. “You watch too many movies. Trust me, Magic is a sweet girl. You’ll be fine.”

“Okay.” I take a deep breath as Josh places my foot in the stirrup.

“Just bounce up and I’ll boost you.”

“Um, okay.”

“Cara, you’re gonna love it!” Seth tells me from Magic’s head, where he’s snuck her another apple. I’m floored at the difference in him from just a few moments ago. This ranch might be the best place for him.

I bounce twice and suddenly Josh grips me at my waist and boosts me into the saddle.

“Here, take the reins.” Josh hands me the soft leather straps and Seth helps me find the other stirrup with my right foot.

“I’m on a horse,” I breathe.

“You are.” Josh grins up at me, then looks at my legs with a frown. “The saddle might pinch your thighs a bit. From now on, when I tell you to wear jeans, wear the damn jeans.”

“And you call
me
pushy?” I smirk down at him and then take a deep breath, starting to feel comfortable up here on this horse.

Although the saddle isn’t terribly comfortable.

“My ass is going to hurt tomorrow,” I grumble.

“Probably,” Josh agrees. “Okay, we’re going to walk you around the field.”

“I’m fine just sitting here. No need to get fancy.”

“Don’t be such a wimp.” Josh laughs and guides Magic slowly along the fence line.

“Oh, God.” I bite my lip and white-knuckle the reins. I
am
being a monumental wimp.

Finally, my body falls into the rhythm of Magic’s gait and it almost starts to feel good.

“How are you doing, honey?” Josh tosses a smile at me, admiring me as he leads Magic through the pasture. “You look great up on my horse.”

“I’m good.” I smile down at him, my stomach clenching.
He thinks I look great!
“This isn’t so hard.”

“It’s only the company that sucks.” Seth is walking behind us, picking up rocks and throwing them, his scowl back on his face.
And we’re back to the attitude.

“What’s wrong, Seth?” I ask, attempting to look back at him without falling off this horse.

“Nothing.” He tosses another rock into the pasture as he rolls his eyes. I have no idea if this sudden change in attitude is because he’s preadolescent or if he’s truly angry about something.

Before long we’re back where we started from. Josh helps me dismount, his hands again on my hips, lifting me. I plant my hands on his shoulders, and when my feet hit the ground, he doesn’t immediately let me go. His brown eyes are soft and smiling, and I just want to stay right here, all day.

So I pull gently away and turn my attention to the horse, rub my hand down her neck.

“Seth, you have chores to do.” Josh pats Magic’s neck as he moves to tie the reins to the fence.

“I don’t want to do them today,” Seth mutters.

“We do chores every day,” Josh reminds him.

Seth squares his shoulders, and I know Josh is in for a fight.

“I want to play video games.”

“After your chores are done.”

“I’m not doing it.” Seth turns and stomps off toward the house.

“Seth King, you will do what you’re told!”

I watch in awe, and in utter shock, as Seth turns around, flips his uncle off, and runs for his bike.

“Oh my God.”

“I’m gonna kill him.” Every muscle in Josh’s body is tight, the muscle in his jaw is flexing, and I can feel the frustration coming off him in waves.

“There are moments when he’s so happy and sweet, and I can tell he’s a good kid. What is going on, Josh?” I lean my hips on the top rail of the fence and cross my arms over my chest.

“I don’t know what to do with him, Cara.” He pushes his hands through his hair as he paces in front of me. “He talks like this to my mom, my dad, even the ranch hands. Punishing him doesn’t help.” Josh throws his hands in the air and keeps talking. “We’ve taken away all of his privileges: his video games, his music, he doesn’t get to ride the horses, he has to paint the fences. It doesn’t matter.”

Josh takes a deep breath and props his hands on his hips, shaking his head in frustration. “I know he’s had a rough time of it the last few years, and God only knows what that woman said to him and what he saw when he was still with her.” Josh swallows hard and swears under his breath. “Obviously, the way he talks about Zack, it isn’t good. But he won’t talk about it, and I don’t know what to do with his disrespectful attitude.”

“I have an idea.”

Josh snaps his head over to look at me and takes a deep breath, calming himself. “I’ll take all the ideas I can get right now.”

“I want to take him on a field trip tomorrow.”

“Absolutely not. We don’t reward that behavior with field trips.” Josh shakes his head, fisting his hands at his side.

“No, a different kind of field trip. Trust me.”

“I do trust you, but . . .”

“Have you ever seen that TV show
Scared Straight
?”

Understanding brightens his brown eyes and a slow smile spreads across his lips. “I’m going with you.”

“Can you get away for a whole day?”

“I’m the boss, sweetheart, I can do whatever I want.” He pushes his hand through his hair and sighs.

“If you’re coming with me, you need to understand that I’m in charge. You keep quiet and you let me do all the talking.”

Josh narrows his eyes at me and steps closer, until he’s close enough to touch me. “Okay, but enjoy it while you can, honey, because I’m not a man that gives up control easily.” He tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear before pulling his thumb down my cheek to my chin. I can’t move. My eyes are caught in his dark gaze.

“Your eyes are amazing, Cara.”

“They’re kind of weird,” I whisper.

“No, they’re not weird.” He shakes his head slowly. “I’ve just never seen eyes that go from amber to hazel to green. I wonder what color they are when you’re turned on?”

Whatever color they are right now!

This is not the kind boy I knew as a girl. This man is still kind, and gentle, but is self-assured and sexy and calls to me in ways I thought existed only in the romance novels I read.

Think about Seth! Think about your job!

I take a deep breath and step back, close my eyes for a moment, and then square my shoulders. “I’ll pick you guys up at seven tomorrow morning.”

“That’s early.” Josh’s eyebrows shoot up as he shoves his hands in his pockets.

“I’m sure you’ll have been up for a few hours by then.” I smirk. “It’s going to be a long day. You might want to make sure Seth gets a good night’s sleep.”

“You mean business, don’t you?” Josh asks with a chuckle, then he sobers when he sees how serious I am.

“If this doesn’t mellow Seth’s attitude out, I don’t know what will.”

“We’ll see you then.”

CHAPTER

Three

JOSH

I wonder what she has up her sexy little sleeve.

Seth, yawning, is in the backseat of Cara’s car, and I’m sitting shotgun. I can’t help but look over at her and grin. Her sunglasses are perched on her cute nose, her shoulder-length blond hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and she’s wearing jeans—imagine that—that hug her full ass perfectly. Between those jeans and the red, V-neck T-shirt that shows just a hint of cleavage, my cock has been at half-mast since she picked us up.

It’s going to be a long day.

I’ve tried to respect her space, and her position as Seth’s teacher, but I’ll be damned if I can stay away from her. I love the way she feels, and I need to find out what it feels like to have her beneath me, to be inside her.

Jesus, I’d be happy to just hold her while we watch TV, and I haven’t had that urge in a long, long time.

Cara was always a sweet kid, if not a little, well, plain. Not ugly, just not someone who would have made a teenage boy pay attention.

Until Monday, it hadn’t occurred to me to pay much attention. Thank God Kyle sent her to my place.

Cara glances over at me and offers me a soft smile. “What?”

“Where are we going?”

“Breakfast.”

“You wanted to take us out for breakfast?” I ask, surprised. My gut clenches when she laughs. Has her smile always been that amazing?

“We need to eat something, it’s going to be a long day.”

“I already had breakfast,” Seth grumbles. “Where are we going, anyway?”

“That’s fine, you can watch me eat the best waffle in town.” She smirks and turns in to Ed’s Diner, and despite my having had breakfast a couple hours ago, my stomach growls.

“Ed makes the best waffles,” I agree, and hop out of the car.

“Who’s Ed?” Seth asks as he shuffles along behind us.

“My uncle.” Cara smiles at him, and I wish she’d turn that smile on me. I adore her smile. “He owns this place.”

“Gee, imagine that, with it being called Ed’s Diner and all.”

“Watch your smart mouth,” I warn him with a glare, and he glares back at me.

“You agreed,” Cara whispers, reminding me that she is in charge today, and I fidget. I don’t like giving up control, and I definitely need to be able to protect her from any harsh words Seth might decide to fling at her. “I’ve got this.”

She leads us into the diner and to a booth. We order three waffles with bacon and orange juice on the side.

Seth makes quick work of his own waffle and polishes off half of Cara’s. He definitely hasn’t lost his appetite.

As we are finishing up, Ed himself comes out of the kitchen, smiling when he sees Cara sitting in the booth. Cara stands to give him a big hug. “Hey, darlin’, it’s always good to see you.”

“Hi, Uncle Ed. You look great.” She grins up at the aging man lovingly. Ed is short for a man, but still much taller than Cara. He’s stick thin and gray, with kind eyes.

“So, I see you’ve brought me a new worker.” Ed narrows his eyes as he gazes at Seth.

Seth’s eyes go wide with surprise. “Worker?” Seth squeaks.

“I have. Seth is going to help you out this morning. Ed’s short a dishwasher today, so you’ll be filling in, Seth.”

“I am not!” Seth’s gaze turns to me. “What the hell, Uncle Josh?”

“You will be respectful and do as you’re told,” I tell him softly, barely keeping my temper leashed.

“Aren’t there laws against kids working?” Seth grumbles, making my lips twitch. This kid is really too smart for his own good.

“Not for just a few hours. Come on.” Ed walks briskly through a swinging door and into the kitchen. Seth follows, with Cara and me bringing up the rear. On one side of the kitchen is a large tub sink with a nozzle that pulls down from the ceiling and is used to power-wash dishes. Quite a stack is already waiting for Seth.

“This is gross!”

“Breakfast dishes usually are, son.” Ed winks at him and flips an egg. “Gravy and syrup are the worst.”

“You have an electric dishwasher! Why are you making me wash these?” Seth crosses his arms and scowls at all of us.

“Because,” Cara begins softly, “you said yourself yesterday that it doesn’t matter if you work hard. It doesn’t matter if you pass school, or if you fail. Today, I’m going to show you just a few of the reasons why it does matter.”

“I’ll pay you seven dollars an hour to wash those.” Ed gestures with his spatula. “That’s minimum wage.”

“I can wash some stupid dishes. It’s not hard.” Seth scowls and sets his jaw.

Ed’s lips twitch. “Okay, get started then.” Ed shows him how to work the nozzle and how to wash them properly, then leaves him to it. Cara and I stand to the side and watch. I can feel her body heat next to me. I glance down and tuck her hair behind her ear, smiling when she looks up at me in surprise.

“This one has a spot on it. Rewash it.” Ed hands a plate back to Seth, who scowls at him.

“It does not! It’s clean!”

“I say it’s not. Rewash it.”

I feel my hands clench. I want to argue with Ed—it looks clean to me—but I remind myself that they’re trying to teach my nephew a lesson.

Fuck, I hope he learns it.

Cara sighs beside me, flinching when she shifts her feet. I have a feeling it’s because her ass and inner thighs are sore from riding yesterday.

Without thinking, I reach down and cup her ass in my hand. “Are you sore?”

She gapes at me, looks over at Ed in a panic to make sure he’s not looking, which he’s not, and then gapes at me some more.

“Yes,” she hisses, and moves out of my grasp. “Stop that.”

Her face flushes as she clears her throat, crosses her arms under her round breasts, and unknowingly presses the fabric against them, showing me that her nipples are puckered.

Damn, I want to take her right here.

“I’m done,” Seth announces, his voice tight with anger.

“Here’s some more.” A waitress drops off a tub full of more dirty breakfast dishes, and Seth growls before pulling them out and washing them.

So it goes for the next hour, Seth washing and grumbling and Ed barking orders at him. Finally, at around nine thirty, Cara kisses Ed’s cheek and turns to Seth.

“Okay, I think we’re done here. Dry your hands.”

Seth quickly dries his hands and starts to walk out of the kitchen without a word to anyone, but Ed stops him.

“This is where you can thank me, son.”

“Thank you for what? You should thank me for washing those gross dishes.”

Before I can step in and remind Seth of his manners, Ed shakes his head and says sternly, “No, you can thank me for the seven bucks an hour.”