Trust Me (27 page)

I cannot hide the excitement in my voice. “Yes.”

“How well do you ride?” Although he’s very pleased with himself for planning this next adventure, he’s still concerned for my safety.

I give him my best no-nonsense look. “I did grow up on a farm. I might be able to show you a thing or two, cowboy.”

He gives me that damn smirk before he makes a phone call. “Please have two horses saddled and waiting at the north side of the barn in fifteen minutes.” After putting the phone back in his pocket, he grabs his gift and then my hand. “Come on, let’s get changed, cowgirl.”

We are both dressed in jeans, button-up shirts, and cowboy boots as we head out to the barn. When I glance inside, I see a perfectly clean floor and sparkling rails on the stalls. I’m not sure if this can even be called a barn with how grand and clean it is.

At the end of the barn are two beautiful quarter horses. I can tell that they are purebred. One is a blue roan, and the other is a brown buckskin. They’re dazzling. The buckskin whinnies at our approach. I walk up to her and let her get used to the smell of me while Damien sits back and observes.

Turning my head to him, I ask, “Which one is yours?”

“I don’t have a specific one I ride. I take it you want to ride Amanthia?”

I look back at the buckskin. “Amanthia, you are such a pretty girl.” I smile at Damien. “Yes, yes, yes, I would like that very much.”

He gives me one of those endearing smiles as he stands and approaches me. “Would you like some help mounting Amanthia?”

In return, he gets one of my playful as-if looks when I mount her by myself. Sweetly, I reply, “I think I’ve got it.”

I head out into the field, forcing Damien to hurry and catch up with me. When he does, he sets the pace abnormally slow, and I roll my eyes at his obvious actions. He’s probably scared I’m going to get bucked off, but I can feel that Amanthia wants to stretch her legs.

From in front of me, Damien calls out, “I helped my grandfather build that pump house one summer. I hit myself so many times with that damn hammer. I’m lucky I still have my fingers.”

“Ah, poor baby.” I make a clicking noise, and Amanthia trots us up next to Damien.

Here’s my chance
. I squeeze Amanthia lightly with my legs and heels, giving her the signal to go faster. When I start to pass him, I yell, “First one to the pump house…” I leave it open-ended as I take off toward the goal.

“Yah! Yah!”

Amanthia takes off like lightning.

From behind me, I hear Damien shout, “Alli, stop! Wait! Fucking hell, woman. You’re going to kill me.”

He’ll lighten up when he realizes I can actually ride really well. When I look back, I can see that Damien is catching up to me, so I kick Amanthia into another gear. She is absolutely amazing.

When I make it to the pump house first, I start to gloat. “Hmm, looks like I won. I’m going to have to make you pay up, big mister.”

He ignores my bragging as he looks at me with pride and awe. “Alli, where did you learn to ride like that? I knew you could ride, but you’re really good, exceptionally good.”

Memories of my mom teaching me how to ride flood my mind, and I smile. “Mom was a riding teacher before she had me. She taught me how to ride on a pony when I was three. I grew up with that pony, and Mom and I would spend hours riding together.”

We continue moving forward to what I think is a lake in the distance. As we make it to the water’s edge, we dismount and let the horses rest and drink.

Damien leads me to a large tree by the shoreline. After we sit, he pulls me onto his lap, so I’m straddling him.

I like where this position is going. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

“Anything for you, baby. What happened to your horse?”

I knot my fingers in my lap and look down at them. He knows I had to sell the farm when my parents died, but I haven’t shared what all that truly meant.
Maybe talking about it will make it less painful.
“I had to sell her when I sold the farm. There’s not a place at Sam’s parents’ house to keep a horse properly. It was the right thing to do for her. I miss her, and I’ve kept in contact with the new owners. They are really good to her, and that’s what counts.”

In an instant, Damien starts to console me. “I’m so sorry, baby, for everything you’ve had to endure. If I had known you existed, I would have kept you from having to go through that pain.”

Times like this, feeling his unconditional love, are when I miss my parents and home. I lay my head on Damien’s chest and listen to his breathing. Being wrapped up in him is a soothing balm to me. I am so glad to have Damien in my life. He fills a void I thought would never be filled again.

We stay there for who knows how long, just listening to the birds singing to each other, as the horses graze on the prairie grass.
It’s so peaceful.

Damien soothingly asks. “Are you ready to head back? I wanted to make love to you out in the open prairie, but now, I really want you back in our bed.”

I’ve noticed how he has started using the word
our
to describe things he technically owns all the time. It used to be sporadic but not anymore.
If it gives him peace of mind, so be it. We both know the truth.
I think part of him wants me to argue about it, so I’m the one bringing up the subject of moving in with him.

“Yes…although the prairie does sound like fun.”

“Not tonight, baby, but we will soon. It’s going to be our bed tonight. I want to make love to you slowly.”

I like the commanding tone he uses when it comes to matters of our love life. It makes me shiver in anticipation. Casually, we make our way back to the horses, hand in hand.

As I am about to mount Amanthia, Damien asks, “Will you ride back with me? I want to have you close.”

“I’d like that.”

The ride back is set at a leisurely pace with my head laid against his shoulder. Amanthia’s reins are tied to Damien’s saddle as she follows.
This is my new favorite way to ride for sure.

As we near the barn, in a voice made for sin but soft as velvet, he tells me, “I love you so much, Alli. You are my complete world now.”

“I love you, too…so much. You’ve brought me back to life, Damien.”

After leaving the horses where we met them at the barn, we walk up to the back porch and head inside the house. Damien leads me straight to his room and makes sweet passionate love to me.

The week following our return from Texas has gone by in a blur.

Just arriving home from my biggest photo shoot yet with the magazine, my phone rings. When I hear Damien’s ringtone, I automatically smile. He had to leave on an emergency business trip to North Carolina, and with my planned shoot, there was no way I could accompany him.

Sweetly, I answer. “Hey there, stranger.”

“It’s good to hear your voice. How was your shoot?”

He sounds tired. I know he’s been working a crazy amount of hours.

“Great. Chris is a fantastic mentor. I love it so much.”

Forty years my senior, Chris was the retiring photographer I’m stepping in for. Now, he’s decided to stay on as a freelancer. He’ll help out when I’m not available to do shoots, giving me more flexibility with my schedule. It’s the best of both worlds for us.

“I’m glad. Everything should be finished today, or I’m shipping both the manager and the player’s asses off.” He lets out a sigh of agitation. “Fucking sports drama. I hate it. I need someone to handle this shit.”

From what I’ve gathered, the manager and the running back, whatever that person does, were having issues with each other regarding contract obligations. Lawsuits were threatened, things were said…
blah…blah…blah
.

Trying to ease his annoyance, I respond in a flirty tone, “Aww, well, I’ll soothe away your irritation tonight when you get here. I can guarantee you that there will be no sports talk from me with what we’ll be doing.”

His voice turns seductive as he says, “That’s right. I still have that bet to win against Sam. How about we stay at your place tonight and head to our place tomorrow?”

Just the insinuation in his tone causes shivers to run up my back.

Then, I hear a door opening and closing in the background. “I gotta run, baby. Love you.”

“Sounds good. Love you, too.”

After we hang up, I remember that I need to talk to Damien about the note I accidentally found on his desk after he’d left. It’s not something I want to discuss while we are apart. Situations like this, should be talked about in person to avoid any miscommunication. I now understand why he waited to disclose information to me in the past. I’ve tried to make sense of it, but I can’t get anything to add up.

We are in his bedroom. Damien is getting his clothes together for the impromptu meeting in North Carolina. Damien’s been in a state of chaos with all the sports drama that ensued this morning. I can’t travel with him because I’m in charge of a big shoot in Atlanta today. Since I started working at the magazine, this will be the first time I’m taking the lead as head photographer.

As he finishes packing his bag, he says, “Alli, I’m sorry I have to go out of town all of a sudden. I hate that I won’t be here this evening to celebrate your first day of being the lead for the shoot.”

Before I can respond, there’s a knock at the door. Damien answers it, and someone hands him a large envelope. He checks his watch, and then he takes off towards the direction of his office.

When he returns five minutes later, he seems agitated as he gives me a kiss. “I’ll miss you. Have fun today and congratulations. Love you, baby.”

“Travel safely. Hurry back as soon as you can. Love you, too.”
Poor guy.
He looks as if the weight of the world is on his shoulders.

He kisses me thoroughly before grabbing his suitcase and sprinting out the bedroom door.

As I’m getting ready to leave for the day, I remember I left my camera in his office. I’d used his computer yesterday to download pictures from our picnic. After heading that way, I walk over to his desk and reach for my camera. I catch sight of the envelope that was delivered to Damien. A part of a torn note is hanging out of it, and I wonder if he might need it for his business trip. Thinking he accidentally forgot it, I pull it out and read it.

I have no idea what it means, but I make a mental note to ask Damien as soon as he gets done dealing with his current crisis at hand. As my mom always said,
Being nosy never pays off
.
How right she was.

I start packing a few things for a weekend away in Atlanta with Damien. Deciding on what to wear for our dinner date, I try to find my damn red scarf that I want to pair with my black dress, which is at Damien’s house.
Gah, this living in between places is getting more and more annoying.
My search is interrupted by a phone call. I grab my phone and see that Sam is calling.

“Hey, Sam.”

With music blaring in the background, she says, “Hey, girl. What’s going on?”

“Oh, the usual. Damien’s coming home this evening, and then we’re headed to his place tomorrow. Finally finished the big photo shoot today, so I’m about to lie on the couch and take it easy.”