He hadn’t come to Rosemont Castle looking for a woman. He’d come to establish his career and make a name for himself as a horse trainer. Maybe this thing with Megan would just be a fling, but even so, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. Instead, as he lay there with one arm around her, their legs tangled in the sheets with the morning sun streaming in through the window, he realized it had been a mistake not to seek out this kind of companionship sooner.
Maybe he hadn’t been ready before now. Either way, now that he knew what it felt like to sleep beside a woman, to wake with her in his arms and lose himself inside her, he never wanted to be alone again.
They showered together—and he got to experience shower sex for the first time—before Megan dressed and headed to the castle to get ready for her day. Maybe working on the same propterty would be a good thing. They were close enough to drop in on each other at a moment’s notice, to easily spend the night together, but still worked far enough apart that they didn’t have to see each other if they didn’t want to.
He headed to the barn to tend to the horses. Twister trotted across his pasture to greet Jake at the gate, while Duchess looked on from her own pasture. Bug and Dusty were, as usual, in the riding ring. He gave everyone a pat before heading into the barn.
Inside, it smelled like horse, that warm scent that called to mind a lifetime of memories, so many barns, so many animals he’d worked with over the years. And now, it washisbarn. Not that he owned it, but he had full control over it, and someday, he’d own his own place. In the meantime, this was exactly what he needed.
If only business would pick up, he’d really be in good shape. He’d put out several feelers about his training services since he moved to Rosemont Castle, but so far nothing had panned out. He had enough existing clients to scrape by, but to succeed, he needed more. His budget was stretched to the breaking point right now, but he knew that was the way it went for most new businesses in their first year. For now, he was trying not to worry, especially when everything else in his life seemed to be going so well.
He mucked the stalls that had been used yesterday, cleaned and refilled water buckets, and performed the rest of the morning chores. Once he’d finished, he brought Duchess into the barn and put her on the cross-ties in the aisle for a training session. He spent time grooming and handling her, offering lots of positive reinforcement for her cooperation. To her credit, Duchess was a very cooperative horse.
He put her in her stall while he brought Bug and Dusty inside to free up the riding ring. Then, he got Duchess back out, put the bridle and saddle on her that they’d been using for their training sessions, and brought her out to the arena for some work on the lunge line. He clipped it to her bridle and backed up, allowing her to begin at a walk, looping around him in a circle as they practiced verbal commands.
He spun in a slow circle as she moved, keeping the line from going slack, praising her all the while. Duchess moved with an easy grace, head up, ears pricked, eager to learn and to work. As he turned to face the castle, he saw Megan coming down the lane with her camera in tow. His heart quickened at the sight. She’d changed into dark jeans and a red top, her hair tied back in a loose ponytail.
She came to stand against the fence, watching them. “I saw you out here working with Duchess. Is this a good time for me to take some pictures?”
“Sure.” He was grateful that she was taking pictures for him to use on his website and marketing materials, and Duchess was the perfect cover model for his business.
“Pretend I’m not here,” she said.
“That’s hard to do, when you’re all I can think about,” he said, only half joking.
“Jake,” she admonished, laughter in her tone.
So, he did his best to ignore her, and after a few minutes, he halfway succeeded. He focused on Duchess, working her in both directions before he moved in for some more hands-on direction, asking her to move over and back up for him, getting her comfortable with the commands she’d need to know later on. He walked her up to the mounting block and asked her to stand beside it. Then, he stepped up and put his hands on her back, applying gentle pressure, talking quietly to her the whole time.
She turned her head to stare at him, a “what the hell are you doing?” look on her face, but no signs of discomfort or distress. This horse was as solid as an oak. When he’d finished with her, he brought her into the barn to untack her and praised her with a generous face rub and a few well-earned carrots.
Megan followed, keeping her distance as she photographed him at work. Duchess lifted her head to stare at her, and Megan snapped a series of photos. “My goodness, you’re gorgeous,” she murmured to the horse, and Duchess nickered in response.
“That she is,” Jake said. “Want to give her a treat before I put her back outside?”
“Sure.” Megan replaced the camera in its case, slung it over her shoulder, and walked over. She took a baby carrot from Jake’s hand and offered it to Duchess with practiced ease. She was one hundred percent more comfortable around the horses these days, and it filled him with an odd sort of pride. And a healthy amount of lust, because watching a woman work with horses had always been a huge turn-on for him.
“I was thinking about taking Twister for a ride. Want to come with me?”
“Come with you, how?” she asked, her brow furrowed.
“On Twister. I wouldn’t ask him to do it often, but he could carry us both on a little trail ride. He’d enjoy it, and so would I.”
Her eyes lit. “Yeah, that sounds great, actually.”
“Got any boots?” he asked, giving Duchess another affectionate rub as he unclipped her from the cross-ties.
“Um, like riding boots?”
“Any boots will do, even cowboy boots,” he said with an easy smile, gesturing at his own.
A wide smile split her face. “I do have a pair of those. I bought them after we moved here, and the girls laughed at me. They accused me of thinking I was in Texas when I asked about going line dancing down at Bar None.”
“Yeah, you won’t find any line dancing here in Virginia.”
“Well, I’m from Florida, so what do I know? But I’ll go get my boots and meet you back down here.”
“It’s a date,” he said, leaning in to press a kiss against her lips.
