I decided to break the silence. “Are you ready to move the horses onto your new farm? Only, what, two-ish weeks now, right?”
Keeping her eyes on the road, she smiled. “Yeah, I can’t wait to get started. Once I get my horses moved over, the new boarders will move their horses in the week after.”
“That’s exciting. Did you find a barn manager yet?”
“Yeah, actually. Theo hooked me up with a buddy of his from Magnolia Valley. He currently works for this massive farmout there but is looking for a smaller operation to manage with fewer horses. He used to work for a small hunter/jumper facility out in Florida that had very specialized, focused care for their horses, and he wanted to get back to that. His name is Levi Woods.” She turned down my street, pulling into my driveway. She parked next to my truck and turned toward me.
“That’s good to hear that you found someone,” I said while I unbuckled my seat belt.
She flashed her gorgeous smile. “Thanks. I had a lot of fun tonight. Tell your brother I’m sorry for taking you away from him.” She smirked. “Actually, I’m not sorry. Totally worth it.”
“Me too, and it was. Don’t worry about him. He would have done the same thing to me.” I leaned over and tucked a strand of her long hair behind her ear, letting my hand linger along her jawline. She sighed softly, leaning into my touch as she glanced down at my lips. I took it as an invitation, pulling her toward me and bringing her mouth to mine.
The kiss started slowly but quickly grew desperate. We couldn’t get enough of each other. Now that we’d had a taste, we were addicted. I pulled her across the console into my lap. With her straddling me, I deepened the kiss, our tongues fighting for control. My teeth sank into her plump bottom lip, and I sucked it into my mouth. She began grinding against me, making me harder than I already was. She moaned against my mouth, driving me insane. “Let’s go inside,” I groaned against her mouth, and just as I was about to make my way underneath her sweater, she pulled back and stopped. She sat back and looked at me, eyes wild, her breathing heavy.
I dropped my hands and searched her gaze. “What’s wrong?”
“Before this goes any further, I need to ask you something.”
“Sure, you can ask me anything.” I dropped my hands to her hips, trying to focus on her, but a lot of my blood had already rushed south.
I could tell she was nervous. “I know I said I’m trying not to be so serious all the time and that I just want to have fun, but do you see this”—she motioned between us—“going anywhere? I’m trying really hard to do this casual hookup thing, but I’m struggling, particularly because it’s you.” She sighed and looked down. “I can’t deny this deeper pull toward you. It isn’t just a physical attraction for me.”
My chest squeezed at her admission. I felt the same way, but I couldn’t go there. I couldn’t lie to her. I took a deep breath and tipped her chin up with my hand. “I’m going to be honest with you, Addison. The way you can’t do casual is the way I can’t do relationships. This is all I can really offer you. You’re also a client, a big one at that, and I don’t want things to get complicated.” She nodded and looked away, and it fucking killed me to let her down like this.
I turned her face back toward me. “You’re gorgeous and incredible. I love spending time with you, but I have to be honest about what I can give you.”
She forced a smile across her pretty face that didn’t reach her eyes. “Thanks for being honest with me. You’re a good guy, Dean. I know we’ve crossed a line already, but can we at least try to still be friends?”
I nodded as she climbed off my lap, which made my dickpitch a fit. “Of course. We’d better still be friends. You’re my only friend here,” I teased.
As I climbed out of her car so I could take a much-needed cold shower, the front door opened and out strutted Harper and Archer. They both looked up and spotted me, stopping dead in their tracks. Harper was wearing what I was pretty positive was my brother’s T-shirt with just-fucked hair, while Archer was wearing a smug-ass look on his face.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Arch?” I crossed my arms against my chest, rolling my eyes.
Addison popped out of the driver’s side of her car. “I see that the headache must have gone away, Harp.” Addison chuckled.
A wide grin spread across Harper’s face, and she flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “Yup, feeling much better now.” She turned back toward Archer and stood up on her toes, kissing him on the cheek and then walking toward Addison. “Well, this worked out. Now you can take me home with you, Addi. Good timing.” Addison just shook her head, laughing as Harper opened the door to the SUV and got into the passenger seat. “Catch ya later, Adler boys!” Harper waved and shut the door. Addison waved and smiled back at us before disappearing into her car.
Archer and I stood there watching them make their way down the driveway and disappear into the night. I turned back toward him and punched him in the arm. “Couldn’t keep your dick in your pants just this once? You’ve been here for all of one day, asshole.”
He rubbed his arm, laughing.
“Calm your shit, brother. Don’t be jealous that you can’t close the deal.” He smirked as I shoved his ass through the front door back into the house.
I had my back turned, making some eggs, when I heard Archer pull out a barstool and sit down at the island counter.
“You ready to tell me what happened with you and Addison last night?” Archer asked while taking a sip of the coffee I pushed toward him.
I leaned back against the counter, sipping my coffee, crossing my legs at the ankle. “We hooked up at the bar, made out in the car, I asked her to come inside, she said she didn’t do casual, I said I didn’t do relationships, and my night ended with a cold shower.”
Archer barked out a laugh. “Wow, thanks for the thirty-second synopsis of your evening.”
“Yeah, well, there isn’t much more to tell. We decided just to remain friends.” I turned back to the stove, turned it off, and plated our breakfast. I pushed his plate in front of him and took the barstool next to him.
“Your night did not go as I expected. How the hell did that even happen?” I asked as I forked some scrambled eggs into my mouth.
“Harper is a cool chick and hot as hell. We got to talking when you and Addison abandoned us for your bathroom hookup, and we actually have a lot in common,” he said arounda mouthful of food. “She clearly found me equally as hot, and one thing led to another.” He shrugged.
