I scoffed. “That’s ridiculous. He should have loved that you had a passion and supported you and your love forhorses wholeheartedly. Isn’t that what love is? I understand compromising in a relationship, that’s a given, but not your passion. That’s what makes you, you.”
Addison laughed, but it was laced with sadness. “Yeah, I’m not sure Noah had anything he was passionate about aside from money and status.”Sounds like Noah.
“His loss. My gain.” The waiter made his way back into the room and set a slice of dark chocolate cake in front of us. We both grabbed a spoon to dig in. I held my spoon up in a cheers, and Addison followed suit. “Congratulations on Mountain Laurel Farm, baby. You should be so proud of yourself and the success you’ve already had.” We clinked our spoons together in celebration.
After dinner, we made our way back to my place. Once we walked in the door, Coal beelined for Addison.The fucking traitor. Addison sat down on the floor, cooing to him and loving on him. And now I was jealous of my goddamn dog. I made my way over to my wine fridge and grabbed a bottle and two wineglasses.
“Hey, let’s go sit outside by the fire. Can you grab the blanket off the couch?” Addison stood up and grabbed the blanket, following me to the back patio. I turned on the outdoor string lights, lit the fire pit in front of the couch, and turned on some music through my patio speakers. I poured us each a glass of wine, and we both settled on the couch, her leaning into mychest with her legs tucked off to the side.
She took a sip of wine and looked up at me. “Thanks for tonight. This was perfect.”
“So, I did a good job on our date?”
“A-plus, Adler.” She laid her head against my chest, and I trailed my fingers up and down her arm, kissing the top of her head. We sat like that for several minutes, perfectly content in a comfortable quiet, just listening to the music over the speakers and watching the fire. I loved being around her.
I felt the sudden urge to express how I felt about her, that I was falling for her, that I was in love with her. But it didn’t feel right when I wasn’t being completely honest with her. I knew I needed to come clean before I told her how I felt, but deep down I also knew I was putting off the truth because I didn’t want this to all come crashing down. There was a chance that when I told her what I had been keeping from her, she would see me differently. That she wouldn’t share the same feelings toward me, and that would destroy me. I knew I was being a coward, but I wasn’t ready to go there yet.
I cleared my throat, breaking the silence. “You make me really happy, Addison,” I decided to say instead. She lifted her head, her emerald gaze locked on mine.
“You make me really happy too,” she said in a whisper.
I lifted her chin up toward me and pressed my mouth to hers. The kiss started out slow and sweet. I traced her bottom lip with the tip of my tongue as she opened for me. We took the kiss deeper as she ran her hands through my hair, pulling me closer to her. I pulled away briefly and looked into her gorgeous eyes. “Stay the night?”
Her green eyes searched mine, and the smile that always stole my breath spread across her pretty lips. “Of course.” In one quick movement, I picked her up off the couch. She wrapped her legs around my waist as I carried her to my bedroom.
Chapter 19
Addison
Lastnightwasincredible.Dean put together the most thoughtful date I’d ever been on. I felt incredibly lucky. He also made good on his promise of “disrespecting” me once he got me into his bed. Snapping me out of my lovesick daze, Farrah walked over on Cash. She had been coming out a couple of times a week to ride, and today I let her work Cash for me.
“Addi, he is amazing. I love this horse.” She reached down and patted his neck. I looked up at her and smiled while running my hand up Cash’s face.
“Yeah, he is, isn’t he? I was lucky when I found this guy. I’m really happy you’ve been able to come out and ride. It feels like the old days, doesn’t it?”
“It does. Thanks for giving me horses to ride. I missed it so much. Being on a horse brings a sense of calm over me.”
I nodded. “I know what you mean. Plus, you’re helping me out by keeping all these horses worked.”
“I’m going to go get him untacked and brushed. I’ve got to get back to my office. I’ll pop back out and say bye before I head out.” Farrah dismounted from Cash, bringing the reins over his head to lead him back toward the barn. As she enteredthe barn, one of my clients led her horse, Apollo, out toward the mounting block for their lesson.
Apollo was a gorgeous all-black Hanoverian gelding. His owner, Sarah Townsend, was in her early forties and was the town pediatrician for all of Primrose Hill. She bought Apollo a couple of years ago when he was six. He was now eight, and she wasn’t happy with his previous trainer and their progress, so she came to me. Sarah rode in the Adult Hunter’s division jumping three feet, but wanted to take Apollo up to the three foot three division.
I propped myself up on the top of the fence surrounding my outdoor arena as Sarah made her way into the ring with Apollo.
“Hey, Sarah, I’ve got some exercises that I want to work you through on the flat before we move on to jumping, so go ahead and take the rail at the walk and let him loosen up.” Sarah did as I instructed and walked a couple of laps, letting Apollo stretch his neck and legs.
“All right, let’s pick up the trot and really try to break up the ring. Do some large circles, cut across the diagonal, and change up the direction, keep his brain working.”
After several minutes of Sarah trotting Apollo around, I asked her to begin making her circles smaller and to really focus on bending him around her leg.
“That looks great, Sarah. Make sure to release the pressure when he gives you the bend. Now bring him down to a collected sitting trot and yield him off the rail with your outside leg, then move into a reverse turn to change direction.”
Sarah did as instructed but struggled a bit to push him off therail.
“Let’s try that again, but bring him back down to the walk. When you push him over with your outside leg and he doesn’t respond, tap him lightly behind your leg with your crop and shift both hands over to the inside.”
She tried the new method at the walk, and Apollo responded much better.
