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“Exactly my point, Jade. Now climb your ass in bed. You need rest.” I won’t argue with him there. I climb in, the sheets cool against my skin. Kaleb wastes no time tucking me into his side. Swinging my leg over his, I curl my arm around his waist.
“Sleep, Jade. Tomorrow we’ll talk.” I close my eyes. Even though I slept soundly and peacefully in my bed at my parents’ house, sleeping next to Kaleb is undoubtedly the best night’s sleep I’ve had in months.
~~~~
“So let me get this straight. You left that fine piece of ass in bed to sit out here with me and have coffee? Did you fall and smack your head?” Mal reaches over, digging her fingers into my knotted-up hair.
“Quit it, you ass. And no. My head is fine. I agreed to sit out here to watch the sunrise with you and talk without any interruptions. So ask me. I know you're dying to know about him.” I nudge her shoulder. We’ve been up for about a half hour. Last night was wonderful, getting settled in, but Mal and I really haven’t had the chance to talk. She only knows what she overheard before we left. After Harris showed us around, he made a fire. We sat around and most of the conversation was directed around his ranch. I see why he loves to come here. Mal ate it up. Well, more like ate him up with her eyes. I’ll definitely be touching on that subject.
“Well, where should I start? How about this. When and how long have you been fucking him?”
“A few weeks.” I shrug. That was not what I expected, hell I’m not sure what I expected her to ask.
“You can’t tell me shit. Can you?” She laughs.
“I can and I can’t. I care about him. Everything else is complicated. You have to trust me, I guess. Trust that I’m following my heart for once, Mallory.” It’s the truth. I thought long and hard on the ride here yesterday. He means more to me than I was willing to admit. My mind was so consumed with what happened to me that I was willing to push him away, when in reality I need him. Not to help me continue to deal with the things I have no control over, but to make me feel for the first time in my life. To feel wanted, needed, and cherished. The way he held me all night meant just as much to me as the way he gave me space for a few days even though he really didn’t want to; and the way he gave up everything without hesitation when I asked him to come here with me for the weekend. I’d be a fool to not see where we can go from here.
“Well, I’m happy for you. You deserve it, you know. Happiness and all.” She takes a sip of her coffee.
“So do you. I saw the way you watched Harris’ ass every time he stood up to poke the fire. I know how your mind works.” I laugh freely, breathing in the fresh country air.
“Even a blind woman would want to be poked by him. Jesus. Have you looked at his ass?” I have. Time to change the subject. I’m thankful yet again nothing happened between the two of us. Whatever did happen, she doesn’t mention it. What we do talk about is the visit with my parents. The dinner we have planned for the following weekend and my visit to see my brother’s grave. I have no guilt left, no shame for what I did to save the man I feel I’m falling in love with and the rest of my team. The truth bears weight that if I hadn’t shot that young boy, I wouldn’t be sitting here with my best friend, I wouldn’t be with the man who, yes, I need in my life. The possibility of him not being a part of my life now is undeniably not an option. I’m falling for the first time in my life, and god help me, I believe he will be there to catch me.
“Jesus Christ, that shit stinks. I could literally throw up my breakfast you gentlemen made for us this morning. That is nasty,” Mallory hollers the minute we walk into the stables toward the horses. I have my shit kickers on, but I sure as hell am not shoveling shit. Thank god he was only joking about it.
His ranch is huge. He has workers who take care of his horses and their breeding. I’m more excited about riding one. And she’s right about the smell being bad.
“You get used to it, and once you get out into the open field or roam around the trails, you can’t smell shit out there.” I love how Harris uses her words and shoves them right back in her face with a laugh. She needs it.
“Fuck Harris, these horses are beauties. Never pegged you for this.” Kaleb strolls up to a reddish-colored horse that’s all saddled up and ready to go. Three more of the same-colored ones are ready to go. They are breathtakingly beautiful. It’s all a little intimidating, but the shiny coats are absolutely perfect.
“That’s Serena. This is Tiger Lily, that one there is Diego, and the other one is Tinkerbell.” He points to all of them in turn.
“Tinkerbell is for you, chicken shit.” He walks over and grabs the reins, never taking his eye off of Mallory.
“I never said I was chicken.” Mallory crosses her arms under her breasts. Harris’ eyes divert right to them.
“Come on, mouth. I’ll show you around, while these two can drift off to wherever they want.” He reaches for her hand and guides her up on the horse.
“Oh shit,” she squeals.
“Yeah. That’s what I thought. I got you.” He takes hold of her reins, heaving himself up on his horse with ease.
“You know what you're doing, Maverick?” he asks while showing Mallory how to hold the reins, pulling back slightly for the horse to stop. I’m more into watching these two interact than anything else. I’ve never seen her act so skittish. Either that or she’s faking her damn ass off just so he’ll touch her.
“Yeah, I got this.” I give these two a lot of credit. What started out as a hell of a raw deal for Harris and the way Maverick has treated him, has turned into respect for one another. Over breakfast they joked around, chatted a bit. I felt comfortable for the first time around them together since they met. I was also very aware of the small glimpses of concern Harris kept shooting Maverick’s way. Something else is going on. It doesn’t have a thing to do with the three of us, but yet somehow it does. It’s different though, like Kaleb is keeping something from me and Harris is warning him to tell me. All of my training and my gut tell me that whatever it is, I’m not going to like it at all.
“Good, just stay on the trail I told you about. You’ll see the lake not too far from here. We’ll meet you guys back here in a few hours.”
“You ready?” Kaleb turns in my direction.
“Yes.” Even though I’m nervous, I manage to get my foot in the stirrup and start to drag myself up, only to be guided by a strong pair of hands palming the curves of my ass.
“What? Those damn shorts leave nothing to my imagination. If that fine ass is going to be shoved in my face, then I’d be a damn fool not to touch it. Keep looking at me like that and I’ll find something to bend you over out there and fuck that sweet ass again. This time while you scream my name.” Well, shit. My legs are spread across this damn horse, making it impossible to clench them together, but my ass cheeks flex. God, that seems like forever ago.
“We’ll see,” I say sarcastically as I grab the reins and take charge of the horse like Harris instructed us to do over breakfast. It doesn’t take Kaleb long to catch up with me as we trot side by side down the trail, taking in and enjoying the view. He pulls out of his shell and shares so much information with me about himself. He went to school in Florida and joined the Army right after high school. His father left his mother when he, a younger brother, and his sister were young.
“Your mom sounds incredible to have raised all of you by herself.”
