AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ian stood frozen and admired the beauty. From behind her came Tessa on her own horse, but Ian’s gaze was riveted on Cassie. He hadn’t heard that deep laugh. She all but screamed sex with that throaty sound, her curves bouncing in the saddle, hair a wild mass of deep crimson curls.
Her carefree attitude would’ve been such a turn-on, but in the back of his mind he couldn’t forget where he came from. From a father who had standards so high nobody could reach them and a mother who spent her time entertaining boyfriends and husbands, leaving a young Ian a distant second in her life.
He never wanted to go back to that emotional place again.
* * *
“You’ve got an audience.”
Breathless and smiling, Cassie turned to her sister as Tessa came to a stop beside her. This felt good, to get out and not worry about training or anything else for a few minutes. Just getting back to their roots and racing was something she and her sister didn’t do nearly often enough.
“Who’s the audience?” Cassie asked, fully expecting to see some of the film crew. The cameramen and lighting people seemed to be all over the estate, moving things around, making the place their own for the sake of the film. The Hollywood scene was definitely a far cry from the usual relaxed atmosphere of Stony Ridge.
A sense of pride welled deep within her at the fact that Hollywood loved her family’s story as much as she did. Horses, racing and family... That was what it meant to be a Barrington, and they excelled at it all because they worked hard and loved harder.
“Your agent,” Tessa replied, nodding back toward the fence line. “I saw him stop when you raced by. He hasn’t moved.”
Cassie risked a glance and, sure enough, Ian stood turned in her direction. He was just far enough away that she couldn’t make out his facial expression...not that she cared. But damn, why did he have to be a jumbled mess? He’d wanted her with such passion last night, had made her feel so special and wanted. How dare he pull such emotions out of her when she was still trying to piece the shards of her heart back together after her divorce?
Today when he’d seen Emily, he’d become detached, angry and not at all the same man she’d been with last night. His silence had hurt her, had made the night before instantly ugly.
And after coming home, she’d checked her phone and found a missed call from Derek. Seriously? After months of no contact whatsoever, now he decided to call? Cassie had deleted the message without listening. She didn’t care what he had to say, and, after her emotional morning with Ian, she wasn’t in the mood.
“He’s not my anything.” Cassie turned back toward Tessa, turning her back on Ian and willing him to go away.
“He was something to you last night.”
Squinting against the sun, Cassie shrugged. “He was my temporary mistake. Nothing more.”
Leaning across the gap between the horses, Tessa slid her hand over Cassie’s. “I’m not judging at all. I just want you to know people aren’t perfect. We all make rash decisions, and beating yourself up won’t change what happened.”
Cassie knew Tessa would be the last person to judge her, but that didn’t stop the embarrassment from settling in her gut.
“I just hate that I gave in to the first man to show me any attention since being divorced,” Cassie explained, gripping the reins.
Tessa’s warm smile spread across her face. “Honey, Ian is a very attractive man, you’re a beautiful woman and you all were locked in an attic all night. Instant attraction is hard to ignore, especially when you have nothing else to focus on.”
“Self-control is a beautiful thing,” Cassie murmured. “Too bad I didn’t have any.”
Laughing, Tessa squeezed Cassie’s hand before pulling back. “Yeah, well, I didn’t have any where Grant was concerned, either, and look how well it worked out for us.”
Cassie’s eyes darted down to the impressive diamond band surrounding Tessa’s ring finger. Grant had gotten a flat band because of Tessa’s riding career; he knew she wouldn’t want to work with anything too bulky.
And that proved just how beautiful a relationship her sister and Grant had. The man knew Tessa inside and out, loved her and her career. He’d even overcome his own personal demons to be with her.
Cassie couldn’t be happier for the two of them, but her situation was different.
“I’m pretty sure my attic rendezvous will not be leading to any proposals,” Cassie joked. She had to joke with Tessa, otherwise she’d cry, and she refused to let this experience pull her down and make her feel guilty for having needs. “Besides, I think seeing Emily was like a bucket of cold water in Ian’s face. I won’t be with anybody who can’t accept that I’m a package deal.”
