Page 24 of Blue Jean Summer

Me: See you then.

I set my phone on my desk and tried to take a breath, but it was like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room.

We were actually doing this.

I needed to get some fucking air. Thankfully, the Wilder Estate had plenty of that.

I closed my computer and slipped out from behind the desk. Even though it was only lunchtime, I had already gotten in a full day’s work. A virtual meeting with buyers in Seoul meant I had been up and at ’em since three in the morning.

On days when I was working on someone else’s time zone, I tried to stay awake through the regular workday so that my sleep schedule didn’t get messed up too badly.

Some days it was hard. Today was not one of those days.

A rush of adrenaline after talking to Catherine was the second wind that I needed.

I closed the door to the office and slipped through the house. Hallie’s car was gone, which probably meant she had gone to town to run errands. My loafers squeaked across the spotless kitchen floor as I slipped out the side door, taking long strides down the pebble path.

There were golf carts I could have used to get around the property. Granddad favored them toward the end of his life when he couldn’t get on horseback. But today, I needed to stretch my legs. More than that, I needed the rush of riding across the valley at breakneck speeds, feeling each jolt as hooves pounded into the earth.

“Look who it is,” Mason said when I made it down to the stables. “Get tired of looking at the same four walls?”

“Something like that,” I said. “Early morning. Needed to get some air.”

“I’ll say,” Mason said with a chuckle. “I saw lights already on in the estate house when I got up for the day. And I’m an early riser.”

Levi slipped out of a stall, leading a beautiful colt who seemed to eye him with annoyance. “Morning.” The slap of his farrier’s apron against his blue jeans matched the clop of the horse’s hooves. He paused a few feet away and looked me up and down as the horse did the same. “You sure you wanna be down here dressed all fancy?”

I smoothed my hand down the front of my dress shirt. “Honey Hollow has a dry cleaner.”

Levi smirked. “Suit yourself. Good to see you getting out of your hidey-hole.”

“Who’s this?” I asked, nodding toward the massive beast.

“This is Carolina Charisma, but everyone around here calls him Kamikaze,” Levi said, tipping his head toward the animal. “He comes from a long line of derby winners and has the attitude to prove it.”

The horse blustered at the inconvenience of having to wait. I swore he looked at me and rolled his eyes.

“So, he’s an asshole?” I guessed.

“Yep,” Levi said. “But he’s an asshole who makes a lot of money and has a real shot at earning the Roses next year. He lost his last race by a nose, and he’s taking it out on everyone. We’re going on a long, romantic stroll around the pasture so he can cool his temper and keep from kicking at me when I go to work on his hooves.”

I shuffled out of the way. “Well then, don’t let me hold up your flirtation. Best of luck.”

Levi looked around to make sure the coast was clear. “You got a fiancée yet?”

I let out a sharp exhale. “As of ten minutes ago, yes.”

“Good,” Levi said. “I don’t want to lose my house. I like a short commute.”

One thing my granddad had insisted on was sharing the land. He was protective of it but allowed anyone who worked at the property full-time to build on a parcel or live in the estate house, so long as they treated the land with respect.

Hallie and her son lived in the estate house, while Mason and Levi both had cabins up in the foothills.

Levi wasn’t technically an estate employee, but his farrier business had him working on so many of the horses that were boarded on the property that it just made sense for it to be his home base. In return, he provided free care to the few horses that belonged to the estate.

“So, Catherine said yes?” Mason asked.

I nodded.