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“How what is?” I frown.
“My price is much higher for passage.”
“I know that.”
He leans in, his breath a cloud. “Don’t lie and say you don’t enjoy it.”
A shiver moves down my spine and I can’t think of anything but the last time he fucked me. When I walked from the bathroom and he pushed me down on the bed. My toes curl in my cold boots.
“Show me what you’ve been doing with Angel,” he says.
“We’ve been working on lunging,” I say. “I’ll get on her in the barn and let her sit with that, but we haven’t been riding in the pasture.”
“Good girl, that’s smart,” he says. “Gives her space to obey, but not feel restricted.”
He takes the lead rope from the gate and hands it to me, following me inside the paddock. I’m a little nervous with him watching me, but I’m confident Angel can at least do this. He stays by the gate, arms crossed over his broad chest. Hat pulled low.
I pause in the center of the paddock. Angel backs up obediently and lines herself up with the fence. She waits, gazing at me through her forelock. I take the loose end of the lead and swing it in slow circles. Right away, she breaks into a clockwise walk around the perimeter of the fence. Pride fills my chest and I want to look at Gerard, but Angel deserves my focus.
I switch hands. Angel pivots and moves counterclockwise.
“Good,” Gerard says. “Bring her in to you.”
I stop swinging the rope and loop it over my arm. Angel turns and starts walking slowly in my direction. She comes to a halt,drapes her head over my shoulder, and follows me back to where Gerard stands by the gate.
“She’s doing really well,” he says.
I open my mouth to reply, but out of nowhere there’s a sound like a gunshot. Angel throws her head so fast I only have time to fall back against the fence. Her eyes flash white and I see panic set in as she whirls. She takes the paddock at a gallop, kicking up ice and dry grass and heads back at us.
Panic sets into me too and I scramble back, but it’s too late. Her chestnut and white body swings around and her hindquarters fill my vision.
At the last minute, I feel his body over mine. I hear his grunt as he takes the weight of Angel’s body against his. Big Dog barks from somewhere outside the paddock. And I see Gerard grit his teeth as he’s slammed against the fence.
His hat falls off and his eyes flash, but he stays calm. Angel throws her head and Gerard’s body ripples as he shoves her back. Pushing half the weight of a horse off him.
Oh my God, that’s both terrifying and impressive.
Angel bolts to the far side of the paddock and stops. She’s heaving, her skin shivering.
I turn to run to Gerard, but he’s already standing, dusting his hands off. He’s got a dirty print on his back, but otherwise he’s unharmed. My feet are frozen to the ground as he walks back over to me.
“I’m so sorry,” I burst out. “It won’t happen again. It was my fault.”
He glances up, eyes calm. “It’s fine, redbird. She’s a horse and horses spook.”
My clenched hands uncurl. Heat floods my body in an uncontrollable wave. If that had happened with Clint, he’d have berated me for days. He’d have made me feel terrible and takenaway my horse as punishment, telling me I didn’t deserve to train her anymore.
“It was probably a car backfiring by the employee residences,” he says. He takes his coat off, hanging it over the fence. “Let me get Angel.”
I stand by the gate, speechless. He’s in his Henley and he’s rolled the sleeves up just enough to show his wrists. I can see the outline of his undershirt beneath. There’s a faint sweat stain around the buttons. I can tell he runs hot, even in the winter.
I watch the muscle move beneath his shirt as he centers himself in the paddock. Angel balks, backing into the fence. He kneels down, making himself smaller, although he still comes up to my shoulder when he’s on his knees.
He whistles. Angel stands perfectly still.
“She doesn’t like men,” he says quietly.
I like that he doesn’t fault her for it, he’s just stating a fact. He holds out his palm. We wait in silence for several minutes. I’m trying to keep myself under control, but how patient he’s being is driving me wild.
