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“I’ve missed you,” he finally spoke, placing his hand against the side of my face.
The moment was so surreal, I thought I was having one of my wonderful dreams. It almost felt like déjà vu. I think I’d been fantasizing about the moment way too much.
He ran his thumb along my cheekbone. “I tried to give you some space to, you know, do your thing here, but I just...can’t avoid you any longer.”
My heart was trying to hammer its way out of my chest. “I tried to use the time to focus on my job, but your absence only made me think about you more.”
And there was that quirky smile I’d missed so much, and then came the kiss I’d been dying to receive for so long. I’m not sure how I disregarded all my previous decisions in that moment, but I surely did as we stood there kissing one another.
It was even better than my dreams, and the feel of his lips and his tongue against mine sent a jolt of electricity through my limbs. My body was pressed against his so firmly, I was well-aware of his erection grinding into me. Funny how a surge of passion could make you feel like a submissive heap of nothing while wanting to aggressively maul someone at the same time.
When he pressed his palm against the crotch of my jeans, I felt a sound escape my throat. All I wanted was for him to touch me—anywhere, everywhere—but I was too timid to ask. Instead, I reciprocated his actions and obviously ignited something that’d been brewing.
His lips left mine, and he dropped his forehead against the wall behind me. He exhaled a shaky breath, and then kissed my neck as we continued to touch each other. The feel of his lips and tongue on my skin left me with a pool of desire in my lower core, so when he unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans and his fingers slipped inside my panties, I thought I was going to come undone the second he touched me.
“God, you’re wet, Nova. I, uh...” He paused, but was still breathing heavily. He was hesitating. I didn’t want him to hesitate. I didn’t want him to stop. Massaging his fingers between my legs just a couple of times was not enough.
“Well, now you can finally do something about it,” I told him, moving myself into his hand.
He faced me, the glimmer of desire in his green eyes apparent. I’d seen that look in Austin before. Maybe it wasn’t exactly sexual before, but just...possessive.
God, possessive. That made me feel powerful. It made me feel wanted, and it stirred everything inside of me. The confident woman who existed below the surface felt more commanding than ever. I wanted to take him inside me and make him mine. I wanted to give him my entire body.
His fingers slowly beginning to work between my legs again. His lips returned to my mouth, his tongue intense and searing against mine. I felt my body and mind melt into a different version of myself. Instead of sensible, textbook Nova, I felt impassioned and spontaneous.
I felt completely alive, living in the moment.
It became clear we both wanted to screw the hell out of each other. I didn’t know if it would be against the wall, on the floor, on the desk...it really didn’t matter to me. But then the phone started ringing. And even though they were far away, I saw people out the window in Field Seven and I became extremely insecure.
And then the phone kept ringing some more.
Austin cracked the office door open and peeked into the hallway, and before I could object or be worried about the ready-to-be-fucked state of my body, he pulled me into the hall with him.
I quickly learned his bedroom was conveniently located right next door.
He continued to finger me until I came seconds after he locked the door, but just as he was about to pull me to the bed, a door in the house shut, heavy footsteps got closer, and Austin’s dad called out his name.
Twice.
“Shit,” Austin groaned after hearing the travel of footsteps our direction. He obviously paused at the office, then continued our way.
The door knob rattled. “Austin?”
I was about to panic. There was no way in hell I wanted Dave to catch me in Austin’s bedroom. My pants were at my thighs as I tried to tug them up, and I threw Austin’s shirt at him that had just been eagerly stripped off him. I didn’t want him to cover up—he had a beautiful body, and my eyes wouldn’t stop staring at every inch I could—but I was in panic mode.
Dave pounded on the door, and when Austin went to reach for it, I silently begged him not to. He held up a hand to shush me, but opened the door while keeping me hidden behind it.
“I’m about to shower,” he told his dad, standing with one hand holding the door and the other draping his shirt to conceal his boner.
I almost snickered out loud.
“In the middle of the day?” Dave asked.
Austin shrugged. “I’m feeling, uh, agitated. Thought it might help me think.”
Pause. “Hmm. Hey, have you finished that Bronson contract? He’s gonna be here in an hour.”
“It’s on my desk.”
“Sounds good.”
Austin shut the door and exhaled, but before he could even speak, we both heard his mom’s voice too.
“Austin, sweetheart? Sami got second today,” she shared excitedly.
“He’s in the shower,” Dave told her.
“Oh. Well, I’m going to find who’s here and go say hello to everyone.”
When we were sure they were both gone, I think I finally took a breath.
“Of all the luck,” Austin shook his head. He went to kiss me again but I pulled away.
“I can’t, Austin. Your mom is about to find out I’m not at the guesthouse or the stables. She’s going to put two-and-two together, and I’m going to lose my job!” I hissed.
“You’re not going to lose your job—”
He realized I was now fully dressed, and after pausing for several seconds to assess the situation, understood our session was done.
He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed, and then pointed to the sliding door on the opposite end of the room as my escape.
I swear to God I think I heard him promise his dick he’d take care of him in a second when I slipped out the back door.
Later, I did reiterate how I felt about working at Harmony Acres while being in a relationship with Austin at the same time. He argued the point, claiming it wasn’t a big deal, but I think for my sake, he went along with it just to humor me. I at least wanted to get past my part-time stint, and once I was working on the ranch full time, I’d reassess things from there.
Austin joked about the whole “secret lovers” thing, but I really felt it was the right thing to do. I wanted the people I worked with to respect me for the work I could do, not judge me for dating one of their bosses. How could I feel comfortable with that?
When I told my grandpa that Austin and I were finally past dancing around our attraction to one another, he gave me a huge smile and said, “It’s about damn time!”
But still, I didn’t know if my relationship with Austin was appropriate while I was working for him and his family. My grandpa seemed to think my relationship with Austin is what happened first, and that his family was already aware of it and hired me with that knowledge.
I disagreed.
However, on the plus side of it, I felt a lot more relaxed in the other aspects of my life. I was happy that Austin and I talked on the phone every day, and just by having the assurance that he’d been interested in me for so long gave me a lot of confidence and joy I hadn’t had before.
I moved up to Bakersfield the first week of June. It was a Thursday, but Jack told me to take all the time I needed to get settled in. But, to my complete and utter delight, one of Marlo’s horses went into labor that afternoon. I’d never seen a colt born, so it was fascinating, and even though there wasn’t much to do because Jack made sure everything went smoothly, I still got to write it up as my work experience for him to sign off.
Pardon My Dust had a new baby boy that would soon be named.
Austin arrived on Friday afternoon. I was in the stables treating Syncopation with her eye ointment when I heard his car rumble by. Even though I was giddy beyond belief, I continued with my work, checking on Ridley—who’d been given stitches after tearing his flank open the day before—and then gave Sadie Liz some anti-inflammatory meds for her legs.
I heard, “Hey, psst,” a minute later, and smiled at Austin waiting by the tack room. When I approached, he pulled me inside and shut the door. I wrapped my arms around his neck while he kissed me. We paused a minute later when we heard boot steps go by, and then continued making out. He gradually reduced the amount of contact, and then smiled at me.
“I want you to come over tonight,” he said quietly.
“To your house? Austin, I don’t think—”
“Sam’s inviting a few friends over, and I know she’ll invite you. Just say yes, okay?” I thought about it for a few seconds, and when I didn’t respond right away he added, “Pleeeeeease?”
I rolled my eyes but had to give in. “Okay. But if you think you’re going to drag me off to your room and nobody’s going to notice...”
He grinned. “When the time comes, I’ll send you a text with instructions.”
Softly, I laughed. “Well, I have a few more things to do right now, but maybe you should come eat dinner in the guesthouse tonight. I hear there will be good dessert.” He raised his eyebrows as I patted him on the chest and added, “I’ll catch ya later, handsome.”
“Wait, you have to kiss me again,” he said, gently securing my wrist before I could leave. He pulled me close and eyed me adoringly. I felt my heart swoon with excitement. “I’ve waited all week for this reunion, so you better make it good.”
I had to stifle a laugh, but before I could respond, his lips met mine with a passion that made me want to take his clothes off right there in the tack room. But it didn’t last long because another set of boots walked by—or maybe the same pair—and we stopped.
“Bye,” he said, giving me one last kiss before he slipped out the back door.
I took a deep breath to recover, and left through the front.
––––––––
Sam did invite me over that night. She caught me just as I was heading to the guesthouse to shower and get ready for dinner. I agreed to coming, but felt guilty about it. Even though I really liked Sam and would have said yes without Austin’s forewarning, I only wanted to go over there for him.
I was just coming down the stairs when he entered through the guesthouse. He mouthed a “wow” when he saw me, and I rolled my eyes because of my damp hair and bland appearance.
“Clara, I hear you made enchiladas,” he spoke loudly, heading straight for the kitchen.
“Why yes, I did,” I heard her reply when I sat on the couch in the front room.
“My family is doing the whole pizza-thing because Sami’s having friends over. I’d rather have a home-cooked meal.”
I heard her laugh at the hint. “Well, it’s just Heath and Nova tonight,” she told him.
“Perfect, then there’s more for me, right?”
“Unless your brother decides to roll in tonight. He can smell my food from the driveway.”
“He has a girlfriend who cooks for him all the time. He doesn’t appreciate it like I do.”
“Well if—” She stopped short for some reason, and then I heard the oven open. “Go see what’s holding up my husband. And tell him he doesn’t get dessert since he’s late!” she hollered after him.
Austin came down the hall with a big smile. “There is dessert.”
Dinner that night was interesting. Austin—with all his wit and charm to control a conversation—had Clara and Heath telling me all kinds of stories about how they first met, and the crazy things that happened at their wedding twenty-eight years ago.
I tried to be attentive to what was being said, but Austin kept staring at me with that sexy smile of his, and I knew it made me blush. He took advantage of the fact that Clara and Heath barely glanced at him. They kept looking at each other and then me as they told their stories, most likely because Austin had heard them all before.
After dinner, I headed to my room to get ready to join Sam and her friends. Austin watched me from the bottom of the stairs, and after glancing around and realizing that no one was around to see him, he took the stairs three at a time and rushed me into my room.
“You are very bad,” I told him, shaking my head at him. “How are you going to get out of here now?”
He shrugged when he shut the door. “I guess I’ll figure that out later.”
He locked the door behind him.
We’d never been as intimate as we’d been that first time in his parents’ house. It was now a couple of weeks later, and after several make-out sessions and two close calls, I knew this time was going to be different.
Whenever Austin kissed me, it was like nothing I’d ever felt before. My excitement in other aspects of my life couldn’t even compare to the rush I felt just from his mouth on me. I knew I wanted more with him, but between our mismatched schedules and all the people around at the ranch, it had been impossible.
I was nervous, but once the heat gradually progressed, it became natural to let him lay me on the bed and remove my clothes. I know it’s probably cliché to mention that “really deep connection” when people talk about sex, but that’s exactly what I felt with Austin. The second he slid inside me, I could not only feel the physical pleasure that came with it, but my heart seemed to wrap itself around his entire being.
I knew right then I needed him in my life.