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Twelve days later was a Wednesday, my day off, so I headed down to Santa Clarita to see my family. I spent the morning with my grandpa first, and after taking him to the diner for lunch, Meryl and I took him back to Brookside Gardens and then went shopping for a bit. Both of my cousins were home for the summer, Michael and Lauren, so they met up with us for a matinee.
Around six, I left Austin a message. He called me back ten minutes later as he was on his way home, just as I was also entering the city of Arcadia.
“I’d like to see you,” I told him.
“Oh, I’d love to see you, too, babe. I really wish I was up north instead.”
“Hmm, well I’m probably five minutes away. Do you still wish you were up north?”
“What? Are you serious?”
“I’m just passing the golf course.”
“The Santa Anita Golf Course? Then you’re, like, two minutes away,” he chuckled. “You know where you’re headed?”
“I believe so. I’ll see you in a couple of minutes.”
I hung up, feeling happy that I could surprise him. I was glad he seemed just as pleased, and my heart felt full and giddy at the same time.
I saw his Camaro right away, and he hadn’t even gone inside his condo yet. He stood up from the porch when I got out of my car, and just the smile on his face was enough to make my day.
“Wow, you’re a sight after a rough day,” he said.
I slid my hands around his neck and kissed him while he led me inside and shut the door behind us.
Unlike the day up in my room at the guesthouse, there was no need to be quiet. And I didn’t bother trying. We didn’t even make it up to his room. He had my legs spread on the couch, licking and tasting me, and it was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
For the first time ever, I thought I might be addicted to sex. I mean what is actually considered “addicted” when it came to that? I literally craved it from him. I wanted him all the time. And even though his oral game was extremely satisfying, I ended up demanding him inside me. Just that bit of hussy in me opened the sexual compatibility between us. Whatever I asked for, he gave it to me, and even when I didn’t know what to ask for, I got it anyway.
Don’t think it was all one-sided, though. There were plenty of yeehaw moments, and God, that was a thrilling thing to experience. I never thought I could be so carnal with a man, so lascivious and confident. But being with Austin was easy. We just meshed so well. And we developed one of those relationships with each other where we could just laugh about anything.
It was perfect.
Two days later, he arrived at the ranch. Again, I heard his car while I was in the stables, but I had five little puppies that were following me outside with Goldie. Austin saw me from the house, and I could even see him smile from where I was. I walked over to the grass and met him halfway, but was caught off-guard when he kissed me right there in the front yard.
I pulled back quickly, showing my surprise.
“What?” he smiled.
I gave him a look, and then glanced around at our surroundings.
“No one saw,” he shrugged. “Well, minus your little puppy clan here.”
“Austin, please don’t do that,” I said. I even looked at the house, hoping that no one had been looking out a window.
He was going to say something but changed his mind. Instead, he said, “Come on, Goldie,” and the dog—and her five little replicas—followed him toward the garage. “Come on, Nova,” he teased, calling me like the others.
I resisted the urge to make a retort, so I just followed along with the last four-legged straggler.
Once in the garage, Austin pointed outside and said, “Goldie, go play.” The dog didn’t follow him in, and she remained in the grass with her babies. He shut the door behind me and smiled when he pulled me close. “Is this better?”
“A little.”
“A little? Shit, I’m gonna saddle up a horse and take you into the woods, woman.”
“Really?” I grinned.
“If that’s what allows me time with you.”
I shrugged. “I’m game. I wanna see you ride a horse.”
He kissed me anyway, just as we heard several yips from the yard. I guess the puppies were trying to warn us because the door opened and just about nailed the both of us. Austin swung it open the rest of the way, as if we were already coming out, and Katie stood there just as surprised to see us as we were to see her.
“Hey, Kate,” Austin voiced cheerfully.
He stepped outside and so did I, and Katie just glanced us over as she entered the garage, shutting the door behind her.
I looked at Austin and let out a sigh of frustration.
“What? She couldn’t care less.”
I didn’t reply and called Goldie to follow me.
“Nova,” he groaned at me.
I turned around and faced him. “Austin, I can’t do this. I’m trying to keep my professional life separate from my personal life, and I can’t do it. It’s fine when we’re away from here. I mean Wednesday was...Wednesday was nice, Austin. It was amazing. We could be together, and we could go out to dinner, and I didn’t have to worry about it affecting my job—”
“We could be together here and it wouldn’t affect your job.”
“Maybe not to you. Maybe you don’t see how it changes my work environment.”
“No, I don’t think you understand that it doesn’t affect your professional obligations. If you would just trust me on this...”
I sighed, shaking my head. “I don’t know, Austin. Things are good for me right now. I love it here. I love working with Jack and I’m finding my place here. I can’t jeopardize that.”
I called Goldie again, and began walking toward the stables. I knew Austin was still behind me because he was encouraging the same little slowpoke to move along with us. I decided to put the dogs in the dog run instead of back in the barn since it was so nice out, so after Goldie entered through the gate with two of the puppies, I picked up the next two and set them inside. The last little pooch seemed to be on his own field trip, so Austin scooped him up and set him inside with the others.
“Nova, I’m sorry,” he said while I closed the gate.
“I am, too,” I replied, turning to face him. “I just don’t know what to do right now.”
“Well, I do, but you don’t seem to trust me on making a decision when it comes to my own family.”
Of course, when he put it that way, I felt awful. He had a point, but why couldn’t he see mine?
“I’m really worried about it,” I said.
“I know you are, but you need to trust me on this.”
He stepped closer to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. Then he leaned forward and kissed me. Obviously, I enjoyed his mouth melting into mine because I let him do it for so long, but my worry got the better of me and pulled away.
“I don’t think I can do this.”
“Yes, you can, Nova. This is my home. This is where I can kick back and relax. Yes, I work while I’m here, but it’s nothing like the real world. Working here is like I’m on vacation; it doesn’t even seem like work sometimes. Here you can have both. Nobody’s gonna fire you for being in a relationship with me. That’s not what it’s like here.”
“I don’t want people to think less of me, Austin. Can’t you understand that? I’ve been torn between this from day one, and I’ve never wanted to compromise the opportunity I’ve been given here—”
“Do you hear what I’m telling you? You’re not compromising anything. I want you to have this job—I’m glad you have this job—because I get to have you be a part of my world. Even if it is just a tiny part of it, but I’ll take it for all it’s worth.”
I didn’t say anything in response, and he sighed.
“Look at me,” he said softly, taking my chin in his hand. I gazed into his eyes just briefly, but it was enough to make me question my resolve all over again. He kissed me some more, and I had no fight in me to stop him. We continued to kiss, and then he just held me against him. “Nova, you’re the only one objecting to us being together. My family knows how I feel about you. Jack knows how I feel about you. Every person that works here knows how crazy I am for you. They’re all okay with it, every one of them, and you’re not?”
“What do you mean everyone knows?” I scoffed at him, lightly nudging his chest.
“I mean that it’s really obvious,” he chuckled. “It’s not something I go around talking to everyone about because you asked me not to, but it’s not a secret.”
Just then Sam walked by, and she caught sight of us against the side of the barn. We were still holding each other, but all Sam said was, “Oh, there you guys are. Austin, mom wants to know if you’ll be here for dinner.”
“Probably not. I’m taking my girlfriend out.”
“Okay, I’ll let her know,” she nodded while she continued to the house.
Austin smiled at me as I gaped at him with disbelief. “See, nothing new,” he told me.
“Oh my gosh!” I exclaimed, thumping him in the chest even harder.
“What?”
“You mean to tell me your family thinks I’m your girlfriend?”
“Thinks? You are, aren’t you?” he inquired with a tilt of his head. He was so sexy with that cocky smirk on his face, it was hard to be mad at him.
“Yes,” I relented. “I just meant...they know I’m your girlfriend?”
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Then he took my hand, and with his back against the barn, slid to sit on the ground. He tugged my hand to follow, so I did and sat next to him.
“About three months ago, I told them about this girl who worked in a restaurant...” I stared at him for several seconds as it registered, and then he shrugged. “I told them how beautiful you were, and how quick you were to keep up with four smartass guys giving you a hard time. I told them how much I liked your name, and your smile, and your determination...they looked forward to having you here, whether it was to work with Jack or not.”
I didn’t respond right away, but even though I liked the things he said about me, I realized I was still upset. “All this time it’s been common knowledge to everyone that you and I have had a thing?”
“No, no, no,” he said, shaking his head. “Just my family knows about all that—my parents and Jeff and Sami. But when you started working here, I asked them to keep it to themselves.”
I felt somewhat relieved about that, but I still felt a little unsettled about the situation. Finally, I said, “Well, I can’t do this anymore. It just feels dishonest to be sneaking around with you and...I guess we should just get it out in the open. Is that going to bother you?”
“Even though I love being dirty with you, sneaking around, I’m okay with that.”
I lightly laughed. “Okay, then. I’ll be right back.”
I hopped up and headed for Jack’s office, determined to get it over with no matter what. I didn’t even want to think about it anymore because I knew I should just do it, and didn’t want to lose my nerve. It appeared Jack was about to leave when I pretty much burst into the room. He stood there for a second with surprise, waiting for whatever it was I was about to announce.
And that was: “I’m in a relationship with Austin.”
He stared at me for several seconds, and then blinked. “And?”
I returned the stare and then asked, “And what?”
“And why do you need to remind me of that?”
“Remind you?”
He tilted his head and studied me for a moment, and then he pretended to search his counters and asked, “Did you get into some medication or something...?”
“What?”
He was obviously amused. “Nova, I’ve always thought you and Austin were together. Are you telling me that it wasn’t supposed to be common knowledge?” When I didn’t respond he added, “I just thought you were super sensitive about mixing your personal life with your work. I had to respect that because you’re very serious about your studies. But we’re a big family here, and casual mention of that stuff comes up all the time. But it certainly doesn’t interfere with our work.”
After a few beats I replied, “Oh.”
“If you’re worried it’s going to affect your professional standing here, don’t. I already thought I was mentoring Austin’s girlfriend. That’s why I agreed to meet you.”
“I could take offense to that.” I frowned.
“I know you could, but don’t. Austin was your link to a job you needed, but you very much deserve to be here by your own qualifications. Some things just happen for a reason. I told him I would meet with you, but I’d only mentor you if I chose to. But just from talking to you on the phone gave me my answer, and I’m very glad you’ve decided to join us here. Austin made a good call, but you’ve earned the job on your own, Nova. You’re here because you’ve impressed me on your own.”
I guess I felt both relieved and stupid at the same time. And I also felt bad that I hadn’t listened to Austin in the first place.
“Well, I’m sorry about how I handled this.”
“No need to apologize; I kind of like this drama.”
I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t want there to be any drama.”
“I know, I know. But what I mean is that Austin is a great kid. I’m glad to see he’s found himself someone special.”
Yes, that compliment made me blush, and I was also happy to hear his praise of Austin. “Well...thank you.”
He nodded and then paused for a few seconds. Finally, he released a breath of air. “Okay, so any other personal declarations we should get out of the way?”
“None that I can think of.”
“All right, then. See you around.”
He smiled at me as he left the office.
I groaned to myself, shaking my head. I still felt that mixture of relief and stupidity, but I guess what was done was done, and there wasn’t anything I could do to change it.
I decided to sit down at the counter and record my work for the day. Austin entered the office a minute later with an arrogant little smile on his face. I only glanced up at him just long enough to see who had entered the room, but continued to write.
“I’m working,” I said, trying to hide a smile.
He came around the counter to stand behind me, and softly massaged my shoulders. “Okay,” he replied. I could tell he was still smiling as he kissed the top of my head and added, “I’ll pick you up at six, okay?”
I finished writing a sentence and asked, “And where are we going?”
I didn’t think he was going to tell me at first, but he set his forearm onto the counter next to me so we were facing each other.
“I suppose you need to know what to wear, right?”
My heart chose a quicker rhythm because of his closeness to me. “Yes, that would be nice.”
“Okay, casual dinner and then a concert at the Fox Theatre.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You got concert tickets, assuming I would say yes to going out with you tonight?”
“I hoped you would say yes, but figured Sami would go with me if you broke my heart and refused to come.”
I eyed him before nodding my agreement. “Okay, I’ll let your efforts pay off.”
He smiled his satisfaction and put his hand behind my neck to kiss me. I let him because we were in somewhat of a private setting, and I wasn’t on the clock. But, of course, his dad had to walk in just as I put more affection into the exchange.
“Hey, I need to go over something with you when you have a few minutes,” Dave said to him. He left before Austin even had a chance to move away from me, but I soon realized he hadn’t intended to.
While he was still in the same position, Austin tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and said, “I’ve got some other work to do so I probably won’t see you until six. Okay, beautiful?”
I only nodded, and when he kissed me once more and then gave me a big cheesy smile, it made me forget all about the awkward moment with his dad. I watched him until he left, and then took a deep breath to concentrate on what I’d previously been doing.
It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes before Heath entered the office. “Jack’s gone for the evening, can you stitch me up?” He was holding a towel over his left arm, and it was soaked in blood.
I stood from the counter and removed the towel from his upper arm to peek at it. “Wow, that’s lovely. What happened?”
I led him to the sink to rinse the wound with saline while he explained how Only the Strong Survive, a new client, overpowered him in a battle with the trailer, and Heath “scraped” his arm on something. Apparently, the horse didn’t like to travel.
I sat Heath on a stool to stitch him up. Dave came in about halfway through to see if he was all right. They both had some things to say about the owner of the horse, and the horse itself. Then he told me the horse needed to be sedated so they could get him in the trailer and send him home.
“Is he calm yet?” I asked. “It might not work if he’s still all riled up.”
Dave politely smiled. “Yes, we’ve been working on it.”
“Sorry, I suppose you already knew that,” I said, feeling embarrassed.
“It’s not a problem; I’m just glad that you know that.” He chuckled.
“Should I finish here or make Heath suffer longer?”
Heath groaned and Dave laughed, but Dave replied, “Finish him up so he can still help us.”
So, after Dave left, I put a few more stitches into Heath’s arm, bandaged it up, and sent him on his way.
When I joined the commotion outside, it appeared the owner of the horse, Carson, strongly objected to the horse being sedated. And when he saw me arrive with the syringe in my hand, he began to argue with Dave even more.
“What if he falls? Or gets hurt? My daughter is showing him next week, I can’t have an injured horse!”
“He’ll be able to stand on his feet just fine,” Dave replied. “We’re not doping him up to knock him out. He just needs enough to relax him.”
“And what if he still won’t load?” Carson asked rather tersely.
“We’ll get him loaded,” Dave replied, visibly irritated. “But I suggest you hire someone to fix the problem because tranquilizing him every time isn’t going to be a viable solution. How do you plan on getting him to the show and back? How the hell did you even get him here?”
Carson was still agitated, but sighed. “Well...my neighbor has a mare that my horse is, uh, pretty found of. We loaded her first and Strong felt pretty motivated.”
Everyone chuckled at that, and I was glad it lightened the mood.
“She didn’t go along for the ride, too?” Heath asked.
“No, we unloaded her, but Strong didn’t like it. If all else failed, we were just gonna load the mare with us next week.”
“Well, we can get the kinks worked out of him,” Heath said. “But I can’t guarantee it’d be by next week. I suggest you have someone work with him if you’re gonna be showing him.”
“I just...I had no idea the horse didn’t trailer well,” he said. “The previous owner delivered him for us and...”
“Well, it happens,” Heath told him. “Sometimes it’s just a matter of getting him over a bad driving experience. But the horse needs to be worked with before you take him in public. For your safety, and his own.”
Carson agreed and was eventually talked into the sedative. They positioned the horse away from the trailer and I administered the drug into his neck. After a few minutes, they led him to the ramp and stopped, waiting for the telltale sign of the drooping head, signifying that it was time to load him. Heath walked him up easily and secured him in the stall while Dave went over a few more things with Carson.
When the truck and trailer left the ranch a while later, I headed back to the office to finish my day, and then went to the guesthouse to shower and get ready for my date with Austin. I was excited for it, and I figured I could probably check what concert we were going to online, but I chose to let myself be surprised.