All of them started talking at once.
Veronica just stood there amused by the chaos she’d just unleashed.
She had taken Takuache for a short ride after their usual training session and had just come back when she’d overheard the brothers talking inside Tomás’s office. She couldn’t quite make out every word, and part of her was tempted to put her ear against the door. Instead, she’d gone inside Takuache’s stall to remove his saddle. Several minutes later, the conversation from inside the office had carried out into the main area of the stable. This time she could hear every single thing.
Veronica had been shocked by Tomás’s admission. And she’d also felt bad for him. Then a lightbulb turned on inside her head and she knew she had to share her brilliant idea.
Of course she should pretend to be Tomás’s girlfriend. And she was serious about them not having to pay her. After all, there was something else she’d accept in return.
The guys were still talking—or maybe it was arguing? So Veronica put her fingers to her mouth and blew. The high-pitched whistle did its job, and finally silence came to the stable.
Tomás stepped closer to her and simply said, “No. Thank you. But no.” He then walked away from everyone and went back inside his office.
Daniel waved at her to go follow him. “He’s stubborn. Go talk to him.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Nico announced.
“You’re the one who offered up your exes,” Daniel said. “Veronica is a much better option.”
“Thanks. I think?” she said before turning around to follow Tomás.
By the time she got to his office, he was sitting behind his little desk. Papers were stacked in towers of various heights, and a row of cups and mugs lined one side. For someone who was so meticulous about his horses and stable, Tomás was the opposite when it came to this area.
He didn’t acknowledge her presence at first. Maybe he thought if he ignored her then she’d leave. He should have known by now that she didn’t scare that easily.
Veronica sat down in one of the chairs across the desk from him. “Why do you like telling me no?”
Tomás looked up, opened his mouth, shut it, and went back to scribbling on the notepad in front of him.
“I was serious, Tomás. I’ll be your fake girlfriend at the party.”
“No,” he said without looking up.
“Why? Am I not pretty enough to be your girlfriend?”
That made him finally meet her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re gorgeous and you know it.”
Veronica hadn’t been fishing for a compliment, so she didn’t know how to respond to that. But it emboldened her to keep going.
“Then let me do this for you. Your brothers think it’s a good idea.”
“Well, I don’t,” he said and went back to studying the papers in front of him. “I shouldn’t have lied to Mia in the first place. I don’t want to keep lying once she’s here.”
Veronica sighed. Normally she would’ve stopped pushing by now. She wasn’t the kind of woman who begged for someone to date her—fake or not. But she was determined to convince Tomás to train her. Helping him out with his ex situation would be a bonus.
She decided to tell Tomás something she hadn’t told anyone in a very long time.
“I want to help you because I know where you’re coming from.”
He looked up at her again. “What do you mean?”
“I understand having to face an ex who has already moved on,” she confessed after a long sigh. “And if you pretend it’s not going to affect you, then you run the risk of getting hurt again. Well, in my case, it actually landed me in the hospital and in the starring role of a certain embarrassing viral video.”
His eyes widened in shock. “Are you telling me that what happened to you three years ago was because of a guy?”
“Yep,” she scoffed, heated embarrassment starting to creep up her neck. “How basic is that?”
“What happened?” he asked softly.
Veronica allowed herself to go back to that moment in time when her entire world shattered.
“I was with Sebastian for two years. We broke up a few days before the competition. I was sad, but I decided to just focus all my energy into my training. And I thought I was fine. Then the morning of my event, I had just finished a TV interview at the hotel and as I was walking back to my room, I ran into him. He was coming out of the elevator with Lorena Silva—one of my biggest competitors. It was obvious they were together, probably had been for a while.”
“Dammit,” Tomás said.
“He basically admitted my assumption was right, but just blamed me for being too focused on the competition and ignoring our relationship. Which was bullshit since I’m sure Lorena was just as focused. Anyway, I somehow kept my cool, but once I arrived at the arena, I was a mess. I didn’t do my usual safety check and missed that Takuache’s bridle had been damaged during my practice ride the day before. It broke during my first jump.”
“I’m so sorry you had to go through all that. That Sebastian guy was obviously a selfish jerk.”
Her chest warmed at the tense expression on Tomás’s face. He looked angry for her.
“He was,” she admitted, trying to dismiss the uneasy feelings that were being stirred up by bringing up that horrible day. “I realize that now. But my point is that I understand how hard it can be to see that your ex has moved on. So if I can do something to help make it easier for you, then I want to do it.”
Tomás sighed. “I really appreciate the gesture. But Mia and I broke up years ago. And I’ve seen her a couple of times since then. It’s no big deal.”
“But she didn’t have a fiancé at that time,” she said. Veronica didn’t mean to be so blunt, but she knew Tomás was being a little naïve. Based on what Nora had told her, she had a sneaking suspicion that his heart hadn’t completely healed from Mia. She had been his first girlfriend, his first love, probably his first everything. How could she not still have a tiny hold on his heart? He was in store for a rude awakening if he didn’t think he’d be affected by seeing Mia with the man she was planning to marry. She tried to soften her explanation.
“You may think it’s not going to be a big deal, but it is going to be different. Why not just be prepared, that’s all.”
He regarded her with an impressed nod. “You make it sound like pretending to be my girlfriend would be so easy. That’s kind of a huge favor. And it could become complicated because my family would have so many questions—especially my mom. How can you be so nonchalant about it?”
She was also impressed that she wasn’t arguing with him to let her do it. “I am, aren’t I? That’s because I want you to see that this can be just another business arrangement between us. Except no payment necessary.”
He leaned back into chair. “But you do want something in return, don’t you?” he said.
“Not really,” she said with a shrug. “Let’s just say that I’ll do this favor for you and maybe you can do a favor for me one day.”
He looked at her. Really looked at her. An uncomfortableness slowly began to rise inside her. But she wasn’t going to back down. Not when something as important as her career was on the line.
She folded her arms against her chest. “Fine,” she admitted. “I’m still hoping you’ll agree to be my trainer.”
“Secret trainer,” he emphasized.
Why did he say the word as if it was something horrible? “Yes, secret. I can’t fire Charles, so yes, you’d have to train me after hours.”
“Why can’t you fire him?”
“It’s complicated. It just has to be this way, that’s all. So let’s help each other out.”
“I already said I don’t need your help. I got over Mia a long time ago.”
She met his eyes in a challenge. “Then why don’t you date?”
“Excuse me?” he asked. His entire posture stiffened in apparent defense.
Veronica pressed forward. “People say you haven’t had a real girlfriend since Mia, and they think it’s because you’re not over her.”
“People need to mind their own business. And so do you,” he said sternly and pointed at her.
“Tomás,” she answered, trying to ignore the pang of hurt that pinched her heart. This conversation was taking a turn that she didn’t like. “I swear I’m not judging you. I promise. I haven’t had a real relationship since Sebastian either.”
Her admission seemed to surprise him. “Really? Why?”
“Well, for the first few months after the accident, I was still recovering from my injuries. And then even after my body healed, my mind didn’t. I kind of just shut down. I didn’t want to talk to or be around anybody. I even pushed away my sister and my dad. And it was another several months before I even stepped into a stable again. I was in a dark place and all I kept thinking about was Sebastian’s accusation that all I cared about was being in the Olympics. I had sacrificed so much for so long and it had all been for nothing.”
“It wasn’t for nothing,” he said matter-of-factly. “Not many people get as far as you did.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t see it like that. Therapy finally helped me pull myself out of that funk. And when I did, I promised to only do things that made me happy. I spent as much time as I could with my family and I even started volunteering at our town’s equestrian center. By that time, dating just wasn’t a priority. And I’m sure part of that was a fear of getting my heart broken again. Then I decided to go for a comeback. Romantic relationships aren’t my priority right now. Instead, I try very hard to let the people in my life know that they are what truly matter to me—Olympics or no Olympics.”
“I guess we are the same—that way,” he said and leaned toward her. “Still doesn’t mean I’m afraid of seeing Mia with her fiancé.”
She shook her head furiously. “I don’t think you’re afraid, Tomás. I just think you’re trying to convince yourself that it’s not going to be hard.”
He threw up his hands. “Fine, it’s going to be hard. I can still handle it… on my own.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Your brothers think this plan could help you, you know, if Mia saw you with someone else. Hell, maybe it might even attract you a real girlfriend. You know women always want what they can’t have.”
He laughed at her bluntness. “I’m sure my brothers—and maybe Nora—have spun quite a tragic tale about why I don’t have a girlfriend. But I have this handled, okay? Besides, you once told me I annoyed you. What makes you think that’s going to change if we pretend to be dating?”
Veronica didn’t have a response to his words. She could’ve told him the truth. She could’ve told him that he didn’t annoy her anymore. In fact, she had grown to enjoy spending time with him. But for some reason she felt like he wouldn’t believe her and would think she was only saying that to get what she wanted.
Instead she told him that she’d drop it and walked out of his office.
She would have to come up with a Plan B to get him to be her trainer.