Still, there had to be a line. She needed to dig a freaking ditch in the sand and promise herself that she wouldn’t cross over it.
“I’m giving you another chance,” she said. “One more date.”
Jared picked up the remaining Lo Mein and met her by the door. “This one won’t end in disaster, Lucy. I promise.”
Chapter 21
I promise.
Jared’s words hung in the hot, humid air. She’d clung to his assurances when she climbed into his Jaguar at five o’clock on a steamy Friday afternoon. He hadn’t canceled or forgotten—for that alone he deserved solid marks in the plus column. But her billionaire date had requested she wear jeans on a ninety-five degree summer day. Then he’d driven away from the coast and the refreshing ocean breeze. He’d headed farther and farther inland, past Boca’s gate communities, beyond the highway, until they’d reached a barn surrounded by fenced fields and narrow canals.
“Jared,” she said slowly as he turned off the Jaguar. “There are horses here.”
He nodded to the field. “One of them is waiting for you. A gentle, old girl named Beauty.”
“You’ve met this horse before?” she asked.
“No, but Jack, the stable manager assured me that she’s calm.”
“I didn’t realize you rode when you visited Florida.” She opened the car door and stepped into the dry, dusty parking area. The air smelled like hay and wood shavings.
“I haven’t been on a horse since I was a kid. Back then, my exposure was limited to the occasional pony rides at other kids’ parties,” Jared admitted. “I thought you liked horses. You took riding lessons for a while. So I called in a favor from Jack. His dad invests in our fund.”
She cocked her head and studied him. He’d traded his business suit for jeans and a fitted blue polo. Cowboy boots replaced his dress shoes. He looked as if he belonged there. But then, he’d always seemed at ease in every situation—including her childhood home.
“You remember that I took lessons?” she asked.
“I paid attention to everything that happened in the Linden house.” He walked around the car and took her hand. “I think you were ten when you started riding. Maybe eleven?”
She nodded. Her fingers intertwined with his as they headed for the entrance to the long blue and white barn.
“But you stopped a few years later. In high school,” Jared continued. “I was away at college then. So was Finn. Your brother thought your parents were struggling to cover the cost of the lessons.”
“That’s part of it,” she admitted. “But I also discovered boys.”
And my mom got diagnosed with cancer.
He gave her hand a soft squeeze. But she didn’t glance back. Jared had been there—through her mother’s chemo treatments, her father’s heart attack, and her mom’s move to hospice. He’d attended the funerals. He’d stood by Finn’s side. And Finn had stood by hers.
Before she’d moved to Orlando, before Jared had made his millions, he’d been a part of her life. Not directly. He’d been her brother’s friend and Finn’s crutch in those awful, painful years.
“Now’s your chance to have both,” Jared said. “The horse and the boy.”
He led her to a pair of saddled horses. The larger brown gelding wore a western saddle. Beauty, the supposedly calm, chestnut mare on the left looked ready for a show jumping competition. She reached up to pat the mare’s neck. “I hope you can keep up.”
“We’ll find out.” He followed the stable hand to a mounting block. But he guided the gelding around the step stool. He placed his foot in the stirrup and swung his other leg over the horse’s back.
How does he do it? Move like he belongs here?
Lucy scrambled to catch up. She mounted the mild-mannered mare and settling into the saddle. While she adjusted her stirrups, the stable hand pointed toward the trail cut into the shrubbery. Jared nodded and promised to follow the shallow canal out, turn around at the end, and head back.
“Ready?” Jared asked as she guided her mount to stand beside his horse.
“Yes.” She adjusted the reins as sweat beaded on her forehead. She considered asking for a helmet. But in this heat? She could handle a slow walk to the end of the trail and back. She guided her horse to the starting point, stealing a glance at her date.
The city billionaire plays cowboy.
She let out a laugh as the horses meandered down the path.