Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Have you tested Madeline’s riding skills?” Garrett asked.
My head snapped to attention, and I looked from Garrett to Kenneth and Melanie. He appeared to be speaking to them both. About me. It seemed rude, considering I was sitting right here. He could have asked me this question. It was as if I were a child who was unable to answer questions about herself.
Melanie smiled softly at me in a reassuring way.
“She’s not ready to get on a horse just yet,” Kenneth informed him. It seemed odd for him to be answering when he barely knew me. Yet he smiled as if he knew every detail about my days at Moses Mile.
Garrett frowned and turned to me. “You don’t want to ride?” he asked me, as if this was unheard of. Something completely foreign to him.
“Until I arrived at Moses Mile, I’d never seen a horse up close. I’ve warmed up to them, and I do trust a few, but I’m not sure I trust myself not to panic and spook them,” I explained.
He glanced over my head and looked at Blaise. “Teach her,” he said.
Blaise? Teach me? Uh, no thank you.
Blaise didn’t reply, but Garrett seemed pleased, so I assumed he had nodded his head. I looked back at him with my own frown this time. Had he agreed to that? Why? I’d rather Trev or Saxon teach me. Blaise glanced at me for a brief moment, then turned his attention back to the lady on his other side.
“Blaise is the best teacher you could have. He can outride my best jockey, and he outweighs him by forty pounds,” Garrett assured me with a smile.
The soup was brought next, and I didn’t even taste it as I ate. My thoughts were on Blaise and getting out of lessons with him. Besides, Garrett wasn’t my keeper. Why did I have to do anything he said?
The entrée was enjoyed by everyone, it seemed, and I managed to respond to those who spoke to me without sounding like an idiot. Melanie seemed off, however, and her gaze kept finding mine. I wondered if she, too, was thinking of a way to get me out of lessons with Blaise. I sure hoped so.
Once dessert was taken away, the band began to play again, and people were making their way to the dance floor. Saxon stood, and my eyes went to his. His mouth curved into a crooked grin, and I knew what was coming next. I watched him as he made his way around the table, then stopped behind me.
“You promised me a dance,” he said.
I took the napkin from my lap and placed it on the table, then met Melanie’s gaze. She was smiling, but there was something in her eyes I didn’t understand. Concern? Fear?
“I always knew Saxon was the smart one,” Garrett said, and there was a tinkering laugh from Melanie that sounded more like relief.
How odd.
I turned to look up at Saxon and placed my hand in his, then stood. I knew he was only doing this to get us both away from the table. I’d much rather be dancing with him than feeling as if I was being watched and judged by every person at that table.
Thankfully, in my inner-city school, ballroom dancing had been offered one semester as an alternative to physical education. I was one of four students who took it, and that was the only semester that the dance instructor donated her time to the school. Her goodwill had been short-lived, but it had lasted long enough that I felt confident enough to dance with Saxon.
As I fell in step with his lead, I managed to relax and enjoy myself. It had been a while since I’d danced, and never had I done so outside of the school gymnasium.
“You’re good at this,” he said to me.
I tilted my head back so I could look up at him and smiled. “You expected me to step all over your feet, didn’t you?”
He smirked. “Maybe.”
His hand was warm on my bare back, and our bodies were close enough that they brushed against each other; however, there was no spark. It was comfortable. Easy. I trusted Saxon. He wasn’t complicated or full of himself.
“You handled yourself well with Garrett,” he told me.
I sighed, thinking of how nervous and uncomfortable I’d been. “I’m just glad it’s over,” I admitted.
Saxon leaned closer to me then, his mouth hovering near my ear. “Blaise is headed this way,” he whispered, then straightened back up, holding me away from him so we barely touched at all.
Before I could respond to his information, another hand was on my back—lower than Saxon’s hand was—and Saxon stopped dancing. He let my hand go and stepped back with a smile, then gave me a nod before walking away from me. Confused by the sudden change, I turned to see Blaise behind me.