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)
Just as I reached her stall, Saxon stepped inside the back entrance. I started to smile at him, but the look on his face made me pause. He looked tense and almost apologetic.
“Hey, bad time?” I asked him, thinking something must have come up and he needed to cancel today’s lesson.
He took a deep breath, then shook his head, but didn’t say anything. “No, uh, it’s just that …” He paused, and his gaze looked past me.
“I’ll be teaching you how to ride,” a familiar, deep drawl said.
My eyes widened as I looked at Saxon, then turned to see Blaise walking toward us. His faded jeans fit him, as if they’d been made just for his long legs, and hung on his hips slightly. The black T-shirt he was wearing looked stretched across his broad shoulders. I swallowed nervously, not sure how this turn of events had happened. I hadn’t agreed to this.
Blaise stopped a couple of feet from me and tipped his cowboy hat back with a finger. Those green eyes were locked on me. He was waiting for me to respond, although I knew by the look on his face that my reaction would mean nothing.
Why was he here? Last night, he couldn’t get away from me fast enough.
Saxon cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah, Blaise came by earlier this morning to check in on Empire. I mentioned your riding lessons today, and he, uh, said he’d teach you.”
Blaise raised his eyebrows just slightly as he watched me. It felt as if he were taunting me to refuse. What would happen if I did? This was Moses Mile. He had no power here. Although Saxon sure made it seem like he did. He hadn’t even asked me if I wanted Blaise to teach me.
Lifting my chin, I glared back at Blaise. “Why?” I asked him simply. It was a fair question. One that needed answering. One he should have to answer.
“I’m the best,” he said, and then a slight smirk touched the corner of his lips.
I fought against staring at those lips. Fantasizing about Blaise Hughes’s mouth was never going to be a good idea.
I placed a hand on my hip and turned slightly toward Saxon but kept my eyes on Blaise. “Saxon can teach me just fine. I don’t need the best. It’s not like I plan on becoming a jockey.”
“No,” was Blaise’s immediate response. The almost-teasing glint in his eyes vanished, and there was a warning there now.
“He’s right,” Saxon said quickly before I could respond. “Blaise is a great teacher. You’ll learn quicker from him.”
It was the tone in Saxon’s voice that kept me from refusing to allow Blaise to take over my lessons. He was nervous and clearly didn’t want me to argue with Blaise. Why? Was he afraid that Blaise would take Empire away? Blaise was his best friend’s older brother. That was all.
“I’ve changed my mind,” I told Blaise, deciding I’d handle this if Saxon couldn’t. “I don’t want to ride.”
Blaise looked past me toward Saxon. “You can go,” he told him.
I turned toward Saxon to tell him that I would start my stable chores, but Saxon nodded his head at Blaise, then walked away without one glance in my direction. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I glared at his back as he retreated. He was leaving me alone to handle this. I didn’t want his help either. I’d get Trev to teach me. He’d stand up to his brother.
“You can’t get on the back of a horse in that mood. He’ll feel it,” Blaise told me.
I didn’t look at him. I moved my gaze to Sunshine. She was so gentle that I doubted she cared what my mood was. Not that I had agreed to let him teach me anything.
“Let’s go,” he ordered.
My eyes snapped to him then. “Go where?”
“To get you on a horse,” he drawled slowly, as if I had difficulty understanding the English language.
I pointed at Sunshine. “This is the horse Saxon was going to use to teach me how to ride.”
Blaise held my gaze. “And I’m not Saxon.”
That was something I had not needed clarified. I was very aware of who he was.
Blaise started walking away from me, and I knew he expected me to follow him. I didn’t want to do anything he told me to do. Well, a part of me didn’t. The largest, most important part. There was a small, insignificant part that wasn’t ready to stop this—whatever it was—with Blaise just yet. I needed to work on that part of myself. It was struggling to make good choices.
“Madeline, don’t make me force you,” Blaise said without looking back at me.
Gritting my teeth, I slowly followed him. Perhaps that small, insignificant part of me was slightly bigger than I’d realized. I should be stalking right back up to the house and locking myself away in my bedroom.