That Night (Coming Home To The Grove 4)

She removes her gloves and goes over to dispose of them before lifting her bag up. It appears she’s about to leave, and I find I’d rather she didn’t just yet.

“Do you need to check on Petey, too?” I say, asking her about the stallion.

“His blood work came back clear. If he’s riding well there isn’t any need for me to see him.”

“Did you ride him to see if he was riding well?” I ask, knowing I sound like a dick.

Olivia’s dark eyebrows raise. “Ride him? No. I don’t ride.”

“Don’t ride? But you’re a vet. How can you not ride?”

Olivia laughs, and her blush is sexy. “Believe it or not, I meant to get around to learning to ride, but schoolwork and other stuff got in the way.”

“No time to learn like the present,” I tell her, and I don’t know which one of us is more shocked.11OliviaI can’t believe I let him talk me into this.

He’s going over the instructions, and all I can do is watch the way the muscles pull in his forearms as he tightens the saddle. He shows me step by step and is even patient with me when he tells me to give it a try and then has to show me again because I wasn’t paying attention.

When the beautiful Petey is ready, I look around, thinking there’s no way we’re going to ride this horse together. There’s no way I will be able to resist him being that close.

“Put your foot in here,” he says, pointing at the stirrup.

I lift my foot to do what he says, and he laughs. “Other one.”

I cringe. He probably thinks I’m an idiot or that I planned to ride the horse backwards. And then that image pops into my head of me riding the horse backwards, straddling Derrick’s lap. Get out of your head, Olivia. Get it together.

I lift my other foot and pull up, throwing my leg over the huge animal. Derrick is right there. I can feel his hands on my thighs helping me up, and his hand stays on my leg once I’m settled.

The horse looks back at us almost like he’s bored and then turns away again.

I’m holding my breath, wondering if he’s getting on when Miguel comes out of the barn with another horse already saddled. “Hey, Miguel.” I wave at him.

“Hey, Miss Olivia,” he says to me as he hands the reins to Derrick.

“Thanks, Miguel,” Derrick tells him before pulling himself up onto the horse.

I won’t lie. There’s maybe just a small little bit of me that’s disappointed that we won’t be riding together. But there’s something really potent about seeing this massive man sitting astride the big black horse. He looks in charge, and an image from the other night pops into my head as he bent me over my bed and took me from behind. He was in charge then, too.

“Okay. So we’re just going to walk first, that’s it,” Derrick says in a soothing voice.

“I’m fine just walking. No galloping, sprinting or running. Let’s just walk.”

I expect Derrick to argue with me, but instead he just smiles. “Fine. We’ll just walk.”

Dammit, make up your mind. Either you’re an asshole or a good guy. You can’t be both, I say in my head.

He shows me how to ride a horse. He takes us in a slow pace out to pasture. Petey does great and is good at following commands from either the tug of the reins or cluck of my tongue.

We’re quiet for so long enjoying the breathtaking views that when he finally talks, it startles me a little.

“So why’d you decide to become a vet?”

I’m thankful he’s not deciding here is the place to bring up the other night. I would hate for one of us to get mad and me get stuck out here on a horse. “Animals are easy.”

He laughs, and the deep sound sends goosebumps down my arms. “I know my last foreman would disagree with you. He was kicked by one of the horses.”

“Did he deserve it?” I ask him.

He cocks his head to the side as if he’s surprised by the question. “As a matter of fact, he did. That’s why he no longer works here.”

“See, animals are easy. You’re good to them, and they love you unconditionally. If not, well, you get kicked by a horse.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t really tell me why you became a vet.”

I shake my head. “I’ve never been a people person. Actually, Rose Hall, do you know her?” I stop to look at him.

He gives me a look like Duh, we are talking about Forest Grove.

“Right, well, she’s actually my first friend really. I met her my senior year of college. I made my first friend in college! That should tell you how good I am with people. Anyway, so I was never good with people. I still am not. I found that I had a way with animals, and I guess that instead of trying to work a job where I had to deal with people all day, it was smarter for me to work with animals.”