Owen shrugged. “We were all drunk. Didn’t know what we were doing.”
“Did they get community service, too?”
Owen shifted his feet. “Nah, their parents got them out of it. Paid the college off.”
“But your parents didn’t?”
“My grandfather is a retired judge and wouldn’t let me walk away clean. He doesn’t believe in payoffs.”
Aidan nodded. “Sounds like a smart man. Trying to teach you that life doesn’t give free rides.”
Owen rolled his eyes. “Grandpa is still living in the past. Does he honestly believe shoveling horse manure this summer is going to give me character? This isn’t some two-hour movie where I suddenly change my perspective and fall in love with the farm. I kind of hate it here.”
Aidan tried not to chuckle. The kid looked miserable. Hell, Aidan remembered being his age, but in his world, if he didn’t work, he didn’t survive. Choices were limited, and he’d gotten used to doing what needed to be done. The result gave him the confidence and freedom to live life on his own terms. In his mind, it was a fair deal and nothing he bitched about. “Sorry to break it to you, but most people don’t have money or indulgent parents to fall back on. I think your granda is trying to show you how to take care of yourself by taking responsibility as a man. I also think if he heard you whingeing all the time, he’d be disappointed. But that’s your business.”
Wild curls flopped into Owen’s eyes as his head shot up in surprise. “Didn’t mean to piss you off,” he mumbled.
“You didn’t. But I will say this. Harper and I are going to be busting our asses to try and make Phoenix a successful racehorse. Ever hear of the Triple Crown?”
“You shitting me?”
“Nope. That’s our goal. If you start taking this job more seriously, we could use some help. But I got no time for bitching, slacking, or complaining. No one expects you to love the job, Owen. We just want you to have some respect for all of us, because we’re doing something important here and it’s a lot more complicated than shoveling shit. I better get back to work. If you want, you can take your break and call your friends.”
He turned his back on the kid and kept his gaze on the track. After a few seconds, he heard Owen shuffle off.
Maybe he’d think about what he said. Maybe he wouldn’t. Aidan was still glad he’d tried, though, for Harper’s sake.
He got his stopwatch out, calculating the distance and the training schedule for the next few weeks. In the past few days, they’d signed the contract, he’d settled permanently into his room, and he’d spent every hour possible studying Phoenix. Slowly, he began to learn the horse’s habits, tics, and vulnerabilities. He’d learned early on that training was mostly a mix of psychology, patience, and perseverance.
Harper appeared at the top of the hill, leading Phoenix by the bridle. Aidan studied the horse, his mind automatically filing away various facts that would help him train. The horse had a bit of a strange gait when walking, almost as if it wasn’t as natural to him as running. Interesting. He’d also seen him favoring his left side. Harper mentioned it might have been where they’d whipped and beaten him. Aidan had always preferred his jockeys avoid the whip, unless it was a tap to let the Thoroughbred kick it to the final notch. He’d need to see how skittish Phoenix got. They might need to focus on the jockey’s hands and feet movements, which he’d add to the training.
Harper stopped in front of him. The horse tossed his head, as if not wanting to be the first to ask for affection. It was a stubborn game he played, and usually Aidan acquiesced and approached Phoenix. But this time, Aidan wanted to wait him out to see if he’d make the first move.
“How do you like your new digs?” he asked.
Phoenix shot him a halfhearted glare, as if he understood the question.
Harper gave a long sigh. “We’ve had a few rough nights, but I think he’s getting more comfortable. I never met a horse who didn’t like so many other animals. Usually, they find comfort in companionship.”
Aidan gave a half grin, still waiting to see if the horse would make the first move. “He’ll be in a stall with noise, chaos, and numerous other animals on the road. If we don’t get him more comfortable now, we’ll lose before we even begin.”
“Cryptic. You writing a book on philosophy or horse training?”
“You should know better. They’re one and the same.” He ignored her charming snort and tried to keep his attention on Phoenix. Unfortunately, every muscle in his body tensed the moment her scent hit him. If only she preferred expensive, musky perfume. Instead, her natural smell of soap and skin mixed with the morning breeze made him feel halfway drunk.
But the agreement had been struck. He’d die before he broke her trust or his word, and it was just too damn bad his dick strangled against the ridge of his jeans. He’d live with it. He had no choice.
“What’s the plan for today?” she asked.
Phoenix finally broke, pushing his head against him so Aidan could rub under his chin.
“Mo chára,” he crooned, reaching out to give him the affection most horses thrived on. “I knew you couldn’t be pissed at me for long. But for now, you need to be limited on those oatmeal cookies. We’re changing your diet to a healthier version to get you in shape.”
Phoenix snorted.
He laughed and pulled back to grab his small spiral notebook. “I want you to take him around the course a few times. Get him warmed up, then when I give you the signal, open him up. We’ve kept his early morning workouts light, but we’ll interchange them now with a few bullets. The seven-week mark isn’t for several days before his official first race at Saratoga. You okay with that?”
She tilted her chin. “Of course. Did you contact your jockey?”
“Yeah, Elmo will be here tomorrow.”
She blinked. “Elmo?”
Aidan rubbed his head. “Yes, Elmo. Before that red monster came onto the scene, it was a popular and respectable name. He agreed to meet Phoenix, check out the farm, and make his decision. He already has another offer in Saratoga.”
She frowned and tapped a finger against her unpainted, plump lips, and he tried not to salivate. “He needs to be the right fit. I won’t be so desperate for a jockey I’ll compromise.”
He couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him and enjoyed her obvious surprise at his reaction. “Harper, I doubt you compromise on anything. Now get your ass in the saddle and go ride. I need to make sure I’ve got most of his quirks down before we introduce the gate or riding with a competitor.”
She shot him a warning glare but donned her helmet and swung herself over the horse’s back. Aidan watched carefully, looking for any signs of stress from being ridden, but Ethan and Harper had done their job right. Phoenix took the bit and didn’t try to spit it out. Good. The horse was comfortable with getting tacked up. He was picky about who did it, but the biggest challenge for a green horse was getting them actually ready to ride.
Score one.
Harper took off, her gait graceful and comfortable. She was a true pleasure to watch in action, as if born to ride. Didn’t hurt that her staggering height and perfect ass in those tight jeans made her a stunner.
Focus.
You’re supposed to be watching Phoenix. Not the woman on his back.
Aidan took a breath, cleared his mind, and let his senses settle. He scribbled notes during the warm-up, then gave Harper the signal to begin stretching Phoenix out, pushing for speed. He hit the stopwatch. Then waited.
The horse took off and blazed a bullet path, his long black legs eating up the turf in front of him with blistering speed. Aidan clocked him at the far turn, saw him straighten out, then double up his efforts, as if imagining his own individual race where he always won, was always adored, was always accepted.
He looked at the time as he hit the final mark and snapped the button down.
Extraordinary.
Shivers broke through his body. His stomach clenched with excitement. Th
e raw talent was all there. Phoenix was made for speed. He was made for the track.
Harper came riding up over the hill and stopped in front of him. “How’d he do?”
Aidan walked close and grabbed the bridle, looking into the horse’s eyes. Right there. The lust and need to run. To win. It was something he couldn’t teach, which made the indescribable element the living, breathing unicorn of the horse-racing world. With barely a sweat, he’d clocked in a staggering speed number and craved more.
Aidan locked down on the wild rush and focused on the issues. “He’s sloppy with turns, which means he may struggle if he’s boxed in with other horses or too far off the pace. This one’s definitely no closer. He’ll need to be up front, but our challenge will be keeping him fresh and on pace. I have no clue if he’ll want to compete to beat the others or if his brain will fry out there and he decides to tell us all to fuck off. He’s got a temper and he’s emotional, so we need to work on him accepting shit without fighting us at every turn.”
“That’s his background. I thought you understood.”
He raised his brow at her defensive tone. “Oh, I understand, but I don’t have time to get him into therapy for a year to discuss his issues. We need to fix them. Fast.”
She gave him a sneer. Yeah, she was like a fierce mama bear, protecting her own. Normally, it would be sexy as hell and he’d dream about securing her loyalty, but not in this time crunch. “We just started. He’s sleeping in the main stable now.”
“Who’d you put as his stablemate?”
“Flower. She’s quiet and gentle.”
He directed his next words at Phoenix. “That type of roommate is not going to help your cause, buddy. Let’s go meet your new friend, Maximus.”
Her eyes widened. “No way. He’s way too alpha! They tried to tear each other apart the last time I put them together. I thought this was about easing Phoenix into the world, not ripping off the Band-Aid. He was abused.”
“Yes, he was.” Aidan stroked the horse’s chin, saw the gleam in his dark, velvet eyes, and made his decision. “But he’s a survivor. He needs to know that, and it’s time we proved to him he can take anything we throw at him. We’re done treating him with kid gloves.”
Her gaze narrowed dangerously. “I disagree. We could break his spirit too early, and then this will all be for nothing.”
Aidan realized this was the turning point. It came with all owners and trainers who had a vision but went about the goal with different tactics. Usually it came halfway through the process, but he shouldn’t be surprised Harper would push him hard the very first week. Like this magnificent horse, she needed to know who was boss when it came to training her horse.
Aidan knew it’d be a brutal lesson for her to learn.
He gave her a cold glare and deepened his voice to get his point across. “Your disagreement is duly noted. And overruled. We move Maximus in, and I want you to allow every single one of your farm animals to roam free in the barn. Especially Hei Hei—no more banning him from the stables. The more distractions and noise, the better. He can take it.”
“He despises Hei Hei! He had a holy temper fit until we got the chicken out of there.”
Aidan shrugged. “Let him have his tantrum. He’ll be okay.”
“No.”
Aidan stilled. Cranking his head up, he stared at her long and hard. She looked like a disheveled queen in the saddle, green fire in her eyes, her body tight with tension. “Are you saying no because you really think I’m going to harm Phoenix by my decision? Or are you saying no because you don’t like following anyone’s orders but your own?”
She kept her gaze trained on his, refusing to look away or apologize. “Both.”
He relaxed. She was truthful to a fault. He could work with that. “Understood. Now let me tell you where I’m coming from, otherwise we’re going to have a lot of battles and disagreements over the next six months. Better to figure things out now, right? But first, climb on down.”
Her mouth firmed, but she obeyed, standing in front of him with her shoulders thrown back, as if he were the Big Bad Wolf knocking at her damn door. He tamped down on the grin that threatened. He had a feeling if she thought he was amused, she’d coldcock him now and explain later.
Nothing like a hot Irish woman.
“Let me explain,” he said in a gentler tone. “I promised in the beginning I won’t make decisions that will harm or hurt Phoenix. But I said nothing about pushing boundaries or causing him some discomfort. We won’t win by taking the easy road. Every single thing I do is deliberate and planned. I won’t throw shit out there on impulse, but some of my decisions will be based on his behavior or what I see that day. This is a learning curve.”
For a second, a flash of vulnerability ignited those jeweled eyes before her chin tilted up in pure stubbornness. “And you need to understand if he gets pushed too fast, he may think we’re betraying his trust. That we don’t care about his needs or wants. If that happens, we could lose him.”
Aidan jerked back, surprised by her passionate explanation. But it was the wobble in her voice that hit him in his gut. He was missing something—something big. Trust was a huge issue with Harper, and her words hinted at a deeper meaning than Phoenix getting pissed off that Maximus was in his stall. Aidan was used to pushing hard when he believed he was right, but for the first time, he backed off and tried to explain. “Love, I’d never do that to Phoenix. I know you’re trying to protect him, but sometimes too much coddling has the opposite effect. If I think Maximus is going to damage his psyche, I’ll personally pull him out. This is a delicate balance for all of us. But we need to start somewhere. Trust is earned, right? But if you don’t give me a shot, how can I prove I’m worthy of the gift?”
She chewed on her lower lip and glanced over at Phoenix. “I don’t know.”
He bit back a laugh and nodded. “Fair enough. We can work on that. For now, how about we move Maximus in but keep Hei Hei away? We’ll let Phoenix deal with one obstacle at a time. Sound good?”
“I can live with that.” She let out a breath, almost in frustration. “I don’t do well taking orders,” she admitted. “I’d flunk out of the military.”
“So would I. But I’m not about to order you around like some lackey, Harper. We’re a team. We need to listen to each other, but I also need to do what you’re paying me for. That means being in charge when it comes to training. Can you accept those terms?”
He watched the emotions run across her face. She fascinated him—from her quiet, strong manner to her generous heart. But there was pain trapped beneath. He sensed it in the moments she believed no one was watching her, when she seemed to go away to another time and place and remember. He wished he had the right to help her or share the burden. He’d never wanted such intimacy with another woman, though he’d tried several times to try and feel something deeper. Now that he finally did, she was off limits.
Life was a bitch sometimes.
“Okay,” she finally said. “I’ll try, Irish. Is that enough?”
It seemed hard for her to be unguarded with a stranger, but Aidan bet her tries were worth more than the agreements people gave to make things easy. He imagined being the man she trusted with her heart. The idea shouldn’t sear his heart like a brand or make his throat squeeze tight. It shouldn’t mean anything but a way to get to the end—a way to win.
But it did.
“Yeah, it’s enough,” he said gruffly. “Now, let’s go. It’s time for Phoenix to meet his new stallmate.”
She patted the horse’s flank and shook her head. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“We’ll soon find out, won’t we?”
“What the hell are you doing?” Ethan fired the question at Harper, but he was glaring at Aidan, who stood in the middle of two pissed-off horses trying to claim dominance.
The moment Phoenix had caught a glimpse of Maximus coming toward him, he’d gone nuts, rearing back and issuing snorts of fury. Of course, Max
imus didn’t take that shit, so he tried to bump him, and this started a round of the famous game played between males in the animal kingdom.
My dick is bigger than yours.
So much fun.
Tension twisted her belly. Watching Phoenix struggle with his fears and discomfort brought up old memories. Bad ones. She tried to remain calm and soothe her brother. “It’s a long story. Let’s just say it’s part of the training.”
“Why didn’t you step in and put a stop to it?” he demanded.
She regarded her brother with a steady gaze, even though her nerves jumped. “Because I think Aidan may be right—we’ve coddled Phoenix. We need to see if he can handle conflict on his own without shutting down.”
“We don’t coddle Phoenix,” he argued.
She arched a brow. “We gave him his own private stall. We bake him iced oatmeal cookies for rewards. We chase away all of the animals from the barn and pasture when he’s around. And when he fusses, we all sit around his stall and try to soothe him until his tantrum has passed.”
Her brother opened his mouth to protest, then snapped his jaw shut. “We have coddled him,” he finally muttered.
“We’re not used to training a racehorse. Our mission has always been to save them, then rehabilitate. Give them a quality life with an owner. Phoenix is different.”
She watched the horse glare at his trainer and hoped she wouldn’t discover a flare of betrayal in those brown eyes. It’d destroy her to think Phoenix would begin to doubt her intentions.
Suddenly, the past reared up and yanked her back in time. Her vision blurred while she fought the images, reminding herself nearly two decades had passed and she wasn’t that girl any longer.
But God, sometimes it felt like yesterday.
She’d been awkward in her teens. Painfully shy, more comfortable in the barn than a school party. Was that why she’d been such an easy target for teasing? How many endless days had she been tortured? Why did she think something had changed on that day Lyndsey Belle approached her?
With her long blonde hair and curvy, petite body, the boys were crazy about Lyndsey, and all the girls loved to copy her clothes and her gestures and her cute southern accent since she’d been transported north. That fateful day, she’d asked Harper to join her for lunch. At the cool table. Harper had been wary the first day, but as a full week passed and she was still welcome, she had begun to believe everything would finally be okay.
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