“I… um, I . . .”
He placed a finger over her lips. “I, too, can see the tigress lurking behind those beautiful cinnamon eyes, Olivia. Do you not think it’s past time she slipped her leash?”
“I think,” she said, stepping away from his touch, “that it’s time we put that truckload of hay in the loft.” She walked over to Caleb. “I’ll give Sam two weeks. But if I don’t feel comfortable having him around by the time my first guests arrive, you’re driving up here and taking him back.”
“Fair enough,” Caleb said, his smile instant. He fell into step beside her, heading toward the trailers. “I promise, you won’t regret it.”
Chapter Eleven
Finding her new employee in the barn filling water buckets, Olivia gave the giant nose a pat when the horse it belonged to stuck its head out to nuzzle her shoulder. “Sam, could you saddle up two of your most docile horses and another one for yourself? I need to go meet my daughter’s bus at the turnoff, and I thought I’d surprise her with a horseback ride. And if you don’t mind, I’d like for you to come with me.”
“Sure, boss,” he said, twisting the hose nozzle to shut off the water.
Olivia stepped out of reach of the persistent horse with a soft laugh. “If you want us to start off on the right foot, then let’s drop the boss title, okay? Livy will do.”
“Would you mind if I call you Olivia?” Sam asked, smiling hesitantly. “It’s just that I used to know an Olivia, and have always been partial to the name.”
“I’ll answer to most anything but boss. And you’ll find some child-sized saddles in the tack room, so could you put one on your smallest, gentlest horse for my daughter? Sophie’s eight and fancies herself a horsewoman.” She shook her head. “I know Caleb won’t bring me ponies because he claims horses are really safer, but I prefer that Sophie doesn’t have so far to fall.”
They headed toward the tack room, and Olivia slowed her pace in deference to Sam’s limp, which appeared to be more stiff than actually painful.
“Caleb’s right,” he said. “Ponies are often smarter than the kids riding them. And because adults don’t handle them as much, the little beasts can turn into brats.”
“Makes sense, I guess. And put my saddle on your next gentlest horse,” she said when he stepped into the tack room. “Preferably one that can’t muster the energy to do more than plod along.”
His bottomless gray eyes crinkled half closed with his grin. “I believe you and Molly will make a good fit. She’s about as fast as molasses running uphill in the winter. I’ll have the horses out front in ten minutes,” he said, disappearing into the tack room.
Olivia turned to stare down the aisle at the dozen various-sized heads sticking out of their stalls, and sighed. She really didn’t know how much of a draw having horses at Inglenook actually was, but she couldn’t bring herself to cancel the program—much to Eileen’s dismay—because summer camp just wasn’t camp without horses. And she felt it was important for parents to see their children controlling the large animals all by themselves, especially the overprotective parents who hovered like helicopters trying to keep their babies safe and sheltered and little forever.
Olivia snorted. Maybe she should sign up as a guest at her own camp and learn how to stop hovering over Sophie before the girl reached puberty and flat-out rebelled. She walked down the aisle, having to exit the barn through the opposite end because Mac and Caleb and his crew were filling the loft with enough hay to last through June, when Caleb would return with this year’s crop. She ducked down to crawl between the rails of the paddock fence, only to hear Henry call to her when she straightened.
“I just saw Mr. Sam saddling one of the horses, and he told me you’re going to ride down to meet Sophie’s school bus,” he said, climbing up on the rail to look her level in the eyes. “Can I go with you? I know how to ride. I’ve been riding since before I could walk.”
“That would be up to your father.”
His face fell and he hopped down off the fence. “Then I guess I’ll have to wait for another time. I forgot I’m supposed to be keeping all the men supplied with ice from the kitchen and fresh drinking water.” He started back toward the door. “Maybe I can go for a ride tomorrow, after the men leave.”
Olivia stared after him, wondering if it wasn’t time she addressed Henry’s little habit of not questioning his father’s dictates, because… well, because it simply wasn’t right for a child to be that obedient.
“Henry, wait,” she said, stepping up onto the bottom rail. She waved him back over to the fence. “When your mama told you to do something, did you always do it without protest? Or if you wanted to do something and she said no, did you always accept what she said as her final answer?”
“I tried to do whatever she asked me to,” he said, giving her a confused look. “Especially if Uncle Reginald was around, because he didn’t like it if I complained when Mama wouldn’t let me do something. He often gave me a smack, saying I was at least half Penhope, and that whining was vulgar and unbecoming of my station.”
Lord, she’d like to have five minutes alone with Uncle Reginald. “Are you afraid of your father, Henry?” she asked softly.
“You mean am I afraid he’ll smack me?”
Olivia nodded.
Henry shook his head and even gave her a cocky grin. “I’m only scared of his cooking.” He turned serious. “Dad wouldn’t ever hurt me, Miss Olivia. In fact, he’s going to make sure no one ever hurts me again, and he’s promised to protect me until I’m old enough to fight my own battles.”
She ruffled his hair. “That’s a powerfully good promise.” She canted her head. “So how come I’ve never seen you protesting something he’s told you to do?”
He frowned up at her. “Because he’s my father.”
“And does your father do everything his father tells him to?” she asked, remembering Henry’s fantastical tale about how they were trying to find a wife before Grampy found one for them.
The boy’s frown deepened. “Well, no.” But then his eyes suddenly widened. “Are you saying I’m not supposed to do everything my dad tells me to do?”
Knowing she was wading into murky waters, Olivia picked her words carefully. “No, I’m only saying that maybe it would be okay to question his orders once in a while. Like right now. I realize unloading a truckload of hay is hard work and the men need cold fresh water to keep them going, so it’s definitely an important job your father’s given you. But you need to understand that there’s nothing wrong with asking if you could go meet Sophie’s bus with Sam and me.”
“But who’s going to bring them water if I leave?”
“They’re grown men, and there are at least three water spigots in the barn. There’s no reason they can’t drink out of a hose when they get thirsty.”
“Am I paying extra for you to teach my son to question my authority?”
Olivia snapped her gaze up to the loft door only to tumble off the fence in shock, still gaping at the half-naked man even as she landed on the ground.
“Dad, you scared Miss Olivia!” Henry cried, ducking through the fence to get to her. “You surprised her.”
“Not as much as she just surprised me,” he said quietly—the growl in his voice contradicting the laughter in his eyes. He rubbed a big broad hand over his big, broad, sweat-glistening chest, and arched a brow. “Well, Miss Olivia? Is my hearing faulty or were you just encouraging my son to shirk his duty in favor of going riding?”
God, he was gorgeous. And damn if he didn’t look even bigger half naked than he did fully clothed. Hell, the guy wouldn’t have any trouble moving a few paltry mountains that got in his way.
“Miss Olivia,” Henry whispered, bending down to peer into her eyes—which thankfully blocked her view of Mac. “Did you hurt yourself when you fell?”
“No, I’m fine, Henry.” She rolled onto her hands and knees, realized she was giving Mac a bird’s-eye view of her butt, and quickly grabbed the rail and
pulled herself to her feet. She started to crane her neck to look up again, but realizing her mistake about the time she reached his waist, Olivia spun around to put her back to the fence to look at Henry instead. “Ask him,” she whispered, nudging the kid’s shoulder when he frowned up at her. “Go on. Ask him if you can come with me to meet Sophie’s bus.”
“Can I ride with Miss Olivia and Mr. Sam to meet Sophie at the turnoff?”
“No.”
Henry dropped his gaze to her, his expression saying he’d told her so.
“Whine,” she whispered. “Pout. Say pleeease.”
After an uncertain glance at her, the boy hesitantly stuck out his bottom lip and looked back up at the loft. “Pleeease, can I go with Miss Olivia?”
“If you leave, who’s going to bring us water?”
Oh yeah, that was definitely amusement in Mac’s voice.
“There’s water in the barn,” Henry said. “You and the men can drink straight from the hose.”
“Is this whining and pleading going to become a habit?”
“Oh no, I assure you it’s just this once.” Henry caught her frowning at him, and looked back up at his father, one side of his mouth lifting. “Well, maybe more than just this once, but definitely not every time.”
She heard Mac sigh. “Do you give me your word you will at least not question Sam’s authority concerning the horses?”
“You have my word,” Henry said, his eyes brightening at the realization that Mac was going to let him go. “I will follow Mr. Sam’s instructions to the letter.”
“Then you may go ask if he would saddle a horse for you, also.”
Henry snapped his gaze to Olivia and beamed her a smile that put the one she was giving him to shame. “Go on,” she said, nodding toward the barn. “Tell Sam I said to give you the third gentlest horse, and that way he’ll know your request came directly from me.”
Henry shot through the fence and disappeared into the barn.
“Olivia,” Mac said, stopping her before she could also disappear. “Look at me.”
“I’d rather not,” she said, knowing it was safer to look anywhere but at him—afraid that if she did, she’d never find the courage to return his jacket.
“Then at least tell me what just happened here.”
Olivia started walking, lifting her hands with her palms facing up. “Why, I do believe you just had one of my wonderful pearls of wisdom on parenting sprinkle down on you like a soft gentle rain.”
Only the moment she rounded the side of the barn, Olivia immediately slumped against it. Holy hell, if Maximilian Oceanus were any more perfect he’d be one of those bed-hopping gods Henry was learning about!
Olivia plodded back toward Inglenook on the slower-than-molasses Molly, following her silent new employee and positively ecstatic Henry and Sophie as she wrestled with her decision to return Mac’s jacket instead of following up on her plan to get to know Sam. But honest to God, she couldn’t stop seeing Mac’s strong, beautiful, sweat-glistening chest, or stop imagining how really nice it would feel to have all that wonderful male strength moving over her, and under her, and so deeply inside her.
Because if she had any hope of ending what she was beginning to realize was more than just her sexual drought, then it had to be now—before it became never—and she couldn’t come up with one single reason why it shouldn’t be Mac who finally helped her get back into the game of life.
Except maybe that instead of easing her back in, there was a good chance he might shock her out of her self-induced stasis like one of those heart defibrillators they used to bring people back to life. And she’d always wondered if that wasn’t a painful experience.
He had promised to be gentle and careful with her, though, hadn’t he?
Oh, and also unrushed.
Just the idea of getting naked with a man—especially one as perfect as Mac—who intended to take his time making love to her left Olivia a little breathless. Which was why she was still afraid she’d flat-out faint, and could only hope he’d catch her before she hit the ground—something he already had experience at, she decided with a smile.
But then she frowned, thinking about the actual logistics of having an affair. They each had children, so it wasn’t like they could just hop into bed whenever the mood struck them. Olivia suddenly went back to smiling, realizing that a single parent must have invented sleepovers to get rid of their kids in order to have a sleepover of their own.
But even if she did let Sophie stay the night at a friend’s house—a close friend, preferably only a few miles away—that still left Henry. And although Inglenook had the occasional pajama party for the kids in the dining hall so the parents could have some time alone to reconnect with each other, Olivia didn’t think occasionally connecting with Mac constituted an actual affair.
No, that felt more like plain old sex for the sake of scratching an itch. And even if she was powerfully itchy, what she really wanted was to feel passion and excitement and desire, and experience all the emotional trappings that came with a full-blown affair.
Basically, she wanted to move a couple of mountains with someone.
So, if she was going to do this, then she had to find a way to do it right. And that meant more than just hooking up occasionally, or feeling sneaky and frantic when they did, because she wanted to be gentle and careful with Mac, too, and unrushed.
Maybe, since the man seemed fairly knowledgeable about this sort of thing, Mac might have some idea how they could make it work. And come to think of it, wouldn’t she be advancing his skills as a single parent by helping him figure out how to court the future Mrs. Oceanus with Henry always being around?
Wow, the man certainly couldn’t complain that Inglenook hadn’t delivered on its promise to give him the one-on-one help he was paying a small fortune for, could he?
Oh God, that sounded just flat-out wrong. “Mom. Mom. Mommm,” Sophie said, repeatedly tapping her leg. “Are you going to sit up there all day? Mr. Sam’s waiting to take Molly back to the barn.”
Olivia realized her new employee was standing in front of Molly, holding the reins of the other horses while silently waiting for her to dismount. And damn if his eyes weren’t crinkled in amusement.
“You probably should start wearing a hat outside, Miss Olivia,” Henry said. “Your cheeks are really pink.”
Sophie held up her backpack. “Can you take this, Mom? I want to go see all the new horses and learn their names.”
Olivia finally dismounted—only to grab the saddle horn with a groan when her knees buckled. “No, you go change your clothes first,” she said, shifting her weight from leg to leg to stretch her aching thigh muscles.
“I told you old Molly is a good camp horse,” Sam said as he slid the reins out of her hand. “She doesn’t even need anyone in the driver’s seat to do her job.”
His grin as contagious as a yawn, Olivia shot him a sheepish smile. “I guess I have a lot on my mind right now.”
“Yeah, I suppose running a facility this size isn’t easy.” His grin widened. “You have a beautiful daughter, Olivia.” But then it disappeared altogether. “Caleb told me your husband died in Iraq a few years back. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, letting go of the saddle to test her legs. Only just when she thought they were going to hold, Caleb and Mac appeared—making her knees nearly buckle again at the sight of Mac’s big broad glistening chest peeking out of his unbuttoned shirt.
“Henry’s right, Olivia,” Sam said. “You might want to start wearing a hat before that sunburn gets any worse.”
Worse? If it got any worse she was going to spontaneously combust!
And Mac—the sweat-glistening, smug-smiling, eyebrow-raising jerk—knew exactly why her cheeks were pink.
“You’re still planning to put me and my crew up for the night, aren’t you, Livy?” Caleb asked, his gaze darting between her and Mac. “We brought sleeping bags to bed down in your bunkhouse.” He gestur
ed toward the grounds of Inglenook. “And seeing how it’s your off-season, I’ll even provide the steaks and beer for a barbecue tonight.”
“Only if you also spring for s’mores for the kids,” she said, letting go of the saddle again and giving a silent sigh of relief when her knees held. “And you also agree to let Mac cook the steaks,” she added, hoping to wipe that grin off Mac’s face.
Only it widened as he ran a lazy hand over his naked chest. “I’ve found the best way to bring the flame to full heat is by being… unrushed.”
Caleb clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “I knew there was a reason I was looking forward to coming up here this year,” he said, his eyes dancing with amusement, “when Eileen told me she was going to be away this week. No offense,” he said, his voice lowering to a conspirator’s whisper, “but your mother-in-law has a way of putting a damper on a party, if you know what I mean.” His eyes took on a distinctive twinkle. “You ever consider taking Eileen on a hike and losing her instead of your guests?”
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