by Alicia Rae
He hummed in appreciation. “Don’t stop.”
I affectionately kissed his shoulder and then smiled, knowing how much he loved to be touched.
“What does your tattoo—the bald eagle—stand for?” I asked, lightly tracing the outline.
Colton shifted onto his side and tucked me into his arms. “That one is me setting myself free from my past.” He set his fingertips on my collarbone and leisurely ran them back and forth. “It’s a reminder for me to have faith, to stretch my wings, and to soar with the endless possibilities that life brings me.”
“I love it.” My voice was soft. I glided my hand down the length of his sleeve before lingering over the quote on his forearm. Then, I enclosed my hand around his wrist. “And this one?”
FOR GOD DID NOT GIVE ME THE SPIRIT OF FEAR. BUT BLESSED ME WITH THE SPIRIT OF POWER, THE SPIRIT OF LOVE, AND THE SPIRIT OF SELF-DISCIPLINE.
“It’s a version of my favorite Bible verse from Timothy 1:7.” He recited the quote from memory to me as I quietly read it with him under my breath.
When we finished together, he met my gaze and added, “That one reminds me not to be afraid of whatever might come my way and to have all those qualities in myself.”
“You are all those things.” I kept my voice strong, so he would believe me, and I meant every word.
I eagerly continued to explore him. When I lifted his arm, another quote came into view.
YOU ARE NOT YOUR FAILURES.
“What about this one?” I finally whispered.
Colton’s whole body tensed around me, and my heart sank as I unintentionally guessed the meaning behind it.
“Watching Missy pull you into the river with her was, by far, the worst moment of my life. I had no power to stop what happened. I couldn’t wrap my arms around you and save you from those next terrifying moments.”
My heart seized as I heard the agony in his voice.
“I failed you. I couldn’t save you in time.”
I shifted my legs, set both of my hands on the sides of his shoulders, and pushed him onto his back. I raised one arm to lovingly run my fingers through his hair while lying on him. “You did save me.” I exhaled a shaky breath. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you coming in after me.”
He tenderly gripped my hips. His eyes were full of regret. “Yes, but it doesn’t change the fact that I regret not getting to you sooner.”
I placed my finger over his lips. “Shh…you pulled me out of the river and saved my life, Colton. I’m alive because of you, and that is all that matters.”
He tipped his head up and sealed his lips over my finger, sucking on it. With his eyes darkening by the second, he lifted his pelvis and brushed it along my center. I let out a soft whimper as I felt him thickening beneath me.
In the next instant, he gently flipped our positions, and I found myself under him, flat on my back.
“No more talking,” he said, his voice thick with need. He left no room for discussion as his mouth crashed down onto mine.
Round two. I grinned inwardly.
NOTHING COMPARED TO THE FEELING of waking up with Paige tucked in the crook of my arm. I could lie here for hours just breathing in the sweet scent of her while listening to the soft sound of her breathing.
After enjoying a few more minutes with her, I kissed her temple and quietly rolled out of bed. If I got an early start on my duties for the day, I might be able to take some time off this afternoon and spend it with her. It was all the motivation I needed to get dressed in some clean work clothes and head straight for the barn.
I rounded the corner to the front entrance and immediately sensed something was wrong. I heard water bursting out of a pipe. The dirt was soaking wet, and the mud was sticking to my boots.
“What the…” I trailed off in shock and bolted through the barn.
My horses neighed at me as I quickly assessed them from afar, making sure they were okay and not hurt.
I stopped in front of the water spigot and saw the top lever was completely missing from the pipeline. The only way to cut off the water line was to shut off the emergency valve in my basement, so I barreled back to the house.
I didn’t even take off my boots as I flew in the back door. I went through the kitchen and down the flight of stairs. Reaching the valve, I cranked the knob all the way to the right as far as it would go. Then, I headed back upstairs, taking two steps at a time.
A sleepy-eyed Paige met me at the door. She was leaning against the doorframe in one of my white long-sleeved shirts, rubbing her bare foot against her other leg. The sight of her halted me in my tracks.
“What’s wrong?” she asked nervously, taking in my frantic state.
I shook my head in confusion, still processing what in the hell was going on. “The water spigot in the barn is busted.”
“Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed, widening her big brown eyes at me. “Are the horses okay?”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t exactly the way I’d envisioned my morning. I have one hell of a mess to clean up.” I bent forward to kiss her forehead, wishing like hell I could take her back to bed. “I have to get back out there.”
“Okay,” she responded.
I was already retracing my footsteps, heading back to the barn. As I entered once again, I took a mental log of the damage. The entire inside area had inches of water on the ground. It had soaked the baseboards of each horse’s stall. Luckily, there wasn’t too much stuff on the floor, or it would have been ruined.
I strolled through the sloppy mud and walked along the interior sides of the building. I pulled out any electrical cords and set them a safe distance away from the barn. Lastly, I walked to each of the two industrial six-foot fans and unplugged them from the outlets. Thank God the fans had been off since it was a cooler night, or it could have started a damn fire.
Tipping the first fan back on its rollers, I wheeled it out of the building and then did the same with the second. I couldn’t use the fans to start drying the place until I got the majority of the water out of the barn, or I was going to have an infestation of flies along with mold, rotten wood, and horses with sore hooves.
At the tack wall, I grabbed a halter and lead rope to begin taking the horses out of their stalls, one by one. The closest horse to me—and by far the most frantic—was a young foal named Tabby, who was standing still by her broodmare.
Just as I was about to unlock the stall door, splashes of water caught my attention, and I rotated my head to find the source. Paige was entering the barn at a careful jog, wearing a pair of my black rain boots that she must have found in the garage.
To see her not only moving quickly, but also entering the barn, left me speechless.
Paige stopped in front of me, breathing heavy. “Man”—she heaved in a gulp of air—“I’m out of shape.” Her eyes shifted, looking full of concern. “Tell me what I can do to help.”
I still couldn’t believe she was standing inside the barn. “Uh, Paige…you don’t have to be out here if it makes you uncomfortable. I can handle this.”
“Nonsense. I’m here to help.” She glanced down at my hand and gently snatched the lead rope and halter out of my grasp. “Move the horses. Got it.”
I went to grab another halter and rope, so we could move the twenty-five horses I had in this barn.
Returning to Paige, I watched her observing the broodmare and foal until she returned her gaze to me.
“All right, we’ll tag-team this.” I tilted my head at the broodmare. “I’ll get the mama over here since she seems a little on edge with the conditions. You can take her foal, Tabby.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
I opened the latch to the gate and entered first, knowing it was safer this way. The stall door closed behind me with a soft noise.
“Hey, mama bear,” I cooed, watching as she protectively stepped in front of her young. It was a normal instinct and one I could respect, given the circumstances. “Everything is going to be all right. Let’s get yo
u out of this mess.”
I trudged through the water, neared her, and lightly tossed the rope over her neck. Giving her a second to adjust to my presence, I released a deep sigh to let her know that it was okay to relax. When she turned her head to me with easy eyes, I slipped the halter on and buckled the clasp.
Tabby suddenly panicked and darted around the twelve-by-twelve enclosure.
Trying to keep the broodmare from moving with her filly, I pushed on her chest to hold her still. “Whoa! Easy, girl!”
From the corner of my eye, I observed as Paige’s instincts kicked into gear. She quickly tied a knot at the end of her rope.
“Paige, you’re not coming in here,” I protested. When she unhooked the latch to the gate, appearing to blatantly ignore my warning, I added, “I mean it. You could get hurt.”
Keeping a watchful eye on Tabby, Paige stepped into the stall and flung the lead rope over the horse’s neck. The filly fought her for a moment, bucking wildly, but Paige held on to the rope and pulled her to a stop. Paige furrowed her brows as if she had overextended her limitations.
Once Tabby caved to Paige’s commands, she slowly glided the halter over the foal’s head and fastened it.
I scowled over at her. “Even though watching you rope Tabby was damn sexy, you had no business coming in here with a young four-hundred-pound wild foal running around. You could have hurt yourself, Paige!”
“What was I supposed to do?” she threw back at me. “Let you get trampled instead?”
“Yes,” I scoffed without delay.
She rolled her eyes at me.
“Hey! I saw that!” I bit back my laughter.
Her eyes sparked with mischief, and she smirked. “I wasn’t trying to hide it.”
“I would so smack your ass if you were closer to me—and if it wouldn’t spook my already frightened horses.”
“Love you, too, cowboy,” she responded before pursing her lips to give me a kiss in the air.
I stared at her, rooted in my spot. When her words finally dawned on her, she shyly turned her face away from me.
“Come on, little sweetheart. Let’s go find you the greenest grass,” she purred at my foal, completely ignoring my awestruck gaping expression.
Without giving me another look, she led Tabby out of the stall. Eventually, the synapses in my brain fired back to life, and I followed after her.
“Which pasture?” she asked, still facing forward.
“The pasture next to the cattle,” I answered.
Paige changed her direction and headed right.
As I continued onward, my eyes were glued to her back. She had rolled up the sleeves of her borrowed shirt and put on her jeans from yesterday. My rain boots looked hot as hell on her, especially covered in mud.
She was definitely my cowgirl at heart, no matter how much she denied it. She fit in here, and she belonged at my side.
Those thoughts made her earlier confession replay in my mind.
“So, you still love me, huh?” I spoke at her back.
Her steps faltered, but she still refused to make eye contact with me. “We aren’t going to talk about that right now.”
“Oh, we are so gonna talk about it,” I drawled, letting my Southern accent ring.
“Not today,” she scoffed before changing the subject. “So, how did the water spigot break? That doesn’t seem like something that should have happened.”
She approached the eight-foot red gate first and unclasped the lock and chain. I came up to her side and dragged the gate open.
Falling into the trap of her diversion tactic, I racked my brain for possible scenarios. None made any sense to me. “I don’t know. I’ll have to take a closer look at the water spigot, but getting the horses out of that sloppy wet mess is my first priority. I’ll deal with the rest later.”
Paige and I simultaneously led the horses into the pasture and unfastened their halters. The broodmare stayed in front of me for a brief moment, and she let me rub her forehead before walking off with her foal at her side.
For the next hour or so, Paige and I rounded up the horses and led them to the pasture. Trip after trip, Paige continued to help me.
I was stunned into silence, observing her as she brought out each horse. Many times, I witnessed her underlying fear of being near the horses, yet her love for them was undeniable. I could only hope that today was a step forward for her.
I made sure to move Bentley outside myself. Paige kept quiet the whole time and only released a sad smile. At the pasture, she petted him for a few minutes, lost in her thoughts. She didn’t need to voice what was going through her head at that moment. I could feel her emotions and see them in her eyes, and I respected her privacy and courage for facing her fears.
Unfortunately, it slipped my mind to round up Foster before Bentley. Paige stopped in front of Foster’s gate, blankly staring at the name on the sign.
“Paige, you don’t have to do this.” I neared and set my hand on her shoulder, taking in her pale face. “I can get Foster.”
“No,” she murmured. “This is something I need to do myself.”
I nodded my head in understanding. I couldn’t bring myself to leave her to face her demon alone, so I leaned my hip against the wall to give her some space. I glanced at Foster through his barred window. His eyes were curiously glued on Paige. She lifted the lever and pulled the stall door open, never breaking eye contact with Foster.
Advancing forward with a small step, she outstretched her hand to the horse, palm facing upward. “Hi there, Foster,” she said softly.
The stallion lowered his long neck and curiously sniffed at her, flickering his whiskers against her skin. I had no doubt he was hoping she’d come with treats. When he didn’t find what he was looking for, he took two steps forward and scoped out her shirt.
“Don’t mind him. Foster just has a major sweet tooth,” I assured her.
“I can see that.” She laughed under her breath, smiling at Foster.
My expression reflected hers. I felt so damn proud of her. When the going got rough, Paige would never back down from a challenge. She was a fiercely strong individual, and I admired her.
Once Foster settled, Paige gradually lifted her hand and caressed the top of his head. He lowered his neck to her chest and sank into her touch.
“Wow. You sure do like that, huh?” She smiled affectionately, rubbing behind his ears.
“Yeah, he loves the ladies.” I grinned impishly.
Paige whipped her attention to me and slightly narrowed her eyes. “Ladies?” she questioned, slipping Foster’s halter on and attaching the lead rope to lead him out of his stall.
I pushed off the wall and repositioned myself to stand at my full height, still facing her. I couldn’t help but laugh at the hint of jealousy in her tone. “Sorry. I meant, lady—you know, in its singular form.”
She stopped in front of me. “Ladies is plural.”
“It was an accident,” I clarified.
“Uh-huh.” She raised a playful brow. “I think that qualifies for what you called something along the lines of an ass-smackin’.”
I leaned down to her ear, letting my breath tickle her skin. “Anytime you want to smack or grab my ass, you just go right ahead, baby.” I grinned wickedly, setting my hand on the small of her back. “But make sure you’re prepared to be carried into my house, stripped naked, and ravished until the morning hours.”
She quivered against me. I straightened my stance and gazed down at her, noticing the heat flaring in her eyes.
“Gosh, you sure do enjoy melting me into a puddle of mush.” She shook her head while walking off with Foster.
My grin broadened. “Undoubtedly.”
“Oh, Colton?” She paused to glance back at me over her shoulder.
“Yes?”
She leaned her weight on her right hip, sticking her voluptuous ass out at me. It was too bad that she was well out of reach of my hands.
“By the way, since you shredd
ed my panties last night, I had no choice but to steal a pair of your briefs.” She winked and continued walking.
“I’ll be checking those out later!” I called after her, grinning.
“We’ll see.” She laughed and guided Foster toward the pasture.
For the rest of the day, I tried to clean up the barn as best as I could.
I drove my Bobcat inside through the open double-wide doors, and I lowered the metal bucket attached to the front of the machinery. I used it to push against the ground, forcing most of the water out into the lawn. It was a slow process, but most of the water eventually flowed down the gradual slope of the yard. As more water trickled out from the stalls, I kept repeating my efforts.
Paige helped by wiping down everything in her path. It was amazing how much mud the water had created.
I made Paige go inside the house to take a break, but she only returned with plates of hot food in her hands. I was grateful for her assistance, but I felt guilty, knowing she was overextending herself. No matter my protests, she worked alongside me hour after hour.
Once done with the Bobcat, I pulled out my two industrial fans and checked to make sure they still worked properly. Both fans did, so I positioned them at either end of the barn, aiming each one straight down the center of the barn, and prayed it would be enough to dry the rest. I found a few small box fans in the building and garage, and I positioned them accordingly throughout the barn. I would have to return throughout the evening to reposition each of them, but I was determined to make the most of what I could find.
I inspected the water spigot several times. How it had gotten broken in the first place still boggled my mind. It appeared as though the top had been severed off with great force. I was surprised it hadn’t produced a loud noise and awoken me in the middle of the night. Surely, I should have heard it.
Right now, I was too physically tired to care about what had happened. I just wanted the mess gone, so I could take Paige back inside and make her rest.
Just as I was about to tell her that it was time to call it a night, she came up to me and said, “I’m going to run home really quick.”