Chompin' at the Bit (Horse Play #2) (21 page)

One look told me she wasn’t angry, just confused and curious. I sighed with defeat as I halted Halley and waited for Lilah to move Starla up next to me. “I know about Chicago.” She opened her mouth to say something, and her bottom lip quivered slightly. “Don’t … be upset with him. It was after my accident. He had said something about my injuries looking familiar.” 

“Oh.” Her voice was quiet and raspy, and she shifted her eyes to her hands as they fidgeted with the reins. 

“I asked. He told.” Bravely, I reached for her hand nearest to me, squeezing it gently until her eyes found mine again. “He didn’t tell you what Kaylie did because you’d already been through so much. He couldn’t bear the thought of hurting you more. Sure, it wasn’t the smartest plan—but his heart was in the right place.” 

Lilah nodded, squeezing my hand and allowing her lips to turn up into a slight smile.

“He was actually afraid that you and your parents might be upset with
him
,” I confessed.

The smile fell from Lilah’s lips again before she spoke. “Of course he would think that,” she huffed. “Obviously we’re not mad at him. Sure, we were upset—but not at him. What upset us was that he kept something so huge to himself. He was forced to grieve the loss of his child
alone
. No, I’m definitely not mad at him. I’m mad
for
him.” 

Jensen would be so relieved to hear that.

Lilah laughed just then, her stoic mood lifting at something unspoken. “It’s funny,” she started. “I never noticed them welcome Kaylie the way they did you.” I laughed softly at her words, drawing another quizzical look from her. “What?” 

“Jensen said the same thing,” I explained, remembering the conversation we had the morning after we came home. “He also said he thought maybe your parents suspected what Kaylie had done …”

Lilah clucked her tongue, encouraging Starla forward; I followed suit, happy that we seemed to be able to have this conversation openly. True, it wasn’t how I had planned this afternoon to play out, but it was somewhat of a relief to finally move toward closure on the entire thing.

“After the two of you left, I was still pretty pissed—more at the entire situation than anything. It was then that Daddy told me that he already suspected what Kaylie had done.” I nodded, not wanting to interrupt her at all. “I had never been so upset with him in my entire life. I mean, he practically
knew
and didn’t say anything?” 

“I’m sure he had his reasons,” I whispered, coming to Henry’s defense. 

She nodded. “Oh, he did. And once I calmed down, his reasoning was quite sound. When Jensen told them that the wedding was off, Daddy was immediately suspicious. He and Mom never liked Kaylie much—as I mentioned—but Daddy said Jensen was more upset than they’d ever seen him… and he’d been sentenced to three years in prison, you know?” 

“I do.” 

Lilah nodded. “He was so sure to tell her before the trial that they’d make it work, so their breakup just came out of left field. That was when Daddy tried to use his pull at the hospital to get Kaylie’s medical records, but he was unsuccessful. It turned out Kaylie had thought everything through and had the procedure done under the radar—paying off anyone involved. He didn’t give up until his medical license was threatened if he didn’t stop digging. Kaylie’s doctors and lawyers were pulling the ‘doctor-patient confidentiality’ card since they knew she and Jensen were no longer together.” 

“Wow.” There was nothing else to say. So, Jensen’s parents had known—for the most part, at least. They just lacked confirmation. “Well, I can’t say I’m unhappy that you all know for sure now. I wanted Jensen to tell you—maybe not when it came out—but you definitely deserved to know.” 

Lilah smiled again, her eyes lighting up as they met mine again. “And I want to thank you for that. And for being sure to manipulate the photos at the wedding. You have no idea how much that means to me.” 

“I’d do it again.” I turned to Lilah with a warm, sisterly smile. “What do you say we head back now? Jensen should be home soon. Did you want to stay for dinner?” I asked, turning Halley back in the direction of the ranch. 

Following my lead, Lilah’s lips turned down into a pout. “I wish I could, but Kyle should be home for dinner. Rain check?” 

“Definitely,” I assured her. 

Our ride back to the ranch was good. We talked more about Lilah’s honeymoon. She told me I absolutely had to go to Greece, even going as far as to tell me she’d make Jensen take me. Through my laugher, I assured her that in no way was I going to accept such an extravagant gift. While I was beginning to enjoy being doted on, I didn’t want to be that girl who expected lavish gifts from her boyfriend. Now, if we planned it together and both saved up for it, that would be a different story.

As we walked leisurely along the trail next to the gravel road, I smiled when I saw a familiar motorcycle coming from the opposite direction. “Look, Jensen’s back.” 

We knew he would reach the barn before us, so we continued at a leisurely pace, giving Lilah more riding time since she didn’t get to do it often. We reached the grounds, dismounted, and were entering the barn just in time to see Jensen leaving the arena.

“How was your ride, ladies?” 

“Really good. How’s the bike?” I asked, loosening Halley’s girth. 

For a brief moment it looked like my question confused Jensen—which, in turn, confused me. “Oh,” he responded before I could question his odd behavior. “It’s good. Running smooth. Lilah, you want to stay for dinner?” 

I wondered briefly about the change in topic. What the hell was he up to? 

“Madison already offered, but I can’t. Kyle will be home for dinner. Another time, though?” 

With a smile, Jensen nodded. “Definitely. Well, I’ll let you ladies finish up here. I need to go talk to Wayne before I start bringing the horses in with Jeff.” 

Jensen kissed me softly before knocking softly on my dad’s office door. 

“Come in,”
I heard Dad say.
“Jensen. Back so soon?”

“Yeah,” Jensen replied, his voice so low I almost didn’t hear it. “I wanted to have a word with you in private … if you have a minute that is?” 

“Sure, sure! Come on in and close the door.”

That was the last I heard as Jensen glanced over at me once more before stepping into the office and closing the door.

Chapter 19. Suspicious BF is Suspicious

T
hings were …
strange.
What could he possibly want to talk to Dad about? And why would it have to be in private? If it had anything to do with the ranch, it was just as much my business as it was my dad’s.

Lilah and I had just finished grooming our horses when the door to Dad’s office opened and they stepped out laughing. This behavior only piqued my curiosity more. Wayne clapped his hand on Jensen’s shoulder. “Well, I wish you luck, son.”

With what,
I found myself wondering. My question went unanswered when they ended the conversation and Jensen made his way over just as Lilah and I closed the two stall doors.

“You taking off now?” he asked his sister.

Lilah nodded, wrapping her arms around Jensen. “Yeah, but I’d like to come back more often. I’d forgotten how much fun this was.”

I pushed my curiosity aside for the moment to acknowledge Lilah. “Why don’t we plan for every Saturday? And if Kyle isn’t working, he can come out for dinner afterward.”

“Sounds great! I’ll talk to him and see,” Lilah said, her excitement reflecting in her eyes.

Jensen took my hand in his and we walked with Lilah out to her car. “Okay, you drive safe.”

“Please,” Lilah scoffed playfully. “You’re the maniac in the family.”

Laughing, I nudged Jensen’s side. “I’m going to have to agree with her.”

Grumbling something about “women always sticking together,” Jensen opened Lilah’s car door for her and waited for her to step in. It was nice to see his chivalry wasn’t focused solely on me.

After Lilah left, Jensen turned to me, wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and led me toward the barn where the guys had started bringing the horses in. “You had fun?”

“Yeah, we did. We talked about some stuff.”

“Well, that’s pretty vague,” he teased, his fingers lightly digging into my ribs, tickling me.

I giggled while shrugging and bending my body, both trying to stay in his arms while also trying to get away from his merciless attack. “Well, we need to keep some mystery between us,” I said through my laughter. “Or else we’re going to become pretty damn boring.”

His fingers stopped moving against my side before he swiftly turned me to face him. “There’s nothing boring about us, love,” he assured me, his gorgeous blue eyes burning into mine with an intensity that had me struggling against the one urge I had right now.

“Um,” I sighed breathlessly, not breaking our gaze. “I’m going to head in and shower. Maybe start dinner. You okay to finish up with Jeff?”

“Of course. I’ll be in soon.” With a smile that made my knees buckle and my heart flip flop (while other parts of my anatomy trembled and pulsed with anticipation), he kissed the tip of my nose and backed away from me.

“Sounds good.”

Back at the house, I promptly showered and then changed into a pair of black yoga pants and a blue, thin-strapped tank top. After turning the radio on in the kitchen, I perused the fridge and cupboards for inspiration. I eventually settled on vegetarian lasagna, so I put a pot of water on for lasagna noodles, cooked up the sauce in an over-sized skillet, and steamed some fresh spinach. I was just putting dinner into the oven when the door opened.

“It smells amazing in here,” Jensen exclaimed, coming up behind me and burying his nose in my neck. His lips started kissing that spot just below my ear that sent my entire body into a tizzy. “Mmm, but you smell even better.”

“You are so cheesy,” I said with a light laugh, crossing my arms around myself until they overlapped his hold on me, and we swayed back and forth to the music coming from the radio. I hummed. “This is nice, though.” My eyes fluttered closed as we continued to move, and his lips ghosted the length of my neck and shoulder.

“What do you say we find something to do until dinner?” he suggested, breath fanning over my skin and making me shudder.

“Well, I have to put the garlic toast in right away, so you should go shower.” I brought my right hand up and placed it on his stubbly jaw, turning my face toward him and kissing his cheek. “Plus, I’d hate to allow you your dessert before you’ve had a chance for dinner,” I teased.

Turning me until I faced him, he tried to argue his case by pressing my body between his and the fridge. There I was, sandwiched between his hot body and cool stainless steel, completely ready to succumb to him with a whimper. Our lips hovered less than half an inch from each other’s, and his warm breath tickled my skin as his eyes probed mine. The jerk was teasing me; building up the anticipation even more.

“You’re right.” He stepped away from me, and I let out a huge breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding, looking at him pleadingly.

“I am?” I squeaked.

Not another word was spoken as he smirked, turning and rounding the corner to the bathroom. The level of sexual frustration was almost unbearable, and before I even realized what I was doing, I found myself right outside the bathroom door. I pressed my ear up against the door and listened for when the shower started so I could slip in. Breathing heavily, my hand rested on the knob, ready to turn it when I realized that
this
was exactly what he wanted.

With my resolve firmly back in place, I took a step back and retreated. The air was infused with the heavenly scent of our dinner by the time Jensen re-emerged, wearing nothing more than his black pajama bottoms and a white T-shirt.

“Just in time,” I told him happily, pulling dinner out of the oven while I pretended that his pre-shower attempt at seduction hadn’t almost worked. “The bread will take about ten minutes. Would you mind setting the table?”

“Not at all.” I soon regretted asking for his assistance when I stood from putting the bread in and felt his body deliberately brush up against mine. “Oh, sorry,” he said, his lips brushing my ear and his voice low and raspy with lust.

Everywhere his body connected with mine was like live wires crackling and sparking to life under my skin. My heart raced, and I felt warmth spread all over my body. Then, he was gone, placing the plates on the table. He was toying with me. Testing my willpower. Well, two could play at that game.