The Riding Master (22 page)

The timer went off and Rayne opened the microwave door. “It’s not like that, Lindsey. We had pizza and talked.”

“Uh, huh. Is that the pizza you ate last night?” She pointed to Rayne’s slice of pizza.

“Yeah.” Rayne put her plate down on the counter next to her.

“Then you didn’t eat pizza and talk. On those dates, there are no leftovers, because all you do is eat. On the dates where you have sex, there are always leftovers.”

Rayne picked up her slice of pizza. “I’ve never heard that.”

“That’s because you weren’t a slut in high school like me.” Rayne took a bite of pizza while Lindsey waited. “So, come on. Let’s hear it. What happened?” she besieged with a roll of her hand.

Rayne hurriedly swallowed her pizza and put it back down on the plate. “You know.” She yanked a paper towel from the dispenser hanging on the wall by the sink. “We had a good time.”

“Good time? Honey, by the bags under your eyes and the amount of coffee you have consumed, I suspect you had more than a ‘good time.’ So how was he?”

Rayne wiped her hands on the paper towel. “He was not a…how do I put this…a gentle kind of lover. This guy was—”

“Knock you into the headboard until you saw God kind of lover?”

“Not the headboard, but more like the dining room table, kitchen counter, edge of the pool,” Rayne smiled slyly, “and then the headboard of his bed.”

Lindsey let out a boisterous howl. “Thank you, God. You’ve only been with an old man who probably had to take Viagra to get it up. What you needed was a guy who took you to bed and showed you how it’s done.”

Rayne flashed back to how assertive and demanding Trent had been the night before. “Is it always like that with guys? You know, a kind of take what they want attitude.”

Lindsey stared at her for a moment, grinning. “Was he strong, dominated you, and treated you like his woman? You know, caveman-like?”

Rayne nodded her head, grinning happily. “Yeah, he was a total caveman.”

Lindsey clapped her hands in jubilation. “Finally, you got a man who knows how to handle you.”

“Handle me? What are you talking about?”

“Rayne, I know you’re a good girl and all. You never cheated on your husband and you probably have a perfect driving record and never had a cavity, either. But women like you keep so much locked up inside. I see it every day when you come to work. You’re reserved, quiet, don’t have any friends, other than me, and you spend every other moment when you’re not at work with your horse. You need a man who is going to take control, and it sounds to me as if this guy is perfect for you.”

Rayne had never considered Trent to be the perfect guy. Sure there were parts of him that she thought perfect, and the fact that he loved horses was an added bonus, but was that enough? “What if he is just taking me for a ride, Lindsey? He’s never been married, and there have been a lot of women in his past; a whole lot. Don’t you think I should be cautious?”

The beeping of the coffeemaker distracted Lindsey, and she stepped over to the trolley to hit the off button on the machine. “Stop looking for problems where none exist, girl. You have a man that wants to make you happy. That should be all that matters. Besides, if he wasn’t in it for the long run, he wouldn’t have given a damn last night about whether you were satisfied or not.”

The break room door flew open and a short, bald man with a thick gray moustache peered inside.

“Lindsey, I need you to recheck the blood pressure on Mr. Dominguez in room two, and call Dr. Lender again with that consult for Mrs. Bennet.”

“Yes, Dr. Moffet,” she chirped.

“Is that fresh?” The doctor pointed to the coffee pot.

“Sure is. You want your usual two sugars?”

“Thanks, Lindsey.” Dr. Moffet left the break room door open and turned away.

Lindsey removed a white mug from a tray next to the coffeemaker. “At least I won’t have to smell his breath if he drinks this.”

While Lindsey poured Dr. Moffet’s coffee, the black iPhone in the front pocket of Rayne’s scrub top played its jazzy ringtone. When she saw the number on the caller ID, Rayne frowned.

“Bad news?” Lindsey inquired, easing the coffeepot back on the warming plate.

“No, just my mother.” Rayne put the phone back in her pocket.

“How is the mother of the year?” Lindsey joked with a snort.

“Oh, ha ha.” Rayne walked across the break room to Lindsey’s side and selected a mug from the trolley. “She fell over the weekend, hit her head, and called Foster to take her to the hospital when she couldn’t find me.”

Lindsey’s jaw dropped. “All that happened in addition to your night of caveman sex with the horse guy?”

Rayne poured the fresh coffee in her mug. “Trent and I were having dinner at his place Saturday night. I drank too much and fell asleep. Sunday morning I got home and Foster left a message on my machine.”

“Is Estelle okay?” Lindsey took two packs of sugar from a dish next to the coffeemaker.

“She’s fine, but the ER doctor said her blood work was pretty bad. He wants her to see her internist for follow-up.” 

“How did she react to that news?” Lindsey dumped the sugar in Dr. Moffet’s coffee mug.

“She wasn’t happy about it. But honestly she wanted to know more about Trent than what tests they were going to do to her.” 

“Wait?” Lindsey took a breath. “She met him?”

Rayne drank from her mug. “Trent went with me to the hospital Sunday morning.”

“And you’re wondering if he’s serious? Honey, you’re really in the dark when it comes to men. If he went with you to the hospital, met Foster and the notorious Estelle, and still wants to be with you, you’d better hang on to him.”

“He seemed really worried about how it all affected me,” Rayne admitted.

“I want to meet this one.” Clutching Dr. Moffet’s mug of coffee, Lindsey headed to the open break room door. “He sounds like those guys I read about in my books. The kind you live happily ever after with.”

After Lindsey had disappeared out the door, Rayne carried her coffee mug to the counter and collected her plate of pizza. Getting comfortable at the faux wood table, Lindsey’s comments about Trent circled like a hawk in Rayne’s head. Munching on her pizza, she debated if he was her “happily ever after” or just a man who would make her “happy for now.”   

Rayne was certain that the most she should count on was some great sex and a few happy memories before Trent Newbury inevitably walked away. But as the idea of having more with the addictive man tantalized her, the slightest glimmer of hope awakened in Rayne’s soul. Maybe she had to start with “happy for now,” before she could arrive at “happily ever after.” After all, true happiness, like trust, took time to build.

Chapter 16

After work, an exhausted Rayne opted to let Bob out in the paddock for exercise instead of tacking up for an afternoon of jumping fences. The cool nip in the air combined with the warmth of the sun had a sedative effect on her. Deciding to stretch out on the grass next to the paddock, Rayne closed her eyes and took a few moments to rest her weary body.

“What do you think you’re doing?” a smoky voice griped.

When she opened her eyes, Trent was standing over her, scowling. Wearing gray dress slacks, a long-sleeved pale blue shirt, and black leather loafers, he appeared as if he had just come from the office.  

“You’ve got a show in less than a month. You can’t afford to lounge around.”   

Rayne sat up. “Well, if someone had not kept me up all night, doing unspeakable things to me, I might have the energy to get on my horse and jump a few fences.”

Trent took a seat on the grass next to her. “Try a mid-afternoon nap. Worked wonders for me.” He kissed her lips and Rayne was instantly rejuvenated.

“I can’t nap in the lab,” she complained, pulling away. “I don’t own a business like some people.” She motioned to his clothes. “Did you come from work?”

He reached into the front pocket of his trousers. “Yeah, I have a meeting with Rebecca in a few minutes.” He handed her a folded slip of paper.

“What’s this?” She unfolded the paper, scrunching her brow.

“A copy of your entrance form for the Golden Farms Horse Show next month. I entered you and Bob.” He ripped out some of the blades of grass poking up around him. “Southland Stables is picking up your fee. You’ll be showing under our stable name as an instructor.”

“Did Rebecca agree to that?”

“Not yet.”

Rayne held up the paper in her hands. “She’s not going to like footing the show fees for her instructors.”

“If she doesn’t pay it, I will. I want you in that show. You need to start showing again, Rayne. It’s time.”

Despite his confidence in her abilities, Rayne still had reservations. As her mind rumbled with refusals, she gleaned over the paper in her hand. “Wait a minute. The name of the horse on this entry form is ‘One of a Kind.’ Who is that?”

Trent wiped the grass from his hands. “I told you I would come up with a great name for Bob. What do you think? It reminded me of the two of you; simple, classy, but says it all.”

Rayne kept staring at the paper, soaking it in. “I can’t believe you actually came up with a name.”

“Do you like it?”

She was touched that he had not only done as he promised, but he had actually found a name she loved. “It’s wonderful.”

His gray eyes twinkled and he proudly bobbed his head. “See? I told you I would come up with something perfect.”

“Thank you, Trent. I really don’t know what to say.”

“Just win the damn blue ribbon. That will be thanks enough.” He kissed her cheek. “I better not leave Rebecca waiting. She sounded pretty upset on the phone when we talked earlier.”

“What could she be upset about?”

“Selene. Seems she contacted her ex-husband after I chewed her ass out the other day. Apparently the judge wasn’t too happy about it.”

“What did you say to her?”

“What didn’t I say to her?” Trent snickered. “She was belligerent with her students, and didn’t know how to properly execute many of the required maneuvers in the dressage show ring. So I told her to straighten up or I’d fire her ass.”

“You shouldn’t have done that.” Rayne crumbled the paper in her hands, her joy short-lived. “See, I told you. She’s already starting problems.”

“Nothing that I can’t handle.” He patted her thigh. “You look wiped. Go on home, take a nap, and I’ll see to Bob.”

“I can’t ask you to take care of my horse, Trent.”

“Rayne, part of letting someone in your life means allowing them to help you out every now and then.” He stood from the grass. “When I’m finished here, I’ll grab some take-out and come over to your place. So get some rest. I don’t want you falling asleep on me. I’m hoping for a repeat performance of last night.”

Rayne sarcastically raised her eyebrows, doubting either of them was up for another night without sleep. “We’ll see. But I think that will all depend on what kind of take-out you get.”

“Any preference?”

She shook her head. “Surprise me.”

“Dangerous words to a man with a very adventurous palate.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “See you later, baby. Get some rest. I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”

As Trent strode away from the paddock, Rayne took in the curve of his round backside in his fitted slacks. She flopped back on the grass and let out an exuberant sigh, feeling like a sixteen-year-old with a big crush. Lifting her hand still clutching the crumpled entrance form, she took the paper and began smoothing it out.  

Interested to see what she was doing, Bob poked his head through the railing of the paddock and sniffed at Rayne’s ponytail. Rubbing her hand along the soft flesh on his nose, she gazed up at the white star on his head.

“One of a Kind,” she softly said to the horse. “What do you think of that?”

The jazzy ringtone from her phone in the front pocket of her jeans interrupted her moment with Bob. While shoving the copy of the entry form into her back pocket, she spotted her mother’s number on the cell phone. 

“Hello, Mother.”

“I tried calling you earlier,” Estelle began in her craggy voice.

“I was busy at work, I couldn’t talk.” Rayne stroked Bob’s nose.

“Are you at the stables? Riding that horse of yours?”

“Not riding. I’m sitting with Bob at the paddock. I’m too tired to ride today.”

“Why? You’re never been too tired to ride. What wrong?” Estelle almost sounded worried.

“Nothing. I just didn’t…get a lot of sleep last night.”

“I hope that was because of Trent and not because of your usual worries.”

“My ‘usual worries’?” Rayne suppressed the cutting remark she wanted to make about Estelle’s drinking, deciding it was better not to go down that road again.

“Lord have mercy, child,” Estelle drawled. “Ever since you were five years old you have worried about everything from global warming to not having fire extinguishers in the house.”