experience with horses was a long time ago, when I was a kid. I can still do the job, though. It won’t be a problem.”
He angled his head. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.” She would be feeding, grooming and saddling the animals, as well as cleaning and maintaining the stalls and equipment. “I know what it entails.” And she would bust her hump if she had to. “But I just thought I should tell you that my experience was limited to when I was younger.”
While she waited for him to respond, she tried not to get intimidated. Especially with how drawn to him she’d once been. And still was, she thought.
“All right,” he said. “I can give you a tour of the stables now if you’d like.”
“Thank you. That would be great. I’m looking forward to seeing them.”
He stood and removed his jacket, and her pulse zipped a bit too quickly. She needed to focus on her job and not on how he made her feel. She was going to work here, but she wasn’t going to fall for Garrett again. She’d hurt him—and herself—enough already.
* * *
The stables were located on a grass-topped hill that overlooked the resort, with brush-lined trails leading to the beach. There were public paths that went into the hills, and beyond those trails, even higher up, on a private and gated road, was Garrett’s house. This was his world, his sanctuary, and now he was lending it to a woman who’d played him for a fool.
According to his mother, he needed to forgive Meagan, to give her a chance to prove herself. Mom had all sorts of do-gooder reasons for believing it was the right thing to do.
Garrett had spent months thinking it through, and even now, he wasn’t sure why he’d given in. Maybe it was because somewhere deep down, he wanted to believe that Meagan was capable of being reformed. Or maybe it was because she had a child to care for, and Garrett had a soft spot for kids.
He just wished that his mom had never dragged him into this mess. But she didn’t know that he’d had romantic feelings for Meagan. No one knew, not even his foster brothers. To them, she was just someone who’d worked at their accountant’s office.
But, to Garrett, she was someone he’d wanted to explore on a deeper level. If she’d been single, he would have asked her out. But since she was tied up with Neil, he’d been careful not to overstep his bounds. Of course, he’d been hoping that she was on the verge of leaving her loser boyfriend, the jerk who’d made her cry on the phone that first day, giving Garrett a chance to dash in like the knight he’d imagined himself to be.
A knight who’d gotten his armor crushed.
As they entered the barn, he glanced over at her. She was as beautiful as he remembered, with her almond-shaped eyes and long silky hair. She did seem more mature, though, far less flighty than before. Prison had changed her. Motherhood, too, he supposed. But were those changes he could trust? She might have become more conniving over the years, more charming, more of a seductress. Her sweet little apologies could be an act, and a damned good one at that.
He intended to keep a close eye on her. There was no way he was going to let her screw him over again.
Garrett spotted Tom Lutz, the barn manager, and motioned for him to come over and meet Meagan. Tom was a friendly old cowboy, short and stocky, with a big bushy mustache like the one Wyatt Earp used to wear. Once Meagan started working here, Tom would be her supervisor.
The introduction went well. Tom was his usual pleasant self, and Meagan was as sweet and humble as she’d been with Garrett back in his office. He sure as hell hoped it wasn’t an act.
After a bit of chitchat, the old cowboy returned to work, leaving Garrett and Meagan alone once again.
“Tom seems really nice,” she said.
“Yeah, he’s as loyal as they come. He knows about your criminal history. I discussed it with him ahead of time. But he isn’t going to hold it against you. The only thing that matters to him is that you do your job.”
“Do the other employees at the stables know?”
“I haven’t told them and neither has Tom. Nor do we plan to.” Garrett didn’t want it getting around. “But it’s public record. So they might find out on their own. Or someone in HR might mention it and get tongues wagging. People gossip, even if they’ve been warned not to.”
They stopped in the breezeway of the barn, and Garrett rolled up his shirtsleeves. He’d left his jacket back at his office, but he was still wearing his tie. He had a huge collection of them. He kept them in his closet, organized by color, the same as his suits.
Meagan’s skirt was flowing softly around her ankles. Everything about her looked soft and touchable. Not that he ever intended to touch her.
She turned to pat the neck of a big bay gelding poking his head over his stall.
“That’s Ho-Dad,” Garrett told her.
She smiled. “That’s an interesting name for a horse.”
“It’s an old surf term. It refers to anyone who pesters them when they’re on their boards, and Ho-Dad likes surfers, sometimes a little too much. He would probably go surfing himself, if he could.”
“Oh, that’s cute.” Her smile widened. “Can’t you just see him out there?”
“In a wet suit? That wouldn’t be a pretty sight.” Garrett just wished that Meagan wasn’t so damned pretty. He didn’t need the distraction.
She gave the bay another affectionate pat, and he noticed how gently she handled the animal. Ho-Dad was enthralled with her already.
“Do you like to ride?” Garrett asked.
“Surfboards?” She laughed a little. Ho-Dad was craning his neck to get closer to her. “Oh, you mean horses? I haven’t ridden since I was a kid. Ivy loves being in the saddle, though. Tanner puts her up on his horses with him. It’s been good for me to see her enjoying it so much. It was tough for me when I was little.”
“What was? Being around horses?” He was curious, far more than he should be. But he still wanted to know exactly what she meant.
She turned away from Ho-Dad, giving Garrett her full attention. “Yes, being around horses became difficult, especially after my baby sister died and my parents got divorced.”
“You had a sister?” As far as he knew, his mom hadn’t uncovered that bit of information. If she had, she would’ve mentioned it to him, particularly with how determined she was in this whole forgive-Meagan affair.
She took an audible breath. “It was a terrible time for my family. Mom fell apart, and Dad got even meaner.” She glanced at the gelding. “Dad never appreciated horses the way Mom did. In fact, he hated that she and us kids shared the interest. So after the divorce, I took less of an interest in horses, hoping that Dad would be nicer to me. But it didn’t make a difference. On occasion I still rode with Mom, just so she didn’t feel so neglected. Then, as time went on, I stopped riding altogether because Dad was still trashing us for it.”
Garrett had never really thought about the kind of childhood Meagan might’ve
