Page 42 of Growing Into Love

I look around for Cass and a glint of gold catches my eye at the tree line. Cass and Gal emerge from a thatch of woods, trotting toward me. She smiles and it’s brighter than the sun. I feel like I’ve tripped going down a set of stairs, my thoughts flitting to the way I imagined her breasts in my mouth. I yank my eyes up to her face.

“Hiya,” she says.

Gal huffs happily at me in greeting, nuzzling my shoulder.

“Hey girl,” I say, rubbing her nose. I look up at Cass. “Where did you two get off to?”

“Thought I would take her for stroll about the grounds. The woods are lovely.” She takes a deep breath and smiles up at the blue sky. “It’s a gorgeous farm, isn’t it?”

“It’s something else,” I admit.

Cass notices the Spanish team. “Oh ugh, Rosa is here,” she mutters then fixes the smile back on her face. “Hi Carmen!” she calls.

“Hola Cassandra,” Carmen says. Rosa takes a triple vertical with ease and finishes her route. “Showoff,” Cass grumbles. “Typical Carmen to set up a triple. Not like anyone’s here to watch.”

“You should be doing triples too,” I say.

“I will. Jesus, calm down. We only just got here.”

I know I’m not here to train her, but I want Cass to beat the pants off everyone. At least she doesn’t seem flustered by Rosa. And Nigella’s nowhere in sight. I’ve got time to figure out how to keep Cass focused, keep her from getting thrown off her game.

She dismounts but now that she’s closer to me, I can smell her scent, grass and rosemary now mixed with the faint trace of sweat and horse. My cock stiffens again. I take a step back, putting some space between us.

“I’m not about to wear out Gal on the first day,” Cass explains. “Poor Medianoche over there is wanting a break I bet.”

She glances at the stallion.

“He’s so big,” I say.

Cass looks at me, a twinkle in her eye. “He is. But Gal is faster.” She touches me on the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get Gal in her stall and head back to the hotel. I’m starved.”

I glance at the clock—it’s nearly six. I feel the fog of jetlag starting to set in as I follow Cass to the stables. My stomach growls. A hot meal and warm bed is what I need. I hope Betty has my room sorted soon. I’d like to unpack and unwind.

And maybe have another wank. There’s no harm in fantasizing about Cass, right? It’s been so long since I’ve had a good fantasy about anyone. And after what I just went through with Theresa, I feel as though I deserve it. As much as Cass deserves her glass of champagne.

It occurs to me then that I haven’t texted Theresa back yet.

We get to the stables and a redheaded girl in her late teens hurries up to Cass.

“How was the ride?” she asks.

“Brilliant,” Cass says. “The woods are gorgeous just like you said.”

The girl catches sight of me and her eyes pop. “H-hi,” she stammers. “Who are you?”

Cass looks amused for some reason.

“This is Jaz,” she says. “He’s my trainer.”

“Hi,” the girl says again, in a rather raspy tone. I hope she’s okay—it sounds like she’s having trouble breathing. “I’m Lisa. I’m the groom for this stable. Well, not the only one, there are a couple others, but I was helping Cass before and…um,hi.”

Again, her voice has that breathy, shallow tone.

“Are you all right?” I ask. Maybe she has asthma. I know pollen can be terrible for an asthma sufferer this time of year.

She turns so red her face nearly matches her hair. Cass elbows me like I’ve done something wrong.

“Don’t mind Jaz, he’s hopeless,” Cass says with a wink.

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