Page 51 of Caden's Situationship

Come on Cordelia. Get it together for your man.It was no secret that I wasn’t the down and dirty farm girl who could give Caden a run for his money, but I had my own great qualities to match his rugged ways. And I’d ridden a horse before, so you could only get better with time, right?

Straightening my back, I picked up the pace a little, trying to look like the cowgirl I was not. What I didn’t expect, was for Caden to slow down when I prompted my horse to pick up speed, causing me to pass right by him.

In a slight panic, I tried to get my horse to slow back down, but instead, Rosie kicked up speed and next thing I knew, I was clenching my thighs to Rosie and holding on for dear life.

“Rosie, slow down,” I shrieked. But it was no use. She was charging forward at full speed and had I not already seen this part of Caden’s property, I may have stopped screaming long enough to enjoy the scenery.

“Cordelia, pull the reins,” Caden yelled, coming up beside me. I pulled the reins and nothing happened.

“Is Rosie friends with LeeLee?” I asked.

“Huh?”

“Is Rosie friends with LeeLee?” I repeated, saying it louder. “I wonder if she told Rosie to test me out today. If she did, I’m failing.”

The situation was pretty dangerous because I could get hurt if I fell, but I’d made Caden laugh, and in return, it helped me relax and allowed me to listen to his instructions. After a few more seconds, we were both able to slow down Rosie.

“Are you okay?” he asked, helping me down from the horse.

“I am now,” I huffed, clenching my chest as I caught my breath. “I think I need a few more riding lessons besides that safety lesson you gave me.”

Caden laughed. “I think you do to.” He twisted me around and began checking me out to see if I was okay.

“I’m good,” I told him. “You got to me in time before Rosie kicked it up another notch.”

“You scared the crap out of me,” he admitted. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I nodded and felt my body jerk closer to Caden. It took a moment for me to realize Rosie had moved and was the reason for the push.

He steadied me, his gaze dropping from my eyes to my lips. I’d already kissed him several times today, but there was something about screaming for your life and being saved by a sexy black man riding a black stallion horse that made a girl weak in the knees.

When he kissed me, I was more than ready for it, our mouths melding as perfectly as they always did. There were so many men who would have gotten angry if I'd accidentally told one of their biggest secrets, yet Caden hadn't yelled or screamed. He hadn't even for one second made me feel like it could be the end of us over my Freudian slip.

I’d spent so much of my life overthinking things and over-apologizing because the people who were supposed to love me unconditionally had put major life-changing conditions on that love. But not Caden. With every passing day, Caden was proving that he was a man worthy of the kind of love I’d waited my entire life to give and I couldn’t wait to tell him how I felt when the time was right.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” Avery’s voice was the first I heard, followed by similar sentiments from the others as they caught up with us.

“Cordelia is fine,” Caden told them. “But I think it’s a wrap for horseback riding today.”

“Noooo,” Jordyn whined. “I love this. It’s so freeing being out here. Maybe we can just ride tandem instead?”

“That’s true,” I said. “I don’t want us to stop on my behalf and I noticed at least four of us are great on the horses.”

Caden nodded. “Malakai, you take Avery. Jordyn, you take Crayson. Serenity, you take Ty. And I’ll take Cordelia. Everyone good with that?”

“Hell yeah,” Crayson said. “I wasn’t even good at this shit when I lived out here. And I may drive better than Jordyn, but my woman can ride a horse.” The look he gave her made it seem like he was talking about more than just a horse.

Tyler cleared his throat. “Actually Caden, I was hoping I could ride with you. Serenity said she prefers to ride with Cordelia and get to know her better.”

“I did?” Serenity asked, earning her a look from Tyler. “Oh right, yeah. I did.”

I laughed as did everyone else because Ty had been on this kick to corner Caden alone ever since last night. He’d even pulled me aside earlier to warn me that he was trying to get his flirt on with Caden before we ended up engaged or married like the others.

I’d known Caden would be annoyed, but I couldn’t help but tell him I was okay with it. Partially because I knew Ty was harmless, but really, I enjoyed watching a grown man run from a guy half his size.

“Uh.” Caden looked at me, his eyes pleading for me to help him out.

“Sorry Ty. Caden’s all mine.” I announced. Looking to Ty, I mouthed asorryto which he repliedthanks for trying.

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