Not Fake for Long by Weston Parker

7

HARRISON

Dottie and I waited for the girls outside the house. They were already taking longer than I’d thought they would, but at least I’d had time to check on everything at the barn.

Ashton had the saddles out and four of the horses groomed for us. He still wasn’t too happy about having to teach one of the girls how to ride, but he’d also stopped grumbling about it. At least that was a good sign.

When they walked out, I saw Keira was still in the same clothes. They were fine for riding though, and at least she looked like she would actually manage to stay on her horse. Her sister, however, had changed. Now I know why they took so long.

Hailey’s new outfit wasn’t much of an improvement on the old one, and although I was sure she wore heels often enough to be comfortable in them, she still seemed to having trouble navigating walking in them on dirt. If she’s struggling to walk, I have no fucking idea how she’s hoping to ride in those things.

But it wasn’t my job to give fashion advice. Mariana had helped me compile the email list, and I figured if she didn’t want to heed the advice we gave all our guests, then that was on her.

Keira lit up when she saw Dottie, and she made a beeline for her without hesitating. “Oh, you have a Labrador. I love labbies. One day, I’m going to have a place with a garden and then I’m going to get at least two.”

Before I could warn her that Dottie’s personality wasn’t exactly warm and fluffy, she’d dropped to her haunches and was petting her. “Look at you, pretty girl. You’re just gorgeous, aren’t you?”

“She’s not much of a people person,” I started saying, but then realized that Dottie was loving the attention. Usually, she got all growly when people tried petting her, and then she’d run away, but she was leaning into Keira’s touch.

Huh? Looks like I’m not the only one taken by this girl.

Surprised but also a little mesmerized as I watched Keira interacting with my dog, I tried not to notice how radiant her grin was or how she seemed so completely comfortable in her own skin. She didn’t even flinch when she sat down right in the dust and got Dottie’s hair all over her.

Hailey, meanwhile, took a few steps away from the dog and scrunched up her face at her sister. “Ew. You’re going to smell like dog all day now. I told you we’d need to shower after every session.”

Keira rolled her eyes, sending her sister an exasperated smile over her shoulder. “We’ll smell like horse soon enough. I might as well add a little dog to the mix. Besides, she’s just too gorgeous and sweet to stay away from. Yes, you are, my little cutie.”

“We should get to the barn,” I said after a minute. “I hope you brought sunscreen because it’s going to be getting darn hot very soon.”

“We’ve got some,” Keira said, standing up and dusting off her butt as she lifted the small satchel at her hip with her free hand.

My gaze wanted to stay on the hand dusting off that butt, but I forced it to her eyes instead. Hell, I wouldn’t have had any problems doing the dusting for her if she’d asked.

Fuck. If I couldn’t get my thoughts under control about this girl, I wasn’t going to be able to focus at all this weekend. Well, not on anything other than trying to figure out how to get her underneath me.

“So, why are you guys learning to ride?” I asked as a way of keeping my thoughts where they should’ve been all along. “Is there a particular occasion, or did you just want to get some fresh air for the weekend?”

“My wedding is coming up,” Hailey said, walking beside me when we took off toward the barn. “I’m getting married in a little less than two months, and Keira and I are going to be entering the ceremony on horseback.”

“If we manage to stay on their backs this weekend,” Keira joked, ignoring the frustrated look her sister shot her. “Hey, I’m just saying that if we don’t stay mounted, it’s probably not a good idea trying to do it in a dress with hundreds of eyes on us the next time.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” I said, a slight but unexpected grin on my lips. It wasn’t often that I actually enjoyed our guests, but this girl was so easygoing and lighthearted that I was pretty sure even Ashton was going to like having her around once he got to know her. “There’s isn’t that much to it if all you need to do is walk into a wedding. You just need to know how to sit and how to stop.”

“We also need to get onto them, but you know,” she waved her hand, her eyes twinkling with laughter as she glanced up at me, “I’m confident we’re not going to fall off the other side just by trying to get on.”

“We’ll help you with that,” I said. “Do you know if the venue has a stepladder you can use? Some even have proper mounting blocks that make it really easy.”

Hailey whipped her phone out of her back pocket. “I’ll find out right now. Could you take some pictures of us once we’re at the stable? I’d love to send them to my fiancé.”

“Sure,” I agreed, frowning when she started fluffing her hair and pouting into the camera, holding it out in front of her to take selfies even while we walked.

Keira noticed what she was doing at the same time I did, then bit her lip to keep from smiling as she averted her gaze again. “Really, Hailes? We just got here and you sent him a ton of pictures on the way. Relax a little. Breathe in the fresh air. Maybe even leave your phone alone for a minute.”

“Why would I do that?” she retorted. “You know what they say. Pics or it didn’t happen.”

While I might have only just met these girls, it was obvious that even though they were sisters, they were very different. The thought was confirmed when we got to the stable and I stood off to the side with Ashton to give them a minute to take it in.

It was clear he had no interest in what they were here for, but I was finding myself not so aloof this time around. Especially not when it came to Keira.

Hailey had barely entered the barn when her phone came out again. She took one look at the horses, wrinkled her nose, and then started scrolling on her device. Keira, on the other hand, looked enthralled by the animals.

She cooed and walked up to them, holding the backs of her fingers out for them to sniff before stroking their necks. I’d have expected her to be a little afraid of them like most of our other guests were at first, but she didn’t seem to be at all.

“Who are you?” she asked a chestnut standing in the stall closest to the door. “You’re just incredible. Look at you.”

“That’s Sargent,” I said. “He’s one of the horses we’ll be taking out today. He’s an old man, but he’s very gentle, and he hasn’t thrown anyone off yet.”

“I want him,” Hailey said immediately, marching over and pointing at the horse with the hand that still had her phone in it. “I have no interest in falling off.”

Keira smiled, moving on to the palomino mare next to Sargent. “This one is beautiful too. They all are actually.”

“Then she’s yours for the weekend,” I said. “Her name’s Molly and she’s a sweetheart. You’ll be safe with her.”

Ashton surprised me when he stepped forward, his expression inquisitive when his gaze landed on Keira. “You want me to show you how to saddle her? That’s her halter hanging right there.”

“That’ll be great.” She beamed at him, paying close attention when he showed her how to clip on the halter and unlatched the door.

Her eyes widened when I went to the end of the row and brought out Ashton’s and my horses. “Whoa. Those guys are huge.”

Ashton’s chest puffed out with pride. “The gray’s mine. Angelo. I broke him in myself going on a decade ago now. The giant black colt is Harrison’s. Nairobi is a good horse, but you want to watch him.”

I rolled my eyes. “He’s just spirited.”

Hailey retreated a few steps when I came past with the horses, seemingly taking Ashton’s advice to heart more than she had ours about the dress code. We showed the girls how to saddle the horses and then, when it was time to climb on, Ashton moved to Hailey’s side as fast as he could.

“Sarge might be gentle, but if you grab his mane like that, even he might take issue.” He eyed her for a minute. “He could be trying to move out of the way because of that ridiculous outfit of yours. I wouldn’t want anyone with spikes on their feet on my back either.”

“They’re not spikes.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, her chin still high in the air. “Don’t tell me you’ve never seen heels before. Hell, you were probably around when they were invented.”

“Oh, I’m old,” he said with a smile. “Old enough to know how the world works. You young ones only think you do.”

Keira chuckled and managed to get on Molly’s back just fine using the small stepladder we’d placed outside for them. Once I was on Nairobi, I went over to her.

Ashton and Hailey brought up the rear, still exchanging barbs but seemingly both enjoying it. It suited me just fine to be paired up with Keira. I wouldn’t mind using this opportunity to get to know her, and by the way she flushed when I came closer, I had a feeling she felt the same way.

“Are you ready?” I asked. “I thought we could start on one of the flat paths to get you used to riding. Just let me know when you start getting tired, okay? It’s best we don’t push it your first time out.”

She gave me one of those radiant grins of hers, quirking a dark eyebrow at me as she shrugged one shoulder. “I’m training to be a stockbroker. I can handle a little pressure. Molly and I will be just fine. It’s you guys who’re going to be the first to call it.”

This fucking chick…

It had to be the fastest a person I’d just met had made me laugh, but she did. I met her earthy-colored gaze, dipping my chin in acknowledgment of the challenge she’d thrown out. “You look like you can handle a lot, but don’t come crying to me if you can’t walk tomorrow.”

With that, I tugged on the reins to get Nairobi to do the walking away for me, but not before I saw the flash of surprise in her eyes at the words I’d chosen—which, granted, had been a lot more flirtatious than they needed to be to get the same point across. Her laughter followed me as I led the way, and I grinned. Again.

This fucking chick.