Three Rules I’d Never Break by Remi Carrington

Chapter 15

Eli jumped out and ran around to the passenger side. He pulled open the door, and the delight on his face made me want to jump into his arms and kiss him. But I didn’t.

“You can leave your keys in the truck. No one will bother them.”

“Okay.” I stepped out of the truck and scanned the rugged landscape.

Up the hill, a white stone house stood, and on the other side of it were trees, not tall, but dense and thick with leaves. The red barn in front of us looked like something that should’ve been on a postcard.

“This is beautiful. Where are we?” I spun in a circle, taking in the amazing view.

“This is my granddad’s place. I come out and ride sometimes. And occasionally I come out here just to visit, and he beats me at chess.” He slammed the door closed, then clasped my hand. “Come on. The horses might be ready. I called Mario to let him know we were coming.”

“Mario?”

“He takes care of stuff out here. Granddad isn’t in poor health, but he isn’t young anymore. Mario handles the horses.” Eli slid the barn door open and never once let go of my hand.

“Eli, you’re here! I have the horses ready.” A man with dark curly hair and a full beard smiled.

“Thanks so much, Mario.” Eli shook the man’s hand, then nodded toward me. “This is Delaney.”

“Howdy, miss. Nice to meet you. Can’t say as I’ve ever had to saddle up two horses before, but Sugar is all ready for you to ride.” He tipped his hat. “Eli, when y’all get back, just shoot me a text. I’ll get these two wiped down and put away.”

“I owe you, Mario.”

This outgoing Eli was the one who chatted with friends and tossed bean bags with Haley and Zach. With me, he was no longer the stoic, silent Eli. Now he was the slightly less quiet, cheerful Eli. And I liked this guy.

“I’ll remember that.” Mario whistled as he walked away.

Eli squeezed my hand. “Wait here a sec. I forgot something in the truck.”

I slipped my phone out of my pocket and snapped a photo. Tessa had to see this place. Or maybe she already had. I’d definitely be asking her about it later.

A door opened in the back of the barn, and I crossed my arms, feeling like I didn’t belong and wondering who I was about to meet.

“Well, hello there.” A man with salt and pepper hair—more salt than pepper—sauntered toward me.

It wasn’t hard to tell he was related to Eli and Zach. This had to be the Gallagher granddad. Vivid green eyes sparkled, and that smile had more wrinkles around it, but it looked very much like Eli’s grin.

“When Mario said he was saddling two horses, I wandered down to check on a few things. Really I just wanted to see what Eli was up to.” He walked to a stall and stroked the nose of a dark brown horse.

“Are you going to ride with us?”

He shook his head. “But it’s a good day for a ride. Not too hot yet. Did he say which horse they saddled for you?”

“Sugar.”

“Sweet.” He grinned and raised an eyebrow, almost as if he was waiting for me to laugh.

It was easy to laugh. I liked this guy. “I hope she is. I’ve never ridden before.”

“She’ll be good to you. I’m guessing Eli will be riding Cream.”

“He didn’t say.” I pointed to the horse vying for his attention. “What’s his name?”

“Coffee.”

I slapped a hand over my mouth because guffawing wasn’t exactly attractive.

“I hope you aren’t telling stories about me. It’s too soon for that.” Eli pressed a hand to the small of my back. “Delaney, this is my granddad, Matthew Gallagher. Granddad, this is Delaney.”

“Very pleased to meet you.” He tipped his hat. “Y’all have a nice time.” He rubbed the horse once more before walking out the door.

“Your granddad is so sweet.” I turned to face Eli.

He patted the bag hanging off his shoulder. “I brought food along in case we get hungry. And a blanket.”

Who knew that Eli was such a romantic?

“You packed us a picnic?”

He nodded and laced his fingers with mine. “I picked up sandwiches for us to eat after we finished up on the car, but when I realized the rebuilding wasn’t happening today, I scrambled to come up with something else to do. I hope this is okay.”

Grinning, I bumped his shoulder. “It’s kind of perfect.”

“Let’s ride.” He led me through the side door of the barn out to where two horses were tied to a wooden fence.

“Let me guess. The white one is Sugar.”

“Bingo. That one is Cream because Sugar likes to follow him around.”

“Makes perfect sense.” I patted Sugar on the nose. “Hello.”

After putting the stuff he’d brought into a saddle bag, Eli pointed to a small step. “Hop on the mounting block, and I’ll help you up.”

This was the part that made me the most nervous. Not true. The whole part about being on a horse made me nervous.

I nodded and stepped up.

He put his hands on my hips. “You want to keep your hips pointed this way.” He tapped my left hip. “Put this foot into the stirrup.”

Warmth spread across my back as he joined me on the mounting block. “Put your hand here on the saddle, then push up and swing your other leg over. I’ll be right here if you need me.”

I sucked in a deep breath, then pushed up like he’d explained. A second later, I was sitting in the saddle. “Whoa. I’m on a horse.”

“You mounted like you’ve done this a lot.” He showed me how to hold the reins, then stepped back onto the ground. “Sit tight.”

It wasn’t like I was going to go trotting away. At least not on purpose.

He swung up onto his horse like a cowboy about to ride into the sunset. This was a side of Eli I hadn’t expected. He wore a cowboy hat and boots on the job because that was part of the uniform, but there was more cowboy in him than I’d realized.

He gathered his reins and adjusted his ball cap.

Sugar took a step, and I yelped. “How do I make her stop?”

Eli rode up beside me. “She’s just shifting. Let me give you a quick lesson in how to move.”

He explained and demonstrated how to get my horse to go where I wanted her to go. Completely out of my element, I gave him my full attention. Right now, he didn’t have any trouble with words. He was fully in his element, and I loved this shift.

“Ready?” He lifted his eyebrows.

“As I’ll ever be.” When Cream started down the trail, which was really just a line where the grass was matted a bit, I nudged Sugar’s sides. “Okay, girl, follow Cream.”

And she did. It was less nerve-wracking than I’d imagined.

Birds sang as we rode. Sunlight dappled the ground as we meandered through trees and alongside a stream. Then we cut back uphill and into an open meadow. Wildflowers danced in the breeze.

“Eli, this is beautiful.”

He pointed toward a large oak tree. “Over there is a good place to stop.”

After surprising a jackrabbit and sending squirrels running for cover, we stopped near a large oak tree.

“This tree must be hundreds of years old.” I wasn’t an expert on trees, but one with a trunk that size had been around a while.

“You’re probably right. I bet he could tell some stories.” Eli swung off his horse, then walked up beside me. “You’ll get down doing basically everything in reverse.”

I nodded. Praying I wouldn’t land on my butt, I swung my leg over the horse and hovered with my stomach over the saddle.

Eli patted my left leg. “Pull this foot out of the stirrup, then ease down.”

He’d touched me more during the instruction for horseback riding than he had in all the time I’d known him . . . with the exception of the doughnut shop kiss, but I initiated that. Maybe I needed to ask him to teach me CPR.

Once my feet were on the ground, Eli strode back to his horse and emptied the saddle bags. He spread a blanket on the ground before opening a small soft-sided cooler. “I asked Tessa if you had any food allergies or dislikes. She said you didn’t like raisins, so I made sure they didn’t put any on your sandwich.” He delivered the statement with a straight face, but the twinkle in his eye gave away his attempt at humor.

I laughed. “You’re funny like your granddad.”

“I hope to be when I grow up.”

That was funny because looking at Eli there was no question that he was a fully grown man.

I sat down beside him on the blanket and unwrapped the sandwich. “Where did you get this? This looks amazing.” The word sandwiches conjured up an image of peanut butter and jelly or a thin slice of ham stacked with cheese. This sandwich looked fresh from a deli.

“There is a shop in one of the small towns near Stadtburg. Gourmet food store with a deli counter in the back.” He handed me a bottle of water. “I hope water is okay.”

“It’s great.”

He wolfed down his food, then leaned back on an elbow as he drank his water.

A hundred questions bounced in my head, but one begged to be asked more than the others.

“What changed, Eli?”

We’d texted back and forth, but after spending that night working on his car, he was this charming, flirty cowboy. And while I loved it, I wondered if his interest was going to start waning. That had been his pattern.

He stretched out on his back and looked up into the trees. “You asked about my car.”

“That’s it? Really? I heard that when you start talking to someone you lose interest.” I kept my focus on my sandwich because he was freer with his words when I wasn’t staring at him.

He trailed a finger down my arm. “Tessa has been giving you the scoop, huh?”

“She has.”

“That has been true. For a few reasons. Some girls—women—are way more interesting before you have a conversation with them. With others, I realized the butterflies in my stomach were only there because I was nervous. I’d confused attraction with my fear of being awkward.”

I dropped my hand to the blanket, making it accessible.

In his never-miss-anything way, he caught my hint and laced his fingers with mine. “With you, there are always butterflies. But you don’t make me feel awkward. Not anymore.”

I glanced at him, pinching my lips together to keep my smile from ripping open my face.

He squeezed my hand. “You don’t look at me with impatience and act like I’m slow when I’m trying to think.”

I laid down on my side, facing him. “I’m sorry I tried to hurry you in the doughnut shop.”

He shook his head before shifting so that he faced me. “Don’t be. I didn’t leave because I felt rushed, Delaney. I left because I felt stupid for dumping coffee on you. Again.”

“I probably should have warned you so you could put your coffee down.”

Brushing a knuckle along my cheek, he leaned closer. “No coffee here.”

His fingers threaded in my hair, and he pulled me to him. His lips were as soft as his arms were strong. There was no hesitation. Tenderly, he danced his lips on mine. He hadn’t shaved, and the stubble burned my lips in a satisfying way.

I leaned in closer. His hand shifted out of my hair and slipped around my waist. The kiss intensified as he rolled onto his back, landing me on top of him. And it was a good thing I was lying down because my knees could not have handled this.

For several more minutes, he kissed me, holding me tight against his chest.

I giggled when he broke away. “First, wow. And is that why you rode Cream and left Coffee in the barn?”

Chuckling, he kissed me again. “Yep.”

I pressed a kiss to his stubble. “You didn’t shave.”

“You said you liked the way it felt on your lips.”

“I do.” I rested my head on his chest and watched a butterfly flitting from flower to flower.

Several seconds ticked by as we lay on the blanket.

Patting his chest, I thought back to our other kiss.

“Penny for your thoughts.” He trailed a finger across my back up and down, then back up again.

That question was gold coming from a man who kept so many thoughts to himself.

“The last time we kissed . . .” I wasn’t sure how to word my observation without making it sound like I was disappointed. I wasn’t. “I guess I’m trying to say that today you are softer. I don’t mean squishy or anything bad.” I patted his chest again. “You know what? Just forget I opened my mouth.”

Laughing, he rolled me onto my back and hovered over me. “I was wearing body armor. And you pierced right through it.”

“Oh. Well, for the record”—I ran a hand down the front of his shirt—“I prefer this.”

He kissed me again, and I forgot all about sandwiches, oak trees, and horses.

Long before I was ready to end our perfect little picnic, he stood. “We should get going. I want to be back before dark.”

He had everything packed up in a matter of minutes. Then, in a not-so-graceful way, I managed to get back up on my horse.

And instead of walking over to Cream, Eli looked up at me. “It won’t even be dark by the time we get back. And I’m really enjoying myself.”

“Me too.”

“I was thinking maybe dessert and dancing . . . if you like that idea.”

I leaned down, intending to kiss him in answer to his question, but my plan went awry. I slid right out of the saddle, but my left foot stayed in the stirrup.

“Whoa!” Eli caught me around the waist.

I couldn’t stop laughing long enough to respond. And I didn’t even want to think about how ridiculous I looked hanging off the side of a horse. If I wanted to impress him with gracefulness, this was not the way to do it.

“Work your foot loose.” Eli acted like it wasn’t any big deal to hold me off the ground while I wriggled my boot free.

Once my feet landed in the dirt, I dropped my head to his chest. “I did not mean for that to happen. I’m glad you’re so strong.”

He wrapped his arms around me. “What did you want to happen?”

“This.” I inched up and brushed my lips on his. “I’m not ready for the date to be over.”

“Then let’s get you back up onto that horse so we can go.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “It would be too easy to lose track of time if I start kissing you again.”

The man oozed charm, and I was smitten.

Following his instructions, I hopped back into the saddle. Hopped made it sound smooth and effortless. In reality, it was difficult and clunky.

He patted my leg. “I have a small surprise for dessert. We’ll pick it up and eat at my place.”

His surprises were going to spoil me.

“Can’t wait.”

Sugar followed Cream all the way back to the barn, and when we arrived, he helped me down, keeping his arms around me after my feet were on the ground. “I hadn’t planned the dancing part. That was a spur of the moment suggestion. You’ll have to be a little patient with me. I haven’t been dancing in a while.”

“I’m just happy to get more time with you.” I meant every word.

He could step on my feet all night, and I wouldn’t care as long as he kept sweet-talking me like this.

We loaded into his truck, and once we hit the main road, Eli reached across the cab and clasped my hand. “Thanks for being patient with me. Texting and talking on the phone and getting to know you helped me be much less nervous today.”

“It’s been amazing. I can’t believe you pulled all this together.”

He shrugged. “When the car plan fell apart, I figured I’d share something else I enjoy with you.”

“I loved it. Tell your granddad that it was a pleasure meeting him. And Mario.”

We road along in silence, the comfortable, blissful silence shared by friends.

I gasped when he parked outside the restaurant at the winery.

Eli swung his door open. “I’ll be half a sec.”

“Okay.”

As soon as the door closed, I shot off a text to Tessa. She was probably still awake. Tonight has been AMAZING. I’ll tell you all about it in the morning.

Tessa texted: Yay! So happy he finally started talking.

Eli opened the door and handed over a bag. “Two lavender crème brûlées to go.”

This date just kept getting better and better.

* * *

After hours of dancing,we strolled to my back door well past midnight.

Eli backed me against the door. “I’ve never had such a good time on a date.”

“I was about to say the same thing.”

“My shift starts early, so I need to go, but I’ll call you after work.” Instead of walking away, he inched closer. “But first, this.”

His lips pressed to mine, and his fingers threaded into my hair. Just like on the dance floor, he took the lead, and I enjoyed every second. Kisses that began with explosive passion ended with an alluring gentleness.

Enjoying the tingle of his stubble, I ran my hand down the front of his shirt. “This is my new favorite word.”

He chuckled. “Night, Delaney.” As he stepped back, he pulled me to his chest, then opened the door. “Once the door is locked, I’ll go. I really need to go.”

Feeling a smile tugging at my cheeks, I slipped inside and locked the door.

With my back pressed to it, I sighed. “Wow.” Good things did come to those who waited.