Two Point Proposition
By Mary Winter
ISBN# 978-0-9826023-1-7
Copyright 2010 by Mary Winter
Smashwords edition published by Pink Petal Books at Smashwords
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Chapter One
Sydney leaned forward and patted the horse’s neck. For a colt no one wanted, Knothead was turning into a fine jumper. He sailed over the three foot jumps as easily as Daniel had claimed. He might not make a good roping horse, but Knothead loved to fly.
“Ready to go again, boy?” Sydney sat back in the saddle and shortened the reins.
Knotty flicked his ears back and forth, already prancing in place. “Easy,” she crooned, turning the horse back toward the line of log jumps set up along the fence.
Across the field, Blake Madison schooled one of his up-and-coming geldings. She’d setup a show jumping arena at the top of the hill, near the gate. The rest of the large enclosure was given to her cross-country jumps. The arrangement worked out well for Blake, and meant they could train at the same time without running into each other. His horse had qualified for some pretty high level events in the show jumping world, and Sydney watched as Blake took him over some of the taller, stadium-type jumps she had set up in the front of the field. Her chosen sport, Three Day Eventing, consisted of more natural obstacles. Made to resemble logs or hutches, the jumps had little give and a lot of danger. Blake’s show jumpers stayed in the arena, and they soared over obstacles painted vivid colors, sometimes designed to look like company logos. She often teased him that her sport seemed more butch compared to his, and he’d laugh, reminding them both that he was the Queen of this barn.
Only temporarily, Sydney reminded herself and wondered why that thought prompted a twinge of regret. Blake had lost his farm, some bad investments making it impossible for him to pay the mortgage. So she’d offered space, since she had acreage she wasn’t using. Even with his twenty horses on the property she still had plenty of room to expand. And even if his stay wasn’t temporary, Blake wanted nothing to do with her romantically. They were good friends, and both of them loved looking at the men.
She watched the athleticism Blake portrayed as he took his horse over the jumps. His buff-colored breeches cupped his ass and thighs, his tall boots gleaming on his long legs. He wore a t-shirt, revealing tanned forearms sprinkled with a light dusting of golden hair, and beneath his riding helmet was the sexiest sun-kissed blond hair she’d ever seen on a man. Take him out of the barn clothes and put him in shorts, he’d look like he’d flown in from California’s beaches.
Her libido jumped. Down girl. He’s not for you. Drawing a deep breath, she reluctantly turned away from the masculine sight on the top of the hill. She had a horse to school for an upcoming show—several horses if she kept to her schedule—and she wanted to take her broodmare, Jezebel, out on a nice slow walk. Jezebel had had the spring and summer off and the vet claimed she was right on track for her May foaling date, just a few weeks away.
Besides, didn’t you tell Katie you had sworn off men? The little voice in her head was starting to annoy her. Sure, she’d told her best friend exactly that several months ago, when Katie had been all ga-ga over James and Daniel. Not that Sydney blamed her friend. Hell, if she had two hotties that sexy living at her house, she’d be all over them. She didn’t. She had her good friend Blake.
She struggled to remind herself that he was her gay friend, Blake. Even if she did wonder about the rumors. One night when she’d attended a show with Blake, she’d opened her motel room to find him kissing a guy. She’d watched for a moment and when the kiss had ended, he’d muttered something about being the biggest man he’d ever seen.
No, she couldn’t think about such things. The two of them had been through too much shit to mess things up now.
Her mind firmly back on track, she cued Knotty into a nice, sweet canter. She’d gallop him later, but for now, she needed to have him controlled over these jumps. The close spaces, maybe one or two strides at the most, between the obstacles meant that both horse and rider had to be on their marks. She turned Knotty toward the front of the line and started counting in her head. One…two…jump! Land…one stride…jump! Oh yeah, Knotty hit his spacing perfectly, listening to her cues, shortening his stride as they went through a quick in-and-out jump, and then lengthening it for the last one. She didn’t hear the knock of hooves against the jumps. She’d have to see if Blake could take a video of her so she could share it with James and Daniel. Sydney bet they’d be very proud of their former horse.
She gave Knotty his head and cued him into a gallop. They kept to the edges of the fence, going more for endurance than for jump. There were a couple of obstacles, a larger spread jump, and a water hazard, she wanted to take him through, but soon enough, they reached the top of the hill where Blake was walking his horse.
Sydney let Knotty wander up to their make-shift arena. She noted a couple of divots in the outdoor dressage arena and made a note to do some work in the field this weekend.
“Hey,” Blake said as he rode to meet her. “You guys looked good down there.”
A brief flutter of pleasure darted through her that he had noticed. Of course, he probably hadn’t noticed her new four-way stretch breeches that molded to her like a second skin, or the fact that she’d worn a sports tank with a built in bra that showed off her muscular shoulders and arms. Her brown hair hung in a pony tail down her back, her helmet was a pretty lavender one that matched the stripes on her new breeches. No, knowing Blake, he probably noticed Knotty far more than she, and Sydney wondered why that suddenly bothered her.
“Thanks. Didn’t see much of you, but what I did see looked good as well. He’s headed out to a big show next weekend, isn’t he?” She tried to remember the schedule he’d given her. Right now, it lay on her desk, ready to be input into her calendar, and she couldn’t quite remember if it was this weekend or next.
“Next weekend. We have one more week to prepare. I think tomorrow we’re going to do a couple of long gallops.”
“Sounds good,” Sydney said. Their training regimens were similar enough she could follow his thought processes without needing them explained. Silence settled between them. Blake’s attention flickered over her, darting, like he was trying to give her covert glances. She stiffened, Knotty instantly sensing the change in her. Consciously relaxing, she soothed the horse.
They made one circuit of the top of the hill and Blake moved his gelding to the fence line. Sydney followed him, wondering what he was up to. Usually once Blake cooled down his horses, he headed back for the barn. Like her, he had several mounts to ride. Training time was precious and with shows coming up, he needed to be riding as long as there was daylight.
Mentally, she went over her own schedule. Three more horses after Knotty to ride, and one of them was a young horse she was training. She could afford to take a little bit of time with Blake, and besides, she liked their long rides. It’d been a while since they’d done this.
“You settling in okay? I trust you have enough space?” Sydney asked. Blake had been there for a few months, and she thought they’d worked out their schedules well. He had the second barn she hadn’t expanded into yet, and it had several hot walkers and a large arena. Since both of them needed the stadium jumps, and she’d built this practice field for the cross country obstacles so important to her sport, they had plenty of room to ride.
“Great. Thanks. I just hope I’m not crowding you out?” He smiled, revealing endearing little lines at the corners of his eyes.
Quit focusing on those gorgeous baby blues and pay attention to the horse beneath you. The mental slap did little good, for Knotty walked like a seasoned veteran, not even shying when a rabbit darted beneath the fence line.
“No, not at all. In fact, you probably saved me from having to buy more jumps,” she said. He’d taken over her extra shed too, filling it with all sorts of poles and planks and flower boxes. “We could probably hold a show with everything we have.”
Blake chuckled. “That’d be nice. There aren’t too many schooling shows in the area and this field is probably nice enough to hold a lower level event.”
It was, though she didn’t say anything. She’d specifically built her farm with such an end goal in mind. That they were so in synch, it sent shivers up her spine. Kind of like the same ones she saw when she’d ran into Luke over at Katie’s place.
Luke, now there was a lovely distraction. He wanted her, and the fact that he hung out with James and Daniel didn’t mean much. Both of them were bisexual. There was no reason to think that Luke might be different. When they’d first met, she’d sworn off men, and then she got busy with Blake’s moving in. Now, her body was responding to her good friend who happened to be gay and the hunky cowboy. She figured the cowboy would be the better bet.
“I’m thinking about inviting Katie over for dinner. She’ll probably bring the guys too. Thought I might ask you before I filled up the house.” She watched Blake to gauge his reaction. Last week she’d gone over to see some of James’ young stock. If he had other horses as good as Knothead, she wanted to know. That trip, she and Blake had met Luke in the barn. Apparently the cowboy was willing to fuck anything that moved, and Blake had ducked out rather quickly. Sydney bit her lip to keep from laughing at the memory; the attraction between the two guys, and between her and Luke, had been obvious.
Blake shrugged, though Sydney sensed his nonchalant attitude was a front. “It’s your house. You can have over whoever you want. Is it just going to be Katie and her partners?”
Well, at least he handled that well. “Probably. And maybe Luke.”
Blake stiffened. “Fine,” he said, his voice clipped.
“You don’t want Luke to come over? I know he’s not with Katie, but since he’s staying there, well it seemed polite.” She kept her tone light, though Blake’s reaction intrigued her.
“Sure.” They reached the top of the hill, and Blake dismounted.
Sydney followed suit. She hurried around Knotty to reach her friend. Touching his arm, she studied him. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Nothing. If you want to invite friends over you can.” He stepped away, leading his gelding toward the circular driveway.
Knotty wanted to follow, and frankly, so did Sydney. She watched Blake’s tight ass in those breeches and tried not to think about the things they could do once they got back to the barn. She took off her helmet and wiped the back of her hand against her forehead. Damn, when had she gotten so involved with the state of Blake’s body? They’d been friends, good friends, for such a long time. Acting on her impulses now, especially when he seemed so prickly, seemed like a good way to damn that friendship.
“You know, if you want to invite friends over, I wouldn’t mind. I want this to be your place just as much as mine,” Sydney said, offering an olive-branch. She fell into step beside him. Blake had taken the old apartment above the garage, even though she had a spare bedroom. He said it made things easier if he didn’t live with her. Made him feel like he was renting the space, though he paid his half of the bills. As far as she was concerned he was more than a renter, and he didn’t have to pay for anything other than his horses. That he did more, especially after the financial fiasco with his barn, touched her more than he knew.
She paused in the shade of the barn to allow him to walk ahead of her.
“I know.” He cross-tied his gelding in the barn aisle, and immediately removed the saddle and pad from the horse’s back. Grabbing a brush, he smoothed away the sweat marks, and swapped the bridle for a halter. His terse movements spoke the volumes he wouldn’t say.
Her comments had bothered him. Sydney frowned. She’d only been trying to make him feel welcome with her suggestion. Just because she hadn’t had a boyfriend in a while, didn’t mean he didn’t have one, or wouldn’t in the future. Especially with the way Luke and he had sparked.
~* * *~
Using the excuse that she needed to check on the horses, Sydney darted from the kitchen table. She stepped outside and looked up into the dark sky. A heavy sigh emerged from her chest and she rubbed the bridge of her nose.
“And I thought this was a good idea why?” she muttered to no one in particular. Down by the pond, frogs croaked. A distant call, maybe that of an owl, filled the air. With a shake of her head, she hurried down the stairs. Better get to the barn in case someone wanted to look for her. It would appear odd if she’d fled her own dinner party.
And what a party it had been. As she’d hoped, Luke had come along with Daniel, Katie, and James. The four of them had made quite the boisterous party. They’d brought some side dishes and Sydney had hurried to the local chicken shack to bring back several buckets of southern fried goodness. With Luke giving her those looks as freely as he gave them to Blake, and Blake’s trying to ignore them, tension ran thick. Out here, the cool evening air refreshed her, and as she walked to the barn, she got the same little thrill she did every day. After all, this was her farm. She owned this place.
She stepped into the barn aisle, instantly comforted by the heads sliding over the barn doors and the soft greetings the horses gave her. She went to Knotty’s stall and checked on him. Satisfied he still had hay and his water bucket was full, she then went door-by-door and verified all the other horses were just as settled. They were, so she made her way to the pile of hay by the large double doors. Sitting down, she closed her eyes and found the quiet place in her mind that she visited before shows.
She could do this. Luke, Blake, both men had made it clear, albeit in different ways, that they wanted each other. She thought both men wanted her too. She had no doubts about Luke. Blake, however, was a bit different, but she thought he was starting to see her more as a woman, then as his good friend.
A dark shadow appeared in the doorway.
“Hello?” Sydney called, assuming it might be one of the guys, though it didn’t hurt to be safe.
The shape stepped into the barn, and she instantly recognized Luke’s lean form. Besides Katie’s men, he was the only other one in boots. Blake had stood out wearing his sneakers.
“Hey,” she said, but didn’t move.
“Hey, yourself. So the horses okay?”
She appreciated his keeping up the charade, though they both knew she hadn’t come out here for the horses. “Yeah, they’re doing fine. I just like to check in on them, and I didn’t want to rush you guys home.”
“That’s good. I wouldn’t want to be rushed away.” Luke sat down beside her. He stretched out his long legs and even in the dim light Sydney found her attention drawn to his muscular thighs.
Her body tightened. An instant of want, swift and needy, filled her. Heat flushed her cheeks and her sex grew damp at his nearness. The scent of his after shave, something masculine and woody, had her nipples hardening behind the lace of her bra.
“No, I wouldn’t imagine you’d want to be rushed at all.” Sydney verbally toyed with him, letting the image of Luke laying beside her in her four-poster bed fill her mind. With his hands and mouth, he’d worship her body, so slowly that she’d beg him for some kind of release. “When you make your living eight seconds at a time, I’d guess that some things you’d want to last for hours.”
“Oh, you’re a wicked woman.” Luke turned to her. He stroked his fingers lazily up and down her bare arm, each sweep of his hand sending new shivers down her spine. “You know, I told James and Daniel I’d sworn off women.”
Sydney laughed, and to her own ears it sounded huskier than usual. “Funny, I told Katie the same thing.” She swayed toward him, lips parted, wanting to put an end to this delicious tension spiraling between them. Just kiss me. Her tongue swept across her lower lip in invitation.
“Very wicked,” he whispered. Luke cupped her chin. He stared at her for a long moment, and then dipped his head.
Yes. The first brush of his lips against hers was like lightning to her blood. Her eyelids fluttered closed. The rich, delicious taste of the chocolate cheesecake she’d picked up for desert spread over her tongue. Chocolate and Luke. Damn, that made for a heady combination.
She reached for him. The western shirt did little to conceal his hard, muscled physique. His broad shoulders created the perfect place to rest her hands as she clung to him. The hay created a bench, the perfect place for seduction. Somehow, she found herself leaning back, caught between the bales and Luke’s chest. With one hand braced next to her ear, the other found its way to her hip, and to the sliver of skin she’d deliberately left bare with her low-rise jeans. Dear God, she wanted more. She pulled away to drag a ragged breath. “Luke,” she moaned.
A throat cleared next to the door.
“We got company,” Luke whispered, then brushed the pad of his calloused thumb against her lips. He straightened and rose to his feet, sauntering oh-so-sexily toward the new arrival. “Hey, Blake. Nice of you to join us.” The easy drawl of Luke’s words held a different, darker intent. “I suspect you watched long enough to know exactly what we were doing.”