afraid, too. But trusting him—trusting myself—let me see with my heart as well as my head. All I’m suggesting is that you do the same thing.”
“JT doesn’t want to let me in. Trying to get to know him is like slogging through mud. Forward progress is slow and exhausting.”
“But it’s still progress.”
“And what if I do get to know him only to discover that he’s been damaged so badly he won’t be able to accept love much less return it.”
“If anyone can fix him, that person is you.”
Scarlett’s faith strengthened Violet. Was it possible that what had started out as an inspired business strategy could become a viable, satisfying and permanent merger?
“We’re having a party at JT’s ranch on Tuesday. I need you, Logan and Harper to come for moral support.”
“Of course we’ll come, but you don’t really need us. You and JT will do great together. I think you make a wonderful team. I’ll bet Tiberius did too. It’s probably why he left the stock to you instead of to JT with the caveat that you couldn’t dispose of it until far in the future.”
Ever since the reading of his will, Violet had wondered about Tiberius’s motivation for doing so as well. Why had he given her the stock and forced her to hold on to it knowing that she wouldn’t be able to vote?
Plagued by questions she’d never know the answer to, Violet drove to JT’s ranch and arrived at three in the afternoon. JT’s housekeeper took charge of Violet’s luggage and informed her that JT was in the barn. Curious, Violet went in search of him.
To describe JT’s property as a ranch was a little misleading. What he had was a first-class training facility for show horses. The barn was a state-of-the-art structure with an impressive lobby whose walls were lined with large photos of expensive-looking horses doing dressage or jumping fences. The centerpiece of the room was a large bronze horse and female rider. Violet wondered if it had been modeled after JT’s grandmother.
Off the lobby were several offices, currently empty. A door toward the back had a sign on it that indicated it led to the barn. Violet pushed her way through. She expected to be hit with heat, noise and stench, but it was a comfortable eighty degrees, and the few sounds that reached her ear were muted crunching and an occasional nose clearing. As for the smell, whatever air conditioning JT had incorporated into his design also pulled the dust from the air as well as the strongest of the horsey odors of hay, sweat and manure.
The concrete floor between the stalls was newly swept and free of dust. Violet wandered along, peering into stalls as she went. With each step she took, she found herself growing more and more calm. By the time she rounded a corner and spotted JT, down on one knee, wrapping some sort of poultice around a horse’s knee, she was humming.
“Hi,” she said, stopping ten feet from the large horse.
JT glanced up at her greeting and offered her a lopsided grin that made her heart jerk almost painfully. He wore camel-colored jodhpurs and knee-high boots. A navy polo shirt showed off the strong column of his throat and his powerful biceps.
“I’ll be just a couple minutes more, then I can give you a tour of the place.”
“Take your time.”
She was enjoying the view. After not seeing JT for five days, she’d almost been able to convince herself that the way she’d melted beneath his kisses had been a symptom of her shock at learning what Tiberius had left her and reaction to her impulsive and speedy wedding. Then he’d returned and she’d proposed that they move in together. She could deny her feelings to Harper and Scarlett, but it was a lot harder to lie to herself.
She was hoping the chemistry between her and JT would combust and land them in bed together. Admitting it made her giddy. She’d disavowed the truth long enough. She wanted JT Stone in a big way and her subconscious had positioned her perfectly to act on
“JT doesn’t want to let me in. Trying to get to know him is like slogging through mud. Forward progress is slow and exhausting.”
“But it’s still progress.”
“And what if I do get to know him only to discover that he’s been damaged so badly he won’t be able to accept love much less return it.”
“If anyone can fix him, that person is you.”
Scarlett’s faith strengthened Violet. Was it possible that what had started out as an inspired business strategy could become a viable, satisfying and permanent merger?
“We’re having a party at JT’s ranch on Tuesday. I need you, Logan and Harper to come for moral support.”
“Of course we’ll come, but you don’t really need us. You and JT will do great together. I think you make a wonderful team. I’ll bet Tiberius did too. It’s probably why he left the stock to you instead of to JT with the caveat that you couldn’t dispose of it until far in the future.”
Ever since the reading of his will, Violet had wondered about Tiberius’s motivation for doing so as well. Why had he given her the stock and forced her to hold on to it knowing that she wouldn’t be able to vote?
Plagued by questions she’d never know the answer to, Violet drove to JT’s ranch and arrived at three in the afternoon. JT’s housekeeper took charge of Violet’s luggage and informed her that JT was in the barn. Curious, Violet went in search of him.
To describe JT’s property as a ranch was a little misleading. What he had was a first-class training facility for show horses. The barn was a state-of-the-art structure with an impressive lobby whose walls were lined with large photos of expensive-looking horses doing dressage or jumping fences. The centerpiece of the room was a large bronze horse and female rider. Violet wondered if it had been modeled after JT’s grandmother.
Off the lobby were several offices, currently empty. A door toward the back had a sign on it that indicated it led to the barn. Violet pushed her way through. She expected to be hit with heat, noise and stench, but it was a comfortable eighty degrees, and the few sounds that reached her ear were muted crunching and an occasional nose clearing. As for the smell, whatever air conditioning JT had incorporated into his design also pulled the dust from the air as well as the strongest of the horsey odors of hay, sweat and manure.
The concrete floor between the stalls was newly swept and free of dust. Violet wandered along, peering into stalls as she went. With each step she took, she found herself growing more and more calm. By the time she rounded a corner and spotted JT, down on one knee, wrapping some sort of poultice around a horse’s knee, she was humming.
“Hi,” she said, stopping ten feet from the large horse.
JT glanced up at her greeting and offered her a lopsided grin that made her heart jerk almost painfully. He wore camel-colored jodhpurs and knee-high boots. A navy polo shirt showed off the strong column of his throat and his powerful biceps.
“I’ll be just a couple minutes more, then I can give you a tour of the place.”
“Take your time.”
She was enjoying the view. After not seeing JT for five days, she’d almost been able to convince herself that the way she’d melted beneath his kisses had been a symptom of her shock at learning what Tiberius had left her and reaction to her impulsive and speedy wedding. Then he’d returned and she’d proposed that they move in together. She could deny her feelings to Harper and Scarlett, but it was a lot harder to lie to herself.
She was hoping the chemistry between her and JT would combust and land them in bed together. Admitting it made her giddy. She’d disavowed the truth long enough. She wanted JT Stone in a big way and her subconscious had positioned her perfectly to act on
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