Having said the words out loud, a vow to her mother, to herself, to Carter, to the universe, she turned with a smile on her face to go back to her party.
A hand clamped on her arm, fingers squeezing hard. ‘Not so fast, girly. You and I need to chat about this mistake you’re making.’
Chapter 2
Why the hell had he gone over to talk to her?
Flynn cursed himself as he watched Prita walk away from him, his hand sticky from the wine that had spilled all over his hand when he’d taken her cup from her. He should have stayed away. He’d done his best to do just that. But there was something about her laugh that had drawn him in—the way her amber-flecked brown eyes lit up, the laugh that bubbled out of her, those dimples he wanted to touch every time they peeked out when something made her smile—and before he knew it, he was standing beside her, offering to get her another drink. Practically whispering it in her ear. Close. Too close. Then their fingers had touched and his head had spun and he felt himself leaning in.
Thank god her phone had rung because he really wasn’t sure what he would have done next.
Stupid, blasted attraction he didn’t want. Even now, he couldn’t help but watch her as she walked up the side of her house, talking to her dad. Honestly, that strappy top she wore should be banned. It showed way too much of her incredible tawny skin. Skin that seemed to glow from within and made him want to stroke to see if it was as warm and soft as it looked. And her hair. How could a ponytail look so sexy? And yet it did on her, with that thick fall swinging glossily in the sun, deep colours of red and mahogany in its depths. He wanted to wrap that ponytail around his fist, feel the silken weight of it as he tugged her head back gently, oh so gently, and cover that smiling mouth with his.
His cock twitched in his shorts. Damn it! He took a deep steadying breath, trying to think of anything else. Gelding. Yes. Some of the new colts would need to be gelded soon. He kept the visual of that full in his mind as he tore his gaze away and stared blankly into the garden.
Why had he gone over to talk to her? Stupid. Stupid. Now he had to go and get her wine and seek her out again when he really should have just stayed away. Maybe he could get Reid or Nat to take the fresh drink to her. Yes, maybe he could just—
‘Dad, when are we going to have the cricket match?’
‘What?’ he asked, startled out of his preoccupation with Prita. He turned to see his son standing there behind him, his usual posse of Tilly and Carter on either side of him. ‘Hey, kiddos.’ He turned fully to face them so he couldn’t see Prita out of the corner of his eye. ‘What are you doing? Are you having a good time?’
Aaron crossed his arms and sighed. ‘We’d be having a better time if we knew when the cricket match was going to be.’
Flynn had to smother a laugh as he asked, ‘Cricket match?’
Aaron gave him that look, the look of the beleaguered pre-teen who thought their parent some alien being with little understanding of how life really worked. ‘You know. The cricket game. The one we always have at every party.’
‘This isn’t our party, A-man.’
Aaron shrugged. ‘Doctor Prita won’t mind. And Carts wants to play.’ He gestured at Prita’s adopted son, who nodded enthusiastically.
‘Perhaps we should ask Prita.’
‘Okay.’ Aaron looked at him in expectation.
Damn. Foot meet mouth. So much for making an excuse to get Reid or Nat to take the drink to her. ‘I’ll ask her later, okay?’
‘We’re bored,’ Aaron said. ‘Aren’t we?’ He turned to get support from his partners in crime.
They nodded and as if something had cued them to speak in chorus, they all said, ‘We’re bored. Please ask her now. Please?’ Their voices were a perfect harmony of a whine that rose on the end in such a way he was certain it held notes that only dogs could hear. Then they all looked at him. Although, ‘looked’ was too normal a word to explain what was going on with the puppy-dog-forlorn-pleading nature of the gazes that focused on him in guilt-making solidarity.
He held up his hands. ‘Fine. Fine. I’m going.’ He pointed his finger at them. ‘Although, the match can’t happen until later, after the food is put away, okay?’
‘Woohoo!’ they yelled, jumping up and down and gaining looks of amusement from the people around them.
‘Calm down, or I won’t ask.’
They sobered immediately, returning to the puppy-dog looks he was helpless against. He shook his head, wondering why he couldn’t stay strong in the face of such pathetic attempts to manipulate him, but he never could. Just another thing he was horrible at. He was afraid since Anna’s death, he’d become the kind of parent he’d always abhorred and that they’d promised they would never become. He let Aaron get away with too much. He really needed to put his foot down, but guilt always got in the way.
‘Dad?’
Aaron’s pleading voice tugged him out of his reverie and he pulled his shoulders back with a jerk. ‘Off you go and don’t get into any trouble between now and when we play the game.’ There, that was better.
‘Okay.’ They scurried off, Carter turning to Aaron and asking, ‘Can I be on your team?’
‘Sure,’ Aaron said. ‘Tilly too.’
‘Yay!’ Tilly high fived them both. ‘We’re going to beat the hell out of the other team.’
Their cheers rang back to him, but soon they
