Merger to Marriage (Boardrooms and Billi - By Addison Fox Page 0,37

was get off Tabby’s back.”

Without losing his grip on her reins, Holt slipped from the saddle and walked both horses toward a stretch of fence. He made quick work of tying their reins to posts before reaching for her. She felt the steady touch of his hands at her waist. Felt the gentle tug as he pulled her off Tabby and into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on, the feel of the horse’s moving body still echoing through her muscles.

“Shh.” He whispered it against her head as he moved several paces from the horses. Setting her down briefly, he dropped to the ground and tugged on her hand. “Come here.”

She went willingly, snuggling into his arms as they came around her. Under the heavy thump of her own pulse, she heard the hard beat of his heart, slamming against his chest. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I shouldn’t have gotten angry like that. Shouldn’t have upset Tabby like that. I’m not good enough on a horse to do that. To take that kind of risk.”

“You did fine.”

A light breeze whipped around them, cooling the skin as she fought to calm down. The ride was scary, but it was over and she was fine, as were Holt and the horses. Imagining what might have happened wasn’t going to help matters and only left her full of morbid thoughts.

“Are you feeling better?” Holt’s voice was soothing, and the firm strokes of his hand over her back went a long way toward calming her.

“I think so. One minute I was just so angry for Ed and Sabrina, and the next minute all I wanted to do was get off Tabby and go be sick by myself.”

“Have you had any morning sickness yet?”

“A little, but nothing too bad. The doctor said it could come on at any time, but since I hadn’t had it that badly, I’d likely escape unscathed.”

His body stiffened underneath her. “Doctor?”

“Of course. I went this past week.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was a personal visit. An exam.” The excuse was lame and she knew it.

“I could have waited outside until you were done.”

The words rose up, as if out of nowhere, anger heating them to a white-hot intensity, and she leaped off his lap. “What, Holt? Like we were a real family? Like you were an anxious husband waiting to see the first sonogram?”

“You had a sonogram?”

The eagerness she saw on his face wasn’t lost on her, but even with the evidence of his interest, she couldn’t stop the barrage of emotions. Guilt. Elation. More guilt.

“Of course.”

“And the baby’s okay?”

“Yes. Fine. I’d have told you if it wasn’t.”

Sparks shot from the depths of his eyes, flecks of gold wound through the hazel as he ripped off his sunglasses to stare her down. “Would you? Because it’s not like you even told me about the damn appointment.”

“Because we’re not a couple. We’re a couple of people who have found ourselves in an inconvenient situation.”

“I’ve tried to make that right.”

“No, you’ve tried to dictate a solution, and that’s something else entirely.”

Chapter Eight

Holt followed Mayson along the narrow trail that led up to the barn. Neither of them had been up to getting back on their horses, so they’d walked from the far side of the property. Even now, over an hour later, he couldn’t stop the incessant need to look at her, reassuring himself that she was okay. The horses had long since calmed, their gait even and controlled as they brought them back to the barn.

So why couldn’t he calm down?

No matter how many times he told himself she was fine, the image of what could have been flashed in his mind as if on an endless, gruesome loop. Add on the fight, and he hadn’t found his equilibrium.

“Mayson!”

The happy shout from the direction of the big yard between the main house and the barn echoed toward them both as Mayson let up a large wave. A young woman, he guessed in her late teens, stood proudly waving back. “Who is that?”

“That’s Annette.”

“She seems excited to see you.”

“She’s one of my favorite people here. We have a special bond.”

Although he’d done his research and knew a key goal of the facility was to help prepare children with intellectual challenges for adulthood, he’d still expected the majority of the residents to be small children. “How old is she?”

“According to her, she’s eighteen and three-quarters. A number she proudly updates each time I’m here.”

“That’s awfully specific.”

“And 100 percent