trainer, appeared from the barn, where he was feeding the other horses. I smiled as Coral stopped in front of the stable door for me to dismount. She snorted at Kellan with a half-hearted greeting.
“You want me to cool her down for you, Mrs. Gardner?”
I shook my head. “No, that’s all right. I can take care of her today. We’ll finish what we started together.”
The old trainer nodded. “Just as well. I need to take out Nightshade. Should be about an hour, maybe more. You need me to finish anything, just leave a note in the office.”
I nodded. “Will do. Thank you, Kellan.”
I slid off Coral and led her into the barn to remove her tack, hang my helmet alongside, and get her cooled down and something to eat and drink. When I reemerged from her stall, I was in a daze from the ride, enough that I didn’t notice the person waiting for me outside.
“I didn’t know you rode.”
I jumped at the sound of the familiar voice behind me, then turned to find Matthew leaning against the wall of the stable, elbow propped against a post, watching me carefully.
I shoved a hand through my hair. Lord, I was sweaty. And hot. And in need of a drink.
“Here.”
Matthew held out a chilled bottle of Perrier, likely brought from the house—he must have been chatting with Marcus, who would have known my preferences.
“Thank you,” I said, accepting it, then guzzling half the bottle in one go, stopping only to catch my breath, and then emit a small belch as a result of the carbonation. Immediately, I covered my mouth with my hand. “Excuse me. That wasn’t particularly ladylike, was it?”
Matthew grinned. My heart pumped a bit harder.
“It was fuckin’ adorable,” he said. “Besides, you know I like seeing you enjoy things with your mouth, doll.”
That only made me blush. And I couldn’t help the way my gaze dropped over him, remembering all the things about this man I had, in fact, enjoyed just like that.
Lord. I was like a teenager all over again.
“Why—why are you here?” I asked. “I thought we needed to stay away from each other.”
The flirtation on his face disappeared. “I—well, yeah. We do. But there’s no one here, is there?”
I shrugged. “Kellan, the trainer, will be back soon. He’s harmless, but chatty.”
Matthew shoved his hands into his pockets. “Well, something just seemed…off. When you left, I mean.”
I ground my teeth. “You seemed to be having a lovely time. Caitlyn appeared to be very entertaining.”
Matthew sighed, then removed his sunglasses and tucked them into his shirt pocket. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous. Baby, you know there’s nothing there.”
“Do I? It certainly didn’t look that way,” I snapped, then was immediately irritated with myself. I sounded petty and childish. What a waste of a lovely ride.
“Well, I had to watch every midlife crisis-battling man over thirty ogle you for ninety straight minutes, so yeah, doll, I think I can sympathize.” He shook his head. “You’d think the bastards hadn’t ever seen a pair of legs before.” His gaze trailed up mine, which were now covered in my riding breeches. “Of course, yours do take the cake.”
We stared at each other for five hard seconds. Matthew, however, was the first to give.
“Nina,” he said softly. “Please. Let’s not do this.”
I opened my mouth to argue with him, but found that for once, I didn’t want to. Because what was the point? I had no claim to this man. And never truly would.
The thought made me completely deflate.
He took a step toward me. “Anyway, I came because I was worried. I told Eric I was going to explore the property a bit and came to find you.”
“How did you know I would be here?” I wondered. “Twenty acres is a lot to explore. I could have been anywhere.”
“Jane.”
“Ah.” I pushed a hand through my hair, ignoring my grandmother’s mental admonishments not to make it greasy. It probably looked frightful after my ride anyway.
I didn’t really care. At the mention of Jane, our conversation came back all over again, along with guilt, and I lapsed into another silence while Matthew watched. He adjusted his hat, then fussed with his watch for a moment. I peered at him. Matthew wasn’t typically one to fidget—if anything, he had grace and confidence rarely seen in most people. He was here for something beyond just concern and curiosity. He was nervous about something too.
“Are you too tired for another short walk?” he asked. “We, um, we