Tied Down: He'll see to her needs, if she can tend to his... (10 page)

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I awoke the next morning to the sound of the door closing on my rooms. Sitting up quickly, I saw there was nobody in my suite, but a box rested at the end of my bed. Curiosity made me open it.

The box contained a horseback riding outfit, complete with a protective helmet. A note completed the gift, written in Cooper’s handwriting.

Meet me in the stables at 10. C.

Did he not remember the huge argument we’d had? Could he have really forgotten about the deathly silent car ride home? I’d never felt more awkward and forlorn in my life.

I slumped back into bed and replayed the events of the night before again. Helen had been so smug, like she could hold Cooper for ransom and he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. If their marriage was so short, surely she couldn’t have that much of a hold over him?

But, then again, his mother was to blame for their union. Perhaps when his mother and ex-wife banded together they were a force to be reckoned with? There was just so much I didn’t know that there was no way I could work it out for myself.

Cooper needed to give me more information. I was his present and his future. We couldn’t let the ghosts from his past drive a wedge between us.

There was only one thing I was sure of, and that was that I wasn’t ready to give up on us yet. Cooper and I had only just begun our journey together and I’d loved every minute of it up to the point when Helen had interrupted our sex session.

With that sole thought in my mind, I got out of bed and took a shower before dressing in the riding clothes. I felt like one of the rich girls Billy mingled with at the Country Club. They were always parading around with their horses at every opportunity they received. If only they could see me now.

I went to the stables via the kitchen, making sure I had a full stomach for whatever I was about to get involved in.

Cooper was in one of the bays when I arrived. He was brushing down a brown horse that had a white diamond in the middle of his eyes. He was a beautiful creature, serene just being groomed.

“This is Ransom,” Cooper started, looking at the horse instead of me. “He’s four years old and has been responsible for fathering half my stables.”

“Maybe you should have called him Randy,” I replied. Seeing Cooper dressed in his riding clothes was a new and delicious sight. It was hard mustering the same anger I’d had at him only the previous night.

He let out a laugh. “Maybe I should have. Thank you for meeting me here.”

“I’ve never been riding before.”

“Never?”

“Yeah.”

He finally looked at me, and the absolute admiration in his eyes melted me a little more. Did I really have to know everything about his ex-wife in order to be with him now? He didn’t know about Billy or my life back in my hometown. Maybe it wasn’t such a big deal after all.

Or maybe I was fooling myself. I steeled my emotions, trying to ensure I didn’t fall into his arms so easily. I did deserve some answers, at the very least.

Cooper nodded over to a stable boy at the end of the row. He hurried over and helped place saddles onto a pair of horses. The other was white with gray interspersed throughout the coat. She was smaller, too, a beautifully regal girl.

“This is Bridget,” Cooper told me as he gave me her reins.

“Just Bridget? No crazy horse name?”

“That’s the name the shelter gave her. I didn’t have the heart to change it.”

One of my eyebrows arched involuntarily. “The shelter?”

We led the horses out into the open paddocks. The wind was cool against the summer sun. “When the animal shelter in the city gets an injured horse, they call me. They know I’ll make sure the animal gets the proper medical treatment and a place to live. Sometimes the owners surrender them because they can’t afford them anymore.”

He said it so casually, like it wasn’t a big deal that he rescued horses or anything. A little more of the ice in my heart melted again. I had always been a sucker for animals. And someone who loved them just as much? He was going to be my downfall.

Over the next few hours, Cooper taught me how to ride. By lunchtime I could get up on the horse and ride it reasonably well. My man never did apologize for, or even discuss, our fight. But I didn’t either. I would get my answers in time, I decided; I just needed to be patient.

We rode all over his estate. The rolling green hills were perfect for the horses as they trotted about. Bridget was so calm and gentle that she put all my fears about being bucked off to rest. It felt like we moved as one, smooth and strong.

On the last hill, in the far corner of his estate, Cooper led me down to where a small creek ran through his property. The water was surrounded by huge willow trees, hanging their graceful limbs and almost touching the creek.

Waiting for us was a picnic basket. Cooper helped me down from Bridget and kept a hold of my hand, leading me over to the basket.

“I hope you’re hungry,” he said, pulling a red check picnic blanket from the basket and spreading it out over the thick grass. “I have a culinary delight for you. If we don’t eat everything, Ricardo will be most offended.”

I kneeled on the blanket and then let myself sit while Cooper took out one container after the other and laid them between us. If I wasn’t hungry before, seeing all the yummy food certainly made my stomach sit up and pay attention.

On each of the containers was a neat label with the contents. Hummus, sandwiches, Belgian chocolate mousse, a cheese platter, caviar, and the list continued. Bridget wasn’t going to like all the extra weight for the ride back to the stables.

The horses were left to graze, enjoying the juicy grass of the hideaway while we dived straight into the food. Ricardo had outdone himself this time. Everything was a taste sensation, the different meals all insanely delicious. Between the food and the bottle of red wine, I was starting to relax and forget all about our argument.

“Thank you for doing all this,” I said. He really had gone to a lot of trouble, and the morning had been wonderful. I wasn’t ungrateful for any of it and it was important for him to know that.

He swallowed a cracker with a Camembert cheese wedge before he could speak again. “I wanted you to know how much you mean to me. I know it hasn’t been long, but it doesn’t feel like only a few days. It feels like my soul was waiting for you all my life and it’s complete now.”

My soul did a little leap of happiness at hearing those words. “I know what you mean. I feel it too.”

“Really?” I nodded and he smiled before furrowing his brows together as he grew serious again. “There are parts of my past I’m not particularly proud of. Parts that aren’t reflective of who I am now. I don’t want you to know those stories. I want you to form your own opinion of me.”

“I’ve already formed an opinion, Cooper. Nothing you can say will change my mind. I want to be here because I can already tell I’m falling in love with you. Your past has helped shape you into the person you are now; it will help me understand you better. And if it affects us, then it’s even more important that I know.”

The silence crackled in the air again, a feeling I was starting to know well. I wanted Cooper to come to the decision to tell me himself. I didn’t want to force him into it.

He clenched his jaw and then let out a slow breath. “One of the factories I used overseas was using slave labor. I didn’t know it at the time, but they had kids working there, young ones, too. The whole thing burned down in a horrible fire one day and they all died. It was the darkest moment of my company’s life.”

“How is Helen connected to that?” If that was as big as his secrets went, then I could forgive him. If he didn’t know it was happening, he couldn’t be blamed for all those deaths.

“She isn’t. But she knows about it. My empire has been built on its reputation. If anyone found out about this, my business would be as good as over.”

“But you didn’t know what they were doing.”

“I should have checked. I should have flown in and inspected the factory myself before I signed the contract. I should have made sure it was safe and their employees were ethically treated. They were just kids. They never should have been working.” His hands had balled into fists, showing me exactly how much the episode still haunted him.

Any remaining ice completely disappeared, leaving my heart in a crazily thumping beat. “Do you really think Helen would tell people?”

He started nodding. “I have no doubts about it. She would love nothing more than to see me ruined.”

“But she wouldn’t get any money then.”

“It’s not all about the money,” he conceded. “She wanted to have a baby about two seconds after we were married. I told her I wasn’t ready for it but she kept bringing it up. When we divorced, she told me I’d stolen her chance away.”

“But you weren’t married for long,” I pointed out. The woman was sounding more psycho by the minute. It wasn’t exactly a pretty picture he was painting of his ex-wife.

“No, we weren’t. But try telling her that.”

We both turned our gazes to the gently trickling creek. Nothing more needed to be said on the subject. I knew what had happened, and that was it. I wouldn’t let Helen get in the middle of us again.

After the food was gone and the containers packed into the basket, I lay down on the blanket and enjoyed the shade from the willow trees. It was a beautiful summer’s day, just warm enough to be pleasant but not hot enough to be overwhelmed with the heat.

Cooper lay beside me. I rolled over to drape my arm over his chest, my head on his shoulder. It felt so good to be close again. He had trusted me with his secrets; nothing could bring us any closer.

We basked in the sun for a long time, wrapped up in each other’s arms and feeling one another’s presence. It wasn’t often I got the billionaire all to myself like this. It was a nice, rare event.

Until reality started to crash back in. “Shouldn’t we be at work today?” I asked, suddenly panicking. Great new girl I was being, ditching work on my second day on the job.

Cooper pulled me closer, soothing away my concern with a back rub. “I called earlier. They know not to expect us in the office today.”

I couldn’t muster the guilt that I should have felt. Only one day into the job and I was already taking advantage of my relationship with the boss. The people in the office were going to hate me.

But all these thoughts were completely erased from my mind when Cooper pulled my shirt up to my bra and started kissing my stomach. Little bursts of lightning following his lips all the way up my body until he reached my lips.

“I’m beginning to think you are a constant distraction to my work,” Cooper said with a sexy smirk. “I’m not going to get anything done with you around.”

“You can do me,” I replied, earning myself another round of kisses in the process.

He leaned on his elbows while his body covered mine, careful not to crush me with all his muscles. “I plan on doing you, cheeky girl. But not here. I want you in the playroom so I can have you exactly how I want to.”

Sweet anticipation rippled through me. A session in the playroom was always fun. There were no hints about what he would have in store for me today.

Perhaps sleeping with the boss wasn’t so bad after all.

All of a sudden Cooper stood, holding out the palms of his hands to help me up. “I want you now, Emily. Let’s go.” He hauled me to my feet and didn’t let go of my hands until we reached the horses.