Page 40 of At First Flight (Coral Bell Cove #1)

While the kids stand on a stool working the brush across the horse’s body, Claire shows me the special spots around the nose that are Butterscotch’s favorite spots. By the time the kids are done, the horse and I are best friends.

Rowan set up the saddle and bridle on Butterscotch and gently eases her from the stall out toward the corral.

Both kids energetically reach for my hand and tug me toward the exit, eager to get their ride on the horse.

“I want a horse, Uncle Dean,” Evelyn exclaims as we broach the sunshine again. In the short time we were in the barn, the sun has risen high in the sky, and the temperatures have quickly followed.

“Maybe we can visit Ms. Claire’s horses for a while. I’m sure Butterscotch would miss you if we got our own,” I explain, trying to placate my niece as I release Oliver’s hand and pull my T-shirt away from my chest.

The sweat is already beading on my skin and soaking through the thin cotton.

“Alright, who is going first?” Rowan asks now that Butterscotch has moved around the circle a few times.

I expect Evelyn to jump at the chance, but she tucks herself behind my leg and lets Oliver go first.

It’s been a few years since I’ve spent the summer in Miami. I didn’t consider that the humid heat in Virginia could be as strong. It sticks to you like a second layer of skin.

“God, it’s hot.”

“Oh, sweetie, this is nothing. Just wait until July hits,” she proclaims as she retrieves a bottle of water from the fridge in the barn for me.

It’s ice cold.

Plastic bottle clenched against my palm, I chug the cool contents at record speed.

“May I grab another?” I ask, just as a blustered breeze whips past Claire and me, sending dirt against our clothes and skin.

“Of course,” she adds, dusting off her denim pants.

“I’ll get it.” Brushing past her, I head to the barn and open the fridge, taking a moment to let the cool air fan across my skin.

I tug my sweat-soaked shirt away from my skin before making the decision to remove it. I shove the material into the back pocket of my jeans and douse my head in the cool liquid.

“Ah, fuck. You read my mind,” Rowan says as he steps into the barn, already yanking his shirt over his head. “The humidity is at like one hundred today.”

“I’m from Miami, and it’s hot even to me.” Peeking out of the barn doors, I notice that Mason, Lila’s dad, has stepped into the corral and is helping Oliver down from the horse. Evelyn is patiently waiting for her turn.

“You’ve got good kids, man.”

“Thanks,” I say with a grin. “I’m doing the best I can. I couldn’t do it without your sister. She helped bring them out of their shell.”

“Speaking of sisters, it seems she and her scheming friend are enjoying the show.”

Brows furrowed, I search the confines of the corral but come up empty.

That’s when I see her and Ashvi in the shadows, parked on a bench beneath a large oak tree.

Ashvi speaks in the animated way I’ve come to associate with her while Lila’s eyes are locked on me.

Making no effort to hide the fact that she’s taking in her fill of me shirtless.

“Rowan,” I call out as I head out of the barn toward the gate. “I’ll be right back.”

“Sounds good,” he hollers in return as he begins walking Evelyn around the large enclosed circle. Once I step outside the metal fence, I pull my phone free to snap a few pictures.

“She’s a natural.” Turning I find Lila standing next to me, one of her bare legs propped up on the steel rod encased in a pair of well-worn cowboy boots.

Chuckling, I return my gaze to Evelyn. “Don’t let her hear you say that. She’s liable to get a pony for Christmas.”

“My lips are sealed,” Lila jokes.

The thought of her lips send me back to the night in the kitchen where she let me have her in ways I never expected…and wish to have again.

Fuck, she’s all I’ve been thinking about.

“Ashvi up to no good again?” I ask as Lila’s strawberry and vanilla scent swirls around me. My cock instantly stiffens.

“It’s what she’s best at. You’d think she’d feel bad about the blind date, but no…she wants to set me up on another one.”

That news doesn’t shock me. From what I’ve learned of Lila’s best friend and the few times she’s come to the house, when she has her mind set on something—she’s going to make it happen come hell or high water.

“What if you went out on a date with me? A real one… not just as friends.” I’m not sure where the idea came from, but now that it’s rooted, I’m even more sure it’s what I want.

“What?”

Lila’s hand lands on my bare shoulder, scalding my skin. I’d thought the sun today was blistering, but it’s nothing compared to the feeling of her uncovered contact.

My gaze collides with her, heat and desire flaming with each blink of my eye.

“Baby, if you don’t remove your hand, I’m liable to take you right here in front of your family and my kids. And we don’t want to traumatize them,” I say through clenched teeth.

Quickly, she withdraws her hand as if I’d burned her and tucks it behind her back. My eyes flick down to find that her nipples have puckered through the white material of her shirt. Rowan walks past us, holding the horse’s reins, eyes narrowed and flicked back and forth between the two of us.

A few farmhands walk by, carrying crates of their own, not paying us any mind.

I watch her cheeks redden as her chin tilts toward her chest. “Don’t worry. I’m not one for sharing. Especially not where you’re involved.”

“Dean,” she whines, her eyes darting around, looking everywhere but at me. Probably to make sure no one is listening.

She hasn’t realized how persistent a billionaire can be apparently. “Lila, look at me,” I demand, waiting patiently. The long wisps of her hair whirl in the breeze, brushing against my arm and chest, a few sticking to the sticky sweat on my skin.

Finally, she meets my eyes again, softening. “Go on an actual date with me. Tell Ashvi you’re done with blind dates, and you have something else in mind.”

“Out in the open?” she inquires, biting that plump bottom lip I yearn to taste again.

“Yes, out in public with an audience. Don’t overthink it. It’s really no different than last time.”

The pause stretches, masking the neighs of the horses and squeals of the kids.

“Okay.”

My eyebrows shoot up my forehead.

“I’m sorry, repeat that please,” I urge, twisting to face her, crossing my arms against my chest like a shield. There is only so much devastation a man can take.

“I said, okay. I’d like to go on a date with you. A real one.” Her eyes twinkle beneath dark lashes.

The breeze picks up more wisps of her hair and without thinking I reach out and tuck it behind her ear.

“What changed your mind?”

Lila leans closer, that invisible string between us drawing tighter with each passing second.

“Let’s call it a change of heart.”