Family Love

“I’m sorry.” She was. But she was also so intrigued she wished she could stay here all day and into the night, skipping the stupid celebration of her engagement to the vapid frat-boy Will Scott. An awkward silence saturated the space between them, making her antsy.

“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “So, she’s ready.”

Lindsay blinked, confused. “Oh, right. Thanks, Tony.” She accepted the reins, but stood still, frozen in place.

He had his fingers hooked in his belt loops, that silly piece of hay tucked into a corner of mouth. His stance was loose-limbed, easy, and tempted her more than anything had in her entire almost twenty-one years.

“What’s your real name?”

He frowned and took off his hat, ru

“Is it Anthony?” She felt foolish, trying to force the damn barn help to keep flirting with her. But she could not seem to stop herself.

He turned to face her, those full lips so perfect she had to keep a death grip on the horse’s bridle to keep from tackling him to the dirt and hay-covered floor. What she’d do then, she had absolutely no idea. But she had a feeling her lack of knowledge wouldn’t be an impediment.

“No. It’s Anton. Anton Dominic, actually. After some uncles. Once they make it down to the third son, an Italian family usually has to dip into that layer for namesakes.”

“Anton,” she whispered, then smiled. “Okay. That’s what I’ll call you, then.”

“Lindsay,” he said. With a tip of his hat he walked off, whistling for the stable boy to come ru

Chapter Five

Her party was a total bore, complete with a

“Lindsay?” She spun around, hearing Will’s voice and wondering if she might get away with pretending she wasn’t in here. “Sugar?”

“Don’t call me that,” she said, wiping her hands with a towel and tossing it to the girl who took care of the restrooms. “Hang on a second.”

She walked out and straight into him. He grabbed her arms, pressed her against the wall and kissed her, though not quite as sloppily as the last time. She let it happen, curious more than anything else, to find out what happened next. She opened her lips to him, molding her body against his. Her skin tingled and she took his hand and put it on her breast, then reached down to touch the hard lump alongside his zipper. He grunted and moved out of her reach, wiping his hand across his lips and glaring at her.

Lindsay’s head was spi

Finally, with a weird sound between disgust and impatience, he took her arms and disentangled himself, his deep blue eyes shining with what she saw immediately was fury. “Don’t ever do that again,” he whispered, pushing her backwards so they were in the small alcove outside the bathrooms.

“We are go

Just as he was reaching for her—to do what, she had no idea—a voice floated down the hall from the party. “Hey, Scott, you here?”

Will blinked and stepped away from her. Lindsay stayed pressed to the wall, watching him, trying to conjure something good about him. A familiar expression crossed his face, somewhere between confusion and frustration, before he turned away.

“Sorry, Linds,” Don said, draping an arm over her intended’s shoulders. “Gotta steal your sweetie a few minutes.” He mimed tipping a glass to his lips. They laughed.

She rolled her eyes but the hand she put to her mouth once they’d turned away was shaking. After giving herself a minute or two to calm down, she squared her shoulders and rejoined the party. Marching straight up to the bar, she looked the bartender in the eye and ordered a bourbon. He blinked, then glanced over at the older guy who was wiping off the clean glassware.

“I’m the guest of honor,” she said, drawing herself up and trying to pull off her mother’s level of bossy/haughty. “I can drink whatever I please.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The kid blushed and dropped an ice cube into a heavy crystal rocks glass before splashing amber liquor over it. She frowned at it. He poured another splash. She gave him her prettiest smile. He blushed again.

She took it and turned, daring her mother or her father to say a word about it. They were nowhere to be seen. The room got a little fuzzy until she realized tears were blurring her vision. She gulped the bourbon fast—too fast. But the blaze of fire searing her chest gave her a modicum of strength. She turned and plunked the empty on the bar. The kid frowned at her this time, but dumped in a fresh splash.

She held it up to him and wandered off, seeking someone, anyone, she wanted to be with in this sea of her parents’ friends, Will’s drunk fraternity brothers, and total strangers. She dropped into a chair with a sigh and put her high-heels-clad feet up on the chair next to her, relaxing and sipping the booze, eyeing the party as if it wasn’t being thrown in her honor.

“There you are,” Kathy said, emerging from the crowd. “Lordy, Lindsay what are you doing over here?” She shoved Lindsay’s feet to the floor and sat, eyeballing the glass of liquor. “How did you get away with that?”

“It’s my party.” Lindsay finished it, acknowledging to herself that she probably could have been better served to sip that second one. “Go get us another.” She pushed the glass over to her friend.

“Are you insane?” Kathy’s face flushed. “I mean, how can I get it past our mamas? You know they’re watching us like hawks.” She glanced around.

“I don’t care. You shouldn’t either. They’re both probably drunk right now, as we sit here and worry about ‘em. Go on, Kathy. Honey. I need this. I can’t … I mean … Please?”

Her friend bit her lip, but got slowly to her feet, still looking as if she expected the hounds of hell to plow through the crowd and scoop them up for even contemplating having a grown-up drink.

Lindsay tried not to bite the girl’s fool head off, since she was the only real friend she had. The only one who shared her passion—her obsession—with horses, and had for most of their lives. She tried to look encouraging when Kathy shot her a last desperate glance before sneaking along the edges of the crowd to the bar.

She finally returned bearing two fizzy glasses of champagne. Lindsay groaned. “Oh, hell, Kathy, I can’t drink that stuff.” Kathy frowned at her then sat, sipping hers. Lindsay got up and sneaked behind the bar. While the young bartender was serving and the old guy was chatting with one of her father’s friends, Lindsay snagged a bottle from an open box and quickly retreated to the table.