“Tell me.” I grinned, wondering exactly what she thought we’d be doing and where.
“Nope.” She grinned back at me.
“Come on, maybe you’ll give me a good idea.”
“Maybe you don’t need any more good ideas.” She laughed. “Now take me riding or I will pout.”
“I don’t want you pouting.” I grabbed her hand. “Come on, then.” And I guided her towards the office, where I knew they were waiting for me with two chestnut mares.
“So how come you took today off?” Mila asked me as we walked towards the stables. “I thought you were a dedicated employee?”
“Sometimes we all need a break, right?” I answered casually, ignoring the feeling in my gut that told me to tell her exactly what was going on.
“You can say that again.” She sighed loudly. “I just don’t know what’s going to happen. We’re bleeding money. Nothing is going right and Mom and Dad can’t agree on the next step and they don’t want to go to Nonno for advice.”
“Why not?” I asked hesitantly. “He ran the business successfully for years, so why wouldn’t they ask him for his advice?”
“I guess maybe pride? Or they’re ashamed. Like, I think Nonno knows the economy is bad right now, but I don’t know if he knows just how badly we’re doing.” She chewed on her lower lip. “I wanted to mention it to him, but I thought it would be too much.”
“Why would it be too much?” I asked her, studying the side of her face as she played with her hair.
“Well, I didn’t want to inundate him with all my problems.”
“All your problems?” I raised an eyebrow at her. “How many do you have?”
“A few.” She laughed. “Just a few.”
“Am I one of the problems?” I asked dumbly, knowing the answer already.
“Could you ever be a problem, TJ?” she teased me and I laughed.
“Nope, never. I could never be a problem.” I laughed as well and we entered the office. There was a young girl sitting behind the desk who was wearing a riding hat and I walked over to her. “Hi, I’m TJ Walker. I booked two horses for an afternoon ride.”
“Oh, hi, Mr. Walker.” She jumped up and grinned. “We got the two mares ready for you. We’ll just get you some hats and crops. You guys have been riding before, right?”
“Yup.” I nodded and looked over at Mila, who was grinning in excitement. “You look happy.”
“I love riding.” She nodded at me, but of course I already knew that. That was why I’d planned the afternoon adventure. “This is so cool. Thank you.”
“No, thank yous needed. I wanted us to have a good time. Time for just us. That isn’t about work, or the agreement.”
“Or me going on and on about love.” She laughed and then blushed.
“Let’s just have a good afternoon.” I reached over and squeezed her hand and she nodded. I wasn’t sure what I was doing. A part of me felt guilty, like I was leading Mila on, in a way. I wanted to make it clear to her that this was never going to result in the true love that she wanted, but I was too selfish to just let her go completely. If I was a good guy, I’d stop sleeping with her and I’d just treat her as a friend, but I guess I wasn’t a good guy. I craved her and I wasn’t about to stop my addiction just yet.
“I’m down for that.” She nodded and her eyes glazed over for a few seconds, before she started smiling again. “Let’s go gallop.”
“I’m down for that.” I winked at her and she burst out laughing.
“You’re incorrigible, TJ. I swear, you really are.”
“That’s what they all say,” I said and she stuck her tongue out at me. I grabbed her around the waist and then pulled her towards me and gave her a big kiss. “But you’re the only one I care about that says it to me,” I whispered against her lips and I watched as her eyes lit up happily.
***
“I’m out of breath,” Mila said as we got off of the horses to take a break from riding. “This is a really beautiful setting,” she said as she looked around the lush green field. “I can’t believe I’ve never been here before.”
“I know. I can’t believe you’ve never been here before either.” I smiled at her as she bent down to smell some wildflowers.
"This has been really fun," Mila said, her eyes bright and her face flushed as she looked up at me. "Should we head back to the stables now? It's going to be dark soon."
"No, I think we'll be okay," I said and grabbed the bag the girl had given me before we rode off. "We'll let the horses roam for a bit while we sit."
"Sit?" she asked me, surprised.
"We'll sit and eat."
"What are we eating?" She looked down at the flowers again and then at me and I laughed.
“No, Mila. I have a picnic.”
“You have a picnic?” She looked at me with a shocked expression. “Where?”
“In my pants.”
“TJ!”
“I’m joking.” I winked at her and opened the bag that the girl had given me. “Let’s sit.” I sat down on the grass and Mila sat down next to me. I took out two turkey club sandwiches, a bag of chips, some chocolate chip cookies and grapes. “I’m afraid I don’t have any wine or champagne, but I do have plenty of water.”
“Wow, this is amazing. And so thoughtful.” She looked at me with a curious expression. “I have to admit I’m surprised.”
“Why? You didn’t think I could be romantic?”
“I—I don’t really know.” She shrugged. “I’m touched you did this for me.”
“I’m a nice guy, underneath it all.” I smiled at her and handed her a sandwich. “I know that might be hard to believe, but I am a nice guy.”
“I never thought you were a bad guy.”
“That’s good.” I opened the bag of chips and then passed it to her. “Salt and vinegar, I hope that’s okay.”
“You know I love salt and vinegar.” She grinned and grabbed a handful. “You’re just being modest now.”
“Who me?” I laughed and watched as she eagerly ate some chips.
“Yes, you.” She took a bite of her sandwich and I just watched her eating as we sat there. “Aren’t you hungry?” She made a face at me as she chewed. “You’re just staring at me weirdly.”
“That’s because you have a weird face.”
“You have a weird face.” She glared at me.
“Not as weird as yours.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her. “Are you from Mars?”
“No, I’m from Uranus.” She giggled.
“You’re from my anus?” I teased her. “Nice to meet you, part of my body.”
“You’re so gross, TJ Walker.” She leaned over and hit me in the shoulder and I grabbed her arm and pulled it up so I could tickle her. “TJ.” She squealed. “Stop, stop.”
“Stop or what?” I laughed as I pinned her down to the ground. Her eyes were dancing as she pushed against me.
“I’ll kick you in the nuts.” She giggled as she wiggled against me.
“I’d like to see you try.” I winked at her, and leaned my chest down on her lightly. “I don’t think you’d do it,” I said as I kissed her lightly.
“Oh really?” she said breathlessly, kissing me back lightly.
“Really,” I said as I kissed the side of her face and ran my hands through her hair. She reached up and ran her hands down my back and I let my chest crush against her breasts. We rolled over onto our sides and our legs entwined together.
“Really,” she said, her eyes fluttering open as she pulled back slightly. “I can do it now and prove it to you.”
“Do what?” I growled at her as my hand crawled up to her breast and squeezed.
“You know what.” She moaned as I pinched her nipple lightly and I could feel her nails digging into my arms.
“You can do that, but if you do, I won’t be able to do this,” I said and pushed my hardness into her belly. I could feel her body shaking as I held her and I slipped my other hand under her top and under her bra.
“TJ, don’t.” She tried to push my hand away. “Someone might see.”