I stare at her for a few moments, and I can tell it makes her uncomfortable.
"Well, look at you!" She says for the second time, still a bit embarrassed, and her cheeks flame up to a brilliant pink. "You're all tattooed and you have gorgeous facial hair! Little girls' moms are okay with that?" My God she can't be real. Denton and I laugh heartily at that one.
"Well, we did start off at a young age, but surprisingly, we hit puberty like everyone else," and then she's really blushing, and she looks away for a minute, and scrubs her face with her hands. I hold up my wine, "I can even drink!" I smirk.
Denton says, "You are so clueless," to her in an offhanded and friendly way.
She takes a deep breath, and looks me right in the eyes, "Well, whoever you are, puberty was kind to you Lou. I mostly pay attention to horses, not pop culture, so I hope I wasn't rude."
"If anything, you are refreshing," I offer, smiling. "And I didn't write that particular song, but I do write now. And I play a bit of piano, but generally, I sing."
"Come to the ranch," she says, looking directly at me, and then over to Denton. "Come to the ranch. We can ride horses and tonight we'll have a fire and you can sing me some of your songs!" And she claps her hands together. I look at Denton. He is, after all, the minder. He knows my schedule, and he knows her too. I try to put my questions into my eyes...Is this going to be some big "One Direction is coming to my house" party where I suddenly am surrounded by 50 people who want something from me? Is there time for this? What are you offering me here, because I want more of whatever it is.
"You'll never catch me on a horse. I'd never do that," I say with a bit of a grin, to hide my sheer panic. She looks back at me like I've grown goat horns. Denton seems highly amused.
"Oh, is that right?" she says. I just remember the pics of Dan and Josh riding through the desert with Tease and Gem, and I think to myself that I was glad to have been busy that day.
"We'd love to come back to the ranch. But I have to ask, how many people are you harboring out there," Denton tries to be offhand with the question, but it's an important one.
"Carlos and Anna are with me now, and Tom our trainer. That's it," she says, seeming to catch on that the fewer the better.
"Okay. We'll leave the SUV here if you'll drive us," Denton says.
YOU ARE READING
By Another Name
FanfictionThis is not a story that I wrote. I am publishing for a friend who doesn't have an account! 🙂 "I will continue to make him want me and chase me and he will. And when he tells people we aren't headed for the alter, he's right. I won't marry him. He'...
