Jailbait by Emily Goodwin Read Free Book Online

beast—flares its nostrils and eyes me apprehensively. The fact that it didn’t freak the fuck out over this ordeal tells me how well trained it is. Well trained and expensive. But Pepper always had a soft spot for her horses.  
    “I knew it was you. For the last month you’ve been following me. I thought I was going crazy, thinking I was seeing you. Then you show up tonight, and take off without so much as a hello, and here you are again. I heard a motorcycle in the distance and I thought I was crazy for assuming it was you, and even crazier for coming to the road to see who it was. But obviously I’m not crazy. You’re the crazy one, following me around like some creep. What the hell is going on?” She says everything quickly, temper rising and nerves falling away. She takes a step closer to the horse.  
    “We should go somewhere and talk,” I suggest. “Let me explain everything.”
    “I’m not going anywhere with you,” she retorts and inches back. Through the dark, I can barely make out her features. The tension though…that I can feel. And she’s scared and pissed. And maybe turned on. No, that’s just me. Fuck.  
    “We need to talk, Pepper, and the middle of the road isn’t safe.”  
    “Going somewhere with you isn’t safe either,” she spits out and looks at the stirrup. In just seconds, she can jump on her horse and take off through the woods where the bike can’t follow and I can’t keep up on foot. I could grab her arm, keep her from running. Though that’ll only serve to piss her off. I can’t command Pepper’s heart by controlling her body. And that’s what I want, even when I won’t admit it to myself.  
    Her heart .
    Besides, I’m not entirely sure Black Beauty won’t rear up and bust my head in, because he’s eyeing me like a guard dog. Pepper takes in an audible breath, and closes her eyes on her exhale.  
    “Come with me back to the stable,” she finally says. “We can talk there.”  
    The stable is behind the mansion, also equipped with surveillance. I don’t feel like dealing with Alcott tonight, though a face-to-face would be a good way to get him to come clean. “All right.”
    “Do you remember how to get there?”  
    “It’s not that hard to find, Pepper,” I remind her.  
    “The back way in?”
    The back way is a long, curved driveway that is surrounded by white fences and perfectly green pastures, leading to a barn big enough to house an entire herd of horses, living in luxury beyond what the average human lives in. “Yes.”  
    “I’ll meet you at the mailbox.”  
    “Just like old times,” I say and can’t help but smile.  
    Pepper holds my gaze for a few seconds, and I hate that there is fear in her eyes. She doesn’t need to be afraid of me. I will never hurt her. If only she knew the lengths I’d go to in order to keep her safe.  
    “No. Not like old times,” she says and turns to mount her horse. I swear she smiles too.  

    *

    “Get off,” Pepper says, looking down at me from her horse. We’re at the end of the driveway, near a mailbox that’s under a lamppost. “And turn that off.”
    “You want me to leave my bike here?” I ask indecorously. “On the side of the road.”  
    Pepper’s eyebrows go up. “Yeah. And keep your distance. Spartan doesn’t like strangers.”  
    I kill the ignition and pocket my keys, eyeing the big horse apprehensively. “New horse?” I ask to fill the silence.  
    “Newer,” she replies and urges the beast forward. She used to ride a dainty white horse, whose name escapes me. I should know; I went and watched her show him a few times when we were a couple all those years ago.  
    “Mystery,” I spit out as the name comes to me as well as the memories of sneaking off together into the Davenwood’s horse trailer at some fancy show on the coast. The living quarters of that thing were nicer than any house I’d ever lived in. The rich have it all and then some. “How is he?”
    Pepper