Great, that was encouraging.
"You can’t be serious, Jax," I said, trying to talk some sense into him, "That horse is legit dangerous."
He gave me a quick wink and took the reins from the stableboy's outstretched hands. Jax smoothed his hand along the horse’s neck and whispered something in its ear. The horse quit jerking a little and seemed to settle down slightly as Jax grabbed ahold of the saddle and leapt up onto it in a swift, fluid motion that astonished me. But even with Jax in the saddle, the horse still bucked wildly.
"Jax are you sure you’ll be able to handle him?"
"No, but that's never stopped me before." He gritted his teeth and gripped the reins, trying to gain control over the unruly animal.
Jax’s horse suddenly reared up onto its two hind legs, leaving the front two hooves dangling high up in the air. Shadowed by the sun, the horse held the pose and I watched with bated breath, worried that Jax was going to tumble off backwards. But he held on and the horse finally dropped back down onto all four hooves and I exhaled in relief.
After a few tense seconds, Jax succeeded in getting the horse to walk around in a small circle, but I could see it was still giving him fits. As Jax steered his horse closer to mine, it unexpectedly calmed down and started sniffing and nuzzling my whinnying horse.
Jax smiled and rubbed his horse’s glossy black mane. "Looks like he found what was getting him all riled up."
I reached out and rubbed my horse's mane too. "Or maybe this girl here was just able to tame him."
"Is that how you see it?" He flashed a sly grin at me. "You know, it feels weird being on a horse with no name. Horses all have their own personalities and quirks so they usually have their own crazy names too. Some famous racehorses were named Oliver Klozoff or Hoof Hearted or Cunning Stunt. We should name ours before we get started."
I laughed at the names and rubbed the silky white mane of my horse. "Okay, you first."
"I got it. This bronc’s name should be All Riled Up."
"Maybe it’s just in his nature to be dark and dangerous. Kinda like someone I know."
He patted his horse and smiled at me, his dark eyes glittering under the shadow of his cowboy hat. "He’s not so bad. Just needs to break out of some old habits."
"Mmhm," I replied. Jax’s horse came over to mine and started nuzzling his head against my horse. It gave me an idea. "I think I’m going to name her Stud Tamer."
Jax cocked his head to the side, his scarred brow raised high. "That little horse of yours does seem to have an effect on mine. But ‘tame’ is a strong word."
"Well I don’t think so. I think this little one has already tamed that wild stud."
He nodded slightly and eyed me skeptically, but then smiled and said, "All Riled Up and Stud Tamer it is. Now that that’s settled, it’s high time we hit the trail. Come on, let's giddyup."
We both gently tapped our heels against our horses and they started slowly walking down the dusty trail. It was large enough for four to five people to ride side by side, but we rode right next to each other. Despite my non-stop jostling in the saddle, it felt wonderful to spend time away from the tour bus and I was delighted that Jax surprised me with this unexpected diversion. From day one, I suspected that this rock tour was going to be far from normal, but I never thought it’d include a horseback riding trip.
A few yards into the trail, our horses stopped and started nuzzling close together again, so I reached out, snatched away Jax’s cowboy hat, and placed it snugly on my own head.
He narrowed his eyes at me and I was half-expecting him to steal it back. "Looks better on you than it does on me."
"Thanks, pardner," I said, tipping the hat at him and he laughed at my cheesy cowboy voice.
We rode at a leisurely pace that didn't require much concentration and I couldn’t stop wondering about how Jax knew so much about horses. "So, I’m curious. How come it seems like all of a sudden you’re some kind of horse whisperer?"
He lifted his scarred brow. "I'm not all spotlights and leather pants you know."
"I'm surprised you're not wearing leather chaps, to be honest," I said with a giggle as I imagined him wearing them—and nothing else.
Jax laughed. "I'll be sure to wear them for next time."
"Come on, seriously, how do you know so much about horses?"
"I used to work as a stablehand for a little while, before I met Sky and the rest of the band, back when I was just trying to survive."
"You? Working in the stables?"
Jax smiled at me. "What? You can’t picture it?"
"I don’t know, I guess it’s hard to think of you being comfortable in any place other than on a stage."
He shrugged, a thoughtful frown on his face, before he turned away. "Yeah, I guess I did a lot of things before I ever got on stage."
Whatever he had done in the past, it didn’t seem like he was too eager to talk about it.
"Anyway, what other types of lessons do you have in store for my first horseback riding class?" I said, trying to steer the conversation away from dangerous territory. Jax had been so thoughtful to plan this surprise for me that I didn’t want to ruin the mood even though I was still curious about his past.
A slow smile returned to Jax’s face and he set his horse into motion. "Come on, let’s keep riding, I’ll show you."
As we started back down the trail, he explained how to gently squeeze my heels to get the horse up to gentle trot and then to a rapid gallop. We rode past prickly cacti and patches of wildflowers at a comfortable pace while I marveled at the ease with which he now controlled All Riled Up. As for myself, I was getting used to Stud Tamer, but still struggled sometimes with getting her to do what I wanted.
The ride was peaceful and tranquil underneath a cloudless sky that stretched on forever. It was a complete contrast to the rock ‘n’ roll world I associated with Jax. A world that revolved around the dark, crowded venues with music so loud you can barely hear yourself think. Even outdoor music festivals were suffused with drunks and advertisements everywhere you look. But out here, there was nothing other than silent nature, and I could see how he’d be able to appreciate this.
We rode in silence down the trail, with only the quiet murmur of nature around us, neither of us wanting to spoil the mood.
After we had been riding for almost an hour, we neared a small formation of rocks. Without warning. my horse came to an abrupt standstill that sent me shooting forward.
"Shit!" I instinctively grabbed ahold of her thick mane and luckily stopped myself from flying head first into the desert sand. Slightly dazed, I sat back in the saddle and tapped my heels to get her moving, but her hooves were glued to the ground.
Jax was riding a bit ahead of me, and I was grateful he didn’t see me almost get tossed, but I could not get the horse to budge. "Jax, I think something's wrong with my horse."
He twisted to look back at me and immediately spun his horse around to come trotting over to me. "Whatever you do, don't look down."
Naturally, I looked down.
A coil that almost blended into the sandy dirt sat in the middle of the trail. One end of the coil suddenly sprung up and started shaking like a possessed maraca. I nearly jumped out of the saddle when I realized the coil was a rattlesnake.
"Jax?" I heard my heart pounding in my ears and felt beads of sweat dripping down my forehead. "Um, Jax? What should I do?"
"Don’t do a thing. Just stay on your horse. I’ll take care of this."
The snake's rattling got louder and faster. My horse neighed and took a step back. I yanked my feet from the stirrups and bent my knees up to my chest, fearful that the snake would strike at any second.
Jax came riding up and quickly dismounted his horse. He picked up a long stick and started prodding the snake away from me. I thought he was going to use the stick to fling it away, but instead he pressed his boot down on the snake’s head. And then, without any hesitation, he reached under his boot and plucked up the rattlesnake
by the neck.
With my heart still pounding, I sat there in disbelief as he nonchalantly held up the long snake in the air and seemed to admire the brown and gold diamond pattern in its scales.
"What the hell are you doing?" I cried, pointing at the snake, "That thing is poisonous!"
He looked at me with a mischievous grin. "This design would be great for a pair of high heels."
"Screw the heels. Get rid of it before you get bitten!"
He shrugged and flung it toward some yucca plants as if the deadly snake was nothing but a plastic frisbee. He then walked over and cupped my clammy hand in his palms. "Are you okay?"
A few deep breaths coupled with his steady hands calmed down my heart rate. "I'm good, thanks," I said, as I unsnapped the top two buttons on my shirt, trying to cool off from the mix of the adrenaline rush and the hot sun. "But let's get away from this place ASAP. I may be badass Riley, but not when everything out here is trying to kill us."
"Sounds good with me, let’s get out of here," Jax said. He leapt back up onto his horse, scanning the area before pointing to a spot about one hundred yards away. "Come on, I’ll race you to those rocks."
I might have been out of my element, but I wasn't going to roll over without a fight. "I don't think All Riled Up stands a chance against Stud Tamer," I teased.
He looked at me, his dark eyes pools of dangerous intensity. "Don’t forget Riley, I never back down from a challenge."
"How can I forget? But I’m warning you, get ready to eat my dust."
Jax smirked. "You’re on. I’ll count it off. One, two, three, forward!"
I tapped my heels a little harder than before and was shocked when Stud Tamer exploded into a gallop. The forward momentum jerked my head back and I grabbed the hat to keep it from falling off.
Somehow, I burst into an early lead, but when I looked to the side, I saw that Jax caught up. Hunched forward, leaning in close to All Riled Up's mane, Jax raced his horse hard and began inching ahead. I squeezed my heels and sore legs tighter against my horse and felt her pick up speed. We were locked in a dead heat.
Bouncing up and down in the saddle like a ragdoll, I struggled to maintain my composure. I clung to the leather reins so tightly they burned against my palms. My ears were roaring with the sound of the horses’ hooves clopping on the dry desert ground.
In the final stretch, with the rock formation rapidly approaching, I tried to keep my eyes firmly on the finish line but I chanced a glance at Jax. He rode with his eyes fixed on me instead of paying attention to what was ahead of him. At the final second, I pulled ahead and barely eked out the victory.
He tugged on his reins and I did the same, slowing down our horses so they were walking next to each other. I was happy about my win, but it quickly dawned on me that there was no way Jax would’ve lost to a first-timer like me. "You let me win!"
He raised his scarred brow. "Did I?"
"I might be a quick learner, but you’re an expert horse whisperer and it looked like you were taking it easy on me."
His sexy smile lit up his ebony eyes. "Guess I got distracted by the scenery."
I pumped my fist. "Well a win’s a win."
"I think we both won." He looked at me again the same way he had been during the race, and I realized his eyes were looking straight at my chest.
"No wonder." I shoved his shoulder playfully.
Jax just grinned at me.
After we walked our horses slowly on the trail for a few more minutes, Jax surveyed our surroundings and stopped his horse. "This seems like a good place to give these two a breather."
He slid off his horse first. I followed his lead, sliding off with relative ease, before handing him the reins. Although I was thoroughly enjoying my first horseback riding trip, I was relieved to get my feet back onto solid ground.
As he tied up the horses, I took a second to drink up the awesome scenery. The setting sun splashed orange and purple colors across a rock archway. A couple jackrabbits scurried past some cacti while a coyote howled from somewhere unseen. The howl sent a chill along my spine, but I was certain that Jax would keep me safe.
I took off the cowboy hat and combed my fingers through my hair. "Jax this place is absolutely stunning. When did you find the time to plan all of this?"
"I was inspired while you were sleeping," he called from behind me.
I turned around to see what he was doing. Jax walked towards me, holding a handful of lavender, white, and golden wildflowers. He must’ve picked them from the fields around us while I was admiring the scenery.
"Oh! These are beautiful," I said, unable to stop my smile. "That's sweet of you." I held out my hands for the flowers, but instead of handing them to me, he brought them up to my head and slipped the stems into my hair.
"They’re as much for you as they are for me," he said, taking a small step back to admire his handiwork.
My cheeks heated. I looked at his warm eyes, slightly embarrassed by how I was unable to stop smiling. "Thank you."
"Come on." He grabbed my hand and led me over to a boulder. "Let’s enjoy the sunset."
As we sat on the boulder facing the setting sun, he slung a heavy arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him. I leaned into him, inhaling his rich, manly aroma—which was becoming all too familiar to me now but I knew I’d never tire of it. My hand found his and our fingers intertwined. I thought about last night and today, and how he must've went to great lengths to plan all of this out, and I realized how unbelievably sweet Jax was being to me.
Just as the sun was sinking behind the distant mountains, I planted a peck on Jax's cheek. He wrapped me up with both of his arms and hugged me tight as we watched the sun bathe the sky and desert with shimmering tangerine tints all across the darkening blue hues.
Chapter Nineteen
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
The next day the band was scheduled to shoot a music video at a soundstage in Los Angeles. Our bus driver, Bernie, drove through the night so that we could arrive on time.
It was the first time that Jax and I had slept on the bus together after what happened in Vegas, so we removed the pillow wall that separated us. We didn't break the rule of not having sex in his bed though. After the huge suite we enjoyed in Vegas, the bus seemed almost claustrophobically small and I didn't exactly want to advertise what was going on between Jax and me to the rest of the band.
Once we had arrived in L.A., the band spent most of the morning setting up for the shoot, while I tried to catch up on some work. If any of them had noticed the amount of time I had spent with Jax in Vegas, none of them mentioned anything.
Toward the early afternoon, the numbers on my laptop were starting to swim so I decided to head down to the soundstage to watch the making of the music video. Like any Hitchcock production, I was expecting a healthy amount of spectacle, but I guess I didn’t quite expect this.
The zombie’s ghoulish face peered into my eyes, and its decaying hands reached toward my face. A hiss emerged from the back of her throat: "Braaaaaaaaaiiiinnssssssss . . ."
I laughed, giving an appreciative nod to the makeup artist airbrushing final touches onto the fingers. "This video’s going to be amazing," I said.
The zombie’s face broke out into a smile—which would have been terrifying, if she hadn’t had such a friendly voice. "I’ve got to take a picture of this for my kids." She glanced toward a smartphone on the makeup table. "Would you mind?"
"Not at all." Picking up the phone, I tried to find the right angle to capture her at her most undead.
Just as I started to snap the picture, Jax leaned into the frame, giving the zombie a mock-terrified face. I laughed, and he went back toward his own makeup chair. I had to hand it to Jax, he knew how to make something as stressful as a video shoot seem fun for everyone. The food and drink had been flowing freely all afternoon, and it felt good to meet the extras and hang out around an actual Los Angeles soundstage.
I didn’t know if it was in spite of
being so far from home, or because of it but I was feeling better than I had in ages. I hadn’t needed to reach for my lifesavers in days, and I couldn’t remember the last time that had been true. Jax made everything seem a little bit easier. Being here in Los Angeles felt strangely uncomplicated—I felt, in some ways, freer than I’d felt in my whole life.
A voice I didn’t recognize, with a thick Boston accent, ripped into my thoughts. "Hey, strawberry, whatcha dreamin’ about?"
I turned around to see a short, bearded man with half a dozen earrings. It was the first time I’d seen him in person, but I didn’t need an introduction: Torrence Henderson, the director. He’d shot the video for half a dozen number one hits, among them Lady Dada’s last single, and his distinctive celebrity photos had shown up in every glossy-paged fashion mag in the business. Henderson was a perpetual red carpet fixture, and designers lived and died by which shows he watched at Fashion Week.
"Excuse me?" I said, not sure what he wanted from me.
He reached out to the ends of my hair and held it in his fingers. "Nevermind. What dye is this? It’s beautiful."
I felt my face getting hot. "No dye."
"Natural. I like that. Gorgeous," he said, looking me up and down in a way that was starting to make me uncomfortable. "Do you have any questions about your costume? I assume you’re next up for makeup."
Oh. He wasn’t being inappropriate, he just thought I was there to be on camera. "I’m not an actress, you must be—"
"Crazy to hide a model under all that zombie makeup? I agree," he said, giving an exaggerated shrug and sigh. "But this video is high-concept, you understand? If it helps, you can think about all those actresses that won awards for playing ugly. Nicole. Charlize. Halle . . ."
I shook my head and cut him off. "This is all very flattering, but you’ve got the wrong girl. I’m not here to be in the video." I hadn’t acted since flubbing half my lines in my middle school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream—and I wasn’t about to try again with Jax’s career on the line.