Sure, his personality is the human equivalent of a cactus. At least when it comes to dealing with people. The way he was able to calm Riven, though, that was something else. He showed nofear, taming that terrified creature in a few short minutes. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.
The sanctuary needs him, and if I want a good shot of turning this place around, I need him, too.
And okay, he’s cute. Rough around the edges with that always messy hair and those pretty, thick lips twisted in a permanent sneer. I may have fisted my cock in the shower several times, imagining what his body looks like under those well-worn, dusty clothes.
I bet he’s muscular, too. Not from lifting weights at the gym but sculpted from long days of hard work.
Calloused hands.
Golden skin.
Is he hairy, or is he smooth?
What’s he into?
What would he look like on his knees before me, my fingers charging through that silky black mane as he gorged on my cock?
Jackson’s right. I am messed up. But not so messed up I can’t swallow my pride.
“Three things,” I mutter.
“Excuse me?”
“List three things that you need in order to stay for at least a month.” His eyes meet mine. “Give me a chance, Jackson. You may have heard this all before, but I really want this to work. And I know that you’re good.”
His brows dip into a V. “How do you know that?”
“I may have looked you up online.”
He scoffs. “Of course you did.”
I stretch an arm out across the back of the bench and grin. “You saying you haven’t looked me up?” He shakes his head, but the rosy hue rising on his cheeks is all the answer I need. Unlike him, all my socials are public. “Just as I thought.”
“In fairness, I wasn’t searching for you specifically. I just typed inentitled rich asshole, and you were the first result that came up.”
“You’re being richist again,” I point out with a wink.
He tips his head to the sky. “Ugh. That’s not a thing. And please never wink again. It’s icky.”
“Is that one of your three conditions?”
“Hell no.” He jolts into an upright position and launches straight into, “One, I want full authority to cover any required animal-related expenses. No emails. No seeking permission. No making me feel like crap for simply doing the bare minimum to look after these animals the way they deserve to be. I’m done with all that bullshit. If I determine a horse needs vet treatment, it happens. No questions asked.”
“Done.”
“Two, you stay the hell out of my way, and I’ll stay the hell out of yours. You run the place how you see fit, but anything to do with the horses like feeding, grooming, rehab, exercising, all that is my purview.”
I’m trying not to smile, but he’s making it so damn hard. If I thought Jackson Hunter was sexy when he was angry, seeing him get all passionate and nerdy about horses is downright adorable.
“Done.”
I wait for an “And three…” but it doesn’t come. He rubs his fingers in small circles against his chin, deep in thought. “That’s it,” he finally says, shrugging. “That’s all I want.”
“What? No bump in pay for everyone? Staff perks? Extra vacation?”
“I think you’ll quickly see most of the staff here are inept and need to be fired. And I trust that when you conduct a thorough review of the few of us who do work our asses off and are great at what we do, you’ll see fit to remunerate us accordingly.”
“You’re putting an awful lot of trust in a rich asshole.”
