Page 21 of Riding High

‘Solving the Middle East crisis would be easier than getting Mick to shut up,’ one of the men said, as he lowered his leg and shifted to place his forehead against his knees.

‘Funny, Kit,’ Mick muttered.She sighed, looked around the walled garden and caught sight of Eden.With an excited whoop, she jumped to her feet and ran over to her.

‘Eden!’

Eden kept her eyes on Mick, while training her peripheral vision on Jed, who’d started to wobble.Instead of unfurling slowly from his complicated pose– show-off!– he flung his leg back, misjudged where he was and kicked the edge of a hip-high blue and green flower pot.It toppled sideways and hit the hard tiles on which it stood.The pot cracked and soil spilt out onto the tiles, and the ornamental topiary bush lost its lollypop head.It was a horticultural blood bath.

Whoomph!Eden sucked in some air as Mick collided with her in an over-exuberant hug that rocked her from side to side.Uh, they’d seen each other last night!Eden patted her shoulder– when was she going to let go?Over her shoulder, Eden watched Jed climb to his feet, scowling down at the broken pot.Troyden and Diana placed their feet on the floor in perfect synchronicity, and everyone but Mick looked at the shattered pot.

‘Fuck,’ Jed muttered, pushing back his hair.‘Shit, shit, shit.’

‘That was only a hand-fired, hand-thrown pot from one of the foremost Japanese potters in the world, son,’ Troyden said, his tone mild.

‘Never mind the pot, it took the gardener five years to get the topiary into that exact shape,’ Diana stated, hands on her hips.‘I’d practise extreme avoidance for the next year, Jed.’

Eden looked around for the scary gardener, expecting to see a grizzled old man with a pitchfork.Mick nudged her with her elbow.‘Jo is our gardener, and this walled garden is her pride and joy.She lobbied for three years to get Troyden to buy those pots, and she will be furious to see one in pieces.She might also ban us from doing yoga here now, after it took Troyden weeks to persuade her that we wouldn’t do any damage.’

‘But doesn’t she work for Troyden?’she asked, puzzled by the employer/employee dynamic.

‘None of the staff work for Troyden,’ Mick said, her eyes laughing, putting air quotes around the word work.‘Jo is one of the best gardeners in the UK and Troyden gives her a free hand, as well as a cottage on the estate, a huge salary and all the time off she needs to consult on heritage gardens around the UK.Troyden doesn’t like formal gardens, so she doesn’t even have that much to do, hence her dedication to this walled garden.Troyden poached Diana off a billionaire; she studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and worked as a sous chef at three Michelin-star restaurants.They allow him the privilege of paying them.’

‘I heard that!’Diana told her.

‘I know!’Mick said gaily.‘Jed, look!Eden’s back.’

Jed’s amber eyes slammed into hers.‘Yeah, I got that, Michaela.Your screech of welcome caused me to lose my balance.’

‘Bullshit!’Mick shot back.‘If you can keep your balance on a thousand-pound horse going fifty miles an hour while the crowds roar, my shouting wouldn’t cause you to tip over.No, I think it’s?—’

‘Shut up, Mick,’ Jed growled, cutting her off.His eyes glittered and the tips of his ears reddened.Eden lifted her eyebrows.Was Jedembarrassed?Because he’d broken the pot, or because her presence caused him to falter?Hell, she wasn’t feeling too steady on her feet either.And, dear God, she wished he’d put a shirt on!Any moment now, she might start drooling, and that was never attractive.

Mick grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the broken flowerpot.Damn, it did look expensive.

Jed finally pulled his eyes off her and looked at his stepfather.‘I’ll buy you another one,’ he said, rubbing the back of his neck and not sounding at all convinced.‘If I can afford it, and if I can find one.’

‘You can’t and you won’t,’ Diana crisply told him, jamming her finger into his bicep.His big, tanned and gorgeous bicep.The bicep she wanted to sink her teeth into.Oh, boy, hot panties.Eden looked down at her trainers, wishing for a breeze to cool her suddenly red cheeks.

‘Best emigrate now to some place where Jo can’t find you,’ Diana added.

Eden reached the edge of the group, Mick’s hand still on her arm.Judging by his flinty stare, Jed didn’t share Mick’s enthusiasm at her reappearance.And why did she have to make it sound like she was relocating to the area?Nothing could be further from the truth.It was a trial, for a week or so.She’d even, when she called to accept Troyden’s invitation, asked him not to reveal that she was his niece so she could make a clean getaway if she needed to.Although disappointed, Troyden had agreed.

‘I’m just visiting for a little while, Mick,’ Eden explained, not wanting Jed to think that she was moving in permanently.‘Maybe ten days, or two weeks.’

Jed’s eyes narrowed, and he looked at his stepfather, obviously surprised.Troyden seemed to hear his unspoken question.‘I haven’t had a moment to tell you, Alistair and Justin, Jed, but Eden is here as my guest.’

Jed’s eyes met hers and every muscle and micro-muscle in his body tightened.‘You met him ten days ago and you’re already moving into the house,’ he drawled.Oh, his words weren’t offensive, but his tone was.What was his probl?—

Oh.Did he think she had the hots for Troyden?Oh, come on!

Shit, hedid.

She wanted to reassure him that she wanted nothing more than to get to know her uncle– she certainly wasn’t looking for his money– and winced at how that might sound without adding some context.Then she remembered that Elmsleigh wasn’t his and that Troyden had invited her to stay.And if Yummy Yogi didn’t like it then he could just downward dog lump it.

‘Oh, stop being a tosser, Jed,’ Mick cheerfully retorted.‘Ignore him, Eden, he’s a grump if his yoga gets interrupted.And it’s his fault he ended up on his arse, because he’s a show-off.’

‘I did not end up on my arse; I was startled when a banshee yelled in my ear,’ Jed grumbled.

Mick waved his words away.‘Eden, meet Kit and Mateo, they are polo players on the Castle Kings team, along with Grumpy Guts here.’