Unfortunately, my normal life of attending school still existed. At 6am every morning, I would pull on my tracksuit bottoms, a baggy jumper and my green wellies and head out into the yard. My father had been rather wealthy to say the least. We lived on a large country estate in Suffolk, England. We owned roughly three hundred acres. My dad had harboured a love for horses all his life. He'd built the stable yard with his own bare hands. Over the years, additions had been made, things altered and it was now a thriving, 'in demand' livery yard.

The yard itself was sat on perfect, smooth concrete. Housing seventy five stables all arranged in a horseshoe shape, it was a huge expanse to work around. A fantastic water feature stole the centre of the yard. The grey stone artwork of a rearing Pegasus was absolutely stunning. A four foot high post and rail fence kept it out of the horses reach. With tie rings dotted all around the fence, it was gorgeous in the summer, seeing all the horses tied up outside their stables with the magnificent centre piece trickling away.

Because of the size of the livery yard, dad had devised a clever manner of keeping people and politics as much to a minimum as possible. Instead of one room to house everyone's tack, hay, straw, feed etc, each stable had its own large room next to it. The owners padlocked the doors themselves thus preventing any mishaps or accusations of stealing. Plus, it saved loads of time with not having to trek here there and everywhere for hay, feed and tack. It worked brilliantly and so far, no massive rows had occurred as a result.

Each stable came with its own two acres of fenced paddock which, of course, could be changed should the owner wish their horse to be with someone else's or if they had more than one horse, which several did. We had three outdoor rubber surfaced arena's – all Olympic sized, one huge indoor arena, a horse walker, a solarium and a wash bay. I couldn't have wished for anything more.

Except maybe for someone to enjoy it with.

My mum was a drunk. Her and dad didn't really get along – theirs had been an arranged marriage between two wealthy families to keep 'money in the blood' or whatever. Since dad had died, she'd gotten a hundred times worse. I barely saw her. With my eighteenth birthday looming ever so near, I was more than able of taking care of myself and to be quite honest, if given a hard choice between her or being put into care...well, I doubt she'd even notice I was gone.

This morning, being mid November, was a muddy, gloomy morning. A typical Monday morning where the weather did little to help my mood, I walked onto the yard through the wooden five bar gate which closed off the horseshoe shape. A deep grumble of nickers, neighs and legs banging against the stable doors resounded through the quiet setting. I worked my way round, feeding those whose owners left their feeds out overnight and giving sympathy carrots to those who had to wait for their owners to turn up and feed them.

Bruno, as ever, banged his huge legs against his door in protest. His ears were pressed back flat against his head as he nodded at me, making his displeasure more than known. I picked his food bowl up which turned him into a sweet, pretty horse once again as he pricked his ears forwards and nudged me gently.

Chuckling to myself, I undid his door and slid his breakfast in. I bolted his door shut and turned to my right to sort Kody out. A shadowed figure stood in front of his door. I screamed, jumping backwards. The two yard dogs who patrolled around the yard at night came scuttling across the concrete from their own warm stable. Complete with a dog flap, they lived out on the yard all year round and were more than used to my early morning arrivals hence they didn't even bother greeting me on such a miserable, damp morning.

The mysterious person stepped forwards, arms outstretched. "Sorry, I didn't meant to scare you."

As they stepped out from underneath the six foot overhang, I saw Oliver's handsome face covered with concern.

I clutched at my chest, my heart hammering away like a mad man in a padded cell. Bill and Ben, the mastiffs, were at my feet, growling at Oliver, heckles raised.

"Shhh," I said, patting both of them. "It's ok. He's good."

Oliver bent down to their level, allowing the dogs to sniff him. Within seconds, their tails were wagging and slimy tongues were licking Oliver's face. I was stunned. They didn't even do that to the grooms – not even Jackie who had been here ten years.

"I wasn't expecting to see you," I said, my heart rate starting to decrease gradually.

"Sorry. I should have called. I thought you'd be up and about so I thought I'd come give you a hand and take Bruno out for some early morning exercise."

My heart jumped again at the thought of him riding Bruno. Even though I knew he was too much for me, the sentimental side of me made me territorial over him. It should be me enjoying morning rides with him but then again, the last time that happened, I woke up on my back staring at Mr Darcy here.

"How are you feeling today?" he asked. "Are you sore?"

"No. I'm ok actually, thank you."

He nodded before an awkward silence settled between us. My cheeks burned up. I felt like I should say something but I didn't know what. The embarrassment of having a crush on an older guy began to circle around my mind. Did he know I liked him? Could he see my awkwardness around him and know what it was? Did he find this funny? Was he teasing me?

"Do you want a hand putting the horses out?" he asked.

"Um, no. I'm going to leave them in. They'll just churn the fields up." I bit my lip before remembering my manners. "Thanks for the offer though."

"No problem. What time do you have to be at school?"

My heart sank, killing all the flutterings in my belly. Him mentioning school along with asking about it just reminded how much older he was and the fact he now sounded like a parent.

"Nine. I don't need to leave until eight thirty."

I could now, thankfully, drive myself to school. Asking mum for a lift was well out of the question, buses didn't come this far out, so, my main method of transport was relying on the grooms.

"Did you fancy joining me? For a ride?"

My mouth fell open. Did he really just me that? Or was this my mind projecting what I wanted to be reality?

"You want me to ride? With you?"

He chuckled. "Yes, if you want to. Is that such a shock?"

Heat rushed to my cheeks once more. The sky around us began to lighten into a brilliant blue as dawn broke.

"Um, yeah, sure. That would be really nice."

"Excellent. How about I get the boys tacked up whilst you put some riding clothes on?"

I frowned, glancing down at my usual morning attire. I always rode in this type of clothing in the mornings. Turning my attention back to him, I noticed his pristine beige jodhpurs and grey woolly high necked jumper. He looked like something from the pages of a catalogue. And then there was me.

"Um...I usually ride in these?"

He didn't say anything for a few painstaking seconds. "Oh, ok. My mistake, sorry."

I smiled but said nothing.

"Do you exercise them every morning after breakfast?" he asked.

I nodded. "Only walking though as they've just eaten. But then again, dad always used to say that walking was the best exercise for them. I like to think that's why all my horses are so well muscled in all the right places. Dad drilled into me from the start that with unfit horses, you do a minimum of six weeks walk work before even thinking of anything else."

He smiled at me. Such a brilliant, warm smile folded over those rosy red lips of his. I blushed.

"Sorry," I said. "I tend to ramble."

"It's fine. I'm a good listener. Did you want me to tack Kody up or can you reach up there?"

More fire erupted through my face. "I think I'm a bit short."

"Ah," he said, giving me a cheeky wink. "You've plenty of growing to do yet."

My breath caught in my throat. What the hell did that mean? I faked a smile before turning to Bruno's side room, gathering his tack. Thoughts of putting him in a snaffle filtered back through my mind – just to be cheeky and see how Oliver coped, but I binned the idea after a few seconds. Even though thoughts of playing nurse to the gorgeous man played throughout my mind, I behaved. In all honesty, I wouldn't know what to do with a man anyway. Other than a few kisses from the couple of boys who had been crazy enough to like me, I had no experience with the male species.

Apprehension and nerves gripped me as I saddled Bruno up. What on earth would we talk about on this ride? We had nothing in common. Oh my. This was going to be awkward. At least I could blame the cold air for my red cheeks.

"You ready?" he called from outside.

"Yes," I said. Under my breath I muttered, "As I'll ever be."

*So! I wonder what will happen on their jolly ride?! Is she too concious of her age or is Oliver trying to make her that way? Hope you enjoyed this - please remember to vote if i'm deserving :-D*