Author's Notes: Yes another new Buffy fic by me. Lets see if I can finish this one. It involves two of my favorite things: Buffy and horse. This is a A/U fic.
Summary: Elizabeth Anne Summers is a champion show jumper, who can no longer jump due to a wrist injury. William "Spike" Giles is a Triple Crown winning jockey. The two meet when their parents join in a business venture and neither are on the other's good side. And yet despite the hatred that flows between they, something more starts to happen.
Trail to the Roses
Dust rose as the sound of pounding hooves drew closer to the small crowd gathered around the rail. A dark chestnut horse raced by, his rider riding low by his neck as they raced to the finish. They passed the half mile marker and several stopwatches clicked, stopping the time. The rider reined the horse in and trotted him back to the small group. The man tore his goggles off and stared down at the trainer with his piercing blue eyes, catching the attention of a blonde standing off to the side.
"Time?" he asked.
Rupert Giles smiled up at the jockey and horse, "39 and a tick. Excellent time. Fast yet for Galahad here yet. Bring him in for a cool down and I'll introduce you to my friends here son."
William "Spike" Giles nodded and walked Galahad, his father's three year old through a pass way and slid down, leading the big chestnut by the reins.
Ignoring her father's complaint the blonde stepped forward, approaching the horse. Galahad snorted as she ran a light hand over his forehead as she whispered softly in his ear. Spike removed his helmet and studied the girl as she made friends with his horse. She wore her golden blonde hair down and the wind blue it across her face. His eyes raked over her body and he whistled mentally as her demin jeans clung to her legs and firm bottom. Her white shirt was buttoned halfway down and knotted, showing off her tanned midriff. One wrist was wrapped tightly in a bandage, hindering her petting slightly. But what caught his eyes was the glee that shown in her deep hazel eyes as she laughed when Galahad rubbed his head against her shoulders.
Elizabeth Summers could feel eyes on her and looked up from the stallion, finding herself the object of Spike's intense stare. She found herself blushing as she studied him back. Her eyes traveled over his face, taking in his sharp cheekbones and bright blue eyes. They widened slightly at his peroxide white hair but lowered as she took in his simple black tee and tight wrangler jeans. A pure feminine smile teased her lips as she raised her eyes back to his and offered him her hand.
"Elizabeth Summers. You must be William." she said, her voice low and throaty.
Spike nodded slowly, "Yes but I prefer to be called Spike, Ms. Summers. What brings you to Saratoga?"
She nodded her head towards the other two men, "My father has business with yours. But please call me Buffy, everyone else does."
Spike was about to reply when the two men approached them. Rupert smiled at them and nodded towards Buffy's father, "Well Hank, seems that our children have met. William, this is Hank Summers. He owns the Summers Ranch out in Kentucky. He's interested in getting involved in racing. Up till now he and his family have been just breeding and horse shows."
Spike sneered at the mention of horse shows. To him they were nothing but a place where northerners went to show off their perfect pretty horses and the daughters and sons who rode them. Not much of a sport to him. He preferred the thrill of being on the back of a horse and racing down a track surrounded by ten other horses. He ran a hand lightly over Galahad's neck, "Horse shows are for ponces. The real business is in the races."
Elizabeth pulled away from him and glared at him, opening her mouth before her father could stop her, "Excuse me? Shows are for ponces? I have you know that I compete in shows, or I used to and I am damn good at what I do. What do you do? Ride a horse around in a circle then accept money?"
Spike narrowed his eyes, "I'm sorry sweetheart and you do what? Ride a horse around in a circle over some sissy jumps and collect money?"
"At least taking a horse over a jump is more challenging then just sitting there and letting the animal doing the work." she snapped back. Hank stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her away.
"Honey, lets not start any fights. I'm sure you and William can get along. After all we want this new business to work." he said, trying to soothe his daughter.
Buffy crossed her arms and aimed a well practiced glare to Spike and turned her attention back to the two men. Rupert had turned to Spike as was talking to him about the chestnut stallion.
"Galahad clocked a good time for a half mile. Tomorrow we will try him out at a mile. We want to be sure he can go the distance for the Fountain of Youth. A mile and sixteenth will be the longest his gone. And its already been said that he's a long shot for the Derby."
"Don's worry Dad. People said that Ireland's Jewel wouldn't win, but that boy proved them all wrong." said Spike, relinquishing the hold of the reins to the stable boy.
Rupert nodded and took off his glasses and started to clean them, "Yes but that was 4 years ago. There's no guarantee that Galahad will do as good as his father."
Spike patted his father's shoulder, "Don't worry. Galahad will leave them in the dust."
Hank stepped forward, "Not meaning to intrude but I was hoping we could talk some more. Me and Elizabeth have to get home in time for the evening feeding."
"Oh yes of course. Why don't you follow me Hank and we can seal this deal. William why don't you show Buffy around?" suggested Rupert. The two men didn't even give their children time to object as they walked off towards Rupert's office. Buffy glared at Spike as he moved to stand beside her.
"I'm no more happy about showing you around then you are at being shown around chit so stop pouting." remarked Spike as he led her into the stables. Buffy chose to ignore him as she breathed deep, sighing happily as the smells of horse and tack and saddle soap filled her senses. The morning work out was over and over twenty horses were in their stalls, munching on hay. Spike eyed her from the corner of his eye and smiled to himself as she moved closer to one stall that housed his father's prized filly.
The black horse stuck her head over her stall once she caught sight of William. A loud neighed echoed through the stables to be answered by more as she beckoned Spike to come over and pet her and give her the treat she knew he had in his back pocket. He approached her and ran a hand lightly over her nose offering her the carrot that had magically appeared in his hand.
Spike looked over at Buffy's bandage wrist, "What happened there to your wrist?"
"Riding accident." was her short reply. It was obvious from the pain that etched it's way in her voice and eyes that it was a touchy subject and he decided not to push. He offered the filly another carrot.
Buffy watched them and saw the love and adoration in the filly's eyes as she munched on her treat and spoke up softly, "She loves you. Just like every other female I suppose."
"Jealous of Starlight are you?" he teased her with a small smile.
Buffy huffed, "Please I have better things to do than compete with a filly for your attention. Besides, I have a boyfriend. That's her name, Starlight?"
"Diamond of Starlight is her full name. She's a good horse and the half-sister of Galahad. She's my father's best filly. He's aiming her towards the Triple Tiara." He paused to laugh at Buffy's confused face, "You really don't keep up with racing do you? The Triple Tiara is the sister races to the Triple Crown races. They are for fillies only."
"I thought that fillies could race in the Triple Crown too." said Buffy, studied the tall black filly as she dipped her head in her water bucket.
"They can, its just not done that often. A filly has even one the Kentucky Derby. But most fillies are outclassed by the boys. So the Tiara races are for them. They are the day before each big stakes races in the Crown run. Starlight here is our entry for the Kentucky Oaks. And we'll see where she goes from there." said Spike moving on down the lane, stopping at the last stall to give Galahad a last pat before moving on. Buffy followed him, giving each horse she saw a absent pat on the nose as they exited into the sunlight.
"I know what your thinking about me." she called out to Spike, a little annoyed by the way that he ignored her. It seemed that he wasn't interested in anyone who didn't race or know anything about racing. And it pissed her off that he would just brush her aside because she was as race smart as him.
Spike paused and turned to look at her, groaning inwardly. All he wanted was to go to his apartment above the stables, take a shower and relax before heading to the track for his day's races. He was in 4 out of ten and wanted to be relaxed before his first race. And now this cheeky blonde wanted to make small talk.
"And what am I thinking luv?" he asked, his carefully hidden British accent coming out at his slight irritation.
Buffy stopped in front of his, pausing only briefly to mull over the rich accent that coated his words before plowing on, "You think I'm not worth your time because I don't know anything about racing. And that's not very fair to me. I don't care for races. Shows are more my business. And I think you're a stuck up tight ass for just ignoring me because I show jump and don't race like you or care for horse racing."
By the time she finished her little speech her face was flushed and her eyes flashing. And for some reason, it didn't piss Spike off like it should have. Instead he just wanted to cup her face between his hands and place a soft gentle kiss on her lips, forgetting that she could only be sixteen to his twenty years. But instead of doing what his heart was telling him, he threw up his hands and laughed, "Bitchy much? I'm not ignoring you. I'm going to wash up. I have a long day ahead of me. Besides I don't give a rat's ass if you care for racing or not. Your just a spoiled little rich girl whose used to getting what you want. And now you want attention because Daddy dearest isn't here to give it and I'm not giving it to you. So just sit down on that bench and wait for your father. And you might want to get over this little snit cause like or not I do believe that we will being seeing a lot of each other now."
Buffy narrowed her eyes and spat out, "Please I wouldn't want to see you ever again if my life depended on it."
"Look's like it does." was Spike's simple reply.
Buffy looked at him bewildered and Spike laughed again deep in his throat as he placed his hands on her shoulder, reveling only a moment of the softness of her skin as he turned her in the direction of their fathers. Rupert and Giles had just shaken hands, obviously just confirming their deal. And as Buffy's mouth fell open, Spike walked off cheerfully towards his rooms, whistling at the opportunity of annoying the girl even more in the time they would spend together. He would make sure they spent time together.