“You have two sons?” Robbie knew Kiefer hadn’t mentioned a brother, but the boy had been fairly wrapped up in learning about horses all week.
“Max is six and Kiefer is nine. And actually, I’ve been meaning to seek you out to thank you for the time you’ve spent with Kiefer this week. He feels more sure of himself at school now that he can talk about horses without sounding like a total outsider.”
“That’s why I’m here.” Robbie lowered his voice as one of the maids hurried through the foyer with a vase of flowers. No doubt they were trying to get the dining room prepped for the meal. The laughter of the cocktail crowd drifted through the halls.
“He’s starting to get underfoot? I can—”
“No. Nothing like that.” He put a hand on top of her fluttering one, a reflex reaction to her concern that suddenly drop-kicked him in the libido. The feel of her soft skin under his palm sent a surge of heat clean through him, the awareness a palpable thing between them.
She stilled, frozen, her hand in midair beneath his. He would have moved away faster if he could have sent the proper set of messages along his neurons, but his body didn’t seem to obey. He stood there for a long moment, absorbing the silken texture of her and breathing her scent.
She recovered first, snatching her hand away quickly even if the reaction had been delayed.
“Then what is it?” Her words were a little breathless, or was that just wishful thinking on his part?
“Kiefer wants to learn how to ride.” He was grateful for the words once he got them past his lips. They gave him something new to think about.
“I know he does, but honestly, I can’t afford—”
“Amanda, you haven’t gotten to know the Prestons well enough yet if you think we would want you to pay for outside lessons when you work at the biggest horse-training facility in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”
“Really, I couldn’t ask for any special favors.” Her words were firm, her posture perfectly straight. She had “good girl” written on her so clearly he couldn’t help but smile, although he didn’t find her ethics half so amusing as he found his attraction to someone so sweetly upstanding. His sketchy track record with women ran more to the hell-raising variety, but there was no denying his physical response to Amanda.
“It’s not a special favor.” He gestured to the house behind her. “You’re already standing in my mother’s foyer, having cocktails with the neighbors. Trust me when I tell you, we want you to feel like family here.” He might not agree with all the family’s decisions, but Robbie was proud of the way they treated their staff. The corporate culture was decidedly down-home here. “And I just wanted your blessing that Kiefer has permission to ride before I let him on a horse. But I hope you’d never consider outsourcing riding lessons when you live here. We tend to know our horses around Quest Stables.”
She grinned. “I guess you have a point there.”
“As long as you don’t mind, I can send Kiefer back to school with enough horse knowledge to set the other kids back a few steps.” His knowledge might not impress the old man, but it could knock the socks off fourth graders.
“That would be really generous of you.” She pulled the thin lace shawl tighter around her shoulders, clenching the fabric hard as if she could ward off the attraction zinging around the room. “But if he gets to be any trouble, I hope you’ll let me know.”
“I can do that. Although the traditional way to straighten out any troublemaking in a stable is to present the offender with a pitchfork and a stall for mucking.”
“I see you know kids better than I realized.”
“I’ve had a bit of a history with troublemaking myself.”
“And your days with a pitchfork successfully reformed you?”
“I’m going to have to plead the Fifth on that one.”
Behind Amanda, the voices from the veranda grew louder as two men disputed the racing odds at an upcoming meet. A door slammed and the violin stopped playing.
“They must be coming in for dinner.” Amanda turned toward the sound before glancing back at him. “I’m not staying for the meal, but I should go in and make my goodbyes before they sit down.”
He nodded, not wanting to cross paths with his family yet.
“Fine. I’ll wait for you and walk you to your car.” He didn’t know why he offered.
No, he knew why he offered. He wished he had a little more restraint since she was clearly reluctant where he was concerned.
“That’s not necessary. Thank you for the offer of lessons for Kiefer.” She stepped away, eager to please his parents and play the proper guest.
“Not a problem.” He smiled genially, but stood his ground and waited for her return.
She might think they had settled matters between them now that they’d agreed on Kiefer riding. But in Robbie’s mind, they’d only succeeded in uncovering a bigger issue. And like any elephant in a room, the attraction between them wouldn’t go away just because they ignored it.
These had to be some of the warmest people Amanda had ever met.
She shook hands with several of the Prestons’ friends and said her goodbyes, surprised to feel such easy acceptance after a short amount of time at Quest Stables. The unquestioning welcome, the gracious attempts to make her feel at home, helped ease the transition from her friends and family back in L.A.
As she walked toward the foyer and the front door to leave for the night, she realized that if she wasn’t so scared of the past following her, she would be throwing herself into her new life. She might even have explored the source of that steady regard in Robbie Preston’s eyes every time she was around….
But that was foolish.
As her high heels clicked down the polished hardwood, she chided herself for thinking like that about a man who was not only a decade younger than her but also her employer’s son. And besides that, since when did she think about the “regard” in any man’s eyes? She’d barely looked at a carrier of the Y chromosome since—
“I tried to leave,” Robbie announced, his long, lean frame unfolding from where he’d been sitting on a chair in the foyer. “But with the sun setting earlier and you being new in town, I couldn’t let you navigate your way to your car on your own.”
Shrugging, he offered her his arm and she stared at it for a moment, knowing this contact with him could be dangerous.
Then she gave herself a mental shake. Dangerous for her maybe. A gorgeous, wealthy male like Robbie Preston surely didn’t feel the same pulse of awareness when they were together that she did. He probably had women falling all over themselves to give him a lot more than a little company for a stroll across the grass.
She was being silly.
Reaching out to him, she slipped her hand into the crook of his arm.
“Is this part of that legendary Southern hospitality I’ve heard so much about?” She kept her tone light, reminding herself that he probably viewed her as nothing more than a nice older woman. A mother. An employee.
He held the door for her and they stepped out onto the wide front porch. The stars were popping out as the cooler air greeted them. She pulled her shawl closer and warded off a sudden shiver.
“Actually, there are plenty of people who would argue that Kentucky isn’t part of either the south or the north.” He slowed his pace as she prepared to step down onto the front walk. “Southerners