“Can’t blame George for finding you sexy,” he remarked admiringly. “Your hair is like a beacon on top of that figure-hugging navy jacket, not to mention the fawn pants fitting the bottom half of you like a second skin.”
Which made her acutely aware of her body and its quivery response to his highly male sex appeal, heightened by the black jeans and black T-shirt he wore, the force of his personality making every other man totally insignificant.
“It’s the official outfit,” she answered defensively. “And let me tell you George’s interest is more in my inheritance than me. Except I haven’t got one. And you butted in before I could correct his assumption.”
“Ah! Tricky business having bags of wealth behind you.” His eyes twinkled with wicked teasing. “At least you’ll know from now on you’re wanted for yourself.”
Was there desire for her simmering behind that twinkle? Her mind whirled with the frustration of not knowing, then seized on the chance to find out more about him. “What about you, Jack? Are there lots of women panting for what you’ve got? How do you sort them out?”
He shrugged. “Sooner or later that issue sorts itself out.”
The cynicism in his voice prompted her to ask, “You’ve never wanted to marry?”
He slid her a look that cut straight to her heart. “Are you angling to marry me, Sally?”
It shocked her into stopping dead. Agitated by his thinking it was possible, even probable, she swung to confront him with a rush of anguished protest. “No! Don’t ever think that! I’m not like my mother! I wouldn’t ever try to trap you or …or …”
His mouth curled sardonically. “So Lady Ellen suggested it.”
The certainty in his eyes made it impossible to deny. She had the sickening sense that he’d known it, anyway, known before she’d blurted out the too-revealing words about her mother. Her cheeks burned with the humiliating truth.
“What was the plan?” he bored in. “Lure me to your bed and get yourself pregnant?”
She grimaced at the accuracy of his deduction. “She said you had to want me or you wouldn’t have set up the situation with me at the property, and I could secure my future by … by giving you whatever you wanted and … and trapping you into fatherhood.” Her eyes begged his belief. “But I’d never have a baby for that reason, Jack. Please …don’t think I would.”
Had he been thinking it? Was that why he’d kept his distance from her?
“And I wouldn’t marry anyone for money,” she added vehemently. “I want …”
“What do you want, Sally?” he pushed.
She heaved a huge sigh and gave up her heartfelt truth. “I want there to be love between me and the man I marry. A deep and abiding love.”
“And while you’re waiting for this love—” he lifted a hand and gently stroked her burning cheek, an ironic little smile playing on his lips “—will you fill in the time with me?”
What did he mean?
Love and marriage had nothing to do with any relationship they might have.
He was being very clear on that.
But how did he envisage filling the present gap in her life?
“Did you set all this up just to have sex with me, Jack?” she blurted out, driven by the need to get the situation absolutely straight in her mind.
He mused over the question for several moments before answering, “No. I wanted to know you, Sally Maguire,” he said on a wryly whimsical note. “Know all about you …the way you live your life. Which is why I’m here, watching you compete.”
The way she lived her life …as the adopted daughter of his father … the life he might have had if he hadn’t been taken away from it. Kept away.
The injustice to him tugged at her emotions again. She wanted to give him what he hadn’t had, wanted to give him the sense of belonging. He stirred so many desires in her, and the bottom-line truth was she didn’t want to shut him out on any level. Open the door, Sally, she fiercely told herself, and let him in.
“Do you mind?” he asked quietly. “I really enjoyed seeing you ride. It even made me groan in sympathy when your horse knocked the top rail on the triple jump. You were right on the time clock to win if he’d sailed clear. But if you find my interest disturbing …”
“No,” she answered quickly.
“Then will you share the excitement of your day over dinner with me tonight?”
“Yes. I’d like that,” she said decisively. “Thank you.”
It was an opportunity to learn more about him, too. Knowing this man—all that he was, how he lived his life—seemed more important than anything else.
He nodded. “A pleasure I’ll look forward to.”
Then he smiled.
It was a smile that swept the dark churning clouds right out of her mind, replacing them with a tingling anticipation for the time they would spend together.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“SALLY MAGUIRE riding Midnight Magic …”
It WAS the last event of the day, the most important event for those competing. Not only did it carry the largest prize money, but points would be awarded in the scoring system used to select the team for the World Cup.
From his seat in the grandstand, Jack leaned forward to watch Sally ride the big black gelding into the show ring. Midnight Magic was her top-level horse, the one she’d been training up to this standard for the past five years. It was a magnificent animal, its mane and tail plaited, its gleaming coat brushed into a checkerboard pattern. Tim Fogarty had groomed it beautifully—an absolute stand-out horse—but it was performance not looks that won this event.
Jack couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt nervous about an outcome. Probably back in his poker days when it was impossible to control what cards would turn up on the table and he needed to win, needed big money fast so he could play in his father’s arena. Right now he wanted Sally to win but he couldn’t make it happen. It was up to her and the horse. Nevertheless, he found himself willing her to ride faultlessly, willing it so fiercely it surprised him that he cared so much.
And it wasn’t because it would put her in a good mood afterwards, easier for him to move closer to her. The desire that had spurred him along this road had been somewhat derailed by other factors; the sheer entertainment of her company—such a fresh outlook on life and so straight-line it commanded his respect. She made the sophisticates in his social set totally boring in comparison. He didn’t want to spoil her world, yet the desire she stirred in him was so damned strong, playboy George had been in danger of being flattened if he’d kept his lecherous hands on her.
Mine …
He shook his head over the mad spurt of possessiveness that had seized him. Bad enough that the urge to be with her again had made waiting for the redecorating to be done intolerable. She was turning his world upside down. He’d actually spoken the truth when she’d asked him whether he’d bought her for sex. It had been his initial motivation, yet the more he was with her, the more he did want the whole experience of Sally Maguire, not just her body pleasuring his.
The starter gun went off. She set Midnight Magic into a controlled stride towards the first jump. Jack felt his stomach clenching as the horse lifted and cleared the hurdle. His breath whooshed out in relief. Go, girl, go … his mind chanted as she rode around the course, fault free. He kept an eye on the time clock. The seconds were ticking by. The horse rattled the rail on the water obstacle—was she taking