Disappointment swept through her. He was putting up a wall. She was stunned by how much she’d wanted to reach him, to be there for him. If only he’d let her.
But the battle lines were drawn. So be it.
“That’s not why I’m here,” she blurted. Certainly not after she’d seen the state he was in. Joseph might be the head of the family and corporation, but from what she could tell, Alex was the backbone. And he didn’t let anyone close enough to support him while he was working to support so many others.
“Forgive me for being skeptical.”
She had to, because he dang well should be. She bit the inside of her lip to keep from claiming otherwise. The practical side of her, the side she normally listened to, told her she needed to get back on track, that she was in this stable because of her job. She should ignore how much his upset unsettled her and get past his antagonism so he’d talk to her.
She took a stab at reassuring him without actually lying to him. “I’m in the entertainment news business, Alex.”
“Unfortunately people are entertained by the damnedest things nowadays.” He moved closer still. “Besides, when we were together—”
“For a few official functions at the end of my reign and a handful of not-so-private dinner dates, thanks to both our notoriety…” she interjected, trying to make light of their past relationship to lessen the awkwardness it caused.
He inclined his head in acknowledgment. “I had the distinct impression you had a thing for investigative reporting.”
Madeline pulled her chin back. He’d noticed her dream. And remembered. “That was seven years ago.” And it had taken her that long to feel she had the knowledge and experience to go after her dream.
She barely caught his shrug in the dim light.
“People change,” she hedged to throw him off course.
“You’ve only changed for the better.”
The husky timber of his voice more than the unexpected compliment sent heat creeping up her chest. “Then why won’t you talk to me?”
He stood motionless and silent for a long moment, and she would have given anything to see what might be in those incredible steely blue eyes of his.
Finally he said, “What do you want to know?”
She wet her lips, afraid of blowing her chance. The first question that popped into her head was Are you really Marcus’s brother? but she couldn’t lead with The Big Question. And an awfully large part of her was still concerned about him. The part that had never forgotten their time together.
So she settled for saying, “How are you doing with all the changes happening because of what was revealed after Marcus’s death?”
He shifted. “Losing Marcus was a blow to the family, but the discovery of his sons has gone a long way toward healing us all.”
Straight from the press release. He hadn’t even tried to be subtle. However, the residue of the anguish in his voice kept her from becoming angry or frustrated with him.
Just the opposite. She yearned to wrap her arms around him and tell him everything would be okay.
Which was impossible, considering she wasn’t sure what was wrong.
She shook her head slowly, her artfully mussed hair tickling her bare neck and shoulders. “You’ve changed also, Alex. I don’t know if it happened slowly over the course of seven years or just since Marcus’s death. Frankly, I suspect the latter. Regardless, I wish you’d give me the chance to understand what you’re going through right now. Maybe I can help somehow.”
He stepped out of the shadows. Madeline’s breath caught at the intensity in his eyes, the hard line of his perfectly sculpted jaw. Closing the distance between them, he filled her space and her senses, thrilling her and scaring her at the same time.
Not because she thought he would hurt her. Alex would never hurt her or any other woman.
At least not physically.
She couldn’t take her eyes from his. She couldn’t do anything but stand there, mesmerized by his hot gaze and the spice of his cologne, which was carried by the heat coming off his big body. Mingled with the earthy scents of hay and horse and leather, the smell unleashed an unexpected need in her, stronger than anything she’d ever experienced.
He raised a hand and stroked his fingertips down her cheek, much the way he’d stroked his exquisite horse. Rather than calming or soothing, his touch set off a riot in her body. Heat flooded her, her skin tingled and her pulse pounded.
His attention dropped to her lips and his fingers traveled downward over her jaw, over the wildly throbbing pulse point in her throat, across her collarbone, then skimmed over the swell of her right breast.
He eventually spoke, his voice soft and beguiling. “What I’m going through right now, Madeline, is not for public consumption. Even if it were, there is no way I’d allow you to use me for your own gain as you did before. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” He curled a hand over her shoulder and eased her out the door of the stall until she stood off to the side.
Before she could react to what he’d said or done, he gave a quick whistle, which brought Duke to him instantly.
She watched through the bars above the stall wall as he grabbed a lead rope off a hook, clipped it to Duke’s halter and—tuxedo and all—pulled himself onto the horse’s bare back. Not an easy thing, considering the animal’s height, but Alex had a way of making things look easy.
With nothing more than the softest of clucks, he spurred Duke out of the stall and turned him to the left.
Madeline gaped like an idiot as Alex gracefully rode his big ex-racehorse down the center aisle of the stable, away from her, Duke’s metal-shod hooves thunking on the rubberized asphalt floor.
Man and horse drew a nicker or two from residents of the other stalls, who apparently didn’t appreciate being left behind. Then Alex and Duke were gone, out into the night.
Thank goodness the full moon was bright enough for them to see by, though having grown up here, Alex probably knew every inch of the monstrous estate by heart. He’d once told her that riding the path hugging the high white fence that ringed the property freed him of the stresses of managing such a huge, economically influential corporation.
Now there was so much more.
The crunch of hooves on gravel gave way to a rhythmic pounding. He must have taken off across the rolling field that stretched for acres and acres behind the Big House.
Soon the sharp chirp of insects and the noises drifting down the hill from the party replaced the hoofbeats.
Slowly, the way oil spreads across polluted water, horror overwhelmed her astonishment. He thought she’d used him, that she’d dated him simply to obtain Joseph’s help in getting a job with Entertainment This Evening after she’d completed her obligation to the Miss Central USA pageant.
She hadn’t.
Alex couldn’t be more wrong. The last thing she’d expected was for Joseph to use his influence on her behalf, especially not with a show that only had a place for her because of her notoriety. An influence that was so powerful that all it had taken was a casual word from him during a supposedly innocuous conversation with the head of the network.
After finishing the reign she hadn’t earned, she’d wanted to prove she was capable of more. Much more. But she’d accepted the offer because a degree in broadcast journalism and a beauty queen crown wouldn’t have been enough to convince any hard-news show that she had what it took to excel as an investigative reporter. She’d needed experience