She caught a hint of his aftershave. Evergreen and citrus, the same as before. It was all too disorienting. She’d thought he was one person and now here he was, someone else altogether. She felt shy. Tongue-tied. Young.
And at a definite disadvantage. She needed to take back the upper hand here. She had questions for him. And he’d better have good answers.
The next song began, a fast one. Couples separated and danced facing each other, moving to the beat but not touching. Noah didn’t let her go, just picked up the rhythm a bit and danced them out of the way of the others.
“You’re angry,” he said at last.
“What happened to your two girlfriends?”
“What girlfriends?”
“That sexy redhead and the stunning blonde.”
“They’re not my girlfriends.” He kept his voice low, but he did pull her fractionally closer. She allowed that in order to hear him over the music. “They were seated on either side of me at dinner, that’s all.”
“They seemed very friendly.” She spoke quietly, too. She didn’t want anyone overhearing, broadcasting their conversation, starting new rumors about her.
He held her even closer and whispered much too tenderly, “Is that somehow my fault?”
She fumed in silence, refusing to answer. Finally, she demanded, “Who are you, really?”
“I’m who I said I was.”
“Noah.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a last name?”
“Cordell.” He turned her swiftly and gracefully to the music, guiding her effortlessly, keeping them to the outer edges of the floor.
“Are you a stable hand?”
“No. And I didn’t say I was. You assumed that.”
“And you never bothered to enlighten me. Do you live in Los Angeles?”
“No. Not for years. I have an estate in Carpinteria, not far from Santa Barbara. I live there most of the time. I also have a flat I keep in London. And a Paris apartment.”
“So you should have no trouble affording that Akhal-Teke you said you want.”
“No trouble at all. But it’s a specific horse I’m after.”
She should have known. “Let me guess. One of mine?”
“Orion.”
She drew in a sharp breath. In that foolish dream of hers, he’d been riding Orion. “I’m not selling you Orion.” That was a bit petty, and she knew it. Not to mention a bad business move. Alice bred her horses for sale—to buyers who would love them and bond with them and treat them well, buyers who appreciated the beauty and rarity of the breed. Her pool of buyers was a small one, as she also demanded a high price for her Tekes. She might be angry with Noah, but he knew horses and loved them. She’d be smarter not to reject him out of hand—as a potential buyer, anyway. “I don’t wish to discuss my horses with you right now.”
“You brought it up.” The next song was a slower one. He effortlessly adjusted to the change in tempo, all the while gazing down at her, watching her mouth. As if he planned to kiss her—a bold move he had better not try.
She accused, “I brought it up as an example of the way that you lied to me. Not with words, maybe. But by implication. By action. The first time I saw you, you were sweeping the stable floor. Gilbert seemed to know you. What else was I to assume but that he’d hired you?”
“Gilbert was joking with me. He saw me sweeping and asked me if I needed a job. Your brother Damien had introduced us the day before. Dami knows I love horses and wanted me to have a chance to ride while I was here. And I had told him I was hoping to buy one of your stallions. He said I would have to talk to you about that.”
“You’re great friends, then, you and my brother?”
“Yes. I consider Damien a friend.”
She thought again of the blonde and the redhead at dinner. He’d seemed to take their fawning attentions as his due. “You’re a player. Like Dami.”
“I’m single. I enjoy a good life and I like the company of beautiful women.”
“You’re a player.”
“I am not playing you, Alice.” He held her gaze. Steadily. Somehow the very steadiness of his regard excited her.
She did not wish to be excited. “You’ve been playing me from the moment you picked up that broom and pretended to be someone you’re not.”
“Everything I told you was true. Everything. Yes, I’ve got all I’ll ever need now, but I started out in L.A. with nothing. My parents were both dead by the time I was twenty-one. I have one sister, Lucy.”
“And you went to work on a ranch when you were eighteen?”
“No. I visited that ranch. Often. My boss took a liking to me. He flipped houses in Los Angeles for a living and he hired me as a day laborer to start. I learned the business from the ground up, beginning on his low-end properties in East L.A.”
“You’re saying you learned fast?” She wasn’t surprised.
“Before the crash, I was buying and selling in all the major markets. I got out ahead of the collapse with a nice nest egg. Now I manage my investments and I do what I want with the rest of my time. Oh, and that second cousin you mentioned, the one who lives in Bel Air?”
“Jonas.”
He nodded. “I know him. Jonas Bravo and I have done business on a couple of occasions. He’s a good man.” He pulled her a little closer again. She allowed that, though she knew that she probably shouldn’t. They danced without talking for a minute or two.
Finally, she muttered grudgingly, “You should have told me all of this at the first.”
“I can see that now.” He sounded so...sincere. As though he truly regretted misleading her.
She tried not to soften. “Why didn’t you, then?”
“Alice, I...” The words trailed off.
“At a loss? I don’t believe it. Just tell me. Why weren’t you honest with me from the first?”
“I don’t know, exactly. Because it was fun. Exciting. To tease you.”
She started to smile and caught herself. “That’s not a satisfactory answer.”
“Look. I came early to ride and I saw you there, saddling that beautiful mare. It was still dark out and there was no one else around. I didn’t want to scare you. I picked up the broom and started sweeping, because what’s more nonthreatening than some guy sweeping the floor? And then... I don’t know. You thought I was a groom and you talked to me anyway. I liked that. I got into it, that’s all. In a way, the Noah you met in the stables really is me. Just...another possible me. The one who didn’t make a fortune in real estate. I thought it would be something we would laugh over later.”
The dance ended. For a moment they swayed together at the edge of the floor. She should have pulled away.
She stayed right where she was.
He was getting to her. She was liking him again. Believing the things he told her....
Yet another song started.
He pulled her even closer and whispered, his breath warm across her skin, “I screwed up, okay?” He whirled her around. They danced in a circle along the outer rim of the floor.