by Nicola Marsh
‘You don’t know what it’s like,’ she said, her voice barely above a whisper, wishing she didn’t have to tell him any of this but needing him to understand. ‘I bet you’ve never faced the cruel taunts from kids because your shoes had holes in them or your clothes were two sizes too small.’ Or been beaten black and blue in fights defending a mother who’d turned up at the school gate in hair rollers and a nightie because she’d been too drunk to remember to get dressed. ‘Kids can be nasty and I don’t want Chas to face the tiniest hint of gossip. It’s soul-destroying for a child to face innuendo and whispers and I won’t have my son subjected to that.’
‘But I’m family to Chas. Accepting my financial help isn’t a bad thing.’
It was easy for Mr Success to stand there and say people who mattered didn’t think the worst but could he say the same about himself?
‘Until Joe’s death, you didn’t know me from Adam. Tell me you never suspected I was a gold-digger out to fleece your brother.’
His sharp intake of breath told her everything she needed to know. ‘I didn’t know you.’
‘And what makes you think you do now?’
His gaze rested on Chas before he raised his eyes slowly to lock on to hers. ‘I’m an astute businessman. I read people for a living. Let’s just say you’re an open book.’
‘What a load of—’
‘You had it tough growing up?’
She sighed, knowing she’d opened a can of worms by giving him a hint into her past and wishing she hadn’t gone there.
‘You could say that. We were dirt poor, lived in a variety of places similar to this one.’ She tried not to cringe at the memories. Every rented hovel her mum had shuffled them into had smelt the same: old, decaying, putrid. The type of smell she’d never forgotten.
‘Your parents didn’t work?’
‘No. I had no father and Mum was sick for so long.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, sorrow darkening his eyes.
From what she’d said, he obviously thought her mum was dead and Maya didn’t bother correcting him.
In a sad way, she almost had been all those wasted years.
‘Don’t be. Now, if you’re through with the twenty questions, can we get back to why you’re here?’
‘Sure. This help you wanted?’
Thankfully, he didn’t push her for more. She just wished he’d lose the look of frank admiration on his face, as if she’d survived the Holocaust rather than growing up poor.
‘You know I’m a horse strapper, right?’
‘Right.’
‘One of my charges, Material Girl, is a fancy for the Melbourne Cup. The thing is, I’m sort of like her stable pony.’
His lips twitched, tilting up at the outer corners. ‘Which means she won’t eat or sleep or gallop unless you’re around?’
‘Exactly. I need her to win the Cup for a variety of reasons, most importantly, financial, therefore I have to be there in the next few weeks leading up to the big race. That’s where you come in.’
Riley’s grin lit up the dingy room as he snapped his fingers. ‘Consider it done. I’ll hire someone to take over your duties and you can sit around the stable issuing orders. I think you’d be great at that. Anything else?’
Maya’s heart sank. He just didn’t get it. She’d rather ride Albert piggyback around the stable for the next month than accept Riley’s money.
‘No,’ she said, trying to keep a hold on her fragile temper.
‘Pardon?’
‘What part of no don’t you understand?’
Oops, her voice rose and she calmed it with effort. What would it take to get through to this guy?
‘It’s the only solution that makes sense,’ he said, a tiny frown creasing his brow as his smile vanished and he stared at her with growing trepidation.
She sighed and glanced at her sleeping son for inspiration. How could she convince him that she needed more than a financial solution…?
Suddenly a light bulb lit up in her head and if she could’ve danced a jig she would’ve.
‘The other night you said you want to be a part of Chas’s life. Is that true?’
‘Of course.’ His frown deepened.
‘Good. Because I can’t take your money and that’s that. Like I said when you walked in here, I need something just as important from you and that’s your time. Three weeks, to be precise, till I’m back on my feet and able to get back to work.’
He paused for a second before nodding reluctantly. ‘It’ll be tough but I can rearrange my schedule, get someone to mind him while I’m in meetings, set up a play area in my office. It won’t be ideal but I’ll get to spend some time with the little guy.’ He smiled at Chas, who rolled over in his sleep into his customary bum-inthe-air position and stuck a thumb into his mouth.
Maya cleared her throat and bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from laughing out loud. ‘Actually, you won’t be exactly looking after Chas.’
Riley’s gaze slid upwards from Chas and settled on her, the tiny characteristic frown reappearing between his eyebrows, doing nothing to detract from his good looks. ‘Then what will I be doing?’
Maya grinned sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders, hoping her spur of the moment brilliant idea to challenge his ego would have the desired result.
‘How good are you with horses?’
Little wonder the guy was a success in the business world. A second after the question left her lips, he started shaking his head.
‘Forget it.’
She screwed up her nose, doing her best to look disgusted. ‘That’d be right. You’re happy to throw your money around to hire stable staff and nannies but you’re afraid to get your hands dirty.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
Her gaze locked on his with unswerving accuracy. ‘Then what is it? You want to be a part of Chas’s life but only from a distance? Chas will be at the Gould house and down at the stable so if you want to hang out with him, here’s your chance. If you want to get to know him you need to do it on a physical and emotional level, not from some corporate skyscraper. Why don’t you come down from your glass tower and see how the real people live? What have you got to lose?’
Tiny blue flecks sparked in his eyes as he opened his mouth and clamped it shut again, the smile well and truly gone from his handsome face.
‘We start tomorrow morning at five. If you’re not all talk and have the guts, that is,’ she said, throwing down the final challenge, crossing her fingers behind her back that he’d go for it.
Riley couldn’t believe it.
Sure, he’d wanted to trade his stuffy suit and tie for T-shirt and jeans every day of his stockbroking life but glancing down at his mud-splattered denim, the filthy grey T-shirt that had started out pale blue and dirt-encrusted boots, he knew this wasn’t quite what he’d had in mind.
‘You’re doing great,’ Maya said from her make-shift day bed tucked into a nearby corner of the stables, a wide grin on her face. ‘Now that you’ve mucked out the stall, you’ll be ready to give her a thorough groom when she comes back from the water walker.’
Riley stuck the broom he’d been using behind a bale of hay with particular viciousness and wiped his hands on the back of his jeans.
‘Let me get this straight. You’ve sat around all day barking orders at me while crooning to that damn stubborn horse that has been galloped, fussed over and had a swim. Throw in the fact that I’ve mucked out this stall twice, swept the yard, cleaned tack, groomed, fed and all but massaged that horse, and you want me to groom her again?’
Maya’s grin widened, a genuine warm gesture that slammed into his gut like a horse’s hoof if he was stupid enough to stand too close. ‘It’s all in your job description.’
He stalked towards her, wishing he didn’t have an impulse to throw her over his knee and paddle her butt. She’d been driving him nuts all week, issuing orders like a despot one minute, praising him like a toilet-trained toddler the next. Condesce
nding and patronising sprang to mind but then it wasn’t all her fault. He’d been stupid enough to take her up on her dare and look where his pride had landed him—knee-deep in hay and shovelling manure.
The woman was a menace. And this was only his first week on the job.
‘Whose job description?’ He squatted next to her, needing to be on eye level to have this conversation. The conversation when he said ‘I quit.’
He’d pay someone to do this. It had nothing to do with getting his hands dirty and everything to do with the woman gazing at him with guileless green eyes. And dammit if she wasn’t doing that whole wide-eyed-innocent-look she had down pat, the same one she’d used to coerce him into taking this on in the first place.
He couldn’t spend another day with her watching him, burning a hole into his back, that look taunting him like a temptress when he knew nothing could be further from the truth.
Every illicit thought he had towards her was all in his own mind and the longer he spent in her company, the harder it was to ignore the ugly truth.
He liked Maya. Liked her a lot and spending time with her, workplace or not, was fuelling ridiculous fantasies in his head.
‘You knew what the job entailed when you signed up,’ she said, reaching out to pluck a hay stalk from his T-shirt, her fingers brushing his arm in the process and setting his skin alight.
He had it bad.
When an innocuous movement from a woman who saw him as friend material only, and only just, sent the blood rushing from his head down south, he knew he had to distance himself. Fast.
‘Look, I know I agreed to help you out but surely there’s any number of people who can do this?’
He made a vague gesture around the stable, effectively wiping the smile from her face in the process.
‘No, there isn’t,’ she said, speaking so softly he had to lean forward to hear her and regretting it when her subtle rose fragrance wafted over him. It was a highly evocative smell, one that overpowered the earthy tones permeating the stable.
‘You’re doing great and you’re getting to spend time with Chas.’ She sent him a bewitching smile that lit up her face. ‘Besides, I can’t afford to lose this job and who else would put up with me lounging around watching them work all for the sake of placating a horse?’
Steeling his heart against the vulnerability in the fathomless green pools staring at him, he said, ‘I’ve really enjoyed seeing more of Chas and it’s given me an insight into what you do. And, at the risk of one of your snappy comebacks, I’m going to pay you a compliment and say I admire you. Your grit, your determination, the way you’ve moved forward. But I think this cowboy’s had enough of getting his hands dirty. How about I hire someone now to do the rest?’
Her smile widened as she sat back, folded her arms and looked him up and down as if he was a horse she was contemplating buying.
‘That would be right. Get a bit of dirt under your fingernails, a bit of sweat on your brow and you bolt like a scared colt.’ She studied her own fingernails at arm’s length before returning her challenging gaze to his. ‘I didn’t think you had what it took, guess you proved me right. And I’ll be sure to give Chas those extra cuddles he’ll miss from you.’
Riley frowned. ‘You don’t play fair.’
‘Who says I’m playing? I’m just calling it how I see it.’ She quirked an eyebrow, her sassy smile driving him to distraction. Or despair!
‘Look, this just isn’t me. I’ve got a pile of work waiting for me at the office and—’
‘It’s only for a few weeks. I know you think it’s crazy but Material Girl won’t behave if I’m not around. She goes all loopy and not just from her high energy feed. We’ve tried so many things but it looks like I’m her version of a stable pony. Without me, she won’t run and if she doesn’t run, no chance of winning the Cup and there goes my chance at securing a future for Chas. You know, that little guy who’s your nephew, who you give horsey rides to around here during your breaks, who waves to you with a big grin every morning? Why would you want to lose more quality time with him?’
Her smile had vanished and her words came out in a rush as she sighed heavily at the end, imploring him to listen with a death-grip on his arm and desperation in her eyes.
What choice did he have?
Joe had often taunted him with the label ‘do-gooder’ ever since he’d rescued his first baby bird with a broken wing at the age of seven. Yes, he gave generously to charities and sponsored a young child in Africa but that was his way of giving something back for the abundance of wealth he’d been lucky enough to grow up with and to make since. Of course Joe hadn’t seen it that way. He’d teased him about having a weak spot for the underdog, about easing his own guilty conscience at having the best.
Joe had never understood him. Ironic, considering the lengths he’d gone to in trying to compete.
‘You drive a hard bargain,’ he said, guessing she’d played her trump card about Chas at the end, knowing he wouldn’t walk away from his nephew and their burgeoning relationship.
‘Please, Riley.’
Two simple words—soft, vulnerable, shattering the last of his resistance.
He couldn’t say no.
No matter how tough the next few weeks would be spending hour after hour in her presence, he’d do it, if only for Chas’s sake.
‘Okay, fine. Though if I’m about to step in a pile of horse doo-doo, at least let me know next time.’
Her answering smile lit up her face, adorable creases fanning out from the corners of her eyes and begging him to trace their tiny contours.
‘You’re on,’ she said, her smile stiffening as she glanced down at her hand resting on his arm and jerked it away as if burned.
Ironic, considering he was burning up from the inside out courtesy of her hand hanging on to him as if she never wanted to let go. He understood she’d only touched him out of desperation but that didn’t help his overactive imagination.
Nothing would, and the next few weeks were going to be hell, one hundred per cent pure torture.
CHAPTER SIX
‘THAT GUY KNOWS his way around horses,’ Albert said, jerking his head towards the stall where Riley was currently grooming Material Girl, a begrudging respect on his weather-worn face.
‘Lucky for me he grew up around them.’
Maya watched Riley’s rhythmic motion with the curry comb—slow, circular movements designed to remove dried sweat and stimulate blood circulation.
Unfortunately, the only stimulation that sprang to mind as she watched his hypnotic hands had her blushing and wishing Riley wasn’t so darn nice.
Though nice was a pretty inadequate word to sum up what Riley was: sexy, attractive, impressive all sprang to mind, swiftly followed by two words guaranteed to put a dampener on her silly thoughts. Joe’s brother.
‘So tell me again what he gets out of it?’
Albert leaned against the stable door reminding her of an overprotective terrier, all five foot nothing of wiry muscles, his big-man swagger not matching his pint-size frame. His astute gaze registered Maya’s blush before his focus returned to Riley. He frowned, looking as if he was ready to bare his teeth and growl.
‘Riley wanted to spend some time with Chas and to help out. Pretty decent, huh?’
‘Uh-huh,’ said her terrier, not sounding convinced. ‘So does that mean he gets a share of the hundred grand the boss promised you when the Girl wins the Cup next week?’
‘She’s no certainty to win. It’s a tough field,’ Maya said, hating the pressure on her prized charge and hating Albert’s probing more. ‘And if we’re talking money, how about you tell me how much you jockeys squander of the millions you earn a year first?’
Albert’s wry smile lit up his cheeky face. ‘Touché. Yeah, it’s a tough field but you want my opinion? The Girl’s handling like a dream. She’s cruising when she’s galloping and the three thousand, two hundred metres is going to be a walk in the park for a stayer like her.’
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‘I hope you’re right,’ Maya said, her eyes drawn to Riley again as he brushed the mare from head to tail in a flicking motion. She was impressed by the care he’d taken.
Not that she’d expected anything less. From the minute he’d stepped up after Joe’s death, he’d struck her as responsible, the type of guy who’d give his all to whatever task he set out to do.
‘Wanna tip straight from the horse’s mouth?’Albert tapped the side of his nose and winked. ‘You’re on a winner there.’
Maya hoped Albert meant the mare and not Riley as he gave her a thumbs-up sign of encouragement and strutted across the yard towards the track.
Shaking her head, whether at Albert’s antics or to dispel the tiny seed of awareness he’d sown in her consciousness, she limped across the stable and leaned on the stall door.
‘Albert’s impressed with the job you’re doing.’
Riley stopped brushing the mare, patted her flank and smiled, a hundred-watt mega-smile that twisted Maya’s insides into knots. And horses thought they had it bad with colic!
‘Great. Nice to see my efforts to impress Albert have paid off.’
Darn, how did he do that—load words with meaning that weren’t there? Or was that her own idiotic mind hoping he was implying that he wanted to impress her?
‘Get back to work. You’re not finished yet.’
‘Yes, Ma’am,’ he said, his swift mocking salute the perfect foil to her laughing orders.
She would miss this: the teasing, the camaraderie, the easiness of it all. Spending time with Riley, albeit in a professional arena, had been comfortable. They’d developed a closeness which she’d never had with Joe and, as hard as she tried, she couldn’t stop the comparisons.
It may be wrong, it may be futile, but a small part of her had developed a teensy-weensy crush on the capable Riley over the last few weeks, a crush she had no intention of acting upon. Chas was too important for that. His future was all that mattered and there was no way a child of hers would suffer humiliation at the hands of its mother.
‘How’s the ankle?’ he tossed over his shoulder as he squatted, lifted Material Girl’s right fore foot and used a hoof pick to clean it.
