by Lita Lawson
“It’s always admirable to have faith and confidence in one’s horse,” Austin drawled, “but what do I get if he loses?”
Cassi squared her shoulders and looked defiantly at him. “If he loses, then you get the farm, the horse. Everything.”
“Everything?” Austin drawled, looking at her intently. “I’ve always found the all or nothing gambling philosophy to be a dreamer’s bet. But if the stakes are high enough and you’re willing to risk everything, then I’m willing to take it all from you.”
His golden eyes were hooded as he spoke, and a shiver ran up and down her spine. She didn’t know if he was going to be her guardian angel or the devil in disguise. It didn’t matter. He was her only chance at any hope of saving her farm.
“How many acres is your farm?” he asked.
“Nearly one hundred. I have a barn that has eighteen stalls and a tack room. I have paying boarders that take up eight of the stalls, so there’s room for more boarders, which would generate more monthly income. Then there’s the farm house, modest, but in good shape.” Itemizing her life made her feel the desperation of her situation. Cassi’s throat tightened at the hardest part of the deal should she lose. “And there’s Foolish Gamble. He’s two years old and ready to race.” If she lost him that would really hurt.
“He’s never raced before?”
“Never.” Cassi answered. “I haven’t had the money to enter him.”
“You do now.”
Cassi’s head jerked up. “You’re willing to be my partner?”
“Yes,” Austin replied softly. “I’ll call my lawyer in the morning and set up a meeting. We’ll draw up the paperwork and get it notarized. Find out exactly what you need for your bank, and I’ll cut the check.”
“Austin.” Tears of joy threatened her vision and she blinked them away. “Thank you so much. You won’t regret this. Foolish Gamble will win—he won’t let either of us down.”
“I certainly hope not.”
Cassi watched his moves as he poured more wine in to both their glasses. The good news combined with wine filled Cassi with giddiness.
“Now, let’s toast to this partnership,” Austin said, raising his glass.
Clinking their glasses to toast the deal, Cassi was filled with hope for the first time in ages.
“Before it’s official, I need to know Foolish Gamble’s lineage,” Austin stated.
“Well,” Cassi stalled, not wanting to answer him, afraid he might welch on the deal before it was a signed fact. “The mare is about five generations removed from Zeus, and the father. Well, the mare was artificially inseminated.”
“And the father would be?” Austin asked for the answer Cassi was hesitant to give.
“It’s rumored that the stallion’s seed was from King of Seattle.” She saw Austin’s eyes widen at her response.
“And how in the world did your family come across such an expensive stud?” Austin asked suspiciously.
“My father won it in a poker game.” Cassi stated it simply, not trying to hide or sugarcoat the bare facts of her father’s gambling legacy.
Austin threw his head back and laughed. Her face warmed to a blush of shame. Once his laughter died, she asked, “Are you still interested in this arrangement or not?”
“I’ll need to see Foolish Gamble run before I sign the papers. And if I like what I see—” Austin’s gaze slid over her like a caress, “then it’s a deal.”
“Good,” Cassi answered bravely, her voice sounding clear and strong, hiding the nervousness she was feeling.
They finished eating their meal while making plans for what races they wanted to enter Foolish Gamble to run in. As their conversation centered on horses, she grew comfortable with the decision and more at ease with Austin.
Austin produced glass cups of spumoni ice cream from an ice chest and the coolness counteracted the warmth the wine was producing in her body. Watching as he uncorked a second bottle of wine, Cassi knew she shouldn’t have one more drink with him. She normally didn’t drink and was already feeling the effects. She chided herself, knowing she needed to remain clearheaded and alert when she was with a man like Austin. Needed to keep her guard up. A man like him had moves that could make a woman take chances she normally wouldn’t. Her lack of experience with men put her out of league with a man like him. He was a charmer; there was no mistaking that.
She closed her eyes, listening to the waltz music swirl around her while the wine warmed her. The deal she made and being in Austin’s presence was a heady experience. Feeling a little on the drowsy side, she realized she shouldn’t have drunk so much wine.
“Uh oh. Some marinara sauce fell on your blouse.” Austin said.
Cassi’s eyes opened at his voice and looked down. Sure enough, there was a dot of red sauce above her right breast. She grabbed her napkin and dipped it in a glass of water, blotting it clean. It wasn’t until she was done and looked up that she noticed his eyes had narrowed and seemed to have darkened.
“Would you like to dance?” he asked her as he rose from his seat and came around to where she sat. He held his hand out for her to take.
As his large hand enlaced hers, she was again amazed that he had calluses, the hands of a workingman. That fact pleased her.
He took her in his arms, and slowly they began swaying to the rhythm of the music. Cassi inhaled the musky smell of him. She leaned into his body, enjoying the strength and sense of security he provided. It had been a long time since she felt safe, protected. He rested his chin on her head and she could have stayed like that for days. She was always the one taking care of things. For this one moment, she would allow the wine to have its effect and pretend there was someone strong who would take care of her, someone she could lean on.
Moments passed, and his hand traveled farther down her body until it rested on her rear. Cassi was in a fantasy world starring Austin Keller. His hot feathery kiss on her neck swept a slight shiver up and down her body. She never knew a neck was such a sensitive place before his kiss. She let her head fall backward, offering the tender skin to him. He peppered kisses down her neck, and lower, to the hollow indentation at its base.
With her finger she traced a path along the side of his handsome face. He reacted to her simple touch by increasing the intensity of the kiss.
The music on the CD player stopped, but they still swayed together.
Austin’s hand still cupped her derriere, while the other slid slowly up, stopping at the side of her breast.
Cassi’s mind and senses appeared to have deserted her, and she was sure she couldn’t endure this sweet torture much longer. She was suspended in a sweet time and place—where the reality of her life and the fantasy she was now experiencing couldn’t exist at the same time. She was in limbo. And she didn’t plan on doing anything to break the spell.
Austin raised his lips from her neck and found hers. Slowly, he kissed her, softly at first, but then deeper, more intensely. Cassi clung to him, her arms wrapped around his neck the only thing that kept her standing.
Austin’s tongue parted her lips. Sensing her total surrender, he walked Cassi backwards until she bumped into the chair and sat down. Kneeling in front of her, Austin gently tugged at her braid, until her hair fell free, falling past her shoulders. She liked the feel of his fingers in her hair.
He began working the buttons of her blouse free and Cassi inhaled sharply. She wished she had known men as experienced as Austin. She was like putty in his experienced hands. Hands that could do anything to her. She wouldn’t protest, she would savor each moment.
With skillful ease, his hand slid her blouse open, exposing her lacy bra. The cool evening air wrapped around her exposed flesh.
“You are so beautiful,” he murmured while his gaze held fast with hers.
Hungering for more, Cassi’s fingertips outlined the features of his face, his eyes, his nose, his lips. Austin captured her fingers with his hands and leaned in for another kiss.
Cassi let her hea
d fall backwards, her hair hanging around her shoulders. This wasn’t like the amateurish petting she’d experienced a few times in high school. This was a man’s touch—a man’s loving.
Austin’s hands slid lower until they reached the waistband of her skirt. “Cassi,” he whispered softly, “you drive me crazy with wanting you.”
Oh, how she wanted to believe those words! That he hadn’t said them to a hundred other women before her. And at this moment, she couldn’t. Cassi had to end this. This was her business partner, after all. She would be working with him for several months and couldn’t risk jeopardizing that. Couldn’t risk losing her farm over a make-out session.
While she fought to regain her senses, she held his hand still before things went any further.
“I guess that means our evening is coming to an end.”
“I think it’s for the best, don’t you?” Cassi teased him.
“Not at all. But I thoroughly enjoyed this evening.” His gaze became hooded, “I hope we can do it again soon.”
Cassi tried to look composed, but with her blouse hanging open, it was hard to pull it off.
Austin kissed her fully on the lips, and then began buttoning her top. She still reveled in the sensation of his fingers so near. As she rose from the chair, Austin stood, too, pressing against her.
“This has been the best evening I’ve had in a long time,” Austin murmured as his gaze locked with hers.
“I agree,” was all Cassi could think of to say. Inside, her heart was skipping beats and she was wondering if she had lost her mind. To think that she could be a modern day Cinderella and have some future with Austin, the playboy of the rich jet-setting horse society.
Utter madness was the only logical conclusion she could come up with in the face of such an illogical pairing.
He brushed her lips once more with a scorching kiss, and held her hand while they sauntered to his car.
Once Austin had dropped her off at her house after their dinner, he had time to think. Maybe his first impression of her was wrong. She wasn’t all honesty and innocence. Was she like all the other girls who dated him, seeing there was something to be gained from being with him? He had been right that Cassi wasn’t interested in marrying him, but she apparently had been interested in trying to get money from him.
What a fool he had been! He thought he had met someone unlike all the others he’d known. But after she had brought up the business deal, he knew she was just like them, another Annie Mae, looking to get something from him.
And just like Annie Mae, she was a temptress. Her heated response couldn’t possibly come from some innocent. A woman who could kiss so hotly and so sweetly was no novice to love. Only a woman experienced in lovemaking could have responded to his touch in such an uninhibited manner.
He would treat her the way he treated all of them. Have a good time, enjoy them, and then walk away. That would make it easier for him to carry out his plans to gain control of her farm.
CHAPTER FIVE
Cassi didn’t want to open her eyes. She knew the morning sunlight streaming through her bedroom window would most definitely intensify her already throbbing temples. And, it would remind her of last night. Austin. The way he had kissed her and the way she had let him touch her, longed for him to touch her. She was sure this wasn’t the way to start a business partnership.
Stifling a groan, she opened one eye to peer at the clock and sighed. She needed to get up and start working to have time to shower before Austin arrived to look at Foolish Gamble. If he liked what he saw, it would cement their partnership.
After showering, she braided her still-damp hair. She threw on a white v-necked T-shirt of her brothers and an old pair of jeans with holes in the knees. She wasn’t too concerned about how she looked since she planned on cleaning up before Austin arrived.
Treading carefully down the stairs, Cassi entered the kitchen, got a glass of water, and took two aspirin for her lingering headache. Grabbing a bagel and donning a pair of sunglasses to keep the sunlight from rekindling her headache, she stepped outside.
Considering their potential partnership, sharing training responsibilities with Austin wasn’t particularly appealing to her. Not because she didn’t think he was good, she knew otherwise. What bothered her was the fact that she would be near him so often. And that would make it hard to resist his charm.
Recalling last night’s dinner and the heated kisses they shared afterward, Cassi felt foolish. She had practically thrown herself at him. The way she had responded to his advances made her worry that she wouldn’t be able to handle being around him.
In addition to his good looks, there was an aura—a mystique about him that she wanted to explore, made her want to get to know him better. Looking into his eyes last night, she had seen a depth there, beneath the polished playboy veneer. That’s the Austin she wanted to get to know, the man below the superficial surface.
Being so far removed from social circles and economic worlds, it intimidated her. She’d have to adjust and treat him as if he was any guy, like Billy Joe or one of her brother’s college friends.
Bent over the stall she was mucking out, she heard a masculine voice behind her.
“Hello, Cassi.”
Caught in such an ungraceful position, she could feel the hot kiss of a flush rising in her face. She straightened to stand and turned to face Austin. He looked fresh in his black jeans and white shirt. Dark curly hair peeked out from his unbuttoned shirt collar, distracting her. There should be a law banning such a good-looking man. Irritated at the disheveled way she surely must look and annoyed that he could fluster her so easily, she simply stated, “You’re early.”
“Only by about twenty minutes,” he replied, glancing at his gold watch.
“Here, let me help.” Austin rolled up his shirtsleeves. He pulled a pair of work gloves from his back pocket and put them on. Grabbing one of the many bales of hay in the back of her pick-up truck, he asked, “Where do you want these?”
“The stall on the end.” Cassi pointed to the stall closest to them. Trying to keep her jaw from dropping, she watched in astonishment as the millionaire playboy worked up a sweat toting her bales of hay. Joining him, she moved quickly alongside him, developing a rhythm as they worked together in silence. She couldn’t help but notice his muscles flexing as he tossed the bales of hay. It was hard to concentrate with him beside her, distracting her from the task at hand. More distracting was her own imagination, wondering if she would ever feel his strong hands hold her again.
Trying to focus on something other than the sexy man beside her, Cassi wondered how Austin perceived her farm. She was proud of it, even though it was small and needed work. But she loved it. The barn was much smaller than the grand one they’d had dinner in last night. The floor consisted of packed earth and the stalls were constructed of wood, unpainted, without brass nameplates for the horses. It was functional, but it was a far cry from what he was used to.
When all the bales were moved, Cassi watched as Austin rubbed his forearm across his sweaty brow. A lone droplet slid down his face, to his neck, then dropped on his collar. Patches of sweat on his shirt made it cling to his muscular chest and she decided they both needed a cool drink. Walking over to a spigot several yards away helped clear her mind. She filled two cups of water and strolled back to where he was now resting against the hood of his Jag. She handed him one of the cups and they drank in silence.
Cassi tried to think of something to say, but all she could come up with was, “Would you like more?”
“No, I’m fine,” he replied. “I’m ready to inspect Foolish Gamble.”
“Sure, I turned him out awhile ago.” Cassi tilted her head in the direction of the corral and Austin followed as she led the way there. Foolish Gamble raised his head at their approach, ears flicked forward.
Cassi greeted him over the fence. “Hey, boy, how you doing? I have someone here who’s heard a lot about you and wants to meet you.” Patting his neck, the
horse nudged her affectionately with his head.
She opened the gate, and Foolish Gamble watched Austin follow her inside the ring. Austin stood still as the horse sniffed the air in his direction, flicking his ears in curiosity.
Stretching his arm out toward the horse, Austin let the animal get his scent. “Hey there.” his voice was low and steady. “Glad to meet you.”
Cassi watched as Foolish Gamble, still eyeing him warily, whickered his acknowledgment.
“Easy. I just want to check you out.” Austin patted the chestnut colt’s neck and Foolish Gamble tossed his head, shaking his mane.
The horse pivoted and with great flair displayed himself once around the ring, then stopped in front of the twosome.
“Oh yes, you’re a handsome one,” Austin crooned, “and you know it, don’t you?”
Holding the reins, Cassi stood beside Foolish Gamble as Austin inspected the horse. First he checked the knees, the withers and then the nostrils for adequate airflow. Every now and then, Foolish Gamble shifted at Austin’s touch and Cassi patted him, softly crooning to keep him calm during this process.
Apparently he had the same way with horses as he did women. Seeing that Foolish Gamble didn’t appear to have taken a dislike to him, she handed Austin the reins. She marched to the fence, jumped up and settled on the top rail to watch.
The man and horse moved around the ring. Cassi knew Foolish Gamble’s movements by heart, so it was the figure beside the horse that she focused on. Watching Austin lead Foolish Gamble around, she was awed by the muscles rippling beneath his shirt as he worked with the horse. Austin had a lean bodya primitive grace all his own.
As man and horse picked up the pace, she watched Austin walking briskly alongside Foolish Gamble. Watching the two magnificent specimens mesmerized her. She was territorial and protective of Foolish Gamble, and couldn’t help feeling jealous as she watched him allow Austin to work him.
