Out To Get You: An MM Contemporary Romance

by Oliver, J. P.

  “Whoa. I don’t see anything wrong with you that you should say it like that.”

  Whitt laughed, turning his hand over to grasp mine. “I don’t see anything wrong. I was simply looking at it from my father’s perspective.”

  “So, a billionaire banker son is a disappointment?”

  “More like a point of envy or resentment. He followed in his father’s footsteps and took on the family business, but my interest in finance I got from him. So instead of toeing the line, I went after what I was interested in—personally and professionally. That’s what I think he resented. I did what he hadn’t dared to.”

  “What about your mom?”

  “She’s his partner.” He released my hand to absently rub his chin.

  “Right or wrong?” I couldn’t help the snark in my tone.

  “They’re human.”

  I shook my head. “You are way more understanding than me.”

  “What about your family?”

  I had opened the door on this. “Divorced. Mom’s remarried and living in California. My dad was a horse trainer, but he never made it out of handling third-rate Thoroughbreds at small tracks along the East Coast. Lately, he hasn’t even done that. Most of his time is spent with his best friend—Jack Daniels.”

  “As in the booze.”

  “Yep.”

  “That would explain why you don’t drink much.” Whitt set his glass down. “Looks like we’ve arrived.”

  The restaurant, Harrison’s, occupied what had once been the main house on an old Virginia horse farm. We were shown into a more informal dining area off the bar. The lighting was intimate as was the corner booth we were given. It was beginning to look like a well-planned seduction on Whitt’s part.

  I was beginning to think he wouldn’t have to work hard to succeed.

  The food was delicious, expertly prepared and presented, and a far cry from the quick sandwich I often grabbed if I went out to eat. Mrs. Knowles left behind some wonderful meals for us, but they were usually designed to be reheated. The dishes coming out of the kitchen at Harrison’s were pure art.

  “Tell me about Satin,” Whitt said as the dinner plates were cleared in preparation for dessert and coffee.

  I fiddled with my dessert spoon. “What do you want to know?”

  “How did you end up with her?”

  “She was a cull from a racing stable. Unimpressive speed, bloodlines not spectacular enough to make a broodmare, so they were cutting their losses.”

  “Did you realize when you bought her what you were getting?”

  I would have liked to say yes. Certainly, it would make me seem like some sort of horse whisperer, but that wasn’t the case. “I was looking for a horse for a client. She had the build and seemed to have the right kind of temperament. He didn’t like her.”

  “This wouldn’t be the same guy your friend calls ‘Jerky’, would it?”

  “Actually, yes.” His perception was amazing. “I think that might have been the beginning of the end. Once Jordy realized exactly what he had snubbed his nose at, he tried to buy her from me.”

  Whitt grinned. “And you wouldn’t sell, or was the price you asked too rich for him?”

  “I wouldn’t sell. I had seen what happened to my dad when he didn’t stand his ground about a horse he believed in. Satin is my chance to prove something. Good horses don’t come along often for guys like me.”

  Whitt’s silvery gaze narrowed. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t have the money to buy my way into a good horse. I’ve had to make Satin into what she is. What I hope she’ll show everyone at the Maysburg show.”

  Whitt leaned toward me and covered my hand with his. “Can I tell you something and not make you mad?”

  “That usually precedes a remark someone knows will piss off the other person.”

  Whitt sighed. “The day I got fitted for the custom-made stuff, I asked the clerk if they had your measurements and told them to get you everything you needed.”

  I sat back, stunned. It was an amazing gift. I could never have afforded all of that—hell, any of that.

  Whitt’s mouth quirked at one side. Dangerously appealing.

  “Are you pissed?”

  “Speechless.”

  “It’s supposed to arrive in two days. I don’t want to send any of it back.”

  I was incredibly touched—to the point my throat was a bit tight. “You won’t have to. I-I don’t quite know how to say thanks.”

  Our gazes held. Whitt smiled slow and easy. “You just did.”

  Dessert was a mixture of truffles and two glasses of dessert wine. The chocolate melted in my mouth and the wine added a bit more glow to an evening that had been amazing. As we left, Whitt’s hand touched the back of my waist. Hot as Hades, it sizzled every nerve ending. Amazingly, it also felt right, as though we had always been this comfortable together.

  Fred greeted us with a smile, holding the door as we slid into the back. Whitt pressed the button to raise the privacy screen. I raised my brows and he grinned.

  “I can open it again if it makes you nervous.”

  There was a question there. How did I want to answer it? At the moment, my body said yes a whole lot louder than my mind urged caution.

  “Leave it closed.”

  He reached for my hand as the car began to move, twining our fingers together. “I enjoyed this evening, Reece. I hope you did too.”

  “It was fantastic. I’ve heard about Harrison’s before but had never eaten there.”

  His thumb stroked across the back of my hand. “Then we should do it again.”

  He turned toward me, his free hand cupping the back of my neck. “I want to kiss you again too. I’ve been thinking about it all afternoon.”

  Our hands rested on my thigh, his wrist so close to my groin I nearly groaned. “Me too,” I managed in a strangled voice. Whitt leaned in and touched his lips to the corner of my jaw.

  “So, do you want to do more than think about it?”

  The aroma of his aftershave filled my nostrils, and the heat of his body seared my side. My cock ached.

  “Yes.”

  There it was. His mouth moving on mine, hungry and hard, demanding a response I was more than willing to give. As my heart pounded in my chest, Whitt’s hand slid from my neck to my pecs, gently rubbing and squeezing. He had my full attention, every single part of me. The kiss lasted forever. When his tongue teased my lips, I opened for him with a groan.

  His mouth softened from demanding to pure, sweet seduction, and I was lost. I turned into his embrace, loosening my grip on his hand to wrap an arm around his waist. His hand moved restlessly on my thigh, making my breath catch.

  “You want me to touch you?” he asked against my lips.

  “Fuck. Yes.”

  He returned to kissing me, rubbing over my erection. The friction of the material was maddening, even more maddening was how much I wanted his hand wrapped around me, skin to skin.

  “Lie back.” Whitt pushed against my shoulders. I opened my thighs to make room for him, welcoming his hard body stretched on top of me. Like this, our cocks pressed together. Whitt’s eyes closed with a blissful expression. As he leaned in for another kiss, his hips rotated so we rubbed together again.

  “Fuck,” he whispered. “You feel incredible.”

  I pushed my hips closer to his, increasing the pressure. His hands found mine, lacing our fingers together again. It would be so easy to get lost in this man, in feeling his muscular body thrusting and sliding along mine. Desperate to touch him, I let one of his hands go so I could slide it around his neck and into his thick hair.

  I wanted him with an intensity I couldn’t remember ever feeling before, but not in the back of a car, even if it was a limousine. The first time we made love needed to be special, unique.

  “Whitt,” I murmured. “We should stop.”

  He groaned against my lips. “We should have my hand inside your pants.”

  I laughed. �
��That’s not stopping.”

  “I know. You were the one who mentioned stopping.”

  He was irresistible like this, playful and relaxed as I knew he seldom was. I saw him sometimes coming and going on business, his brow always furrowed with concentration. I kissed him again, sliding my other hand until I cupped his ass and pressed him closer to my aching dick.

  “That’s more like it,” Whitt murmured, sliding a hand between us until his fingers inched over my bare stomach. He unbuttoned my shirt. And his own. In seconds, we were skin to skin, our chests pressing together.

  It would be so easy to give into this, to let go and reach for that final barrier separating us. Whitt’s slow, drugging kisses to my mouth, my jaw, the side of my neck ratcheted up my desire to let him do whatever he wanted.

  But always, in the back of my mind, logic whispered. The voice now telling me not only was the back of the limo not the place to take this to the next level, but the time also wasn’t right either.

  Regretfully, I pulled back. Whitt instantly lifted his weight off me and sat.

  “What’s the matter, Reece? Was I getting the wrong message from you?”

  I shook my head. “You’re very attractive.”

  Whitt glanced sideways at me. “I hear a but in there.”

  I laughed. “My body is dying for this, to feel you rubbing against me, smell your scent all over me, and taste the wine from dinner on your lips, but I’m not ready.”

  Whitt began buttoning his shirt as though he was doing nothing more than getting dressed in the morning. When I put my hand on his arm, he gave me a look that nearly broke my heart. He thought it was something he had done. No, worse than that, he thought it was him. It was there in every shift of his body and expression.

  “It’s not you. Not anything you’ve done or who you are.” I grabbed his hand and pressed it against the ridge of my erection. “I want you. I can’t hide that, but my mind’s not ready yet.”

  The limo slowed and stopped. With a shock I realized we had arrived home. I felt a bit like Cinderella must have. “I need to go. Alone. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  I opened the door, ignoring the driver who was hustling to get out, and jogged up the front steps. Like the coward I felt myself to be, I didn’t stop until I had the door to my room firmly closed behind me. The person who had always latched on to the casual hookup, I now leaned against the door at my back and blew out a frustrated sigh.

  I had some serious thinking to do about Whitt. I couldn’t let myself fall for him when it might jeopardize everything I had ever wanted. And yet, how could I not?

  13

  Whitt

  As I hurried to the stables the next morning, I realized how much I was looking forward to it. The riding was a huge draw, but now the anticipation of seeing Reece again added to my eagerness. Maybe a little anxiety too. I wanted to take him at face value, believe his refusal to go to bed with me was truly not a function of me.

  Reece had certainly responded as though he was interested. Would he still feel that way this morning? Of course, the other question was what I needed to do to convince him he belonged in my bed.

  My strides slowed as I drew nearer the barn, and my heart pounded in my chest. Reece’s trailer was hooked to his truck. Fuck. Had I scared him away? My steps now weighted with dread, I rounded the trailer to find Reece standing with Ricky in the barn aisle laughing at Ripper desperately seeking a mouse with his keen terrier nose. Reece turned at my approach. Something in my expression must have clued him in to where my thoughts had gone.

  He hurried forward, grabbing my arm with a reassuring grin. “We’re taking the next step in your riding education this morning.”

  “We are?” My voice might have been a bit faint from the relief pouring through me.

  “Yep. It’s time to take off the training wheels and do a test ride in one of the hunt territories. We’re headed to an area where there are gates next to every jump. I want you to decide whether you’re ready to try jumping.” He turned me so I could see the two horses already loaded on the trailer. “Grab your hard hat and chaps, and we’ll be ready to go.”

  Once we were in the truck with the doors shut, Reece slid his arm along the back of the seat and leaned over to kiss me. I tasted his morning coffee and a hint of minty toothpaste. I moaned with relief. We were okay. He leaned back, holding my gaze.

  “Did you think I was running out on you?”

  Heat flooded my cheeks. “I was afraid I’d scared you off.”

  “Hardly.” Reece shook his head. “Shit. I’m sorry. I should have said something about this last night. I was already thinking about it, but I forgot. You had me so wound up, all I could think about was kissing you and feeling you pressed against me.”

  “It’s all right. I was an idiot to jump to conclusions. A hazard of my past, I guess.” My heart settled, the tightness gone from my chest. Instead, warmth filled me. “How far a drive do we have?”

  “About twenty minutes. The farm we’re exploring is one of the oldest hunting territories for the Maysburg Hounds. We’ll take things nice and easy. No pressure.”

  I settled back in my seat and watched the scenery fly by. In a few minutes, Reece turned the truck and trailer along a narrow gravel drive surrounded by trees. About the time I was going to admit that thick woods weren’t exactly what I had pictured when I thought about going foxhunting, we rounded a curve in the road. The woods ceased, and a vast expanse of undulating pastures opened before us with a barn a few yards away. High on a hill sat a rambling home that must command the most amazing views imaginable.

  “We’re here.” Reece grinned and put the truck in park.

  Since the horses were already saddled, all we had to do was slip on bridles, make sure everything was adjusted, and we were ready to go. Reece led the way along a broad trail that curved through hardwoods softening from the green of summer into a wide array of autumn colors. When he caught me looking over my shoulder at the wide, verdant pastures, he said, “We’ll come that way when we head back in.”

  “You know your way around this?”

  “I got some pointers from a friend who’s a lot more familiar with it.”

  I discovered pretty quickly that Bondage was more than happy to follow his stablemate anywhere she led. All I needed to do was concentrate on me. After the first small jump where my stomach had leaped light years ahead of the rest of me, I put my trust in my horse.

  Reece slowed until I came alongside on a wide part of the trail. “You’re doing fantastic, Whitt.”

  He leaned over and squeezed my thigh. When our gazes met this time, neither one of us made any effort to hide the heat bubbling below the surface. Last night might not have been the right time, but it sure as hell seemed as though Reece had decided he was ready to move things forward today.

  “Hallo!” The deep, masculine voice calling to us from farther along the trail was familiar. I shifted Bondage slightly away from Reece and Trixie, breaking the contact of his hand with my leg as Quinn and Mary Maitland trotted toward us on matching grays.

  “Good to see you out, Whitt.” Quinn’s gaze shifted from me to Reece. “Are we interrupting a training session?”

  Reece’s smile was casual. A lot more casual than I felt. “We are training, but you’re absolutely no interruption. In fact, having more horses along for the ride would help Whitt learn the skills he’ll need in the hunt field.”

  Taking his cue, I asked, “Would you care to join us?”

  “Delighted to,” Quinn said. “We were out for a leisurely ride. I assume that agrees with you?”

  Reece nodded. “That would be fantastic. I’d like Whitt and Bondage to have an opportunity to take some fences without the pressure of a crowd of riders waiting to jump.”

  Quinn ended up in the lead. That suited me fine. I wasn’t prepared to talk business. It surprised me to realize, I halfway resented having to share this time with Reece. However, I did still have a great view of his ass in the saddle.


  “You and Reece seem to get along very well.” Mary Maitland walked her horse next to me, a polite smile on her face and keen awareness in her gaze.

  “He’s a good friend,” I responded, faint stress on the word friend. I was treading on dangerous ground here. “And a consummate professional. Without his training, I definitely wouldn’t be here right now.”

  “Close friends are important,” Mary said. “It’s what keeps us human. I consider Quinn one of my closest friends, even if we are married,” she added with a laugh.

  I had little doubt Mary Maitland saw much more than her husband did when it came to Reece and me. The thought crossed my mind she might say something of her suspicions to him. I pushed away the uneasiness that created. I could explain it. Reece was my trainer, an employee. Teaching me to ride necessitated closer than normal contact.

  The idea I felt the need to explain it away made me shift in the saddle. I was ready to take the next step with Reece. Wanted to quite desperately, in fact, but I wanted it to be in private. There was too much at stake right now to add the publicity any relationship I started would spark.

  Maysburg had been my haven, a place where I could escape the notice of gossip columnists and the endless speculation about my private life. I wanted it to remain that way. I had been careful never to provide any fodder but look where that had landed me—in an emergency room with chest pains.

  Eventually, we wound our way around on the trails until we entered the pastures from the opposite side as Reece had said we would. In the distance, I saw the barn and his trailer nearby. Quinn had halted ahead.

  “I’m afraid this is where Mary and I will have to say farewell. Our farm is ahead on the left, and you two need to cross here.” He tipped his hat at me. “You’re doing fantastic, Whitt. I look forward to hunting with you. Expect a call tomorrow so we can begin looking over personal information.”