[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"All right, already. I keep forgetting about the cast, that's all. I'm not used to it."
"It isn't the cast that's the problem," he said curtly. "It's the broken bone the
cast is protecting. Try to remember that." He handed her the bridle, lifted the
saddle and selected a pad and breastplate.
Interesting, she thought as she followed him out of the tack room. She'd always
known there was a ruthless streak beneath Luke's easygoing grin; you didn't win
an Olympic Gold by charming it out of the judges. But watching the casually sexy
man who'd been teasing and touching for the past hour turn into a no-nonsense
trainer was rather startling.
The stable was busier now. The hands she'd met earlier were leading two of
the horses out, and a short, muscular young man was headed for the tack room.
"Ed, this is Maggie," Luke said easily. "We got married last night."
The young man grinned. "So I heard. Glad to meet you, ma'am." Sarita's
husband had dark, serious eyes and weight-lifter thighs that strained the material
of his jeans. He spoke with a thick Texas accent. "That's quite a horse you have.
Mostly Thoroughbred, isn't he?"
She smiled back, pleased as always by a compliment to Dandy. "Thoroughbred
on his father's side, Thoroughbred-warmblood mix from his mother. Wait until
you see him on a course. He flies."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Luke grinned. "You'll get to see him on some jumps this afternoon when I put
him through his paces."
"Wait a minute," she said. "I'm here now. I'll work Dandy."
"You can walk him. You won't jump him. Not with a broken wrist."
"Good grief, Luke, I'm not talking about steeplechase. I can put him over a few
low fences without hurting my wrist."
"No. You can't." He didn't bother to look at her, switching the subject to stable
business, discussing a possible change in feeding requirements with Ed.
Maggie felt dangerously close to pouting. She'd missed her horse, dammit. But
Dandy was Luke's horse now, though he had promised to get the papers switched
to her name as soon as possible. More to the point, Luke was her trainer. She
sighed and resigned herself to a quiet walk on Dandy's back later.
"It was good to meet you, Mrs. West," Ed said with a friendly nod.
She blinked, startled. "I ah yes. Good to meet you, too, Ed."
She stood there, bemused, as the young man moved on into the tack room. Not
until Luke moved away did she shake off the mood, following him to Gotcha Girl's
stall. "That felt strange. Being called Mrs. West, I mean."
"I noticed," he said dryly. "You looked like you'd taken a kick to the head.
Technically you're Maggie West now, but it's up to you. Would you rather use
your maiden name?"
"Maiden name. That sounds so so " She shook her head and opened the
stall.
"Virginal?" Luke chuckled, setting the saddle across the lower half of the stall
door so he could put the pad on the mare's back. "Don't worry. I doubt people will
jump to that conclusion if you decide not to use my name."
Inspiration struck. "But we're sleeping in separate bedrooms. If I use my
maiden name well, it doesn't look like we're really married. Could someone
challenge the legality of the marriage? Cause problems with dissolving the trust?"
Luke frowned and lifted the saddle in place. "I don't know. I don't see why
anyone would want to, but I'll talk to Jacob. He knows that world better than I
do."
Maggie started to slip the bridle on, but the mare took exception to the cast.
She held her arm out and let the horse investigate it. "There might be people who
like things the way they are. Whoever administers the trust probably makes a
pretty penny off of it."
He snorted. "Rufus Albright was father's personal attorney. He's the chief
trustee, a prig and a pain in the ass. He's also so honest that priests could confess
to him instead of the other way around."
"Oh." Gotcha Girl seemed to have accepted the strange, hard thing on Maggie's
arm, so Maggie offered the bit. The horse took it like a lady. "I've heard my father
talk business too often not to absorb a few things about it, whether I wanted to or
not. The trust holds a lot of stock in a couple of major corporations, doesn't it?
When that stock is distributed between you and your brothers, that will affect the
way it's voted. Someone might not like the change."
"I'll talk to Jacob." Luke checked the fit of the saddle carefully before fastening
the breastplate.
Maggie moved automatically to the other side so she could buckle it in place
there. "If Jacob thinks someone might question our marriage because we aren't,
uh because we have separate bedrooms& "
Luke grinned at her over Gotcha Girl's back. "Don't worry. Even if he thinks
there might be a problem, I'm not going to insist on claiming my marital rights.
No one can prove we aren't tearing up the sheets just because we have separate
bedrooms. If anyone is crude enough to ask why we don't sleep together, I'll tell
them you snore."
"Thanks a lot."
"Of course, if you were a virgin, that might complicate things. But since that
isn't the case "
"No. No, that, uh, isn't a problem." Darn and blast. For a minute, she'd thought
she'd found the perfect reason to go to bed with Luke without the need for a lot of
messy explanations. She could have nobly agreed to do whatever was necessary
to make the dissolution of the trust proceed smoothly.
That would have been too easy, she supposed gloomily.
"Hey." He was adjusting the stirrups, but paused to looked at her over his
shoulder. "Is something wrong?"
"Not a thing." She smiled brightly. "I notice you use an egg-butt snaffle. Is
Gotcha Girl busy-mouthed?"
He studied her, his eyes dark and grave, oddly compelling. As if he were asking
a question, one she couldn't refuse or ignore. Her heartbeat stuttered. She wanted
to look away. And couldn't.
"Yes," he said at last. "She's very supple in the mouth. I train her with a
caveson, and switch to a sliding figure-eight for competition." Finally he released
her from his gaze, running his hand under the girth, checking the tightness. "Let's
head to the arena and see what you can do with her."
"Right." She led the mare out of the stall, glad to escape the odd power of his
eyes.
Five
« ^ »
Luke stood in the center of the arena, turning to keep track of the woman and the
horse as they cantered slowly around. He watched her with a trainer's eyes, and
with a man's. Both sides of him took pleasure in the sight. Watching Maggie
Stewart ride was like watching music in motion.
Or Maggie West. She hadn't said which name she was going to use, had she?
"Okay, bring her down to a trot and come here," he said. The cast was giving
her some trouble, he noted. She was too conscious of it. "Quit protecting your
arm. It's making you stiff, which makes the jarring worse. Loosen up. Follow the
motion from the hips, not the shoulders."
She gave a businesslike nod.
"She's had enough fun. Time to make her work. Start with some circles and
watch her shoulders. She's got a tendency to pop her inside shoulder." The trainer
continued to watch, to note problems, strengths, the fluidity of her spine and the
perfect three-point seat. The man noticed other things. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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"All right, already. I keep forgetting about the cast, that's all. I'm not used to it."
"It isn't the cast that's the problem," he said curtly. "It's the broken bone the
cast is protecting. Try to remember that." He handed her the bridle, lifted the
saddle and selected a pad and breastplate.
Interesting, she thought as she followed him out of the tack room. She'd always
known there was a ruthless streak beneath Luke's easygoing grin; you didn't win
an Olympic Gold by charming it out of the judges. But watching the casually sexy
man who'd been teasing and touching for the past hour turn into a no-nonsense
trainer was rather startling.
The stable was busier now. The hands she'd met earlier were leading two of
the horses out, and a short, muscular young man was headed for the tack room.
"Ed, this is Maggie," Luke said easily. "We got married last night."
The young man grinned. "So I heard. Glad to meet you, ma'am." Sarita's
husband had dark, serious eyes and weight-lifter thighs that strained the material
of his jeans. He spoke with a thick Texas accent. "That's quite a horse you have.
Mostly Thoroughbred, isn't he?"
She smiled back, pleased as always by a compliment to Dandy. "Thoroughbred
on his father's side, Thoroughbred-warmblood mix from his mother. Wait until
you see him on a course. He flies."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Luke grinned. "You'll get to see him on some jumps this afternoon when I put
him through his paces."
"Wait a minute," she said. "I'm here now. I'll work Dandy."
"You can walk him. You won't jump him. Not with a broken wrist."
"Good grief, Luke, I'm not talking about steeplechase. I can put him over a few
low fences without hurting my wrist."
"No. You can't." He didn't bother to look at her, switching the subject to stable
business, discussing a possible change in feeding requirements with Ed.
Maggie felt dangerously close to pouting. She'd missed her horse, dammit. But
Dandy was Luke's horse now, though he had promised to get the papers switched
to her name as soon as possible. More to the point, Luke was her trainer. She
sighed and resigned herself to a quiet walk on Dandy's back later.
"It was good to meet you, Mrs. West," Ed said with a friendly nod.
She blinked, startled. "I ah yes. Good to meet you, too, Ed."
She stood there, bemused, as the young man moved on into the tack room. Not
until Luke moved away did she shake off the mood, following him to Gotcha Girl's
stall. "That felt strange. Being called Mrs. West, I mean."
"I noticed," he said dryly. "You looked like you'd taken a kick to the head.
Technically you're Maggie West now, but it's up to you. Would you rather use
your maiden name?"
"Maiden name. That sounds so so " She shook her head and opened the
stall.
"Virginal?" Luke chuckled, setting the saddle across the lower half of the stall
door so he could put the pad on the mare's back. "Don't worry. I doubt people will
jump to that conclusion if you decide not to use my name."
Inspiration struck. "But we're sleeping in separate bedrooms. If I use my
maiden name well, it doesn't look like we're really married. Could someone
challenge the legality of the marriage? Cause problems with dissolving the trust?"
Luke frowned and lifted the saddle in place. "I don't know. I don't see why
anyone would want to, but I'll talk to Jacob. He knows that world better than I
do."
Maggie started to slip the bridle on, but the mare took exception to the cast.
She held her arm out and let the horse investigate it. "There might be people who
like things the way they are. Whoever administers the trust probably makes a
pretty penny off of it."
He snorted. "Rufus Albright was father's personal attorney. He's the chief
trustee, a prig and a pain in the ass. He's also so honest that priests could confess
to him instead of the other way around."
"Oh." Gotcha Girl seemed to have accepted the strange, hard thing on Maggie's
arm, so Maggie offered the bit. The horse took it like a lady. "I've heard my father
talk business too often not to absorb a few things about it, whether I wanted to or
not. The trust holds a lot of stock in a couple of major corporations, doesn't it?
When that stock is distributed between you and your brothers, that will affect the
way it's voted. Someone might not like the change."
"I'll talk to Jacob." Luke checked the fit of the saddle carefully before fastening
the breastplate.
Maggie moved automatically to the other side so she could buckle it in place
there. "If Jacob thinks someone might question our marriage because we aren't,
uh because we have separate bedrooms& "
Luke grinned at her over Gotcha Girl's back. "Don't worry. Even if he thinks
there might be a problem, I'm not going to insist on claiming my marital rights.
No one can prove we aren't tearing up the sheets just because we have separate
bedrooms. If anyone is crude enough to ask why we don't sleep together, I'll tell
them you snore."
"Thanks a lot."
"Of course, if you were a virgin, that might complicate things. But since that
isn't the case "
"No. No, that, uh, isn't a problem." Darn and blast. For a minute, she'd thought
she'd found the perfect reason to go to bed with Luke without the need for a lot of
messy explanations. She could have nobly agreed to do whatever was necessary
to make the dissolution of the trust proceed smoothly.
That would have been too easy, she supposed gloomily.
"Hey." He was adjusting the stirrups, but paused to looked at her over his
shoulder. "Is something wrong?"
"Not a thing." She smiled brightly. "I notice you use an egg-butt snaffle. Is
Gotcha Girl busy-mouthed?"
He studied her, his eyes dark and grave, oddly compelling. As if he were asking
a question, one she couldn't refuse or ignore. Her heartbeat stuttered. She wanted
to look away. And couldn't.
"Yes," he said at last. "She's very supple in the mouth. I train her with a
caveson, and switch to a sliding figure-eight for competition." Finally he released
her from his gaze, running his hand under the girth, checking the tightness. "Let's
head to the arena and see what you can do with her."
"Right." She led the mare out of the stall, glad to escape the odd power of his
eyes.
Five
« ^ »
Luke stood in the center of the arena, turning to keep track of the woman and the
horse as they cantered slowly around. He watched her with a trainer's eyes, and
with a man's. Both sides of him took pleasure in the sight. Watching Maggie
Stewart ride was like watching music in motion.
Or Maggie West. She hadn't said which name she was going to use, had she?
"Okay, bring her down to a trot and come here," he said. The cast was giving
her some trouble, he noted. She was too conscious of it. "Quit protecting your
arm. It's making you stiff, which makes the jarring worse. Loosen up. Follow the
motion from the hips, not the shoulders."
She gave a businesslike nod.
"She's had enough fun. Time to make her work. Start with some circles and
watch her shoulders. She's got a tendency to pop her inside shoulder." The trainer
continued to watch, to note problems, strengths, the fluidity of her spine and the
perfect three-point seat. The man noticed other things. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]