forward.
Her nails dug into his back. Her gasps were music to his ears. He inhaled her scent, reveled in her hot, moist core, guiding them both as long and as high as he could manage. Then her cries rocked his world, and her body convulsed against him, and his name on her lips sent him over the edge into rhythmic paradise.
Nine
The scattered showers of the new day made the jump course heavy and less than ideal. But Rosie-Joe had excelled in worse conditions than this.
“Make sure you give her time to get her footing before the triple combination,” Stephanie told Wesley.
He was dressed, pressed, trimmed and ready to go, his round coming up in only minutes.
“The rain won’t spook her,” Stephanie continued. “Keep her balanced, and she should run clean. Just keep your head in the game.”
Wesley nodded, his gaze suddenly focusing on something in the distance. A smile grew on his face that seemed just a little too confident.
“Are you listening to me?” she asked, as horses, grooms and competitors shifted around them. The announcer’s voice was clear on the PA. The crowd applauded as Bill Roauge and Zepher made it cleanly over the water jump.
“You worry too much.”
“Wesley-”
He leaned in close, brushing her arm. “Just wish me luck,” he whispered. Then he brushed something from her cheek and tucked her hair behind one ear.
Suddenly a blur of movement crossed her vision. Alec’s big hand wrapped around Wesley’s arm. Wesley staggered backward, as Alec propelled him ten feet to stop abruptly against the wall.
Stephanie was too stunned to move.
Had Alec lost his mind?
She couldn’t see his face, and she couldn’t hear his words. But she could see the set of his shoulders, and the width of his stance, and his hand was clamped tight around Wesley’s arm. Wesley’s cockiness turned to shock, while most of the blood seemed to drain from his face.
The groom holding Rosie-Jo stared in stupefaction, while Stephanie finally spurred herself to action, marching across the floor.
“Do you understand?” Alec ground out in a harsh voice she’d never heard before.
Wesley gave a rapid nod, and before Stephanie could say anything, he broke away from Alec and brushed past her.
She turned, torn between going after him and demanding answers from Alec. But Wesley was already mounting Rosie-Jo, and she couldn’t think of a single thing to say to him that might help. So, she rounded on Alec.
“What is the matter with you?” she hissed, moving close to face him.
“Not a single thing.”
She gestured to Wesley. “He’s about to ride.”
“So what?”
“You’ve completely blown his concentration.”
Alec pasted her with a hard stare. “He should have thought of that before coming on to another man’s wife.”
“What?” she sputtered. What on earth was Alec’s problem? After last night, how could he possibly think she had any interest in Wesley?
“You going to watch him?” Alec grimly nodded to where Wesley was entering the ring.
She had to watch.
Of course she had to watch.
“We are not through here,” she warned Alec.
“We never are,” he sighed as she turned for the fence.
Alec fell into step beside her.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m coming with you.”
“It’s probably better if you-”
“This isn’t negotiable, Stephanie.”
“Then at least stop scowling.”
They stopped at the fence as Rosie-Jo cleared the first jump.
“He wasn’t coming onto me,” she muttered in an undertone.
“I agree,” said Alec.
And she turned to him with frank astonishment.
“He was testing
The crowd cheered as Rosie-Joe cleared the next jump.
“Testing you for
“To see what I’d do if he made a move on you. He saw me coming, Stephanie. He looked me straight in the eyes, launched that smug grin and moved in on you.”
Stephanie clearly remembered Wesley’s touch and his whisper. “I had dirt on my cheek,” she defended.
“No, you didn’t. You had a husband within eyeshot and a young pup looking to test the waters.”
The crowd cheered again.
“You’re paranoid.” But she had to admit, something had seemed off about Wesley’s gesture. And there was no denying he’d been pushing the boundaries with her since she’d told him about being pregnant.
“I’m not paranoid. I’m realistic.”
“He knows it’s a marriage of convenience,” she felt compelled to defend Wesley. It was probably her own fault for not being clear with him three days ago.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does to him.”
Butterflies formed in Stephanie’s stomach as Rosie-Jo lined up for the triple. She held her breath.
Oxer, vertical, vertical.
He’d done it. Stephanie let out a breath and applauded along with the rest of the crowd.
But on the next jump, Rosie-Jo rubbed a rail.
Stephanie swore under her breath as the announcer acknowledged the fault.
They made the last three jumps clean, their time putting then in eighth place. A respectable showing.
As the pair approached the exit gate, Stephanie and Alec stepped to one side. Alec tossed an arm over her shoulder.
She knew what he was doing, but she also knew it was what she’d signed up for. And, while she wasn’t sure Wesley had deliberately taunted Alec, it was probably better if he understood the boundaries up front, particularly while they were working together.
Wesley scrutinized Stephanie. Then his gaze shifted to Alec. It immediately dropped to the ground. She smiled and congratulated him as he passed, but he didn’t look up again.
“What did you say to him?” she couldn’t help asking Alec.
“That another man would have taken his head off. And he would have.”
“I can’t believe this has got blown so far out of proportion.” She needed to talk to Wesley. The sooner, the better.
“He’s a punk kid,” said Alec, drawing her further back from the gate, out of the way of the horse and groom traffic, turning to face her. “It’s past time for him to learn right from wrong.”
“It’s partly my fault,” she acknowledged. “For telling him we were getting married because of the baby.”
Alec’s steel gaze burned into hers. “That doesn’t change our vows.”
