Kate turned back to Magnus. She raised her chin with a small burst of bravado. "Thanks for your very generous offer, but I have to decline. I am not for sale."
Magnus tipped his head in her direction. "Your call, Miss Holden. You know where I am when you change your mind."
"I won't," she replied, her voice sounding hollow to her ears.
"I never make a takeover offer unless I know the odds are in my favor, and this time is no different."
"Why? You can have any women you want just by snapping your fingers according to the papers. Why would you even think of trying to get me into bed?"
"Because I can. Why else?" Magnus stood, and Kate stifled the urge to rush from the room. She walked as calmly as she could out of his office and house.
"In your dreams, buddy," Kate muttered as she ran down the path toward the stables and her truck. She jumped in and let her head drop onto the steering wheel. Her emotions were in turmoil. With not enough time to mourn her father, she was plunged into despair over the bank payments well past their due date. He's right. I have no way to pay them now or in the future. I'm stuck with little or no options available. She turned the key in the ignition and shuddered at the noise the engine made. Her battery was on its way out and didn't always play nicely when she wanted it to—just one more in a long list of things that was turning her life into a walking disaster.
* * *
Magnus stood on the veranda and watched as she tried to start her vehicle. Why on earth did I do that? His mother had brought him up to respect women, and he had treated her like a cheap hooker. It was not in his nature to be so rude, at least not to someone that had done nothing to him. I must be getting insensitive. All the years of women throwing themselves at him had changed him and not for the better.
As he watched her drive away, he regretted his words, but it was too late to take them back. Just because I nearly always have to pay for what I want in some shape or form doesn't mean she is the same as all the others. What other explanation would cover the total lack of respect he had shown to Kate? He could get any women he wanted, and he had offered to buy the next door neighbor for his mistress. Why couldn't I have offered her dinner instead of a contract?
Because you don't trust yourself to believe that every woman isn't after you for your money, that's why, a little voice in his head whispered.
Magnus shook off the idea, unwilling to believe his own reasoning. Years of experience had shown him that having money had almost as many drawbacks as advantages.
He ran his hands over his face, mentally kicking himself for his actions. What's done is done. No point losing sleep over it. Shrugging it off, Magnus walked down the steps and headed to the helicopter to retrieve his overnight bag.
* * *
Working with Jock outdoors felt good after a busy week in the city. It would be a huge relief to move his office down to the farm. Because of his own transport, he was never far from the bustle of the city if he was needed, but the plan had been to streamline his business so that he had more free time to pursue his grandfather's dream: breeding top-class cattle and horses.
As he loaded up the trailer with hay bales to take out to the breeding cows, his mind kept going to the pale, timid girl who had walked into the stables looking for him. It was a long time since his blood had been stirred to such a degree that he was actually looking forward to sex. After ten years, my body finally wants to make a move on its own with no chasing from the other side. What do you have that stirs me, Kate? Maybe I have finally let go of the past and Adele? Time will tell.
Alone in his room that evening, he wondered how she would react once he got her into his bed. Would she be a practiced flirt like the females he was used to, or would she be shy and stubborn? He pondered the appeal she held for him again. It would be easier to continue to date the type of women I'm used to. That way no one would get hurt because they all knew it was never going to be more than a fling. It was something he made sure they all understood before the end of the first date or they never heard from him again. So why the reaction to Kate? Could it be because she was a green country girl with high morals and something so different to his normal dates it was stirring his jaded blood?
He fleetingly thought of Adele and Kate in the same picture and quickly brushed it off. Magnus was not willing to compare the two women or the memories that quickly rose to the surface. Memories he didn't want to relive.
I'm not interested in settling down with anyone yet, certainly anyone who came to my bed as easily as the past conquests have done. I know Kate will join the ranks of those women. It is inevitable with the money issues that she has.
He slept with images of his childhood holidays
