Zara Stoneley Read online

  “She? As in one horse? That’s a bit crap isn’t it, as businesses go?”

  “It’s how I work.” He paused. “One at a time.” Stared.

  Now, was that a threat or a promise? He enunciated each syllable, slow and clear in that quiet, low tone of his and she suddenly knew that now might be the time to cut and run. To get away while she still wanted to. If she still wanted to.

  Forget the whole thing. It was better to go somewhere else, get away from this stupid place. It was easy to find a man, a guy who looked good in dirty jeans, a grin and not much more. Very easy. A man with a dimple in the middle of his chin, and green brown eyes that you wanted to sink slowly into. A man with a firm body that you could wrap yourself round. Easy.

  “I’ve got a proposition for you.”

  Chapter Three

  He wasn’t going to like this. She didn’t like it. What in the world had made her say it? Well she knew the answer to that one. He turned her on. He intrigued her. Having men like Jake in her life was what kept her going. He was unpredictable and just looking at him gave her a thrill, oh yeah, and just imagining what he might do to her next, that was what made her determined not to let him disappear from her life yet.

  “Shall I just say no now, and shortcut the process?”

  “No, let’s not. Don’t say anything. Just listen until I’ve told you what it is.”

  He leaned back against the fence, stretched one leg out, so that his thigh muscles lengthened, long and taut against the worn denim of his jeans. She could run her hand down that thigh and it would be rock hard. Like something else by the looks of him.

  “I’ve got another job.”

  “Busy girl.”

  She ignored that. “I scout for this agency that does photo shoots.”

  “No.” He straightened, folded his arms across his chest and everything about him said no. “You’re not bringing them here.”

  Why bother denying it? “Why not? They’ll pay. It’s good money.”

  “You’ll disturb the horses.”

  “Horse.”

  He shrugged.

  “We pay quite a lot.” Safer to work on the location bit, then bring in the trickier ‘him being in shot’ bit later.

  She’d called in to see Rowena on the way up, checked that Jake would be where she thought he was, and it had been nice to see the older woman. She’d been made to feel welcome, wanted, a feeling she hadn’t had for a long time. Rowena had laughed though when she’d told her why she was there. “I’ve no objections to your friends taking a few photographs up there, love. But I can’t speak for Jake and as he’s paying the rent, he does have the last say, despite the past.” She’d put a finger under Georgie’s chin and studied her for a moment. “He’s no pushover though, not even for a pretty face. You go ahead and ask, it might do him good.” It had been on the tip of Georgie’s tongue to ask what she meant, but she’d bit it back. She didn’t want to get into discussions about the past. And she hadn’t liked the ‘good luck’ and chuckle thrown after her as she’d pulled the gate shut.

  Jake gave a short humourless laugh. “However much it is, it’s not enough.” He held up a hand to stop her objection. “Not everyone has a price, Georgie. I thought you’d have learned that by now. You can’t just buy your way in, I’m not for sale.”

  “Ahh, come on, name your price, it doesn’t have to be money, anything.” There had to be a way, he had to agree, let her do the shoot here. “Just a couple of hours, a few piccies.”

  “You can’t afford me, Georgie girl.”

  “Try me.” He would let her. She could almost taste victory. He’d moved on from the straight no.

  He met her stare, his eyes dark, hooded. “I thought I’d done that.”

  “Funny. Stop giving me your horny look and stop trying to change the subject.”

  He laughed out loud then. “I wonder just how far you’d go, to get your own way?”

  “You won’t know unless you ask.”

  He was looking amused now, almost like he’d realised he could have fun. It should have made her apprehensive, but come on what could he possibly come up with that could be that hard to sort? At least he’d given up on the grumpiness and gone back to the happy go lucky Jake she loved. She thought.

  He was smiling, broad, real with a hint of tease. “I remember you when you used to spend all weekend playing with ponies.”

  Huh-huh. Slight change of tack in the wind.

  “And?”

  “I could do with a hand, well more like a nice pair of legs and a sticky bum.” He grinned, all wolfish and bad. His gaze drifted over her body, slowly oh so slowly down her legs and she fought the impulse to fidget. He was getting into this. “Okay, here’s the deal. Let’s see you do some grafting for a change.”

  She shrugged. Refused to rise to the bait. She grafted, he’d no idea the hours she’d put in, maybe not with physical work like he did. So what? Hard work didn’t have to involve breaking your back and ruining your fingernails.

  “You give me a hand with the horses, just for the next few weeks. Say six? I know you can handle them, I remember that black mare you used to have and the amount of bouncing about you did on her.” He was still grinning, his head tipped to one side. “And off her.” There was a challenge in those gorgeous green eyes.

  Boy, yeah, she remembered that mare. She’d never been thrown off an animal so many times in her life, bouncing just wasn’t the word for it, but she’d kept going back for more. And in the end they’d reached a truce. “Horse. You’ve only got one to help with.” This could be a win, win. She got her shoot, a sexy guy on tap for a while, and a chance to exorcise the last unwanted part of this place from her brain. But let him think he was driving a hard bargain.

  “I’ve got a long list of people waiting and I do home visits as well. I can get through them quicker if I’ve got a,” he paused, raised an eyebrow as though challenging her, “groom to help.”

  “Don’t push it, I’m nobody’s slave labour.” But she needed to know there’d be something to do or she’d be bored rigid. And wound up about being here. I mean they couldn’t just shag all day, could they?

  He grinned. “No, can’t picture you as a willing slave, maybe an unwilling one.”

  “Stop it, you’re doing it again.”

  “I could just do with another pair of hands, some of these horses are tricky and the owners are worse than useless. That’s if you don’t mind a hard ride?”

  “Hard suits me fine.” She smiled back, she couldn’t help it. “Oh well, at least I rank above worse than useless, maybe at just useless?”

  “Your choice.”

  Don’t rush it. Play hard to get for once. Count to ten, well five. “Four weeks. And I’d need to work it round my other jobs.”

  “I know. But it’s six weeks, I’ve got jobs lined up that need clearing before the weather gets tricky. Take it or leave it. I’m sure I can find someone else if you’re not interested.”

  “Five weeks,” wait for it, don’t lose it now, “but I need you to do something else as well.” She wasn’t going to smile, not yet.

  “Five weeks without the something else, six weeks with.”

  Shit, since when had bad boy Jake turned into Mr Unyielding businessman? “Done.” She held out a hand before he could change the rules, ask about the something else.

  “And I get to do the horny look whenever I want.” He moved off the fence, wrapped his warm, firm fingers around hers and she stared straight into those mossy eyes. Oh yeah, she could cope with the horny look. “And to think about you being my unwilling slave.”

  “Do all the thinking you like buster. I do the six weeks, we do the shoot here and,” she resisted the urge to cling onto his hand, “you are in the frame.” She tried not to giggle or whoop.

  ***

  “And what the hell does that mean?” Jake knew he was frowning, and had a horrible feeling he was glaring. He’d come up with the stupid deal on the spur of the moment, not really thinki
ng, just sure that working with the horses would be beneath her. At school she’d been different. Quiet, unassuming, despite the fact that her family obviously had more money to throw around than he’d ever see in a lifetime. But she’d changed, hardened and he didn’t know how deep it went. He’d admired the way she’d handled her horse, but not been under any illusions, for all he knew she’d had an army of grooms at her disposal. But, he wanted her to know that getting what you want sometimes had strings attached. He wasn’t the pushover she was used to, however much she batted her eyelids and thrust those slim hips his way. She was desperate to use this place, he’d seen it in the clenched fists, the casual tone that wasn’t. Which struck him as odd and he had to admit he was curious, even though he had a rule never to be curious about anything.

  He’d met girls like the grown up Georgina before though, the too posh to push brigade. Girls like her looked down on people like him, used them for their own cheap thrills then bleated about being used as an excuse to run away and not face up to the truth.

  Well, he wasn’t after her money, and he didn’t want her and a crowd of glamour pusses treating the countryside like a giant novelty ride. But, he had felt sorry for the look he’d left on her face when he’d driven off last night. She’d looked lost, vulnerable and he’d regretted suggesting she’d turned into one of the ‘having it all’ brats. And in the back of his mind, niggling away, was the image of her at school. Her head always buried in a book, the long hair masking her face. She’d been an innocent back then, and more times than not he’d caught her looking at him and he’d purposefully blanked her. She was out of his league.

  He remembered speaking to her once, once in all the time he’d been aware of her. Normally she’d been pretty self-contained, but this time the look in her eye had been almost desperate. Like she wanted to reach out, but she daren’t. And he’d recognised himself for a moment. And so he’d told her what he’d told himself, to stop waiting and watching. To just get on with it. He’d only seen her a handful of times after that, and he’d avoided talking. What was the point? And then she’d gone. Just like that. Overnight. Story of his life.

  He’d had it all once, well enough if not all. Then watched his useless father throw it all away. Burn every memory he’d ever had. He’d as good as lost both his parents in a single day, and he’d sworn as a teenager that he’d never let it happen again. There wouldn’t be anything to lose in his life, no-one to let down. Ignoring the sweet Georgina had been the only thing to do back then. Playing around with the girls who just wanted a good time worked fine, just fine. No expectations. Nothing to live up to. And now, it seemed the grown up Georgie would be tough enough to understand.

  And he’d somehow agreed to let her use him. She’d turned the tables, or at least they were at a status quo. And a status quo with the polished brunette she’d turned into couldn’t be all bad.

  “It means” he could have sworn those brown eyes were flashing with some inner light of laughter, “that you’re in some of the shots.”

  “And you used to be such a nice girl, play fair.”

  “And now I’m all grown up.” She grinned. “And I play to win, Mr Horny.”

  He laughed, he couldn’t help himself. “I’m not getting all tarted up just to give you a laugh.”

  “Don’t worry.” She put both her hands on his chest, long fingers splayed out, all the tension had leached out of her the second he’d said yes. “I like you just the way you are.”

  “Seriously, I don’t do photo’s.”

  “Seriously, you need to trust me on this one.” He resisted the urge to cover her hands with his. Apart from having a crazy, irrational desire to give her the good spanking she deserved, he really shouldn’t go there. “Tuesday work for you?”

  “I’ll check if I have a window in my diary.” He kept his hands off her, fisted at his sides, his tone dry.

  “Oh yeah?” She was grinning again, and this close it was having a funny effect on his groin, all the blood that should have been helping his head out was heading straight down south. He could lean in just a bit, kiss that cute upturned nose. “You do that mister.” She dropped her hands, took a step back and the spell was broken, except for that dark look in her eyes that was longing or just plain lust.

  He stared and she stared straight back. And his cock jumped a little bit more to attention.

  “I better go.” She didn’t move.

  “You had.” He could hear the need in her voice, hear the break in his own. One step was all he had to take, but he wasn’t going to.

  She hesitated, long enough to give him a chance and he stood frozen, willing her to walk. Then she did, turned on her heel and set off down the long driveway, swinging her hips in time with the long strides.

  Georgina was all grown up, and she’d grown up as trouble. The type of trouble that had always tempted a man like him. And he would have grabbed it with both hands, except he remembered the girl she used to be. And he remembered the life he used to have. And he wasn’t going back.

  ***

  There was that end of October chill in the air when Georgie cycled up the long driveway to the barn. She dumped the bike against the fence and rubbed her hands together, breathing hard so she could watch the warm air clash with the cold. It gave her a weird kind of satisfaction to just stand there and blow out hot air.

  “Early bird.”

  She stopped the childish game abruptly and shoved her hands into the pockets of her corduroys.

  “Doing your bit towards saving the planet?” He nodded towards the bike, smiled so that the dimple in his chin deepened. “Miss Eco-friendly on your green machine, eh?”

  “Well I thought I had to do something to combat your motorbike fumes.”

  He’d got a t-shirt on, stretched tight over his broad chest, showcasing his pecs, the short sleeves showing off the strong biceps, triceps and every other muscle she could think of. Well, she’d just about reached her limit with muscle identification, but she was sure that every one that should be there was, in all its well defined glory.

  The heat brushed along her cheekbones as she realised she was studying him, and he was waiting. Looking amused.

  “Aren’t you cold?” It came out a bit sharp, defensive, and his grin widened.

  “I’ve been mucking out, worked up quite a sweat actually.” He raised an eyebrow. “Might have to strip down further.”

  “Stop that.” She was tempted to ask what had got into him this morning, but not very tempted. Asking would probably throw the off switch and put him back into defensive mode, and this type of attack was far nicer.

  “In fact,” he took another step, which brought him perilously close, reached out to grab hold of her scarf, “I might have to strip you down a bit as well.”

  Except they’d have company soon and she could look so unprofessional. “You’re rude.” She put her own hand on the scarf, just in case he carried out the threat.

  “Very. And I thought you were too.”

  “They’ll be here any minute.”

  “It need only take a minute, makes it more exciting.” He tugged the one end of the scarf with a little pull she felt right through her body. Raised his eyebrows. “Not knowing who might be watching.”

  She was tempted, very tempted. Her pussy was already tightening with anticipation. He leaned in, nudged the scarf away from her neck. His breath heating her skin just before the warm dampness of his mouth bathed it.

  “You are bad.” It came out on a gasp of a moan as he sucked gently right at the most sensitive spot, she tipped her head willing him on. They might not get caught.

  “I am.” He sucked harder. “I don’t do boring.”

  Oh, God she could feel her knickers getting damper by the minute. What if they did get caught? His hand cupped her breast and even through the thickness of t-shirt and jumper she could feel the heat, feel the brush of his thumb against her nipple as though she were naked.

  He pulled back a bit, chuckled, looked her strai
ght in the eye. “Oh, Georgie girl, who’d have thought?” Then his firm lips came down hard over her mouth and she forgot all about wondering who’d have thought what. His tongue played with hers, danced along the edge of her teeth and just as she started to join in he pulled back from the bruising kiss, left her mouth and other parts of her body tingling.

  His finger rested under her chin, his gaze was fixed on her lips, and she was pretty sure she was swaying towards him, but he just smiled. A slow, lazy smile, and his voice when it came was a gentle drawl that wrapped around her senses.

  “I think the cavalry have arrived to save you.”

  She jumped, literally jumped away from him and his mouth twitched at the corners.

  “I’ll get my own back over this you know.” He shook his head slowly. “In the frame my arse.”

  “Well I wasn’t thinking of having that particular part of your anatomy in the shot, but if you’re offering?”

  He wasn’t it seemed. But he did do what he was asked, lounged against the fence and looked sexy in the background. He even spun a rope, but he refused point blank when they asked him to get on his horse.

  “The horse isn’t part of the bargain.”

  Georgie frowned. “Negotiate?”

  “No negotiations.” He shook his head. She could have suggested the motorbike, but she kept her mouth zipped on that one. It would have been too much to see him posing on the big black beast, stroking a hand along the tank, and he knew it. He winked when her gaze flicked towards it and back. Grinned when her mouth clamped shut.

  “You could just hold the mare?”

  “Nope. She’s been fucked up enough without seeing you lot.”

  Toby had laughed, but she hadn’t. It was a good idea and he was just being awkward, proving she couldn’t push him around.

  She tried to take a step back. She didn’t need to be involved, she didn’t have to let him get to her, this was Toby’s gig, let him do the arguing. Her end of the deal had been to set up the shoot, and she’d delivered. End of.

  She could relax, try and let the beauty of the autumn morning seep into her soul like it used to do. The heavy dew was still clinging to the blades of grass as lunchtime approached, dark trails skating across the field, showing where they’d been. She’d always liked autumn, it was mellow, thoughtful. The colours of red and gold, brown and green soft in the gentle rays of sunlight. Her favourite time of the year to paint, when you lost the harshness, the definition of life, of everything.