All he said, was, “What would Kate have told me?”
“What?”
“I asked after your horse’s welfare, and you responded by asking if Kate had talked to me. What would she have told me?”
Elena was nonplussed for a moment, trying to mentally backtrack over their conversation, but at this point he had her so discombobulated, she couldn’t think fast enough. “I, uh, I wasn’t sure what you knew about me and what you didn’t.”
“Not much. Just that you worked with racehorses and left a pretty nice place to bring your pregnant horse here, to a very small place in the middle of nowhere.”
He was worse than a pit bull. Pit bulls could take lessons from him. “Hardly the middle of nowhere. The farms here, if you can call them that, are more like mansions with acreage and stables. And tennis courts. I think I even saw a private golf course on one.”
His lips might have twitched the tiniest bit at that. At least he didn’t mind spunk. Which was a good thing, because she was feeling a mite more spunky, the longer he dragged this out. She wanted to demand that he tell her what his real motives were, but she’d pushed in that direction about as hard as she could without jeopardizing her job. And she needed to stay here. Pit bulls notwithstanding, in every other way, Dalton Downs was perfect for her needs. Being back out on the road again was not.
“You might have a point there,” he said. “But, with the occasional exception, this isn’t exactly race country.”
“True, but it’s not unfamiliar territory for me, either. My father was a show horse trainer. I was raised in this kind of environment, at least the working side of it. So, if you’re questioning my background or abilities, the type of control and basic training Kate is looking for with her school horses is well within my field of expertise.”
“As I said earlier, even someone who knows nothing about horses can see you know your stuff. I wasn’t questioning your abilities.” He studied her face. “Are you always so defensive over a little conversation?”
So much for going on the offensive and taking control. All she’d managed to do was encourage more of it. Great. But she couldn’t back down now. “When I understand the nature of the conversation, no.” She turned to face him, forcing herself to hold his gaze steadily, despite what it did to the butterflies in her stomach. And the painfully tight points of her nipples. “I apologize if I seem rude in any way—I really do. I didn’t mean to. I guess I’m just trying to understand the dynamics here. You and your partners have power at Dalton Downs, and a strong connection to my boss. I haven’t been here long enough to learn the politics of who’s who and what’s what. I like my position here—I’d like to keep it. I have no problem fitting in some lessons for you. But if there really is anything else on the table here, then I’d appreciate it if you’d say so, so I don’t inadvertently step on anyone’s toes. Or jeopardize my job.”
He seemed to ponder that, and she braced herself for his response, already mentally kicking herself for being so outspoken. But she had a horse to protect, and herself to protect, and she couldn’t afford to sit back and find out too late that there was something going on she wasn’t aware of. Call her paranoid, but better paranoid and safe than paranoid and—she didn’t want to go there.
“Your job doesn’t rest on you giving me lessons, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“And the personal interest?”
The twitch of the lips was more of a real smile now, one that made it all the way to his eyes. And wasn’t that just lethal. She swore it made her knees go wobbly.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I can handle rejection.”
She couldn’t help it—she smiled back. “Not something that happens all that often, I’m guessing.”
He lifted a shoulder, but didn’t respond.
She still didn’t believe the interest wasn’t just a cover for something else, so she called him on it. “If you’d like, I can find you another trainer.”
“You said you could teach me to ride.”
Pit bull. “I can. But my job here is to train horses, not people. Kate has a whole crew whose job it is to teach people. If you’re still interested in riding lessons, that is.”
He studied her for a prolonged moment. “You don’t make anything easy, do you?”
“I don’t intentionally make things hard, if that’s what you mean.”
And there it was, a real smile. Enough of one to show a flash of white teeth and crinkle the corners of his eyes. It…humanized him. And did things to her body that she really didn’t need to know about.
“I’m not a natural,” he said. “With horses.”
Honestly, it was a good thing she knew he was just messing with her and not serious about all that “because I want you” stuff, but she sure as hell wished her body would get the memo. “I still don’t see what that has to do with me.”
“If I’m going to learn to ride, then I’d like someone who is very comfortable with horses.”
“Everyone who works out here—”
“I’ve watched everyone out here.”
He kept his gaze on hers with such ease, but also with a directness that was unnerving. Okay, a lot unnerving. And then there was that hint of a smile, always hovering now, making her foolishly wish he was serious about this verbal foreplay, even if just for the briefest of moments.
“And I’ve watched you.”
She swallowed, again, and folded her arms across her chest, even though she knew he couldn’t possibly see how deeply he was affecting her. He probably flirted like this the same way some men breathed. It was second nature to a man who looked like him, when he wanted something. She just wished she knew what he really wanted so she could stop wishing that what he really wanted was her.
“I’ve never seen anyone as comfortable and in command with horses as you.”
“Says the guy with no horse experience.”
“I asked you. Would you like me to ask someone else?”
She wondered what he’d say, or do, if she said yes. She wondered why she wasn’t jumping at the offer to get out of this situation entirely. “Despite your earlier reassurances, I’m thinking turning down a personal friend of the boss isn’t going to do me any favors.”
“Kate has nothing to do with this. In fact, she doesn’t even know I’m asking.”
That tidbit surprised her. Of course, he could be lying. But she didn’t think he was.
The twinkle resurfaced, as did the eye crinkling. He was intensity personified, which she was clearly struggling to resist. She really didn’t need him to be charming, to boot.
“In fact,” he went on, “what with the double duty you’re already pulling with the new horse, she might not be all that happy with me for asking at all.”
It was his voice, she decided, as
