Bedroom Bargains of Revenge: Bought for Revenge, Bedded for Pleasure / Bedded and Wedded for Revenge / The Italian Boss's Mistress of Revenge

There was accommodation for him at one end of the horse truck and she stayed at a local motel, usually booked out by other riders wanting a bit of social life in between training and competing. This time she planned to keep to herself, avoiding the gossipy crowd and their inevitable curiosity about the outcome from her father’s death. Most of them would imagine she was an heiress, and they’d be all agog if she had to explain her real situation. It was none of their business and she didn’t need that kind of distraction when she was competing.

As it was she had to deal with expressions of sympathy, but the aloof air she maintained protected her from more personal approaches. Until after she won a third place with her second-string horse and George Ponsonby decided she’d be in a more accessible mood with this success under her belt.

She’d no sooner dismounted and handed the horse over to Tim than George pounced, giving her a playful smack on the backside and flashing his whiter than white smile, designed to curl the toes of any female fool enough to fall for his boyish good looks and Casanova charm. Having competed in two Olympic Games, he was a fixture on the showjumping scene, and at thirty, had already been married and divorced twice to heiresses who’d found him cheating on them. Apparently she was his next target, no longer having a protective father in the picture.

“Great seat, Sally! How about plonking it on me tonight? I’m available. Good time guaranteed. Though since you must now be rolling in scads of money, you can shout for the drinks.”

Before she could draw breath enough to pour scorn on his arrogant confidence, another voice cut in, a hard challenging voice that brooked no opposition.

“Miss Maguire is not available tonight. She will be dining with me.”

Jack!

The shock of seeing him kicked her heart and left her mouth agape. George was stunned, too, not expecting to be challenged on what he considered his stamping ground. They both stared at Jack as he strolled forward to claim her company, taller than George and strongly emitting the dark power Sally associated with him—not a man to be thwarted on anything he aimed for.

Did George feel it, too?

He backed off fast. “Sorry. Didn’t know Sal was spoken for,” he gabbled and shot off to find easier game for a roll in the hay.

Jack paused to watch him flee the scene, surrendering the contest without so much as a backward glance, then cocked a sardonic eyebrow at Sally. “Just trying it on, was he?”

She scooped in a quick breath to relieve the tightness of her chest, which was being pummelled by a wild heartbeat. “George tries it on with every woman he fancies,” she answered dryly. “He’s incapable of keeping his trousers zipped.”

“No serious attachment,” Jack concluded.

“Never has been. Never will be with him,” Sally said, shrugging to show the situation with George was totally unimportant and not worth discussing. “What are you doing here, Jack?”

“Came to watch you compete.” His eyes drilled hers. “Am I in the way of some other attachment you have?”

“No. The riders are a fairly incestuous group. They tend to use sex as a bit of relaxation after the heat of competition. I don’t like that kind of meaningless intimacy so I steer clear of it.”

Why she was pouring out this intimate information she didn’t know. Somehow it seemed important for him to understand she was very discriminating about whom she shared a bed with.

“So you don’t sleep around on the showjumping circuit.”

Sexy satisfaction in his voice.

A wave of heat ran through her. “I’m not an easy lay anywhere, Jack,” she flashed at him, suddenly feeling he might be measuring her for his bed and not wanting him to think she would just fall into it with him at his bidding.

He smiled, not the least bit put out by her aggressive statement, amused by her need to make it. “I can get an easy lay any time I want one, Sally. That’s not what brought me to this show today. I simply wanted to see you doing your thing, and I was about to congratulate you on your third place when George’s familiarity with you distracted my intention.”

Confusion swirled over the sexual tension he raised in her. Most probably his interest was simply … interest. Something new. Something different from the life he usually led. She took a deep breath to feed some clearing oxygen into her muddled mind and managed a smile back at him.

“Well you certainly dealt with that effectively. I’ve never seen George so completely intimidated.”

He laughed. “I was offended on your behalf. Not only was the guy a groper but a freeloader, as well.”

Offended.

She looked at him consideringly. “So that was your protective big-brother act?”

“No.” His grin set her hormones buzzing again. “That was me wanting you to myself.” He waved towards the refreshment van. “I thought we could have a coffee together before your next event.”

“I’d rather have a long cold drink.” She was hot, and not just from competing in the show ring.

“Whatever you like,” he said equably.

She took off her riding helmet and ran her fingers through her hair as they moved towards the van. He watched her fluff out the rioting curls with a sensual little smile on his lips.

“Can’t blame George for finding you sexy,” he remarked admiringly. “Your hair is like a beacon on top of that figure-hugging navy jacket, not to mention the fawn pants fitting the bottom half of you like a second skin.”

Which made her acutely aware of her body and its quivery response to his highly male sex appeal, heightened by the black jeans and black T-shirt he wore, the force of his personality making every other man totally insignificant.

“It’s the official outfit,” she answered defensively. “And let me tell you George’s interest is more in my inheritance than me. Except I haven’t got one. And you butted in before I could correct his assumption.”

“Ah! Tricky business having bags of wealth behind you.” His eyes twinkled with wicked teasing. “At least you’ll know from now on you’re wanted for yourself.”

Was there desire for her simmering behind that twinkle? Her mind whirled with the frustration of not knowing, then seized on the chance to find out more about him. “What about you, Jack? Are there lots of women panting for what you’ve got? How do you sort them out?”

He shrugged. “Sooner or later that issue sorts itself out.”

The cynicism in his voice prompted her to ask, “You’ve never wanted to marry?”

He slid her a look that cut straight to her heart. “Are you angling to marry me, Sally?”

It shocked her into stopping dead. Agitated by his thinking it was possible, even probable, she swung to confront him with a rush of anguished protest. “No! Don’t ever think that! I’m not like my mother! I wouldn’t ever try to trap you or …or …”

His mouth curled sardonically. “So Lady Ellen suggested it.”

The certainty in his eyes made it impossible to deny. She had the sickening sense that he’d known it, anyway, known before she’d blurted out the too-revealing words about her mother. Her cheeks burned with the humiliating truth.

“What was the plan?” he bored in. “Lure me to your bed and get yourself pregnant?”

She grimaced at the accuracy of his deduction. “She said you had to want me or you wouldn’t have set up the situation with me at the property, and I could secure my future by … by giving you whatever you wanted and … and trapping you into fatherhood.” Her eyes begged his belief. “But I’d never have a baby for that reason, Jack. Please …don’t think I would.”

Had he been thinking it? Was that why he’d kept his distance from her?

“And I wouldn’t marry anyone for money,” she added vehemently. “I want …”

“What do you want, Sally?” he pushed.

She heaved a huge sigh and gave up her heartfelt truth. “I want there to be love between me and the man I marry. A deep and abiding love.”

“And while you’re waiting for this love—” he lifted a hand and gently stroked her burning cheek, an ironic little smile playing on his lips “—will you fill in the time with me?”

What did he mean?

Love and marriage had nothing to do with any relationship they might have.