Miranda Lee - Marriage At A Price

by Marriage At A Price(Lit)

  'Sleep well?' Lois remarked over their second cup.

  The girl looked tired, she thought. Though still beautiful. How was it that when you were only twenty-five dark circles under your eyes looked sexy, but once you passed forty you just looked wrecked?

  'Fine,' Courtney lied. She'd tossed and turned for most of the night, unable to get out of her mind that Jack might have lied to her, that he was, at that very moment, making mad, passionate love to the awful but stunningly gorgeous Katrina.

  Her emotions had kept alternating between anger and jealousy, though who exactly she was most angry with she wasn't sure. She still wasn't. Probably Jack, for even falling in love with such a creature in the first place. My Gocl, didn't he have any taste? The woman was a witch, a manipulative, gold-digging, heartless witch.

  Who was probably brilliant in bed.

  More than brilliant.

  Bad Men liked women to be bad in bed. They liked it a lot. Courtney knew that for a fact.

  'It's Jack, isn't it?' Lois said abruptly.

  Courtney's darkly bruised eyes whipped up from where she'd been staring blankly down at her plate. 'What?'

  'Jack Falconer. You fancy him.'

  Courtney shrugged. 'Who wouldn't?'

  'I don't. He's not my type at all.'

  Surprise that Lois even had a type must have shown in her face, for Lois laughed, i

  'You think I don't have a sex life?'

  'I...I guess I never really thought about it at all.'

  Typical. The young think sex is only for the young.'

  'No, I don't,' Courtney denied.1 'I just thought you were totally wrapped up in your horses and didn't want or need a man in your life. Mum said you were divorced, and I guess I jumped to conclusions. The wrong conclusions, I see,' she added, feeling both curious and intrigued by this woman who had been on the fringes of her life for many years but whom she'd never bothered to really get to know. Yet she liked her. She liked her a lot. 'So what is your type, Lois? Tell me.' 'Hard to describe, exactly. But I know it when I see it. He's usually of average height. I don't' like men to tower over me. Nicely built without being muscle-bound. Elegant in his movements. A good rider,' 'she said, her smile wicked. 'And with dark eyes. I adore dark eyes.'

  'How old?'

  'Age is immaterial. I've had lovers in their twenties and in their fifties.'

  'And where do you find these men?' Courtney knew how hard it was to have a relationship with a man when you worked with horses. It was a seven-day-a-week job.

  'I hire them.'

  Courtney tried not to look shocked, and almost managed. 'You...hire...them,' she said slowly, her mind whirling. 'As in...how? From an escort agency?'

  Lois chuckled. 'Lord, no. I mean I hire them to work for me. You must know how often grooms come and go in this business. When I'm interviewing new staff, if I see a fellow who appeals to me physically, I hire him.'

  'Good grief. And does he...um...they...um...always come across?'

  'Most of the time. I'm the boss, after all.'

  'Wow!'

  'You're not too shocked?'

  'No! Heavens, no. But don't these men...um...talk?'

  Lois shrugged. 'Not often. They know what side their bed is buttered on. To be honest, I'd prefer a permanent relationship, but not many men can handle a woman as strong as myself on a day-to-day basis.'

  'I know what you mean.'

  'What about you, Courtney? Will you be looking to get married one day?'

  'Never.' She'd never met one single married man who didn't want to be the boss of his wife. Not one. And she knew she could never handle that.

  'What about children? Don't you want children?'

  Courtney had always pushed the issue of children to the back of her mind. 'I'llprobably have a child one day. I'd like someone to leave Crosswinds to. But I don't have to be married for that. And I don't see any rush. I'm only twenty-five.'

  'True. But the years have a habit of slipping away from you. You wouldn't want to wake up one day and find out it's too late.'

  The telephone began ringing.

  'Excuse me a moment,' Lois said. 'It's probably an owner. Sunday is visiting day.'

  She swivelled round in her chair and reached for the mobile phone which was resting on the kitchen counter. She pressed the button and swept it up to her ear. 'Lois Wymouth speaking,' she said sweetly. 'Well, if it isn't Jack Falconer!'.

  Courtney stiffened in her chair.

  'You're up bright and early. Did our mystery investor come to the party...? Wonderful...! He doesn't.:.? God, talk about super-secretive... She's upstairs... I'll go and get her for you...'

  She cupped her hand firmly over the phone. 'Looks like you have your sucker. But he still wants to keep his ID a secret till he signs on the dotted line. Anyway, lover-boy wants to talk to you personally. Would you like to take the call somewhere more private?' she whispered.

  'Just give me the phone, Lois. Nothing of that kind will be going on between me and Jack now that I'm doing business with him. Unlike some people, I don't mix business and pleasure.'

  'Oooh. That's power talking for you. But will you be able to sustain your good intentions when you have Jack all to yourself up in that big old house for a few days and nights? I don't see him playing gentleman for that long. Not when he fancies you as much as you fancy him. And he does. I do have eyes, girl.'

  Courtney had been worrying about exactly the same thing herself. 'I'll have Biggs sleep on my bed.'

  'That old mongrel? Your stable cat is a better guard dog than him.'

  'Maybe. But Biggs looks fiercer.'

  'Well, take my advice and get in a good supply of condoms. Don't want any unexpected little filly or colt arriving next year, do we?'

  'As if I'd ever let myself accidentally get pregnant to any man. Don't you think I learnt anything from my mother? Now give me the darned phone!'

  Lois sighed, and handed it over. Courtney rose and walked into the lounge-room, away from prying ears. 'Jack! Lois said you have some good news for me.'

  'I surely do. It's all systems go. My client is happy to invest the four million in Crosswinds you need, provided everything is shipshape.'

  Courtney frowned. 'Er...what does he mean by shipshape? I did explain to you the place is looking a bit rundown. That's why I wanted the four million instead of the three I already owe the bank.'

  'I'm not talking about surface appearances. I'm talking about the land itself and the quality of your stock. The brood mares and the stallions you have standing at stud. Especially the latter.'

  'We have three stallions at stud, two older well-formed stallions'and one exciting new prospect.'

  'Goldplated,' he said before she could.

  'You know about him?'

  'I looked him up last night. He's impeccably bred, the full brother to a Golden Slipper winner. He never started in a race! after an accident on the training track, though he had jwon two well-documented trials in brilliant fashion. He stood his first and only season at a stud in Victoria, with an amazing fertility strike-rate of one hundred percent. Which raises the question of why did they sell him?'

  "That's easily answered. That stud stands his full brother as well, the Golden Slipper winner. They felt it wasn't commercially sensible to keep two stallions of exactly the same blood lines. But they were wanting to use Goldplated just once on some of their own mares before they let him go. I think you'll find he didn't service any outside mares.'

  'They sold him at a bargain basement price.'

  "That's because he's still a risk. It'll be two more years before his first crop reaches the track. A lot can happen between now and then.'

  'I hope he's insured,' Jack said.

  'Do I look like a fool?' Courtney thanked God for Bill, or she would have.

  'Right, well, I'll want to know exactly how many mares Goldplated is booked to cover this season, how much you currently charge for his services, and how much you might be able to charge in the years to come, if his
progeny start winning good races. This is obviously a long-term investment and my client will want to know what Crosswinds' prospects are, long-term.' I

  Courtney frowned. 'You've certainly done your research.'

  'Amazing what you find out on the internet.'

  'Is that what you were doing last night? Finding out what you could about breeding racehorses?'

  'Partly.'

  Courtney pulled a face. He sure liked to play his cards close to his chest. 'I see. Well, Sarah will be able to give you all the facts and figures on all our brood mares and stallions.' She'd already decided to turn Jack over to as many other people as she could during his stay at Crosswinds. 'Sarah's the office manager at Crosswinds. She's been there for yonks and probably knows more about those things than I do.'

  Which was just so much bulldust. There wasn't anyone at Crosswinds who knew more about the horses there than Courtney. i

  'When can you be ready to leave?' Jack asked. 'I was thinking of a ten o'clock start. Would that be too early for you?'

  Courtney glanced at the chiming clock in the corner of the lounge-room. It was ten to nine. 'She was already up, showered, dressed and breakfasted. Packing would take all of five minutes.

  'I'm ready now,' she said, and he laughed.

  'I guess I'm used to a different type of female. Katrina needed at least a day's notice of intent to go anywhere.'

  Courtney thought of Katrina's perfect hair and exquisitely made-up face. No doubt the rest of her required as much time-consuming pampering. Her clothes selection for each occasion probably took hours. And she'd have to race out and buy something new if she didn't.have just the right thing.

  'Speaking of Katrina,' Courtney couldn't resist saying, 'did she happen to accidentally show up at your place last night?'

  'No,' he said without hesitation. 'She did not. Happy now?' he added, a cool amusement in his voice.

  Courtney realised she'd just made her first mistake, if she wanted to keep this man at arm's length. 'Just checking to make sure you weren't too exhausted to drive all day, she said drily.

  'It's only about six hours to the Upper Hunter Valley. Longer if we stop. Which we will, of course.'

  'Oh?'

  'For lunch.'

  Reasons for stopping other than for lunch had flashed into Courtney's mind.

  'I'll bring a picnic,' he said.

  The vision of them lying together on a rug on some sun-drenched riverbank was not conducive to Courtney's rapidly disintegrating peace of mind.

  'Please don't do that,' she said sharply.

  'Why not?'

  She decided to nip things in the bud.

  'This is a business trip, Jack, not some romantic getaway. I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea yesterday. I am very attracted to you, I admit. But I don't mix business with pleasure, and that's final.'

  "That's telling me straight, isn't it?'

  'It's better to be up front. Saves trouble later on.' - 'What kind of trouble are you referring to?'

  'Having to handle men who think I'm going to be a push-over in my business dealings with them just because I'm sleeping with them.'

  'And that's happened to you in the past?'

  'In a fashion.' That vitamin rep had expected her to buy swags of his stuff, just because she'd spent one wretched weekend away with him..

  'Does it occur to you that all the power in this case is on your side?' Jack said drily. 'Sleeping with me might get me to overlook any shortcomings in Crosswinds.'

  'I don't believe that for a moment.'

  'Why not?'

  'Because any man who paid back all his partner's debts out of his own purse when he didn't have to is not going to play deceitful with a client.'

  'There's always the first time,' he said wryly.

  'No, Jack. That's not you.'

  'Not me,' he repeated slowly. 'I doubt you know the real me, Courtney.'

  'I have a pretty good idea. I'm quite a good judge of character. I have every confidence that you won't put the hard word on me, if I ask you not to. But if you're ever tempted, I'll have Biggs by my side.'

  'Who the hell is Biggs? Some kind of bodyguard?'

  'My trusty guard dog. He's a cattle dog cross. He comes with me everywhere.' A slight exaggeration. Mr Biggs, who was rising ten, spent most of his days snoozing on the swing seat on the front veranda. Only occasionally did he wander around the farm with her nowadays. And he never went in the ute with her any more, ever since she'd run into a ditch the previous year and

  he'd been thrown out of the passenger window, landing in a freshly deposited cow-pat. His dignity had been seriously offended.

  'Thanks for telling me,' Jack said ruefully.

  'I thought it only fair to warn you.' 'In that case, it's only fair that I warn you in return.'

  Courtney stiffened. 'About what?'

  'I don't take orders very well.'

  'Meaning?'

  'Just that. See you at ten. With a picnic basket.' And he hung up.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  'WOULD you like to have a turn behind the wheel?' Jack asked an hour into the trip. They had not long crossed the Mooney Mooney bridge, and were heading north on the F3 freeway which connected Sydney to Newcastle. Traffic was light, compared to what was heading south towards Sydney.

  Courtney shot Jack a surprised glance. When he'd first pulled up outside Lois's place in a red sports convertible with the top down and a personalised number plate- JF2000-on it, she'd been agape with shock. When she'd questioned how he could afford to even insure such a car, he'd shrugged and said that he'd bought it to celebrate the new millennium. And what the heck? You only lived once.

  Courtney's sentiments exactly. She adored sports cars. Always had. She was sure she would adore driving one, but had never had the chance. Till now.

  'You mean it?' she asked, her heart thundering.

  To show her he did, he immediately pulled over to the side of the road, leaving the powerful engine growling impatiently whilst he jumped out and strode round the low, sleek front of the car.

  Courtney ogled him every step of the way, thinking he looked even more hunky in casual clothes than he did in a suit. His long legs, narrow hips and compact butt were just made for jeans, and his big chest and broad shoulders impressively filled out his navy blue pullover. He would look damned good in the buff, she couldn't help thinking.

  'Well, what are you still sitting there for, girl?' he chided when he yanked open her door. 'Hop to it.'

  Courtney snapped out of her lust-filled reverie, leapt out and raced round before he could change his mind, telling herself that if she couldn't enjoy his body then she was darned well going to enjoy his car!

  'Don't forget there's a one-ten speed limit on this road,' Jack warned when she roared off.

  'Do you think they'd book me at one-twenty?'

  'Yes. So stick to one-fifteen. Max.'

  'Okay, boss.' She flashed him a happy grin.

  "That'll be the day,' he muttered, and Courtney laughed.

  The next hour was thrilling! So much better than driving the ute. Courtney hummed happily as she sped along the expressway with the wind in her face and her ponytail streaming out behind.

  "This must be what it felt like riding Big Brutus down the straight yesterday,' she shouted at one stage. Tan-bloody-tastic!'

  The turn-off for the New England highway came up all too quickly, with Jack asking her to pull over shortly afterwards.

  'Can't trust you to slow down for all the little towns we go through on this road,' Jack commented once he was behind the wheel again. 'I can see you're a speed freak.'

  'I am,' she said, nodding agreement. 'I just love anything fast Always have.'

  'And what else do you love?' he asked, his sexy blue eyes slanting her a seductive glance.

  Courtney's stomach curled over, making her realise that driving Jack's car had undermined her defences where he was concerned. It was high time to get herself

  under control again. In
a few short hours they would be at Crosswinds and this would never do, having her in-sides flip over every time he looked at her.

  'I love being behind the wheel,' she said firmly, 'in everything I do.'

  "That can be exhausting. Aren't there ever times when you just want to lie back, relax and let someone else be responsible for things?'