One Scandalous Christmas Eve

by Susan Stephens

  Worthy sentiments were soon surpassed by a flash of triumph as he reflected that all this belonged to him now. Jess didn’t know the extent of his deal with her father. Jim Slatehome had asked that they keep it between themselves for the time being that Dante had bought the farm and everything on it. ‘She can be difficult, our Jess,’ her father had explained. ‘She’s had a tough time. I’ll know when it’s the right time to tell her. Until then, say nothing. I don’t want her upset after all she’s done.’

  Triumph yielded to lust as Jess brought her pony alongside him at the fence. ‘This is our best horse. Her name is Moon,’ she informed him.

  ‘You handle her well.’

  She smiled. ‘High praise indeed.’

  ‘I mean it.’

  This was possibly the first relaxed conversation they’d had, and it allowed him to press forward with his plan; rather than alienating Jess, he had to form a connection with a woman who could be useful to him. There were always vacancies for top-class riders in one of his teams. ‘Show me what she can do,’ he encouraged.

  ‘I just did.’

  ‘Please,’ he coaxed, dialling up the charm.

  ‘As it’s you...’ But she was smiling.

  He leaned on a fencepost as Jess put the promising mare through her paces. The pony could be difficult and liked to show off. Sensing he was watching her, Moon kicked out her back legs and bucked. Jess remained perfectly balanced throughout.

  ‘Good job,’ he said when she returned to his side.

  ‘I love the challenge of a spirited pony,’ she enthused as she reined in.

  ‘I love a challenge full stop.’

  She blushed.

  ‘You’ve got a good seat.’ She had a great seat. It would fit his hands perfectly. ‘Do you play?’

  ‘I take it you’re referring to polo?’

  ‘What else?’ he asked, throwing her a surprised look.

  ‘I used to play,’ she admitted, ‘but I’m usually too tired by the end of each day, so I read instead, play the piano, or crash out in front of a soap.’

  ‘Everyone needs fresh air. You should get out more.’

  ‘Says you?’ she jibed.

  Humour drained from his eyes. It was common knowledge that Dante Acosta had been housebound since discharging himself from hospital, and that this was his first appearance in public. ‘Don’t make me regret accepting the invitation to come here today.’

  Jess had the good sense to say nothing. She didn’t need to. Her eyes spoke eloquently, telling him, I’m not sure yet what’s in it for you, but you would have left by now if the answer was nothing.

  ‘What are you doing?’ she asked as he opened the gate to join her in the paddock.

  ‘I want to see Moon close up for myself.’

  ‘Take care; she bites.’

  ‘You or the horse?’

  ‘She won’t like your cane.’

  ‘Then may I suggest you dismount and hand her over to a groom?’

  ‘A groom?’ Jess intoned. ‘Where do you think you are? This is a working farm, not some billionaire’s playground.’

  His hackles lifted. ‘I live on a working ranch. My business life and home life are very different. Do you want me to trial her or not?’

  ‘You already own her.’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Then she’s all yours,’ Jess said with a shrug, but as she turned he saw that accepting the inevitable wasn’t easy for Jess. She loved these animals and couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing them again.

  ‘Be careful,’ she said as he vaulted into the saddle using only the strength of his arms. ‘Moon can be tricky.’

  ‘You care?’ he asked as he soothed the horse.

  ‘I care about Moon,’ she told him.

  ‘Hey, querida, let’s see what you can do,’ he whispered, adding soothing words in Spanish. The pony’s flattened ears pricked up at the sound of his warm, encouraging tone and she didn’t disappoint, though each swerve and bounce jangled his damaged nerve-endings.

  ‘A good enough reason to accept treatment?’ Jess suggested as he made sure not to stumble as he dismounted, by taking the weight on his one good leg.

  ‘She’ll make the first team,’ he said, ignoring her question.

  ‘Your reputation is well deserved,’ she commented as he handed over the reins.

  ‘Do you mean I can ride?’ he suggested with a grin.

  ‘Like a master,’ she said frankly.

  ‘Your father has lost nothing when it comes to his gift for breeding and training some of the best horses in the world, and some of it’s rubbed off on you.’

  ‘Only some of it?’ she said, smiling.

  ‘All right...’ With a conciliatory gesture, he smiled too. That connection he’d wanted was on the rise.

  ‘Do you want to trial any more ponies?’ Jess asked.

  ‘I’ll leave that to my grooms. I trust a practised eye and intuition.’ And his leg couldn’t take any more today.

  ‘How will you transport the ponies to Spain?’ Jess asked with concern, glancing at his helicopter in the next field.

  ‘The same way my grooms arrived today. In a specially adapted jet,’ he revealed.

  ‘You haven’t wasted much time,’ she observed suspiciously.

  ‘I never do.’ He let the silence hang for a few seconds before adding, ‘You should come with me when I go back to Spain—to settle the horses,’ he went on before she could argue.

  ‘Can’t your grooms do that?’

  ‘I thought you’d like to do it. The ponies know you. They don’t know my grooms yet.’

  She couldn’t argue with that, but she did raise one objection. ‘I have work commitments.’

  So it wasn’t a flat no, he registered with satisfaction.

  ‘And luckily they dovetail nicely.’

  Well, that was a surprise. ‘So you’re saying yes?’

  ‘I believe I am,’ Jess confirmed, as if all the advantage in coming to Spain with him was on her side.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  JESS HAD NEVER seen her father looking so relaxed. He looked ten years younger, as if all his worries were behind him. She’d just sat down when Dante entered the kitchen.

  ‘It was good of you to judge the children’s pony race,’ her father exclaimed as Dante sat next to her.

  Tingling apart, she was surprised to learn that the great Dante Acosta had joined in to such an extent. ‘I didn’t know you’d been so busy,’ she admitted.

  ‘I enjoyed it,’ Dante confessed with a sideways look that heated her up from the inside out. ‘We’ll have to make it an annual event. You were busy being Skylar,’ he reminded her.

  ‘It must have been a bit different to your usual afternoon,’ her father ventured with a laugh.

  ‘I enjoyed every moment,’ Dante assured him with a look at Jess.

  ‘Dante picked prize winners in each different age group,’ her father revealed, ‘and spent extra time with a little girl who forfeited her race to go back and help her younger brother.’

  Saint Dante? Jess reflected, amused in a good way. What Dante had done today had put him in the spotlight, which couldn’t have been easy for him, but the children would have loved having one of polo’s biggest stars taking an interest in them.

  ‘That was very good of you,’ she said frankly.

  ‘So. Transport tomorrow,’ he said.

  ‘Tomorrow?’ Jess hadn’t expected to be leaving the farm quite so soon.

  ‘I don’t waste time. Remember?’ Dante prompted.

  Only an Acosta could make things work as fast as this. Jess’s spine prickled. What was she getting into?

  ‘You’ll find my jet comfortable, and the ponies will have the best care possible.’ Dante was continuing as if there was nothing unusual in making a decisio
n one minute, a plan the next, and executing that plan the following day. ‘A vet and her assistant will be on duty throughout, while my grooms will be in constant attendance. You’ll have very little to do, other than to keep a watchful eye on the animals and inform my grooms if they have any quirks or preferences.’

  ‘But I must be home for Christmas.’ Dry-mouthed and backtracking fast as the extent of her commitment to a man she hardly knew, who lived in a country she wasn’t used to, hit home, Jess added, ‘I won’t leave my father on his own.’

  ‘How old do you think I am, Jess?’ her father protested. ‘You have to stay in Spain until you’re sure those animals are happily settled. You know how much they mean to me.’

  And there was that contract she’d signed for the Acostas, which could keep her in Spain a lot longer than that. ‘I’ll be back for Christmas,’ she stated firmly.

  Jess managed to convince herself that this trip made good sense. She was going to reassure herself and her father that the horses were properly settled. That was important. She also had to find the right opportunity to break the news to Dante that she was his new therapist. He wouldn’t thank her. The regime she’d mapped out would be punishing. He’d left it so long—too long—that only the most intense therapy would stand a chance of effecting change. Even then, there was no guarantee of a full recovery.

  With that situation unresolved, she turned her thoughts to something she could influence, which was care of the horses. ‘I have no idea how the ponies will react until we’re in the air,’ she admitted honestly. ‘I’ll feel more confident when we land, especially if your facilities are as good as I hear they are—’

  ‘They are,’ Dante assured her.

  ‘Then I don’t foresee any problems.’

  ‘And I’m happy to welcome you on board.’

  * * *

  He was proud of his jet. He owned a couple of smaller aircraft as well as several helicopters, one of which was kept on his yacht, but this huge aircraft with its custom fittings and long-range capabilities was his particular pride and joy. It enabled him to be anywhere in the world on a whim—with or without his horses. There were stalls rivalling any in the world on the lower level, and a fully staffed veterinary surgery in case of emergency. The upper level was more like a super-luxe apartment than anything resembling a plane. One of the foremost interior designers had kitted it out to Dante’s specific instructions to include bedrooms, a galley manned by a Michelin starred chef, as well as a couple of luxurious bathrooms. In addition to this, he had a full working office and a spacious lounge where he could relax.

  ‘Wow,’ Jess gasped when they had boarded and she could look around. ‘This isn’t so much an aircraft as a flying palace. And you need all this...why?’

  ‘Because I’m a very busy man.’

  ‘I can see that,’ she agreed, viewing the tech in his office as he took her on the tour.

  ‘Would you have my horses walk home?’

  ‘Of course not, but it does seem...how can I put this?...very big for one man.’

  ‘How kind of you to highlight my regrettable bachelor status,’ he mocked lightly.

  ‘Don’t mention it,’ Jess returned, matching his tone and adding a grin.

  At least she was relaxed. ‘Make yourself at home,’ he invited. Cabin attendants were standing by with trays of the finest Cristal champagne, as well as delicious canapés designed to tempt a flagging appetite.

  ‘I’d rather see the horses settled, if you don’t mind,’ Jess told him matter-of-factly, managing a warm smile for the attendants at the same time. ‘Could you show me the way, please?’ she added.

  ‘Of course.’ There were many things he’d like to show Jess, and not with stabling as his first stop. He wanted to introduce her to his world, to show her that it was as purposeful as hers, and that it just had more trimmings. No woman had ever made him feel the need to justify his wealth. Because they took it for granted, he concluded as he led the way to the lower deck. Jess took nothing for granted.

  ‘This is incredible,’ she breathed as she stared with interest at his state-of-the-art equine facility. ‘I’m even more impressed than I was on the upper deck. ‘You’ve thought of absolutely everything.’

  ‘Horses are my life,’ he confessed, dragging deep on the familiar and much-loved scent of warm horse and clean leather.

  ‘Do you mind if I stay down here while we take off? I’m concerned that the noise might spook Moon.’

  ‘The pilot won’t allow you to wander around at will. You’ll have to be strapped in for take-off. The grooms have their own drop-down seats, much like the cabin attendants on a regular flight.’

  ‘So long as Moon knows I’m here,’ she agreed. ‘Why don’t you go back upstairs and relax? There’s no reason for both of us to be here. I’m sure the grooms and I can handle everything. Why don’t you take the chance to rest that leg?’

  ‘I’m not an invalid,’ he retorted sharply.

  ‘No. You’re anything you choose to be,’ Jess agreed with a pointed look at his cane.

  ‘I hope you’re not suggesting that it’s my choice to use this?’

  ‘You don’t have much alternative at the moment,’ she pointed out. ‘Nor will you until you accept treatment.’

  ‘I’ll be staying down here too,’ he gritted out, keen to change the subject. ‘These ponies represent a huge financial outlay—’

  ‘Don’t give me that,’ she flashed back. ‘You love them as much as I do.’

  ‘I care for all my animals,’ he conceded, ‘and I’ve noticed, as you must have done, that Moon is particularly edgy, so I’ll be staying with her when we take off.’

  ‘One rule for you and another for me?’ Jess challenged. ‘Don’t you have to be strapped in?’

  ‘It’s my jet and I do what the hell I like.’

  ‘Regardless of safety?’

  ‘Don’t make me send you upstairs.’

  ‘Why don’t we both stay with Moon to reassure her?’ she suggested mildly, refusing to rise to his threat.

  ‘Because spending time with a woman who appears to take pleasure in sticking sharp words into my leg and shattering glances at my cane holds zero appeal.’

  ‘Oh, I think you can take it,’ she said. ‘As you must shortly take some painful treatment.’

  ‘You know a lot about me. Or think you do.’

  Jess ignored this too and as she slipped into Moon’s stall he followed her.

  Moon became agitated when the jet engines screamed, eyes rolling back in her head.

  They stood either side of the anxious mare to soothe her. Perhaps the combination of two people who cared got through to the spooked animal. Moon settled and allowed him to scratch a favoured spot beneath her chin. By the time the jet had levelled out everything was calm again. Which was why Jess’s tense expression surprised him.

  ‘You okay?’ he asked.

  ‘Of course.’

  He was going home, but Jess was taking a step into the unknown, he reasoned as she worried her bottom lip.

  ‘You’ve been standing long enough,’ she said, switching the spotlight to him.

  Who was in charge here? His concern for Jess evaporated. ‘You don’t give orders on my flight.’

  ‘Agreed,’ she said without objection.

  ‘But?’

  She braced herself as if preparing to drop a bombshell.

  ‘Spit it out,’ he advised.

  ‘You’re in my care.’

  ‘I’m sorry?’ he queried, frowning.

  ‘This is as good a time as any to explain that your siblings hired me to treat your leg. Which means obeying my instructions,’ she went on before he could answer. ‘The alternative is to throw their care and love for you back in their faces.’

  ‘How long have you known this?’ he asked in an ominously measured tone.
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  ‘I swear I haven’t had chance to tell you before now. Yesterday flew by—’

  ‘And you could not have made time?’ he queried, controlling everything in his manner and voice to avoid upsetting the skittish mare.

  ‘I didn’t want anything to worry my father.’

  ‘And how would this news have done that? Surely he’d be glad you’ve got another high-profile client?’

  ‘All right,’ she admitted. ‘I anticipated your reaction, and I’m worried about you. You need this treatment badly, so please don’t be angry. I’m very good at what I do. Your brothers and sister wouldn’t have hired me otherwise.’

  He shook his head. ‘You should have told me at the first opportunity.’

  ‘And I have.’ She held his stare without blinking. ‘You can always refuse treatment, but for your sake I hope you don’t.’

  Truth might be blazing from Jess’s eyes, but that wasn’t enough to stop him feeling deceived and wrong-footed. ‘We’ll pick this up another time.’

  ‘This is surely not a complete shock. You knew you would be undergoing treatment.’

  ‘Not with you. I was expecting a physiotherapist, yes.’

  ‘And you’ve got one,’ Jess pointed out. ‘One with three years’ experience at a prestigious London teaching hospital before I went into private practice to allow for more flexibility.’

  So she could take care of her father, he presumed Jess meant by that. He couldn’t knock her for something he would have done. Family meant everything to both of them.

  ‘I’m known for my good results if people listen to me,’ she went on. ‘That’s why your family contacted me. Word of mouth is the most effective marketing tool.’

  He didn’t trust himself to discuss this yet, and Moon, sensing discord between them, was fast becoming restless.

  ‘You’re unsettling her,’ Jess murmured as if he needed this pointing out.

  ‘Is that why you chose to tell me here? Because I couldn’t make a fuss.’

  ‘I think you’d better leave,’ Jess told him in the same calm tone.

  ‘No one tells me to leave.’

  ‘It’s best for the horse.’