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Chapter Three

Dressed in jeans, a black chambray shirt and boots Noah looked so damned sexy it literally made her gasp. He held keys in one hand and a pair of sunglasses in the other.

She stared at him, determined to hold his gaze. Finally, curiosity got the better of her and she clicked Indiana forward. “What do you want?”

He moved toward her and touched Indy’s neck. “Nice-looking horse.”

“Thank you,” she said stiffly, hoping he couldn’t see the color rising over her cheeks. Callie collected the reins and swung herself out of the saddle. “Did you want something?” she asked again once both feet were planted on the ground.

“I did.”

So tell me what it is and go away so I can stop thinking about how totally gorgeous you are and how much you make me think about wanting all the things I never thought I’d want again.

“How did you know I was here?”

“Your apprentice told me where to find you.”

Joe? Callie wanted to ring his neck. “So you’ve found me. And?”

“I’d like to talk to you.”

Callie tilted her chin. “What have I done now?” she asked, clutching the reins tightly so he wouldn’t notice her hands were shaking.

He half smiled and Callie’s stomach did a silly leap. “I guess I deserve that,” he said.

She moved Indiana forward. She wouldn’t fall for any lines, no matter how nicely he said them. She wouldn’t be tempted to feel again. She couldn’t. It hurt too much. “Oh, I see—today you come in peace?”

“I wanted to apologize.”

“You’re a week too late,” she said stiffly and led the horse away. Callie felt him behind her as she walked—felt his eyes looking her over as he followed her past the rows of small stables until she reached their allocated stall.

Fiona came out from the adjoining stall. “Hi, Noah,” Fiona greeted with a cheek-splitting grin. Callie didn’t miss how the other woman’s hand fleetingly touched his arm.

Clearly, no introductions were required. Fiona saw her look and explained that she taught his son at the local primary school and took an art class with his sister, Evie.

“So you two know each other?” Fiona asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “We do.”

“I’d better go,” Fiona said quickly and began leading Titan from his stall. “My event is up next. Wish me luck.”

Callie watched her friend lead the big chestnut gelding away and then turned her attention to the man in front of her.

“Okay,” she said. “You can apologize now.”

He laughed and the rich, warm sound dipped her stomach like a rolling wave. Callie felt like smiling, but she wouldn’t. She wanted to be mad at him—it made her feel safe.

“I overreacted last week,” he said. “I know Lily took your horse without permission.”

Her chin came up. “Bravo. I’ll bet saying that was like chewing glass,” she said as she opened the stall and ushered Indiana inside. Then she clicked the bottom door in place. “So,” she said, “was there something else you wanted to discuss?”

“First, that you reconsider and give Lily riding lessons.”

Callie didn’t try to disguise her astonishment. “I thought you were going to find her another instructor.”

“Apparently you’re the best around.”

“Yes,” she replied, fighting the rapid thump of her heart. He was close now. Too close. “I am.”

“And I want the best for my daughter.”

“You should have thought about that before you called me an irresponsible nutcase.”

His green eyes looked her over. “Is that what I said?”

Callie unbuttoned her jacket. “Words to that effect,” she said, feeling suddenly hot and sweaty in the fine-gauge wool coat she’d had tailored to fit like a glove. She longed to strip off her hat, but the idea of him seeing the very unattractive hairnet she wore to keep her thick hair secure under the helmet stopped her.

He smiled. “Then I owe you an apology for that, as well.”

“Yes, you do. So, anything else?”

“That you give me another chance,” he said quietly. “I might be a jerk on occasion … but I’m not such a bad guy.”

She snorted and that made him smile again. God, her hormones were running riot. Did this man know how earth-shatteringly gorgeous he was? She had to pull herself together. He leaned back against the stall and Callie watched, suddenly mesmerized as the cotton shirt stretched across his chest as he moved. One step and I could touch him. One tiny step and I could place my hands over his broad shoulders.

“So, do we have an arrangement?”

His voice jerked her thoughts back. “No, we don’t.”

“Are you going to play hard to get?”

The double meaning of his words could not be denied and Callie blushed wildly. She looked at her feet, thinking that any minute she was going to plant one of her size nines into her mouth and say something she’d regret. And typically, she did exactly that.

“I’m not playing anything with you,” she said hotly. “As you pointed out so clearly last weekend, I don’t have the skills required to handle your daughter. What I do have is a business to run … a business that means everything to me. I work hard and I won’t do anything that could tarnish my reputation.”

His gaze narrowed. “And you think teaching Lily would?”

“I think …” She stopped. It wasn’t about Lily. It was about him. She only hoped he didn’t realize it. “I think … another teacher would be better for her. Someone she would actually listen to.”

“And if I promised that she would listen to you, Callie?”

She drew in a breath. It was the first time he’d said her name. It sounded personal. Intimate almost. “You can’t promise something like that.”

“She’ll do what I ask.”

Yeah … like putty in his hands. That’s how Callie felt at the moment. “Look,” she said pointedly. “All I want to do is run my school and care for my horses and try to fix up my house, which is crumbling around my ears. I just don’t want any drama.”

It sounded lame. Callie knew it. He knew it.

Something passed between them. Awareness? Recognition? A look between two people who hardly knew one another … and yet, strangely, on some primal level, had a deep connection. More than merely man to woman. More … everything. It scared the breath out of her. Thinking about him was one thing. Feeling something for him was another altogether.

“And there’s nothing I can offer you that might make you change your mind?”

Callie’s temperature rose and launched off her usual, well-controlled sensible-gauge. It was ridiculous. She couldn’t imagine everything he said to her had some kind of sexual innuendo attached to it.

“Nothing.”

“Even though you say you need the cash?”

It sounded foolish put like that. But she wasn’t going to give in. “Exactly.”

“That doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

“Well, you know me—all bad judgment and recklessness.” She picked up the pitch fork. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have to go and watch Fiona.”

He half shrugged, looked at the pitch fork as though she might consider running him through with it, then took a small card from his pocket and passed it to her. “If you change your mind—”

“I won’t.” Callie folded the small business card between her fingers and opened the door to Indiana’s stall. She slipped inside and waited a full five minutes before emerging—and only when she was certain Noah Preston had left.

Noah usually let the kids stay up a little later on Saturday nights. But by eight-thirty the twins were falling asleep on the sofa and Jamie took himself off to bed just after Hayley and Matthew were tucked beneath the covers.

Lily, however, decided to loiter in the kitchen, flicking through cupboards as she complained about the lack of potato chips. She made do with an opened box of salted crackers.

“So,” she said as she sat. “Did you ask her?”

Noah stopped packing the dishwasher and looked at his daughter. The makeup and piercings and black clothes seemed more out of place than usual in the ordinariness of the timber kitchen. He wished she’d ditch the gothic act, but he’d learned fast that barking out ultimatums only fueled her rebelliousness.

“Yes.”

Lily looked hopeful and Noah’s heart sank. How did he tell his kid the truth? “She’s thinking about it,” he said, stretching the facts.

His daughter’s expression changed quickly. “She’s still mad at me?” Lily dropped the box of crackers and stood. “She’s the best, Dad. And learning from the best is important. It means I might get to be the best at something, too.”

She looked painfully disappointed and Noah felt every ounce of her frustration. If she’d followed Callie’s rules, it wouldn’t have been a problem.

“Lily, whoever you get lessons from, you’ll have to follow the rules.”

Lily’s dramatic brows rose. “I’m not the one who shouted at her.”

Noah stiffened. “I didn’t shout. We had a conversation.”

“Yeah, and after that she said she wouldn’t teach me.”

He had to admit his daughter had a point. If he hadn’t acted so irrationally and lost his cool with Callie, he figured Lily would have been able to stay at the school. Lily had messed up, but so had he.

“‘Night, Dad,” she said unhappily and left the room.

Noah looked at the clock. He was weary but not tired. He left the dishwasher and headed for the living room. The big sofa welcomed him as he sat and grabbed the remote.

Another long Saturday night loomed ahead. He flicked channels absently and settled for a movie he’d seen before. It didn’t hold his attention for long. He kept thinking of Callie. She was a real dynamo. All feisty and argumentative, high octane. But underneath, he saw something else … something more. He wasn’t sure how he knew—but he did. Whatever was going on with her, she wore it like a suit of armor. And he was interested in knowing what lay underneath all that fire and spirit. Hell, he was more than interested. Way more. The way she’d glared at him from beneath her hat, the way she’d filled out her riding jodhpurs … His skin burned thinking about it.

He flicked channels again, but it was no use. Television wouldn’t hold his attention tonight. More so than usual, he felt alone and … lonely. Absurd when he lived in a house filled with children. And when he considered how great his family was. He loved his kids. His parents were exceptional, and his sisters were the best he could ask for.

But right now he wanted more than that. He needed more than that.

But what?

Company? Someone to talk with?

Sex?

Perhaps it was more about sex than he was prepared to admit. Up until a week ago he’d been in a kind of sexual hibernation. But Callie had him thinking about it. And got him hard just thinking about it. And not the vague, almost indistinct inclination that usually stirred him. This was different. Way different.

Maybe I should ask her out?

That was crazy. That would be like standing in front of a bulldozer.

She can’t stand you, he reminded himself. Okay, maybe I’ll just ask her to reconsider about Lily again?

Despite his brain telling him to forget the idea, Noah picked up the telephone and dialed the number he couldn’t recall memorizing but somehow had. She answered on the fourth ring.

“Callie, it’s Noah Preston.”

Silence screeched like static. Finally she spoke. “Oh—hello.”

“Sorry to call so late.”

A pause. “That’s okay—I’m not in bed yet.”

His body tightened. He had a startling image in his head and shook himself. Maybe I will ask her out. “I was wondering if you—”

“I haven’t reconsidered,” she said, cutting him off.

“What?”

“About Lily,” she said on a soft breath.

All he could think about was that same breath against his skin. “I was actually—”

“Janelle Evans,” she said quickly, cutting him off again.

Noah paused. “What?” he asked again.

“She’s an instructor just out of town. She has a good reputation. She breeds quarter horses. I have her number if you’re interested.”

Oh, I’m interested all right. But not in Janelle Evans.

She was talking fast and Noah knew she was eager to end the call. Bulldozer, he reminded himself. “Ah—sure.”

He took the number she rattled off and had to ask her to repeat the last few digits because she spoke so quickly.

“Well—goodbye.”

He hesitated, feeling the sting of her reluctance to engage in conversation. “Yeah, okay—goodbye.”

She hung up and he dropped the telephone on the sofa. He needed a shower—as cold as he could stand. Then he’d go to bed and sleep off the idea that he wanted to make love to Callie Jones more than he’d wanted to do anything for a long time.

* * *

On Sunday morning Callie woke at seven, after spending a restless night fighting with the bedsheets.

It was all Noah Preston’s fault. She didn’t ask for his late-night call. She didn’t want to hear his sexy voice just before she went to bed. She didn’t want to spend the night thinking about him.

She dressed and made short work of a bowl of cereal topped with fruit, then grabbed her hat and headed outside. The sun was up, already warming the early October morning air. She fed Tessa then headed for the stables, where Joe waited outside Indiana’s stall.

“Are you taking the big fella out this morning?”

Callie shook her head. “Not today.” Indy’s long head swung over the top of the door and she ran her hands down his face. “‘Morning, my darling boy.” She turned back to Joe. “He did well yesterday, two firsts and a third, so he gets a day off. Give him a feed, will you, and then tack up Kirra. The English saddle please.”

Joe made a face. “What do I tell the kid?”

Callie frowned. “What kid?”

“The one who’s here for a lesson.”

Callie shook her head. “I don’t have anyone booked until eleven.”

“I know,” Joe said. “I checked the booking sheet. But she’s here.” Joe pointed to the office. “I put her in there,” he said, then more seriously, “and told her not to touch anything.”

Callie strode the twenty meters to the office and swung the half-opened door back on its hinges. She stood in the threshold and looked at the young girl sitting at her desk.

“What are you doing here?”

Lily Preston swiveled in the chair and got to her feet. “Um … I’m here for my lesson.”

Callie inhaled deeply. “You’re not having a lesson.”

“But I thought—”

Callie placed her hands on her hips. “You have to go home, Lily.” She turned on her heels and went to walk away but stopped when the teenager spoke.

“Please.”

She turned back and looked at the teenager, whose green eyes were wide open, their expression sincere. Lily was sorry. Callie could feel it. Something tugged at her heartstrings.

Callie took a deep breath. “Indiana is my horse, Lily. And as quiet as he is, you could have been badly hurt. And I would have been responsible.”

Lily’s chin lifted, half defiant. “But I can ride a bit.”

“A bit isn’t good enough for a horse like Indiana, especially in an ill-fitting bridle and without a saddle.”

Lily looked shame-faced beneath her makeup. “I really didn’t mean to cause any trouble,” she said. “I just … sometimes I just do things. I don’t know why. I do things I know are stupid, but I can’t help myself.”

The tug on Callie’s heart grew stronger. She knew exactly what Lily meant. Kindred spirits, she thought. But, oh, God … what should she do? Say yes to this girl who looked at her with such raw intensity. A girl, she suspected, who rarely showed that side of herself to anyone. But a girl whose father she couldn’t stop thinking about. Who, without even trying, was making Callie feel, imagine.

“I’ll do whatever you want,” Lily said quickly, almost desperately. “Please teach me.”

Before Callie could reply Joe stuck his head around the door to tell her Kirra was ready. She thanked him, then returned her attention to the teenager. “I’ll tell you what—you stay out of trouble while I work my horse and we’ll talk after.” She stood aside for Lily to pass. “No promises, just talk.”

Callie led Lily from the stables and told her to stay put near the dressage arena. She gave her an old soda crate to sit on and then took the red bay mare into the arena. She worked her for twenty minutes, trying to concentrate on the maneuvers and transitions from trot to canter. But her mind wasn’t really on the job. Lily sat on the sidelines, watching her, masked behind her makeup.

Ten minutes later Noah Preston’s silver utility vehicle pulled up outside the stables. Callie continued with her ride, watching as he got out and opened the back door of the truck. The children stepped out. The older boy grabbed the hands of the twins and listened as his father spoke to them. Then he headed for Lily. He had a great walk, she thought. And he looked so good in jeans and a black T-shirt. Way too good.

Callie watched as the kids followed behind him. And again it stirred something inside her. An old longing. And it gave her a snapshot of a life she’d never have.

Ryan …

The longing turned into a pain—a piercing, incredible hurt that always took root behind her ribs when she thought about the beautiful baby boy she’d lost when he was just two days old.

I miss you Ryan … I miss holding you … I miss watching you grow up and become the person you could have been.

Kirra sensed her distraction and started prancing sideways at a trot. Callie got her quickly under control and eased her to a halt in the center of the arena. And she watched as Noah began talking with his daughter. Lily nodded, he shook his head. Lily said something, he replied. The conversation lasted for some minutes and the three younger Preston children stood quietly behind their father. Finally, Lily waved her arms about and stomped off toward the truck. He said something to the three kids and they sat on the soda crate. Then he headed through the gate and into the arena.

Callie dismounted and pulled the reins over Kirra’s head, collecting them in her left hand. She fought the ridiculous impulse to take off her safety hat and smooth out her hair or rub her hands down her breeches.

He stopped about two feet in front of her. “Hello,” he said.

Callie swallowed. “Hi.”

He went to say something but then stopped. He patted the horse instead. He had nice hands, she noticed. Tanned and strong looking. She quickly snapped herself out of her silly female fantasy. “I was going to call you,” she said. “You beat me to it.”

“I knew she’d be here.”

“You did? How?”

“Because you were the last thing we talked about last night. And I know Lily—when she gets her mind stuck on something, she can be impossible to deal with.”

Callie raised her brows. “Looks like you’re surrounded by impossible women.”

My God, am I flirting? That’s what it sounds like.

And he smiled. As though he liked it. “I could think of worse things.”

Everything around her suddenly felt hot—the air in her lungs, the sand beneath her boots. “Anyway—she didn’t do any harm while she was here.”

“She’s changed since her mother left.”

Not what he wanted to say, Callie was sure of it. It was too familiar, too personal, too everything. And Callie wanted to clamp her hands over her ears. She didn’t want to hear any more. She didn’t want to know him. She didn’t want to know more of him.

“No problem.” It was a pitiful attempt at sounding indifferent.

“She used to be … sweet. A real sweet kid. And then she changed almost overnight.”

Callie felt another surge of feeling for Lily. She knew all about change. She knew what grief and hurt could do to a person. “Is that the reason for the makeup and black clothes?”

He shrugged. “Something to hide behind, I guess. She still wants riding lessons.”

Callie clicked Kirra forward and began to walk from the arena. “Well, Janelle Evans is a good instructor.”

He stepped in beside her. “She’s asked for you.”

“She can’t … you can’t … I just …”

Something happened then. Her legs stopped moving. Her lungs stopped breathing as she turned and their eyes locked. For one extraordinary moment Callie knew that whatever she was feeling, he was feeling it, too. It was crazy, heady and blindingly powerful.

He spoke first. “Lily rarely asks for anything.”

Callie continued walking. “Which means?”

“Which means I’m inclined to do whatever I can to see that she gets what she wants.”

They got to the gate. Callie tied Kirra to the railing, took a deep breath. “I’m not sure I—”

“Callie,” he said “Please, reconsider.” He placed his hand on her arm. A light touch, but the electricity coursing between their skin could not be denied. He looked at his hand but didn’t remove it. Callie stood still, held in place by his touch, by the mere wisp of space that lay between them. “Lily needs you.” He paused, watching her. “And I … and I need you.”