Purebred, Page 2

  Seeing that Cat was standing there like a stone-cold statue, obviously tuned in to their disagreement, he ground out, “To where exactly?” Even if Cashel had tricked him, Aidan wouldn’t back up now. Mac Finnian was his responsibility. “Kentucky? New York? California?”

  “My farm is in Woodstock, Illinois.”

  “The Midwest?” He knew Cashel had been in the area once before for the Arlington Million, while Aidan had stayed behind to tend to the other horses they were training. “That would be in the middle of nowhere!”

  “As if this is the only somewhere,” Cat said. “Get over yourself, McKenna. There are places in the world other than your little patch of green. I can provide the means for you to see them, but I need to catch the next flight out. I’ve been called home for an unexpected court date. And my barn manager has done a disappearing act—” Catching herself before going on, she took a big breath and looked him squarely in the face. “When you decide what you want to do, call me.”

  With that, she headed straight for the exit.

  Cashel laughed. “At least Cat Clarke is something to look at.”

  Aidan found no fault with her looks—she was indeed fair, with a small waist and full hips and dark hair that teased breasts lush enough to tempt a man—it was the lass herself and the attraction that stirred his guilt that created the problem.

  “I’m going to town to pick up some supplies,” he said stiffly.

  “If you have no further objections, I’ll make the arrangements, then,” Cashel said. “I assume your agreement stands.”

  “Do what you need to.”

  Striding out of the barn into the soft day, where a fine, light mist covered him like fairy dust, Aidan wondered what he was getting himself into. Cat Clarke had come to Galway on an equine buying trip and had been sidetracked to watch Mac Finnian run on a practice dirt track, where she’d apparently been overly impressed with his time.

  While he’d been overly impressed with her until she’d taken that call. Her snapping at him was enough to convince him that he’d do best to stay away from her. She had a temper, that one, and she had attitude that reminded him of Cashel. Always one to be in charge.

  He preferred his women easy-going and good-natured, and Catrina Clarke was the complete opposite. Put her with himself and they were like oil and water.

  Facts were facts, though. They’d had no better offer.

  Mac Finnian wasn’t just any horse. He wasn’t simply a commodity to either McKenna brother and especially not to Aidan, who’d connected with him on a whole different level from the moment he’d been born. If he wanted to give Mac a chance to restore their coffers and make McKenna Racing’s name as top trainers in the Thoroughbred industry—and all without giving up ownership of the colt—he had no choice in the matter.

  Truth be told, Aidan needed a change, needed to get away from the familiar. Needed to get away from Cashel. He hoped the change in venue would be as good for him as it would be for Mac Finnian.

  Maybe getting away from Galway would free him from the dreams that haunted him, the guilt and memories of how their troubles had really begun.

  Of how the only woman he’d ever loved had died.

  Because of him.

  * * *

  HE HADN'T HAD SEX in too many moons. Any time he’d thought of it, memories of Pegeen had stopped him.

  And now he couldn’t stop himself.

  He was in her, touching her, making her moan. The sound vibrated through him, all the way to the length of flesh buried deep inside her.

  They were both panting…moving frantically…her full flesh butting his hips…trying to achieve something elusive…something just out of reach.

  Her back was to him so he couldn’t see her face, but her dark hair spilling down her back teased him with its sensuous softness and scent.

  He ran his tongue up her arm to her neck and lightly bit the soft flesh cradling her shoulder. She cried out and he felt himself give way, imagined tumbling over and over and over a waterfall until he sagged against her in glorious defeat…

  Aidan woke with a start. He’d soiled his sheets with the first sexual relief he’d experienced since the funeral.

  “No, no, no!”

  Pegeen had not been the woman he could still see in his mind’s eye.

  He hadn’t seen her face, but the woman had long dark hair like Catrina Clarke.

  Could he trust the dream or not?

  He no longer knew.

  Either he’d had a peek into the future, or he’d been tricked again.

  Either way it didn’t bode well for his new partnership.

  He had to make sure the dream didn’t take on a life of its own this time.

  Chapter Two

  Woodstock, Illinois

  “So what do you think?” Cat asked, when the vet finished examining Diamond Dame, one of her biggest client’s broodmares.

  Helen Fox removed her examination gloves and disposed of them. “I think she’ll be ready for cover in a few days. Make sure you tease her with a stallion between now and then since she’s a maiden.”

  “Got it.” Cat grinned at the redhead. “Things are going so well, I can’t help thinking this is going to be a spectacular breeding season.”

  “You’re good at what you do. That’s why I like working with you.”

  Cat liked Helen, as well. The vet loved her job. Loved animals. In her early forties, trim and attractive enough to look far younger, undoubtedly because her job so agreed with her.

  Cat followed the vet out of the barn. “More mares will be coming in to be bred next week.”

  “I’ll be back tomorrow to see if Diamond Dame is ready. And to check on Fairy Tail.”

  “Hopefully she’ll be with foal,” Cat joked.

  When she caught sight of the shiny new red truck pulling up in her drive, Cat felt her pulse immediately jump. It wasn’t that seeing her ex-husband excited her. Quite the opposite.

  Helen got into her truck and started the engine. “If you get three out of three of Dean’s mares on the first try, he’ll have to buy us a bottle of champagne to celebrate.”

  Cat waved the vet goodbye, a smile now plastered to her face. She was going to have to deal with Jack. Knowing he’d come because he wanted something from her, she was on edge at his very presence. She didn’t wait for him to swagger over to her.

  Leaving the barking dogs locked in the house, she met him halfway to the truck. He’d bought the shiny new toy with money he’d demanded and gotten from her in the divorce settlement. Beneath a tousle of wheat-blond hair, his gray eyes lit with amusement and his thin lips stretched into a smile, both of which made her cringe inside.

  “What is it this time, Jack?” she asked. “Could there possibly be something you forgot to take from me?”

  He’d already taken her self-respect, in addition to money he hadn’t earned and several of her best mares, to boot. She’d been grateful the judge had allowed her to hang on to her stallion. The farm itself was a Clarke family land trust, so thankfully Jack hadn’t been able to lay his sticky fingers on any part of it.

  “Now, Cat, is that any way to talk to the man you love?” he asked.

  He moved closer so she had to look up at him.

  “If I ever loved you, Jack, I can’t remember. You drove any good feelings out of me long ago.”

  “Is that your excuse—?”

  “I need no excuse for anything where you’re concerned. You lost the right to my good will when you took up with that…” She wanted to say that bimbo, but she bit it back since the other woman’s father was still a good client. “…woman.”

  “You mean my fiancée.”

  “Now you’re marrying her?”

  “Of course I am. I can’t live without her. We’re getting married as soon as possible.”

  The snide note in her ex-husband’s tone rankled. Though they’d lived apart for the better part of a year, more than half as long as they’d been together, the divorce had only been fina
lized a few weeks before. To her shock, she’d been summoned back from her buying trip in Ireland for a final court date. Jack hadn’t been able to wait to openly be with Simone Bradley.

  Simone obviously didn’t see Jack for the cheater and liar that he really was. He was good, really good, at fooling people. Women. Her. Undoubtedly Jack considered Simone a step up and had somehow convinced the young woman that he’d been the injured party in the marriage.

  “As soon as possible?” Cat asked, unable to keep the sarcasm from her voice. “Is it because she’s pregnant?”

  “Would you be jealous if she was?”

  “No, although I’m sure you would like that. The only blessing in our marriage is that I never brought a poor child into this world.”

  “Another reason I left you.”

  Cat swallowed hard and didn’t respond. She wouldn’t let him see how it bothered her. At thirty, she was completely aware of her biological clock. Being a breeder made her doubly aware of the irony of not conceiving herself. When Cat had learned of Jack’s affair, she’d felt like a fool, and had tried to see the positive side of not having children. Betrayed by the man she’d loved, Cat had not only thrown his ring back at him but his name, as well. She’d since done her best to get Jack Murray out of her life forever.

  But here he was again, on her doorstep.

  What would he demand of her this time?

  “I have work to do. Whatever it is, make it fast.”

  “I hear you’re backing an Irish colt, bringing him here to race, paying the entry fees. Thousands upon thousands of dollars.”

  “Which is none of your business.”

  “That’s big bucks. Obviously, you were hiding assets.”

  “I’m not the liar here, Jack. You are.”

  “Give me my cut and I won’t take you back to court.” Jack’s demand was muted by the sound of another vehicle pulling up.

  Cat looked past him to see her horse trailer being driven in by Raul Ayala, one of her workers. The Irish colt in question had arrived. Why now of all times? She’d waited anxiously for the two weeks it had taken to run blood tests to make sure the colt was healthy, then days while he’d been quarantined in New York. Ironic that Jack had to ruin his highly anticipated arrival…just as he’d ruined so many things for her.

  Jack looked, too, and then grinned at her. “Maybe I should talk to your new partner—”

  “Jack, just get off my property. Now!”

  “You can’t kick me out, Cat. If I give Martin the word, he’ll pull his broodmares and stallion from your barn, and where will that leave you?”

  Cat gaped. He might be able to do it, too, since apparently he was going to be Martin Bradley’s son-in-law.

  “It might be worth it to get you out of my life once and for all!”

  Although it might break her financially. And she’d always gotten along with Martin, if not with his daughter Simone.

  Aidan McKenna jumped out of the passenger seat of the truck, and with a terse nod at her, went around back to check on the colt. Her stomach clenched. She didn’t want him embroiled in the middle of her troubles with her ex-husband. Not a pretty way to start a business partnership.

  “I see George hasn’t returned,” Jack noted, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on her. “What did you do to chase him away?” He made it sound like it had been her fault that he’d strayed from their marriage bed.

  Cat went speechless for a moment.

  Apparently right after she’d left for Ireland, George Odell had simply disappeared. No one claimed to have seen him since. He’d worked for her family since he was a young man. She couldn’t fathom his leaving without giving her some good reason—not to mention a way to contact him—and feared something bad had happened to the old man. The fact that most of his things were still in his trailer didn’t mean anything to the authorities, because it was obvious he’d packed a bag—some of his clothes, his good boots and his shaving kit were gone. According to the police, it wasn’t a crime or a reason for concern for a man to leave his job without notice, not even if he didn’t collect his back pay.

  Cat only hoped they were right, and that one day George would simply show up with an explanation as to why he’d had to leave for a while.

  “You owe me money, Cat. If you used up your cash on him,” Jack said, indicating Aidan, “I’ll settle for a couple more broodmares.”

  A statement that made Cat go stiff. “You already got your settlement in court.”

  “I’m going to give those broodmares I was awarded to Simone as a wedding gift. Martin will want you to breed them, of course.”

  Cat gaped at him. “You bastard!”

  During the divorce settlement, she’d learned how greedy he could be, but she hadn’t known he could be this cruel.

  “Go to your new woman if you need cash!”

  “What I need is the cash to buy her an engagement ring that will turn heads.”

  Cat held herself in tight control so that she wouldn’t lash out at the bastard. She wanted to slap him—hard!—in the worst way. If only she could get him out of her life. If only she could. Him and Simone. The young woman often came to Clarke Acres with her father, Martin, to check on his broodmares.

  “What did you do with the settlement, Jack? More bad investments? Don’t come to me to solve your problems!” Realizing she was yelling, she reined in her temper the best she could. “And stop threatening me. Now, get off my property before I call the sheriff!”

  With that, she stalked away from him, chest heaving, unable to take a normal breath as she approached the truck and horse trailer. Now she had to deal with another man in the racing game who set her on edge, but she couldn’t let him get to her.

  She had to make nice to her new partner.

  She’d taken a loan to get the money to bring Mac Finnian from Ireland, and since she didn’t own the farm outright, she’d used her broodmares as collateral. Her business and future was riding on this relationship.

  When she heard Jack’s truck start up and move off, Cat was relieved. The last thing she needed was for Jack to complicate things for her right now.

  She had to prove herself.

  If Mac really was as good as she thought he was, he’d race only a year or two at the most, and then be put to stud for six-figure fees. She would pay back the loan with her percentage of the money he made. Then she would be able to breed him with her mares and hopefully foal the next generation of Illinois Thoroughbred champions. Whether she sold the colts and fillies or raced them herself was the big bonus, the opportunity to have money in the bank again, to enhance her reputation, to expand her business—all reasons she’d taken this chance.

  As Aidan jumped out of the back of the trailer, she tried to assure herself this wasn’t impossible, tried not to be affected by his bigger-than-life presence. That had been the first thing she’d noticed about him when they’d been introduced in Ireland.

  The hitch was that she would have to work with Aidan to make the farm’s success happen. Having heard the argument between him and his brother, she feared getting along with him would be as difficult as dealing with Jack.

  No, he couldn’t possibly be as infuriating as her ex-husband.

  Although the way Aidan was looking at her now, caution stilling his perfectly chiseled features, his thick-lashed green eyes narrowing on her, Cat knew she had her work cut out for her.

  She had to make this partnership succeed.

  Had to, or she could lose everything.

  Chapter Three

  “Welcome to Clarke Acres, Aidan,” Cat said, holding out her hand.

  He took it for a shake and was surprised both by her strength and the feel of her palm and fingers. No softness there. It was evident she didn’t just run the place but worked it herself. She was dressed in dirt-streaked work clothes—cotton shirt rolled to the elbows, jeans, mucking boots—and her dark hair was pulled back from her makeup-free face in a ponytail. Not that she needed makeup or a fancy hairdo or
clothes. She was attractive without trying.

  “To the start of a successful partnership,” he said.

  “I’m counting on it.”

  Though her words were positive, her smile was forced and didn’t quite reach her hazel eyes. Because of the argument she’d just had with the ex, or because of him? He’d known she had a temper, so while mildly unpleasant, witnessing the argument had been no surprise.

  Aidan nodded and released her hand. “Where does Mac go, then?”

  She indicated the very large building set back a hundred yards from the house. “Raul will get him set up in a stall.”

  “I’ll be doing that myself, if you don’t mind.”

  “Oh…of course. I just thought you might be tired from the flight. Or hungry.”

  The flight from Shannon to New York had exhausted him, but he’d had three days to recuperate while the colt had been quarantined. The two-hour flight from New York to Chicago had raced by in comparison. But they didn’t feed him in economy, and then, after the plane had landed, he’d been too concerned with checking to make sure Mac had made a safe crossing to worry about finding food for himself.

  “I could use a bit of food,” he admitted. “After I make sure the colt is settled.”

  Cat nodded. “I don’t cook fancy, but I have a pot roast in the Crock-Pot. It’ll be ready anytime you are.” She moved to the front of the trailer and opened the truck’s passenger door. “Raul, please take them to the barn, and show Mr. McKenna around. Get him anything he needs.” She indicated Aidan should get back in the passenger seat. “Then bring him around to the house and take his bags down the rear stairs.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Aidan nodded as he climbed back into the truck. Cat had thought of everything, including a temporary living arrangement in something called an in-law apartment on the lower level of her home. He would make certain that it would be very temporary. Once he settled Mac in a stable at the track, he would then look for a flat for himself nearby. Confident he could control what did or did not happen between them if he put his mind to it, Aidan knew he couldn’t chance living this close to Cat for any length of time.