Barbara Dunlop - His Convenient Virgin Bride

“It’s my hotel room. And she’s my wife-”

“Give me a break!” Stephanie threw up her hands. “I’ll leave.”

“No.” Alec’s hand shot out to stop her. “We need to talk.” Past today, they were still having a baby, and they still had to make that work.

“Let go of Stephanie,” Royce growled.

Amber came to her feet, voice commanding. “Stop this. All of you. I mean it.”

She placed herself between Alec and Royce. “Alec wants to talk to Stephanie.”

Royce clamped his jaw in silent protest, but everyone filed out. Alec was left alone with Stephanie. “For the record,” he told her, “I advised them to tell you the truth.”

She didn’t turn around. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

“I promised I wouldn’t.”

She was silent for a moment. “So a business contract is more important to you than your wedding vows?”

Alec drew a breath.

“Never mind,” she continued. “Don’t answer that.”

He moved a few steps toward her. “It was complicated. I had no right-”

She turned. “No right to be honest with your wife?”

“Don’t twist things to score points.”

The woman had enough on her side of this argument without doing that.

She dropped into one of the French provincial chairs. “So, I guess I’m a bastard.”

He pulled out another chair and angled it toward hers, sitting down. “So am I. It’s not so bad.”

“I meant literally, not metaphorically.”

“So did I.”

Her expression softened ever so slightly. “Really?”

“My father eventually married my mother.” Though that had turned out to be more a curse than a blessing.

Stephanie slumped back in the chair. “My mother had an affair.”

“So it would seem.”

“I’ve had her up on a pretty high pedestal all these years.”

Alec leaned forward, covering Stephanie’s hands where they rested in her lap. “She was human.”

“You accept infidelity?”

“I understand weakness and imperfection.”

“Are you imperfect, Alec?”

“I took your virginity and made you pregnant while I was working for your brothers. Then I lied to you. Well, held back the truth anyway.”

“And you’ll eventually be unfaithful.”

He drew back. “What? No. Why would I-”

“Can you really stay celibate for months on end?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. He’d never tried.

It had only been a couple of weeks since the wedding, but so far he hadn’t had any overwhelming desire to sleep with other women. Ironically the only person he wanted to make love to was Stephanie.

“You’ll eventually give into temptation,” she determined.

“Where is this coming from?”

“My mother did. Your parents did. We did.”

“You’ve really wandered off on a tangent here.” He wanted to talk about her family, to make sure she was coping okay with the truth.

“I’m merely pointing out that we both have the infidelity gene.”

He coughed out a surprised laugh. “It comes down to principles and personal choice.”

“We slept together.”

The reminder made him aware of their joined hands, her sweet scent and those cherry-red lips that were slightly parted with her breath.

“Yes, we did,” he agreed.

“When we shouldn’t have.”

“That’s debatable. We didn’t betray anyone.”

“Except maybe ourselves.”

Alec shifted his chair closer and raised their joined hands. “Do you feel guilty, Stephanie?”

She gazed into his eyes. “Do you?”

He shook his head. “I don’t have a single regret about making love to you. And I don’t hate Frank Stanton. And I’m glad your mother gave into temptation. If not for that, you wouldn’t be here.”

“So, I should be grateful?”

“You should be sensible. Don’t rail against things you can’t change. Just make the best of what you have.”

She seemed to think about that for a minute. Then her lips softened, and her voice went low. “I miss you, Alec.”

Desire instantly overran his brain. “I’m right here.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.” He steeled himself against the urge to drag her into his arms. “But you’re upset and vulnerable, and I still have a few principles left.”

Silver sparkled to life deep in her eyes. “How can I get rid of them?”

Simply by breathing. His hands convulsed around hers. “You can’t.”

A sharp rap sounded on the suite door, and Stephanie frowned.

Alec felt like he’d been saved from himself. They were only going to stay away so long.

“You know Stephanie’s going to see him,” Amber warned Royce in an undertone.

Alec slowed his steps, not wanting to intrude on what was obviously a private conversation, but wanting to know about anything that involved Stephanie.

She and her brothers had talked late into the night. Then Alec had seen her briefly at breakfast. But Wesley was in final preparation for competing tomorrow, so Stephanie’s entire day was being spent at the arena. It annoyed Alec that Wesley was still flirting with her.

Royce gave Alec a nod of welcome. “I’m half tempted to buy it for her,” Royce said to Amber.

“You know you can’t do that,” Amber returned. “The price tag’s up over a million dollars.”

“Hey, Alec,” Royce greeted, and Amber turned around to face him.

Alec wished he could ask what they were debating. He hoped there weren’t any more family secrets being kept from Stephanie.

He settled for, “What’s up?”

“Blanchard’s Run is here,” said Amber.

Alec nodded, hoping to bluff his way through the conversation.

“Stephanie’s still upset,” said Royce.

“You can’t buy her a million dollar horse to make her feel better,” warned Amber, jabbing Royce with her elbow. “Tell him, Alec.”

“She’s right,” Alec agreed. Stephanie didn’t need monetary bribes from her brothers. She needed them to respect her enough to be honest with her.

“She’s had her eye on him for months,” said Royce.

“Here she is now,” Alec warned them, as Stephanie approached from the opposite end of the barn. Her smooth, sexy stride carried swiftly along in her tooled cowboy boots.

Amber and Royce both turned.

“Uh-oh,” Amber breathed.

Stephanie’s attention had been caught by one of the stalls. She stopped and drew back in obvious surprise. Then she turned to walk to the gate.

She stood there for a few moments staring at the horse inside. Then she squared her shoulders and resumed walking toward them.

Nobody said a word as she approached.

“You knew, didn’t you?” she asked her brother.

“We just found out,” Amber quickly put in.

Stephanie cocked her head as she gazed steadily at Royce.

“We just saw him,” he backed Amber up.

“But you weren’t going to tell me.”

They didn’t deny it.

“Was that for my own good, too?”

When nobody immediately answered, she shook her head in disgust then paced off down the center aisle of the barn toward the hotel and the main offices.

Alec went quickly after her. “What was that about?”

She didn’t break her stride. “Blanchard’s Run.”

“He’s a horse, right?”

“He is.”

“And you want to buy him?”

“I do.”

“But he’s expensive.” Alec had the full picture now.

“He’s a bargain.”

“A million dollars?”

“You’re just like the rest of them.”

“Hold up there for a second.” He snagged her arm, tugged her to a stop before she could exit the barn and join the crowds outside.

She stopped, but turned on him, eyes blazing.

“Is this important?” he asked.

“Not at all,” she denied.

“Stephanie?”

She drew in an impatient sigh and crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because I do. Because you’re not mad at me, you’re mad at them.” He jabbed his thumb back in Royce’s direction. “And because I hate it when you act like a spoiled kid.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“You’re not, you know. You’re an intelligent woman who knows what she wants and how to work for it. You want this horse, and I’m curious to know why.”

“Fine.” She drew a breath. “I’ve been interested in Blanchard’s Run for nearly a year. I’ve studied his blood-lines and the conformation of his offspring, along with their competition records. And I think the combination of Blanchard’s Run and my retired mare, Pinnacle, would produce fast, smart, high jumpers. If science and genetics has anything to say about it, the EBVs of their offspring would be off the charts.”

“EBVs?”

“Estimated Breeding Value.”

“Oh.”

“In technical terms, they would be worth a whole lot of money.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I can also breed him to three other mares I’ve bought this year, partly in anticipation of a future acquisition of Blanchard’s Run. Then, three, maybe five years from now, if his existing offspring prove out the way I expect them to, and if the Ryder foals show promise, we’ll be able to get top dollar for the animals.”

Alec was impressed. “So, why don’t your brothers want you to buy the horse?”

“Because they’ve never listened long enough to know my plan is based on concrete science. They assume I’m operating on emotion instead of intelligence.”

“They’re wrong,” said Alec.

“Yeah? Well, since I’m out of the will, I don’t have much of a leg to stand on anymore.”

“There is that.” Even as Alec was agreeing with her, he was coming to a decision.

It had nothing to do with guilt. And it had nothing to do with his feelings for Stephanie. And it wasn’t to help her feel better after yesterday’s revelations. It was a good business decision, plain and simple.

Stephanie blinked in disbelief at Blanchard’s Run’s ownership papers. They’d been delivered to the hotel suite five minutes ago, with her name on the envelope.

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head against what had to be an illusion. But, no, she wasn’t crazy. That was her name, and Ryder Equestrian Center, and Blanchard’s Run’s pedigree.

The suite door opened.

Alec strode in and glanced at the papers. A grin spread across his face.

“You?” she asked in amazement.

“I thought you made a convincing case.”

She stared up at him, her brain grappling with the situation. “You bought Blanchard’s Run?”

He tossed his key card on the table near the foyer. “Was it all true? The EBV thing?”

“Of course it was.”

“Good. ’Cause if it’s not, I just made a very big mistake.”

“It’s all true,” she assured him with a nod, emotion stinging the backs of her eyes. Nobody had ever trusted her like this before.

“I’ll expect him to make money,” Alec warned.

She nodded. “He will.”

“Are you hungry?”

Suddenly she was. “Starved.”

“You want to go out or stay in?”

“Could we eat out on the balcony?” she asked, warm feelings for Alec blossoming inside her. It was a gorgeous night, and she loved the view across the grounds to the arena. She felt like celebrating. And she felt like being alone with Alec.

“I’ll call room service,” he offered.

“I’m going to shower.” She hugged the ownership papers to her chest, smiling all the way to her bedroom.

Alec had made a business investment in her. He trusted her to make good decisions, to make money.

She set the papers carefully on the bedroom desk, smoothing them out. Then she stripped off her work-worn clothes and headed for the shower.

She scrubbed her hair and rinsed it with conditioner. Then she shaved her legs and used some of the rose scented shower gel and body lotion provided by the hotel. After blow-drying, she wrapped herself in a fluffy robe and wandered back into her bedroom.

The windows were open, letting in the fresh night air.

She felt light and happy, optimistic about the future for the first time in weeks. Blanchard’s Run would kick Ryder Equestrian Center to a whole new level.

She pulled open the dresser drawers. Her choices were limited, but she was in a mood to dress up.

She found a matching set of underwear, white lace panties and a low-cut bra. She pushed a pair of pearl earrings into her ears, fastened the matching necklace and bracelet, then crossed to the closet for the single dress she’d brought along on the trip.

A soft, clingy knit, it had narrow straps, a low square-cut neck and crisscrossed ties decorating a tapered V back. The skirt flared over her hips, cascading softly toward her knees. She quickly realized the bra wouldn’t work and tossed it back in the drawer.

In the bathroom, she put on a little makeup. She tied her hair up, then brushed it back down, then twisted it in a messy knot at the back of her head, letting wisps curl across her forehead and along her temples.