LITMIR.BIZ

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he joking? “I hear my father going on about Hux Rawson all the time.”

      “Wait. Didn’t you say you’re in New Jersey now?”

      He was right. She hadn’t lived here in New York with her father for years. “We keep in touch…phone calls, emails. I visit when I can.”

      Like this weekend. In fact, she was meant to have been her father’s plus-one last night. Feeling under the weather, he’d backed out at the last minute.

      Way to go, fate.

      “Oh. Well…” Running a hand through his delectably mussed dark blond hair, Ajax blew out a breath. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

      “Sorry to hear that we keep in touch?”

      “Sorry that your dad hasn’t moved on. Must be tough holding on to a grudge like that.”

      Veda’s cheeks heated up more. Drake Darnel was a whole bunch of things. But c’mon now. Let’s be fair.

      “I guess it would be difficult to move on when someone swoops in to steal the love of your life. The woman you’d planned to marry.”

      Ajax’s tilted his cleft chin. “Did you say steal?”

      “My father gave her a ring. Then Hux made his move and voilà.” Game over.

      “Uh, Drake offered a ring, which my mom declined. I heard that directly from her, by the way. And with regard to Dad casting some kind of a spell… Veda, it takes two to tango.”

      He gave the room a sweeping gaze, as if to say “case in point.”

      Veda wasn’t finished. If they were doing this, she wanted to make the connection between then and now. Between player father and chip off the old block. Just one more reason last night had been a bad idea.

      “I believe Hux had quite a reputation in those days.”

      Ajax frowned slightly. “He was a dude who dated before finding the right one and settling down.”

      Drake preferred to explain Hux’s bachelor past in terms like skirt-chaser, Casanova, cheat, although that last dig was aimed more at the Rawsons’ questionable business ethics. On top of the issue of how Hux had stolen Drake’s would-be bride, the Rawsons and Darnels owned competing Thoroughbred stables. More often than not, Drake’s horses were beaten by a nose by a Rawson ride.

      Better training? Sporting luck? Or was something more going on behind the scenes with regard to performance?

      As far as Veda was concerned, the entire horse racing industry was unethical. Cruel. That didn’t even touch on the social pitfalls of gambling, where in some cases, entire paychecks were burned practically every week, leaving families in crisis. Long ago she had made a promise to herself. The day her father passed on, a for-sale sign would go up outside the front gates of the Darnel Stables and every horse would find a home without the threat of whips, injury or being shipped off to the glue factory when it was past its use-by date.

      Shuddering, Veda refocused. Ajax was still talking about his folks.

      “My mother and father were deeply in love. They were committed to each other and their family. Mom made a choice all those years ago. One she wouldn’t hesitate to stand by if she was alive today.”

      Veda was sorry that Mrs. Rawson had died when Ajax was still a boy. Losing a parent at a young age changed who you were, how you coped. Every day Veda wished that her own mom was still around. She wished her childhood had been different—normal—rather than the screwup she had muddled and struggled through.

      But now was not the time to go down that particular rabbit hole. She was vulnerable enough as it was.

      Veda wound her hands tighter into the bedsheet she was holding close to her breasts. “I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree,” she said.

      “I guess we will.” Ajax’s gaze dropped to her lips as he added, “And if you want to leave… I get it. I do. Just please know that I don’t have anything personal against your dad.”

      She wasn’t done with being ticked off. The Rawsons had a lot to answer for. Still, Ajax’s olive branch seemed so genuine, and the apologetic expression in his eyes looked so real… It wouldn’t hurt to concede at least a small point.

      “I don’t hate your dad, either. I haven’t even met the man.”

      “But you will. I presume Lanie invited you to her big birthday bash at home next month.”

      She nodded. “Should be good.”

      Though she wasn’t looking forward to her father’s reaction when he heard the news. While Drake knew that she and Lanie Rawson were more than acquaintances now, he was far from happy about it. He wouldn’t care to hear that his daughter was looking forward to celebrating with her friend at her party.

      And, of course, Ajax would be there, too, looking as magma-hot as he did right now.

      His smile was just so easy and inviting.

      “Wow. The Darnels and Rawsons finally coming together,” he said. “Just goes to show, things change, huh?”

      Veda gave in to a smile, too.

       Just goes to show…

      And because Ajax always seemed to know precisely when and exactly how to act, he chose that moment to lean in again. And when he slid that big warm hand around the back of her neck, this time Veda didn’t resist. She simply closed her eyes and inwardly sighed as he pushed his fingers up through her hair and his mouth finally claimed hers the way it was always meant to. For better or worse, the way she must have wanted all along.

       Two

      “Eyes off. That means hands, too, partner.”

      Recognizing the voice at his back, Ajax edged around. Birthday girl Lanie Rawson stood there in a bright haute couture gown, hands on hips, a vigilant eyebrow raised.

      Ajax played dumb. “Eyes and hands off who exactly?”

      “If you don’t already know, the bombshell you’re ogling over there is Veda Darnel,” his sister replied. “Drake Darnel’s daughter and a good friend of mine.”

      When Ajax had gotten together with Veda four weeks ago in Saratoga, she had mentioned something about her and Lanie being tight. Frankly, in those initial few moments, he hadn’t focused on anything much other than her amazing red hair and stunning lavender evening dress. Tonight, with that hair swept over one creamy shoulder and rocking a shimmering lipstick-red number, Veda looked even more heart-stopping.

       Eyes off?

       Never gonna happen.

       Hands off?

       We’ll see.

      Crossing his arms, Ajax rocked back on his boot heels. He’d had a full day at the stables before racing out to the track in time for the “riders up” call. After a thundering win, he’d made his way to the winner’s circle to congratulate the jockey, the assistant trainer and their most recent champion, Someone’s Prince Charming. Man, he loved that horse. Then he’d shot back to the on-site office to check messages and shower before driving the extra half mile here to don a tux. But first, he’d decided to take a peek at the party that was already getting under way in a glittering tented pavilion in the backyard of the estate.

      Now, before he went inside to change, he had a question or two for Miss Lanie Bossy-Pants.

      “How did you and Veda Darnel become pals?”

      “We met at a women’s business luncheon last year,” Lanie explained, slipping her hands into the hidden

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