Seduction, Westmoreland Style - Brenda Jackson [13]
“You make it sound like a horse is almost human, Casey.”
“No, I’m not saying that but what I am saying is that when it comes to horses, there has to be a foundation of trust established upon which all further development and training must be built. Without it, training a horse like Prince Charming to do anything, especially to win a race, will be hopeless as well as impossible.”
McKinnon basically agreed with everything she’d said but he wouldn’t let her know that. He would continue playing devil’s advocate until he had her just where he wanted her.
“I think you’re wrong on that account, Casey.”
“And I think you’re too close-minded to see that I’m right.”
He lifted a brow, not taking his eyes off hers. “I dare you to prove me wrong.”
“Consider it done,” she said, without thinking.
He leaned forward in his chair. “Good. And since you’re so keen on the idea of the new way of doing things, I’ll pay you fifty thousand dollars for your efforts. You have eight weeks and you’ll have to stay on my ranch in the guest house.”
Casey blinked. What was he talking about? So she asked him.
He smiled. “You just accepted the challenge to prove me wrong with Prince Charming. But if you’re not sure of your capabilities I’ll most certainly understand and let you back out of it.”
She glared at him. “I know what I’m capable of doing, McKinnon.”
“So you say but I don’t want to put you on the spot. I’ll fully understand if you decide you can’t handle things.”
Casey’s glare intensified. “When it comes to a horse, McKinnon, I can handle just about anything.”
He shrugged. “You have eight weeks to prove it.”
Casey glanced around the table at her father and Abby. They had been quiet during her and McKinnon’s entire conversation and were now staring at her. There was no way she could back out now, although a part of her felt that McKinnon had somehow deliberately set her up.
She then turned her attention back to McKinnon, glaring at him. “Fine, I’ll show you just what I can do, McKinnon Quinn. I just hope you’re ready for me.”
McKinnon leaned back in his chair. He decided not to tell Casey that if he lived to be the ripe old age of one hundred, he would never, ever be ready for her.
Chapter 4
The dark blue car caught McKinnon’s eyes the moment it pulled into the yard. He’d been walking out of the barn and stopped a moment to look at the woman sitting behind the wheel. Casey had said that she would arrive within two days and she had kept her word.
He still had mixed feelings about her being there, but he had a business to run and hiring her on had made business sense. He would just have to call on his common sense and keep as much distance between them as possible. At least she would be living in the guest cottage out back and not under the same roof, he thought, as he watched her swing those shapely, gorgeous legs of hers out of the car. He sucked in a deep breath.
He glanced around and saw that he wasn’t the only one who’d noticed her arrival…or her legs. His men had stopped what they were doing to stare, especially when Casey grabbed a duffel bag out of the back seat. She was wearing a mint-green blouse that showed off firm, perfect breasts and a waist-cinching skirt whose hem swished around those gorgeous legs.
When she went to the back of her car and lifted the trunk, her luggage made it apparent to anyone looking that she was moving in. Most of McKinnon’s men knew of his long-standing rule that a female had no place living on his ranch. He also knew they were staring at her for another reason—other than the obvious male one. The last time she had been there she had earned their respect with the way she had handled Prince Charming. The way they saw it, she had saved Edward Price from getting stomped to death while placing her own life in danger to do so.
When it seemed that every ranch hand who worked for him was now racing toward the car to help