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
“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 finalized 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.