She folded her arms over her chest and then said stiffly, ‘I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.’
Luc made a split-second decision. ‘I’m afraid that’s not really up to you.’
She looked at him. ‘What do you mean?’
‘There’s a race this weekend; I want you to ride the same filly you were just riding.’
She went pale, and then colour washed back into her cheeks. It was fascinating to see someone so expressive. And then she looked suspicious. ‘You don’t want me near your horses. Why would you let me do this?’
‘Because I’m not stupid enough to let someone as naturally gifted as you waste your talent, especially not when it might win me a race. I am, after all, running a business. And your brother owes me a million euros, which you have taken on as your debt. If you win, the money will go towards paying it off.’
Nessa was so stunned by what he’d just proposed she was speechless for a long moment. Eventually she managed to get out, ‘I...well, thank you.’
Luc was brusque. ‘You’ll obviously work to Pete’s instruction from now on.’
Then he turned to walk back out and Nessa blurted out, ‘Wait.’
When he stopped at the door he turned around and she almost lost her nerve, but she forced herself to ask, ‘What about what happened? The other night.’ As if he wouldn’t know what she was talking about.
She cringed inwardly. She hated that she’d felt compelled to ask. She hated that she couldn’t be as nonchalant as him, and pretend the other night had never happened.
Luc looked remote. Almost like a stranger. ‘What happened between us won’t happen again. It was a mistake. You’re here to pay off the debt through racing or until your brother returns my money, whichever happens first.’
And then he walked out and she felt as if he’d just punched her in the belly. She was breathless, and then she castigated herself. Hadn’t he warned her, that first night in his room, that she’d get burned?
She had nothing to entice a man like Luc Barbier beyond that brief moment of craziness.
And here he was offering her the opportunity of a lifetime—a chance to ride for one of the great trainer/owners in the racing world. Luc might have a rogue’s reputation but no one could discredit his amazing accomplishments, even if they weren’t quite sure how he’d achieved them without a background steeped in the industry.
Nessa had to concede that, from what she’d seen so far, his incredible work ethic was responsible for much of his success. Without fail, he was up with his earliest employee, and probably one of the last to bed. She’d even seen him help with mucking out a stables one day, practically unheard of for someone at his level.
Nessa told herself she should be relieved that Luc had laid out in brutal terms where they now stood in terms of their short-lived intimacy. Conducting an affair with a man like him was total folly at best and emotional suicide at worst. Not to mention the guilt she’d feel.
But the most humiliating part of it was knowing that if he’d kissed her just now, she’d have been flat on her back on the cold tile floor, showing not an ounce of restraint or control.
* * *
‘I can’t believe she’s actually won.’
‘Never fail to surprise us, eh, Barbier?’
‘A female jockey? Who is she? Has anyone heard of her? Where did she come from?’
‘Trust Barbier to come from left-field with a win like this...he just can’t resist throwing the cat amongst the pigeons...’
Luc heard all the indiscreet whispers around him, but he was too stunned to care. Nessa had won the race. Unbelievably. On the horse with the longest odds.
She was coming into the winner’s enclosure now, with Pete not far behind accepting his own congratulations. Luc caught the horse as she passed, stopping her momentarily. Nessa had a huge grin on her mud-spattered face and something turned over inside him.
He patted the horse and looked up at her, at an uncharacteristic loss for words. Her smile faded and he noticed how she tensed and something inside him rejected that. Normally he never had a problem congratulating his jockeys but this was different. It was her. Eventually he said, ‘Well done.’
‘Thank you. I can’t believe it myself.’
That glimmer of uncertainty on her face reminded him of how she’d looked the other night when she’d stood before him all mussed and flushed after sex. His body tightened with need.
She was led on, and then slid off the horse to be weighed after the race. Luc watched her across the enclosure. She took off her hat and her hair tumbled down. A man behind him made an appreciative whistling sound and Luc spun around, glaring at him. The man blanched.
When Luc looked back Nessa was walking away from the podium and stewards with her saddle, presumably to go back to the changing rooms.