The Best Man (9 page)

 But Sandra was wrong about him. Her
father didn’t pop into her consciousness every time she took on a new lover. And
she wasn’t at all serious about Jared Jacobs, no matter what Sandra might
hypothesize. She wasn’t going to get serious about anyone, and certainly not
about a man she hardly knew.

Satisfied with what she saw in the
mirror, Kitty ran a brush through her hair and headed downstairs whistling
softly. The image of Jared Jacobs as the devil incarnate did have more than a
little appeal for her.

CHAPTER FIVE

“I love pizza,” Jared said, grinning
as Kitty tried to discreetly chew off the end of a gooey piece. It stuck to her
chin. He peeled it off for her and she didn’t hesitate to lick his finger clean.
“Don’t apologize for bringing me here. I’m sure their shrimp scampi is good,
but isn’t Chicago famous for its pizza? Besides, this is more fun. Your mood
seems much lighter than it was at noon.”

“It is,” she admitted. “You had more
than a little to do with that. She secured several small sausage slices to her
pizza before lifting it toward her mouth. “So why the western hat? Does that
simply signify you live west of the Mississippi?” Suddenly she gasped for air
and waved frantically at her open mouth.

He laughed. “Some of those pieces
are hotter than others. Actually, I’ve earned the hat.”

Her brow furrowed. “How’s that? I’ve
heard of cowboys earning their spurs, but not hats.”

He wondered how many cowboys she’d
known. “I actually live on a working ranch.”

“You do?” Her brow furrowed
delightfully. “I thought you lived in San Diego, where the sun shines all the
time.”

“Not far from San Diego. Up in the
foothills east of the city. It’s not a large ranch, by any means. Twelve
hundred acres, give or take.”

Her mouth gaped. “Give or take. Damn,
that’s a lot of land by Midwestern standards.”

“Maybe Midwesterners ought to
rethink their standards.” He flashed an eyebrow and her cheeks turned a little
rosy. Surprisingly, he liked having that effect on her. “I don’t actually work
the ranch myself. Like I said, I’m into commodities. I have a manager who
operates the ranch for me. The race horses, of course, but we also run some
beef cattle, and the obligatory small herd of cattle horses.”

“A cowboy isn’t a cowboy without his
horse,” Kitty teased. “I assume you ride.”

“I’m told I’m a fairly good rider.” He
lifted a piece of pizza for her.

“I have no complaints,” she said
before letting him feed her.

“I hope you wouldn’t. You’re a
superb rider, yourself.” She arched her eyebrows and he smirked. “So do you
ride horses?”

“Nope.” She shook her head and
mocked him. “Guess I’m into more specialized riding. Did I tell you I bought a
horse?”

He did a double take. “No, you didn’t
mention it.”

“Well, half a horse, really,” she
added. “Half of a race horse.”

“A race horse. Well, I’ll be damned.
You are full of surprises. When did this happen?”

“Last week. I have an old friend who
thinks he owes me.”

“I see—an old lover.”

“Lawrence is happily married to a
woman I set him up with. He’s old enough to be my father.”

“But still, a former lover.”

“I’m not talking about old lovers,
and I don’t expect you to, either.”

“Point taken. Okay, so this old infirmed
codger wants to help a much younger woman find her way in the horseracing
world.”

She giggled.

He’d seldom heard her actually
giggle.

“He’s not that decrepit. And I own
the horse with Lawrence and Rebecca. Rebecca is one of my few good friends.”

“I see. All work and no play…”

“Something like that. So do you want
to hear about this horse?”

“Tell me,” he said, chuckling. “You’re
dying to.”

“Well, I’m quite impressed. He’s won
at the stakes level.”

“Really.”

“Uh, huh. And I may not know much
about riding horses, but I do know something about horseracing. I know stakes
racing is where you’re going to find your quality horses.”

He nodded, giving her a half smile. “I’m
not at all surprised you know quality when you see it.”

She winced but otherwise ignored his
comment. “He’s handsome. Tall. Majestic. And has the darkest eyes.”

“So does he have a mustache?”

“You,” she snorted in a most
unladylike way. “Not everything I say has to do with you.” She paused. “Well,
most everything.”

“Maybe you can show me this new
fellow of yours if we run out to the track tomorrow.”

“That’d be great. Maybe Lawrence and
Rebecca will be there. They often are, on the weekends.”

“Looks like we’ve about polished off
this pizza,” Jared said, lifting his beer stein to his lips. “You have any more
thoughts about the evening?”

She didn’t miss a beat. “All of this
talk about riding is making me want to get back in the saddle again. How about
you?”

“Oh, I aim to please the lady. If we
were at my ranch, I could put you astride a horse and teach you.”

“But we’re not at your ranch. We’ll
just have to make do with whatever substitute we can find.” She ran a finger
along the back of his hand. “So are you volunteering to be my horse
and
my cowboy?”

“Yes, ma’am, whatever you’d like me
to be.”

- o -

An hour later, Kitty threw one hand
high above her head and laughed at their reflection in the wall mirror. “How am
I doing?” They were on her bedroom carpet and she was indeed riding Jared as he
knelt on all fours, carrying the bulk of her weight. His dark western hat was
askew on the top of her head.

He beamed at her in the mirror. “Ride
‘em, cowgirl!”

She bit down on her lower lip and
dragged her wet pussy lips up and down the base of his spine, struggling for
self-control. She narrowed her eyes at his reflection and tried to breathe.

He nodded. “Go for it, cowgirl. Dismount
if you must. Rub your pussy all over my ass.”

She stood and trailed her pussy
across one butt cheek, then the other. His words triggered her.

“Go for it, girl. Claw your clit. Fuck
my ass.”

“Ah,” she groaned, stroking her
clit. She was so close, but she wanted to ride her cowboy. She curled both
hands on his shoulder and stretched over his back, bringing her pussy to the
top of his ass. She started slowly, but couldn’t stay at that pace for long. She
hurtled her loins against his ass. He grunted beneath her. The friction on her
pussy became nearly unbearable—then she came. She came hard. “Jesus,” she
yelped, unable to stop.

“Keep coming,” he urged. “I can feel
your juices flowing down the crack of my ass.”

“Cripes,” she breathed at last. She
kissed his head, his neck, his shoulders.

He laughed and lowered himself to
the floor with her clinging to his back. “You ride real fine.”

Smiling, she snuggled against his
neck. She wasn’t sure what she’d gotten herself into with Jared, but she’d sure
enjoy the ride while it lasted.

“He’s a handsome specimen of the
male animal,” Rebecca Madison whispered in Kitty’s ear.

Given that Rebecca seemed more
interested in assessing Jared than the horse a groom was walking back and forth
in front of the four of them, Kitty didn’t have to guess about the object of
the woman’s praise. “He is that,” she agreed in a low breath. “Well put
together, and moves nicely.”

“You’ve got a classy racehorse in
that one, Kitty,” Jared said, gesturing at the rear of the horse walking away
from them. “Well conformed and moves fluidly.” His gaze met hers and his eyes sparkled.
“He’ll bring you lots of pleasure if you stick with him. I expect you’ll know
what it feels like to be in the winner’s circle.”

“And there isn’t much better than
that,” Lawrence chimed in. “What the hell are you laughing at?” he asked his
wife, who had caught a case of the giggles. “You okay?”

“I’m doing fine, but I believe we’ve
bragged up Rocketman enough. Jared was going to show us his filly, weren’t you?”

“I’ve asked the groom to bring her
out. She’s in the next barn over.”

Kitty watched Jared puff with pride
as he looked toward the alley way. This man was into his horses. She followed
his line of sight and saw the familiar groom leading a high stepping chestnut
toward them. The haughty animal tossed her head from side to side, pranced and
then settled, letting Jared run his hands up and down her legs. Kitty knew he
was double checking for hot spots in her knees and tendons. The groom had
likely done that first thing in the morning. The trainer would’ve followed
suit, and now the owner. One could never be too cautious with a racehorse.

“Do you like her?” Jared asked,
glancing up at Kitty while checking a front hoof.

“She’s stunning—almost red in color,
but she seems to have a mind of her own.”

“That’s the way I like my women,”
Jared quipped, standing to massage the filly’s shoulders. “She’ll run her heart
out for me.”

Kitty stepped back quickly when the
filly bared her teeth.

“Don’t mind her,” Jared said. “She
won’t bite. She’s a tease. What she’s really looking for is attention and a
treat.” Jared reached into his jacket pocket. “Here, give her a couple of these
and she’ll be your friend forever.”

Kitty took three small carrots from
Jared’s hand. She eyed the filly, whose attention was now focused on her. “You
going to be a good girl?” She laid a carrot in the palm of her hand and let the
filly scarf it up with her tongue. She’d already learned not to put her fingers
in a horse’s mouth—they did have sharp teeth and strong jaws. Temporarily
satisfied, the filly raised her head and nodded, looking for the other carrots.

“You’re a smart one, aren’t you?” Kitty
offered her the second carrot and then the third. “I bet you turn all the guys’
heads.” The filly pranced from side to side.

“Careful,” Jared cautioned. “She
hasn’t worked yet this morning. She’s up on her toes. She really likes to race.
She loves competition, but she’ll have to wait couple more weeks for that. So
when did you say your guy was running next?” he asked, looking at Lawrence.

“We have him nominated for a stakes
coming up next weekend. If all goes well, he’ll be in it.”

Jared chuckled and nodded at the
groom to take the filly back to her stall. “
If all goes well
is the
mantra of horse folks.” He frowned at his filly disappearing down the alley. “Keeping
them healthy and willing isn’t an easy task. I don’t envy the trainer his job.”

“Me either.”

“So do you plan on using Rocketman
at stud?”

Lawrence
shrugged. “Hope to. He’s competitive in grade two and
three stakes. That’s enough for some people. I’d like to see him at least place
in a grade one before going too far with that dream.”

“He’s got an excellent pedigree,”
Jared offered. “You can’t underestimate good breeding when making that choice. I
know the track record is important, but I’ll take a chance on generations of
good breeding, even without the most stellar race record. It can be terribly
disappointing and a huge drain of money to back a top race horse and then find
he’s a wimp in the breeding shed.”

“Sounds like you might be interested
in my stud,” Kitty said, unable to contain her amusement, “for your filly. Wouldn’t
that be a hoot?”

“I don’t see the humor,” Jared said
quickly. “They’re a well matched pair on paper. His temperament is a little
less fiery, a little less flighty. But they both have super conformation, good
bone, and I expect they’re both poetry in motion on the track.”

Kitty flashed an eyebrow at Jared,
who seemed to be thinking only about horses. He cast her a confused look,
scowled, then blushed profusely.

Lawrence and Rebecca both laughed.

Jared huffed, apparently looking for
some appropriate comeback.

“Come on,” Kitty said, before he
could dig himself a deeper hole. “Let’s go see some races. Breeding prospects
can be considered at a later time. I feel like a winner today, don’t you?”

“Right,” Jared drawled, letting her
lead them back toward the stands.

Kitty didn’t bother trying to
explain the extra little bounce in her step. She enjoyed sharing Jared with her
friends. They all seemed to hit it off quite nicely. Of course, they shared a
common interest in horses.

She gave Jared a sidelong glance. His
breathing had returned to normal. Did he wonder if his passion for horses had
gotten him in trouble with her? Clearly, while some of the earlier discussion
might’ve been tongue-in-cheek at times, his assessment of breeding prospects was
purely horsey. He hadn’t been playing to her. He’d been seriously weighing the
merits of a particular match between her stud and his filly.