Willow Smoke (59 page)

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Daisy
looked
up
from
her
reading,
not
that
she’d
turned
a
page
in
the
last
half
hour,
to
notice
Nick
watching
her
reflection
in
the
floor-to-ceiling
window
of
the
top
floor
suite
they
shared
overlooking
the
Lexington
skyline.
Why
did
the
man
have
to
be
so
stupidly
rich?

She
regretted
her
strong
words
in
the
bar.
Cassie
had
helped
her
realize
that
underneath
a
lot
of
bravado,
Nick
was
just
as
anxious
about
the
two
of
them
as
she
was.
Maybe
in
different
ways.
She
hadn’t
wanted
to
hurt
him.
And
now
they
had
to
clear
the
air.
He
would
choose
to
ignore
the
friction
and
go
on
as
if
nothing
had
happened.
She
couldn’t
let
that
happen.
The
pain
ahead
of
them
was
inevitable
without permitting wounds to fester.

She
cleared
her
throat.
He
turned
to
look directly
at
her.
His
passion
simmered
behind
an
uncharacteristic
guardedness.
She
could
go
to
bed
and
make
up
with
him,
but
she
wouldn’t
allow
herself
to
fall
into
that
trap.

“We’ve
got
to
talk,
you
know,”
Daisy
said
quietly.

Nick
raised
his
chin.
“Somehow
I
thought
you
would
say
that.”
He
folded
his
arms
at
his
chest
and
leaned
back
against
the
window.
“So
what’s
on
your
mind?”

Only twelve feet
separated them, but it
might
as
well
have
been
twelve
miles.
“I
shouldn’t
have
said
what
I
did
in
front
of
Clint
and
Cassie.
I
didn’t
mean
to
embarrass you or hurt you.”

“I’ll get over it.”

“Why
do
you
have
to
continue
buying
me
things?”

Nick
took
a
step
closer.
“Why
can’t
you
just
accept
things?”
he
demanded.
He
retreated
to
the
window.
“I’m
sorry.
I
know
you’ve
gone
through
a
lot
of
changes
in
a short time.”

“Gone
through?”
Daisy
huffed.
“Stuck
in.
Maybe
going
through.
But
hardly
gone
through.”
She
stood,
tugged
the
sash
of
her
robe tighter, and swept hair back from
her
face.
She
placed
her
book
on
the
end
table
and
moved
to
the
window.
With
four feet
separating them,
she
stared
out
at
the
city
lights.
At last she said, “Why
do
you
have
to
keep
buying
me
pieces
of
horses?”

His
eyes
appraised
her
while
he
took
his
time
to
respond.
At
least
he
wasn’t
going
to
give
a
pat
answer.

“I’m coming to
understand how much that
bothers
you. As crazy as it may sound, I
wanted
you
to
own
part
of
Hip
sixty-four
because
it’s
the
way
I
do
business. Clearly,
you’ve
done
more
thinking
about
it
than
me.
Even
Clint
says
many
owners
want
their
trainers
to
own
a
percentage.”

“But twenty percent!”

“If that’s too much, we
can talk about it.
I’m
not trying to
buy you, Daisy. You’ve got
to know
that.”

Daisy
shivered
against
the
cool
of
the
window.
“In my heart, I know that,
but it still
doesn’t feel right. And
what must others think?”

“Others
be
damned.”

Glaring
hard
at
Nick,
Daisy
said,
“See? You
don’t
understand.
The
track
is
my
world.
What do other trainers think?
What
does
Sam
really
think?
You
come
marching
in
like
some
fairy
godfather
and
turn
my world
upside down. It matters to
me what
others think.”

Nick
pushed
his
glasses
back
onto
the
bridge
of
his
nose
and
exhaled.
“Okay.
It
matters. But to me, what you think matters
most. So if twenty percent is too much,
we
can
cut
it
back.
How’s
fifteen?
Ten?
Damn,
what
you
contribute
to
this
partnership is at least worth that.”

Daisy’s
mouth
curled
upward.
“Sometimes
I
think
you’re just too naïve about what I
can
and
cannot
do.”
She
hesitated
before
reaching
out
enclosing
his
hand
in
hers.
“But
I
do
appreciate
your
confidence
and
your
willingness
to
listen
to
what
I
have to
say.
If
you
insist
on
keeping
me
in
the
horse
partnership,
then
maybe
we
can
do
something
like
this...”

“We’re
not
changing
what’s
already
done.”

She
squeezed
his
fingers.
“Hear
me
out.
We
won’t
change
what
already
is.
But
in
the
future,
on
claimers
I’ll
accept
ten
percent.
On
any
purchases
over
a
hundred
thousand, the most I’ll take is five
percent. Even that seems like far too much.”

“Nonsense. I couldn’t
get those horses to the track without you.”

“You
and
I
both
know
you
could
get
any
trainer
on
shedrow
to
work
with
your
horses, Mr. Underwood.”

“Maybe,
but
it
wouldn’t
be
nearly
as
much
fun.”

She
arched
her
eyebrows.

“And
I
don’t
mean
the
bed,”
he
added
quickly.
“How
many
trainers
are
going
to
spend
the
time
with
me
to
teach
me
the
ins
and
outs
of the horse business? Half of them
would
probably
like
to
keep
me
ignorant
so
I
won’t
interfere.”

“You’re
probably
right
about
that.
A
lot
of
trainers won’t tolerate owner
interference.”