Trace grinned back at Gabe. “It’s complicated.”
“Women chase after you all the time. I wouldn’t think getting one of them would be a problem.”
“I don’t just need any woman.” Trace glared at Gabe, looking annoyed. “I need one who won’t expect anything except payment for a job.”
“You’re right. That is complicated,” Gabe answered, finding it highly unlikely that his cousin would find a woman who would expect nothing from him if she was going to act as his fiancée.
“I’ll figure it out,” Trace answered in a clipped voice. “Chloe’s a nice woman, Gabe. I like her. She’s different from most rich women. She seems almost innocent.”
“She’s not. She’s been hurt. And she’s older than you are,” Gabe answered in a warning voice.
Trace held up a hand to signal surrender. “I’m not trying to steal her from you. But she’s only a few years older, and I don’t think age makes a difference. Chloe seems genuinely nice.”
“She is,” Gabe agreed. “Sometimes too damn nice. She gets taken for granted.”
Or just plain abused and neglected.
“Then go after her,” Trace advised. “She’s rich, so she’s going to be a prime target for every single guy in the county. Since you already have more money than most men in the world, she’ll know you aren’t after hers.”
“I don’t give a shit about her money.” All Gabe wanted was for Chloe to be happy, and the last thing he needed was more money.
“That’s my point,” Trace answered smugly. “You want her for the woman she is, not the money she has. But do you really think most guys think that way?”
The thought of another man courting Chloe for her money infuriated Gabe. “Probably not. But I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“You can’t stop her if she wants to date somebody. She is just your employee,” Trace remarked casually.
“Bullshit. She’s not dating anybody else.” Gabe slammed his fist on the table.
Trace laughed. “Then you’re going to have to do something before she hooks up with someone.”
Chloe wasn’t going to hook up with anybody else.
Gabe looked at Trace, who was staring at him with a teasing, bemused expression.
That was the moment Gabe decided that he was done making excuses. Trace was right, and he wasn’t going to watch while some other guy touched the woman he wanted more than he’d ever coveted anything else in his life.
He was going to seduce Chloe Colter.
Chloe was exhausted the next morning. Trace had been gone by the time she returned, but Gabe had been waiting for her. She’d updated him on the mare’s condition, which was good, and then she’d gone to bed.
Unfortunately, she’d tossed and turned most of the night, waking up before her alarm because she couldn’t sleep.
I’m ready.
She munched on a piece of toast nervously as she waited for Gabe to join her for breakfast. She had a proposition to put to him, and it wasn’t going to be easy. But she felt like she needed to try.
I’m ready.
She couldn’t keep on trying to ignore her attraction to Gabe. It was exhausting, and she wanted to truly be able to live again, experience things she never had before.
I’m ready.
The minute Gabe walked into breakfast, Chloe’s confidence started to deflate. He was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen, and there wasn’t a moment that she spent in his company that she wasn’t fully aware of just how attractive he was.
Taking a closer look at him as he sat across from her, she noticed he looked just as tired as she felt.
“Good morning,” he muttered as he reached for the pot of coffee in the middle of the table.
“Good morning,” she echoed automatically.
“You okay?” His head came up as soon as he’d poured his coffee and he perused her face. “You look tired.”
I am tired. I’m tired of fighting a need that I don’t understand. I’m tired of being in the same room with you and wanting to be closer. I’m tired of not understanding what I’ve been missing. I’m tired of being afraid.
“I’m okay, but I am tired,” she admitted. She took a deep breath. “Gabe, I don’t want to fight our attraction anymore. I want you to teach me what it’s like to find sexual satisfaction. Are you willing to teach me?”
He nearly choked on a piece of toast. “What?” he said, sounding startled.
“I want to have an affair, the hot and heavy kind involving lots of sex.”
Gabe swallowed and grabbed at his coffee, taking a large gulp before he started to cough. “Jesus, Chloe, you nearly killed me.”
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but I don’t expect anything else from you. Just sex. You’re the only man I’ve ever met who makes me want him that way. Please.” She wanted him to say yes. If she didn’t at least have a fling with Gabe, she was more than a little afraid that nobody would ever make her feel the way she did when she was with him. She was ready to experience the sexual high that women talked about but she’d never understood.
“You just want to have an affair?” he asked, now recovered from his coughing fit.
She nodded, so nervous she couldn’t speak.
“For how long?” His eyes were dark and turbulent.
Chloe shrugged. “As long as we want each other.” Things were bound to cool off once they’d been together a few times. Right?