Affair of the Heart Read Online Free PDF

broken fence, pulled up, and got off his horse. Caroline watched as he took a wirecutter from his pocket and proceeded to repair the break. When he was in the saddle again and moving forward, he said, “But you didn’t marry him.”
    “No.”
    “Why not?” The words were spoken sharply, and she looked at him in surprise.
    “I fell in love with the hunting and sort of transferred the feeling to Gerald,” she confessed honestly. “Fortunately, I discovered my mistake before it was too late.”
    “And how did Gerald feel?”
    She shrugged and looked between her horse’s ears. Gerald had been very upset when she broke their engagement, actually. She still felt guilty about it. “He survived,” she said lightly and turned to encounter a pair of derisive blue eyes.
    “Sure,” he said. “And what do you care, anyway?”
    “I cared enough not to saddle him with a wife who didn’t love him,” she retorted sharply. “A lot of girls wouldn’t have been so considerate.”
    “I gather Gerald was a prize.” He sounded very cynical.
    She put up her chin. “He was the Earl of Clontarf. And rather rich. And very very nice.” She gave him a look loaded with meaning.
    His too handsome face was filled with mockery. “Unlike present company?”
    “Unlike present company,” she agreed cordially.
    “An earl. And rich. And very very nice.” He looked at her speculatively. “What was wrong with him? Did he suffer from Oscar Wilde’s problem?”
    “Oh!” Her cheeks flamed with color. “No, he did not! Don’t be disgusting.”
    “I have such a plebeian mentality.” The sarcasm was out in the open now.
    “You do, unfortunately.” Caroline’s lovely mouth curled in disdain. “I can’t imagine where you got it from. Your parents are first-class.”
    “One of my parents,” he corrected her ruthlessly. “The other one was a bitch.” And he put his horse into a gallop, leaving her to follow more slowly, trying to contain her temper.
     

Chapter Four
     
    He haddismounted and was unpacking the lunch before she caught up to him. Without a word she got off her own horse and walked to the edge of the field to stare at the few cattle she could see grazing in the distance.
    “Aren’t you hungry?” he asked behind her back, and she went to sit down on one side of the checkered tablecloth he had spread out. She accepted a sandwich from him and, still not speaking, took a bite. The early-afternoon sun was warm on her back; she had taken off her sweater an hour ago. Jay, she noticed, had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, exposing tanned, muscular forearms. He chewed slowly, squinting up at the sun.
    Caroline pushed her long hair back behind her ears and reached for an apple at the same time Jay did. It was the first physical contact between them, and she felt as if a charge of electricity had shot all through her body. She stared for a moment at his hand as it lay on top of hers, and then he removed it and stood up.
    “You can have the apple if you like,” she said, her voice a shade huskier than usual. Her hand still felt the touch of his.
    “No thanks.” He turned his back on her and went over to the horses. She stayed where she was and bit into the apple. The juice felt good in her suddenly dry throat. The air between them was thick with tension. Caroline finished her apple and began to pack up the remains of the lunch. He turned to watch her but made no move to help.
    “If you want to put this in your saddlebag, we can get moving,” she said.
    “All right. We still have quite a few gates to check.” Despite his level voice she could see him controlling his breathing. He took the repacked lunch from her, carefully avoiding any physical contact, and put it in his saddlebag. Then he remounted. “Coming?” he asked expressionlessly.
    She looked up at him from the ground and felt her stomach muscles knot. God, she thought. I don’t need this. “Yes.” Her voice was as studiously expressionless as his.