The Billionaire's Unexpected Heir
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Kathie DeNosky
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One
“Hi, I’m Jake Garnier, the new owner of Hickory Hills.”
From the corner of her eye, Heather McGwire saw the man stick out his hand in greeting, but she chose to ignore the gesture. She knew who he was and she’d just as soon have a snake crawl up beside her. Jake Garnier was the last person she wanted or needed to have to deal with this close to the big race. But now that he was the new owner of the thoroughbred farm she managed, there was no way of getting around it. She either had to get used to working for him or stick it out until after Stormy Dancer won the Southern Oaks Cup Classic, then look for employment elsewhere.
Besides, after what they’d shared, she took exception to the fact that he didn’t even have the decency to remember her. The thought hurt more than she would have imagined or was comfortable with.
When she remained silent, he stared at her a moment as if trying to place her. “Heather?”
His smooth baritone caused her nerves to tingle and her heart to speed up, reminding her that a little over a year ago all it had taken was the rich sound of that voice to make her lose every ounce of sense she ever possessed. Now it only made her want to smack him for being the biggest jerk to ever draw a breath.
“Jake.” She barely managed a short nod of acknowledgement.
Standing with her forearms resting on the white board rail surrounding the practice track, she concentrated on the stopwatch in her hand as Dancer passed the quarter-mile post and headed down the backstretch. The top contender for the prestigious Southern Oaks Cup Classic, the thoroughbred was on pace to break his own record.
“Come on, Dancer. You can do it.” She glanced from the watch to the horse. “Just keep it up.”
“I remember you mentioning that you worked at a thoroughbred farm, but I wasn’t aware that it was Hickory Hills,” he said, sounding a lot happier to see her than she was to be seeing him.
“For the record, I’m the manager here.” As Dancer headed for the home stretch, she added, “The name of the farm and where it was located never came up. Besides, you weren’t that interested in hearing personal details, were you?” She glanced his way, and it was apparent her hostility didn’t set well with him.
“Heather, I don’t know what you think I’ve done, but—”
“It doesn’t matter now,” she interrupted. She didn’t care to be reminded of how foolish she’d been.
He was silent for a moment. “At the risk of pissing you off further, how have you been?” he asked tightly.
Like you really want to know. If you had, you wouldn’t have refused to take my phone calls.
She shrugged. “I’ve been all right.” She didn’t bothering asking how he’d been because she had a fair idea of what he’d been doing since they parted ways and didn’t particularly care to hear the specifics.
“Is that our contender for the big race?” he asked, pointing toward Dancer.
Doing her best to ignore the man beside her, she urged the jockey, “Let him have his head, Miguel. Turn him loose.” She glanced at the silver stopwatch again, and clicked the button on the side as the big bay sprinted past them. “Fantastic.”
“I take it that was a good run?”
When Jake leaned close to see the time, his arm brushed hers and a tiny jolt of electricity shot straight through her. “It was excellent,” she said, gritting her teeth and backing away. Turning to make her escape, she added, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” She barely suppressed the urge to run when he fell into step beside her.
“I’d like for you to give me a tour of the farm if you have the time.”
“I’m sure you need to unpack first,” she said. Thanks to the mansion’s housekeeper, Clara Buchanan, Heather had received a phone call the moment he passed through the security gates at the end of the half-mile-long driveway leading up to the mansion.
She desperately tried not to notice how his outstretched arms caused his snug hunter green T-shirt to outline the muscles of his broad chest and emphasize his well-developed biceps when he stretched. “I’ve been cooped up in the car for the past four days on the drive from Los Angeles and it feels good to be out in the fresh air again.”
“Mornings around here are pretty busy—we have our daily workouts and grooming,” she hedged.
When they reached the stables, she grabbed a lead rope by one of the stalls, slid the half-door back, then eased inside to attach it to Silver Bullet’s halter in an effort to escape Jake’s disturbing presence.
“All right,” he said, stepping back as she led the big dappled gray gelding out of the stall and down to the tack room. “This afternoon will be soon enough.”
She shook her head as she tied the rope to an eye hook by the tack room door, attached another rope to the halter, then tied it to another hook on the opposite wall of the wide stable aisle. “That won’t work. My schedule is pretty full today and to tell you the truth, tomorrow isn’t looking all that good.”
“Clear it for this afternoon.” Jake’s no-nonsense tone indicated that he was quickly running out of patience.
For the first time since he walked up beside her at the practice track, Heather met his irritated blue gaze full-on with a heated one of her own. “Will there be anything else, Mr. Garnier?”
Scowling, he stared at her for several long moments before he finally shook his head. “I’ll be back after lunch.” Turning to leave, he added, “And you might as well plan on working late this evening. After you show me around, I intend to meet with the other employees, then I want to go over the accounting records.”
As she watched him walk away, a nudge against her leg had her glancing down at the big Bernese mountain dog that had sidled up beside her. “You could really use some work on your guard dog skills, Nemo. Instead of taking a nap in my office, you’re supposed to keep varmints like him away.”
The dog didn’t act the least bit repentant when he looked up at her adoringly and wagged his thick black tail.
Returning her attention to the matter at hand, she released a frustrated breath as she picked up a brush and began grooming the gray. She had no idea how he’d managed to get his hands on Hickory Hills, but she’d told herself when she learned Jake was the new owner that she’d be able to handle seeing him again. That she could keep what happened between them all those months ago separate from their working relationship.
Unfortunately, that was going to be a whole lot easier said than done. The sound of his voice carried with it the memory of him calling her name as they made love.
Closing her eyes, Heather rested her forehead against the big thoroughbred’s shoulder. Over the past year, she’d done everything she could to convince herself that Jake wasn’t that good-looking, that her perception of their only night together had been clouded by loneliness and the haze of too much champagne. But she realized now that she’d been in deep denial.
Jake Garnier was well over six feet of pure male sex appeal and it was no wonder that he had an endless stream of women clamoring for his attention. With broad shoulders and narrow hips, he had the lean, muscular body of an athlete. When they’d met at the thoroughbred auction in Los Angeles, he’d been striking in a suit and tie, but today in jeans and a T-shirt, he was raw sensuality from his thick black hair to the soles of his outrageously expensive running shoes.
Sighing heavily, she went into the tack room, retrieved a saddle, then returned to place it on the horse’s back. She tightened the saddle’s girth, then bridling Silver, led him out of the stable toward the practice track.
As much as she’d like to forget what happened that night in L.A., she couldn’t regret it. Jake was arguably the biggest player on the entire West Coast. But there was an earnestness to his charm that she’d found completely irresistible. And she was reminded of how captivating it was each and every time she gazed into her baby daughter’s eyes. Eyes that were the same cobalt blue and held the same sparkle of mischief as Jake Garnier’s.
Walking back up the path from the immaculately kept stables, Jake wondered what the hell had just taken place. He wasn’t used to getting the cold shoulder from women and Heather’s blatant snub didn’t sit well.
There were only two things besides his siblings and highly successful law practice that caught and held his attention for any length of time and that was fast, flashy cars and shamelessly uninhibited women. And to his immense pleasure, the first frequently attracted plenty of the latter.
So why did one woman’s obviously low opinion of him matter? He wasn’t sure, but there had been a sparkle of hostility in Heather’s eyes that had taken him completely by surprise.
Thinking back to the first time he’d seen her, he still couldn’t believe how captivating she’d been. He’d attended a thoroughbred auction to personally see that the woman he’d represented in a bitter divorce sold the horses she and her husband had purchased as an investment. Jake had quickly lost interest in the parade of equine offerings and looking around spotted a pretty little filly of the human variety to divert his attention. And from the moment he introduced himself to her, he found Heather to be the most enchanting woman he’d ever had the pleasure of meeting.
They’d spent the rest of that day and one incredibly sensuous night together and over the course of the past year he’d come to the conclusion that he should have asked for her last name and a number where he could reach her. It was totally out of character for him and something he’d never contemplated before. Once he parted ways with a woman, he never looked back, never had the slightest regret about not contacting her again. At least he hadn’t until Heather.
But surely she wasn’t angry that he hadn’t kept in touch over the fifteen months since. Besides the fact that he didn’t know how to reach her, it was a well-known fact that he wasn’t looking for a relationship of any kind and that none of his liaisons went any further than a good time.
He had no idea if that’s what the problem was, but he had every intention of finding out and settling the animosity between them once and for all. If she was going to be running the horse farm that his newfound grandmother, Emerald Larson, had insisted he take over, it was essential that they get whatever had her panties in a twist straightened out so they could at least be civil.
In the meantime, he needed to unpack and put in a call to Emerald, Inc. headquarters to find out what the hell Emerald had up her sleeve this time. Given her track record of setting her grandchildren up to find their soul mate, he wasn’t naive enough to think that she wasn’t attempting to do the same thing with him. He wasn’t sure how she’d done it, but she had to have discovered that, however brief it had been, that he and Heather had a bit of history.
But the old girl was in for a big disappointment if she thought her tactics were going to work with him. He wasn’t looking to settle down with a wife, kids and the requisite canine. Nor was he inclined to trade his sleek little red Ferrari for a family-friendly minivan with car seats and clumps of dog hair.
With a plan of action to set down a few ground rules for both Emerald and his farm manager, Jake followed the path around the antebellum mansion to the circular drive in front where he’d parked his sports car. Just as he pressed the remote on his keychain to open the trunk, a teenage boy wearing stylishly ragged jeans, an oversize chartreuse T-shirt with It Is What It Is screen-printed on the front and a red baseball cap turned backward on his head came out of the house to greet him.
“Hi, Mr. Garnier,” the kid said, crossing the veranda and bounding down the steps. He came to a sliding halt at the side of the car, then stood staring at it as if in awe. “Suh-weet.”
“Thanks,” Jake said, chuckling at the way the boy stretched the simple word into two syllables. “And you are?”
“Daily.” He grinned. “My dad was a horse trainer before he died and talked my mom into naming me after the Daily Double at Churchill Downs.” He reverently circled the car. “Dude, I have got to get me a ride like this when I get old.”
Jake realized that the kid was talking to himself and meant no disrespect. But the comment reminded him that within a few short weeks he’d mark his thirty-seventh year and he supposed that in the eyes of a young teenager, he was probably considered a fossil.
Smiling, Jake reached into the trunk for the suitcase he’d packed for his short stay at Hickory Hills. But Daily jumped forward to grab the handle.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Garnier. I didn’t mean to get so carried away looking at your car.” He hoisted the suitcase out of the trunk. “My grandma sent me out to get your luggage and take it upstairs for you.”
“You’re Mrs. Buchanan’s grandson?” Jake asked, following Daily up the steps of the veranda.
The boy nodded. “Grandma’s in charge of the house and Heather is in charge of everything else.” Daily’s youthful face suddenly split into a wide grin. “Wait until you meet Heather. For an older chick, she’s way hot. Having her to look at every morning makes my chore of mucking out stalls a lot easier.”
When Emerald and her stoic assistant, Luther Freemont, had met with him to turn over ownership of the farm, they’d informed him that Clara Buchanan was the live-in housekeeper. But they hadn’t said a word about Heather being the farm manager. That just reinforced Jake’s theory that Emerald was definitely up to something. Why else would she mention the name of the housekeeper and leave out all reference to the woman who ran the majority of the farm?
“I’ve met Heather.” The kid couldn’t be more than fourteen or fifteen years old, but it seemed he already had an appreciative eye for the ladies. “And I agree. She’s very pretty.”
When Daily opened the double doors and stood back, Jake entered the foyer and immediately felt as if he’d taken a step back in time. Decorated with furniture he had no doubt were period antiques, he half expected to see a woman in a wide hoop skirt descend the sweeping circular staircase. Or more likely a Kentucky colonel dressed in a white suit and holding a mint julep come strolling out of the study.
“Grandma told me to take your luggage up to the west wing,” Daily said, walking toward the stairs. “If you want me to, I can show you where your room is, Mr. Garnier.”
“Lead the way.” When they reached the top of the staircase, Jake grinned. “I’ll bet sliding down a banister like this one is as close to being on a roller coaster as you get without going to an amusement park.”
“Oh, dude, talk about a rush,” Daily said, his voice enthusiastic. He stopped suddenly, a concerned expression crossing his youthful face. “Uh, you probably don’t want me doing that because of scratching the finish.”
“It’s water under the bridge now.” Jake shook his head. “But I’m not as concerned with a few marks on the wood as I am about you taking a fall. That’s a long way down and you could be badly injured.”
“You won’t tell my grandma, will you? She’ll kill me if she finds out.”
Jake took pity on the kid. “As long as you don’t do it again, I think we can keep it between the two of us.”
Clearly relieved to hear Jake would be keeping his secret, the boy smiled. “Thanks. You’re really cool, Mr. Garnier.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Every time Daily called him Mr. Garnier, he felt as old as dirt. “And while you’re at it, why don’t you call me Jake?”
After a delicious lunch, Jake strolled back down the path leading to the stables and couldn’t help but wonder if he’d lost his touch with the opposite sex. He’d never had this much trouble with women in his entire life. If things didn’t change, he just might end up developing a complex.
Emerald, for one, was purposely avoiding him and unless he missed his guess, she’d continue to do so for a while. She had to know he was on to her latest matchmaking scheme and no doubt wanted to avoid having him tell her to mind her own damned business.
But Mrs. Buchanan’s sudden disappearance right after serving him lunch was a complete mystery. She’d been friendly enough when he first walked into the kitchen. But as soon as she put his plate in front of him, she’d apologized and rushed off to the housekeeper’s quarters as if she thought he was contagious.
And then there was the chilly reception he’d received from Heather that morning. Her body language and obvious contempt let him know in no uncertain terms exactly how she felt about his reappearance in her life. But try as he might, he couldn’t figure out why. He hoped for better luck with her during their meeting this afternoon, but he wasn’t fool enough to count on that happening.
Entering the stable, he walked past several stalls to the opposite end of the structure where the manager’s office was located. He wasn’t the least bit surprised that Heather was nowhere in sight. Given her attitude toward him, he really expected no less. He wasn’t, however, prepared for the very large black dog that got up from a blanket in the corner, walked over and stretched out on top of his feet.
“At least you’re friendly,” he said, reaching down to pet the dog’s head.
Irritated that she’d obviously blown off his request to set up a meeting with the farm employees, he extricated his feet from beneath the animal and covered the short distance to where the brood mares were kept. He found Heather bent over a horse lying on its side in one of the stalls, and his mouth went completely dry. She was dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a pale pink T-shirt. With the denim hugging her shapely little bottom to perfection, he didn’t think twice about taking in the delightful view.
As she straightened, an older man Jake assumed to be one of the grooms brushed past him to enter the stall and hand her a pair of rubber gloves. When she pulled them on they extended up to her shoulders.
“What’s going on?” he asked, venturing farther into the enclosure.
“The stork is going to make it before the vet.” She knelt down behind the horse in the middle of the oversize stall. “Jake, I want you to hold her head to keep her from trying to get up, while Tony and I take care of things on this end,” she instructed.
Jake wasn’t used to anyone issuing him orders, but something in Heather’s tone had him kneeling down to carry out the directive. As he watched, the man she’d called Tony held the horse’s tail, while she helped guide the foal from the mare. She quickly lifted a membrane away from the colt’s nose, then vigorously massaged the animal’s small, wet body with a towel.
“Is that to make sure it starts breathing?” He found her skill and efficiency to be very impressive.
Nodding, she pulled off the gloves and stood up. “He was doing pretty good on his own, but it never hurts to have a little insurance when it comes to foals this valuable.” She smiled down at the weak little creature. “We may be looking at the next Triple Crown winner.”
Rising to his feet, he moved away from the mare’s head as she started to get her legs under her. “Do you have to do this sort of thing very often?”
Before she could answer his question, the cell phone clipped to the waistband of her jeans rang, and she stepped out of the stall to take the call.
Jake turned to the groom. “By the way, I’m Jake Garnier, the new owner here.”
Grinning, the man nodded. “I figured as much. Welcome to Hickory Hills.”
“I have to go up to the main house for a few minutes,” Heather interrupted, stepping back into the stall. “If you have any questions about the brood mares, training schedules or the farm’s daily routine, Tony can fill you in.”
Jake walked over to stand beside her. “I think I’ll go with you, then you can show me around.”
“There’s really no need.” Her long golden brown ponytail swayed back and forth as she shook her head. “I’ll only be a few minutes and there’s no sense in you walking all that way just to turn around and walk back.”
Had that been a hint of panic he’d detected in her soft voice? Why didn’t she want him going with her?
“I don’t mind at all,” he said, placing his hand to the small of her back to usher her along. There was no way she’d leave him behind now. “Afraid of a little exercise?”
Jake could tell she wanted to protest at his wisecrack, but clamping her lips together, she quickly stepped away from his touch and preceded him out of the stall. Neither spoke as they walked side by side up the path to the back entrance of the mansion and he couldn’t help but wonder what she was trying to keep from him. And he had no doubt there was something. He hadn’t been an attorney for the past twelve years without learning to recognize when someone was trying to conceal a secret.
When they entered the kitchen, Jake stopped short at the sight of Clara Buchanan with a crying baby in her arms. Never in a million years would he have thought the emergency calling Heather away from work would be a baby. But his astonishment was compounded tenfold when Heather hurried over to them and took the child from the housekeeper. The baby instantly calmed down and it was obvious that Heather was the child’s mother.
“I think she might be running a little bit of a fever,” Clara said, touching the baby’s round little cheek.
Heather nodded. “I thought she felt warm when I got her up this morning.” She tenderly pressed her lips to her daughter’s forehead. “I think she might be trying to cut her first tooth.”
“That’s what the pediatrician said when I called her.” The housekeeper smiled fondly at the tiny girl. “But I wanted to let you know and see what you thought about taking Mandy in to her office.”
“It might not be a bad idea to have a doctor check her over,” Jake said from behind her.
He knew even less about babies than he did about horses. But he and his twin brother, Luke, had raised their ten-year-old sister after their mother was killed in a car accident and remembered that when a child had an elevated temperature it was always better to err on the side of caution.
“Just to be on the safe side, I think I will take her to see Dr. Evans.”
“I’ll get the diaper bag,” Clara said, disappearing down the hall toward her apartment.
As she and Jake stood in uncomfortable silence while she waited for Clara to return, Heather felt as if her nerves had been stretched to the breaking point. Was Jake aware that he was standing barely four feet away from his own daughter? Had he noticed that Mandy had his blue eyes and dark hair?
Ever since she’d learned that he was taking over Hickory Hills, she’d wondered how she was going to break the news to him about the baby. But she hadn’t anticipated him meeting their daughter before she had a chance to tell him about her.
He hadn’t said anything. Maybe he hadn’t noticed how much Mandy looked like him. If that was the case, she’d be able to explain everything in a much less rushed fashion. She hoped.
“Needless to say, I won’t be giving you that tour of the farm this afternoon or holding the meeting you wanted with your employees,” she finally said as she cradled the baby close.
He nodded. “That’s understandable. We can reschedule for tomorrow morning or even the day after if she’s still not feeling well.”
When the housekeeper came back into the room, he reached out and took the diaper bag from her. “I’ll help Heather and the baby get to the car.”
“Call me when you get back to let me know what you find out from the doctor about our little angel,” Clara called after them as they left the house.
“Would you mind letting Tony know that he’s in charge until I get back?” Heather asked as they walked the short distance to the carriage house.
Jake shook his head as he watched her open the back door of the older-model sedan parked in front. “No problem. I’ll take care of it. Is there anything else?”
“Not that I can think of.”
When Heather turned to put the baby in the car seat, the little girl looked at him over her mother’s shoulder for the first time and he felt as if he’d been flattened by a steam roller. He couldn’t have gotten his vocal cords to work if his life depended on it and simply stood back as Heather got into the car and drove away.
As he watched the vehicle disappear around the corner of the mansion and head down the drive toward the main road, his heart pounded against his ribs and he found it extremely hard to draw air into his lungs. The baby had dark hair and big blue eyes. Eyes the color of cobalt. The same color of cobalt that met his gaze when he looked into the mirror each morning to shave.
