Man of My Dreams by Johanna Lindsey Read Free Book Online

prob’ly won’t see much of him a’tall.”
    “I suppose that’s something of a consolation, since we’re obviously stuck with him.”
    She came around the desk and kissed her father’s cheek to show him she wasn’t too disappointed. But she was. The very thought of having Devlin Jefferys around agitated her as much as he himself had earlier. Why did he have to be the condition to having that magnificent stallion? If the horse weren’t such a prize…
    Megan ran right into the man as she turned from closing the door to the study. She’d had him on her mind, but she had completely forgotten that she’d told him to wait in the hall.
    Her hands came up automatically to brace against the soft white lawn of his shirt. She felt muscles leap under her fingers, and her cheeks scalded with the impropriety of touching him, however accidentally. She jumped back, only she did it too quickly, right onto the train of her skirt, which pulled the bustle down and nearly made her lose her balance completely. By the time she got her shoes untangled from her skirt, Devlin Jefferys was laughing.
    “Women do occasionally fall prostrate at my feet, but not trying to escape me.”
    “No doubt they swoon from your vulgar insinuations,” Megan retorted before she looked up at him.
    She wished she hadn’t. He was still too close for comfort, and still so handsome he stole her breath. And those eyes, good God, they were lovely, such a perfect blending of blue-green, and such a wicked combination with that jet-black hair.
    Nearly a half minute passed before they both realized, at the same time, that they were simply staring at each other. Megan looked away first, her face hotter than ever, so she didn’t see the flush that also came to Devlin’s cheeks.
    “They have been known to swoon, though not from vulgar insinuations, which I rarely make. I’m much more direct, Miss Penworthy,in getting right to the heart of the matter. Shall I demonstrate?”
    “No!”
    “Too bad. You do look so nice in pink.”
    He was referring to her blushes, the lout, which he took such a delight in causing. She dared to look up at him again, just to give him a fulsome glare. His expression was smug, if not downright triumphant, and when she realized why, she gave him another blush to gloat over.
    “Ah, I see your lagging memory returns finally,” he almost purred. “You lost. It’s time now to pay up.”
    “Pay up?”
    “Take me out and show me your stable. That’s what I waited here for.”
    He made it sound somehow unsavory, sexually unsavory, as if he weren’t talking about a building, but part of her anatomy. “Our stable isn’t hidden out in the woods somewhere, it’s behind the house. A fool could find it, so I suppose you can.”
    “I should have known you’d be a spoilsport.”
    “I wasn’t aware we’d placed a wager,” she replied stiffly.
    “Weren’t you? You would have been quick enough to show me the door if you had got your way. You threw down the challenge, I accepted—and won.”
    “In that case, I’d say you cheated with unfair knowledge of a certain ridiculous condition.”
    “And I’d say, since you’re obviously stuck with me , you ought to accept defeat graciously.”
    Those words sounded suspiciously familiar, making Megan gasp. “You were listening at the door?”
    He gave her a mocking bow. “Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
    She hissed through her teeth, “Only what one can expect of someone with the manners of a pig!”
    His brows shot up in surprise, which she didn’t doubt was feigned since his lips were just short of actual grinning. “I’m trying to step down, but I don’t believe I’m aspiring to that level.”
    She didn’t try to make sense out of that remark. What she tried to do was walk past him, but he moved, and still filled the immediate path to escape.
    “So a demonstration is in order after all?” he said, and his arms suddenly came up to brace against the wall at her