Marrying the Marquis by Patricia Grasso Read Free Book Online Page B

gazes on her back. They were smiling behind their hands at her foolishness, but she would make them believers before the season ended.
    Love Peg , Blaze thought, stroking the filly’s face.
    Me love .
    Peg run between horses?
    Lonely. Scared .
    Seeking to comfort, Blaze put her arm around the filly’s neck and pressed her face against her cheek. Then she led the filly back to the watching men.
    “Dinna kiss me until ye wash yer face,” Ross teased her.
    “I would rather kiss a frog,” Blaze said, remembering to give him a serene smile. “Perhaps the frog would turn into a Russian prince?”
    That wiped the smile off the Scotsman’s face.
    Blaze shifted her gaze to the trainer and the jockey. “Peg feels lonely, which makes her afraid to go through the hole. She needs to feel the jockey is with her.”
    Bobby Bender and Rooney stared at her in openmouthed surprise. The marquis was not so polite.
    Ross shouted with laughter. “Horses canna feel lonely.”
    “What does it mean when a dog growls or bites?” Blaze asked, rounding on him, her hands on her hips.
    Ross rolled his eyes at the other men, making them smile. “Most likely, the dog is angry.”
    “And if the dog wags its tail?”
    “The mutt likes ye.”
    “How about a purring cat?”
    The marquis’s expression said he knew where her questions were leading. “The cat feels contented.”
    “If dogs and cats can feel anger, friendliness, and contentment,” Blaze said, “then a horse can feel lonely.”
    “Have it yer way, then.” He threw his hands up in feigned surrender. “Ye women always do.”
    “Try again,” Blaze ordered Rooney. “While you ride, reassure Peg that she’s not alone.”
    The three men mounted their horses while Blaze watched from the sideline. Again, the filly balked at passing through the hole.
    “Rooney isn’t connecting with her,” she told them. “Do it again, and I will try connecting with her from here.”
    Blaze leaned against the track’s fence. The three men lined their horses side by side, and then the marquis and the trainer spurred their mounts forward into a gallop. Rooney and Peg gave chase.
    Love Peg. Love Peg. Love Peg .
    Blaze chanted inside her mind, her lips moving with the repetitive thought.
    Peg through hole. Peg through hole. Peg through hole .
    Rooney reached the marquis and the trainer. Pegasus started through the hole but slowed at the last minute, allowing the other horses to pull ahead.
    Blaze closed her eyes in disappointment. Communicating from a distance was proving more difficult than she could have imagined. She did not doubt her eventual success, but weeks of practice would be needed.
    “Give it up,” Rooney said, dismounting. “Winning requires heart, not speed.”
    “Peg can do this,” Blaze insisted. “I’ll take her through the hole.”
    “Women do not jockey racehorses,” Rooney told her.
    “If you get on that horse,” Bender said, “your father will slit my throat.”
    In desperation, Blaze turned to the marquis. His expression was unreadable, but he wasn’t laughing anymore.
    “Raven insisted we will solve Peg’s problem.” A pleading note crept into her voice. “She said you would help us.”
    “How does your sister know we can solve the problem?” Rooney asked, drawing her attention.
    “Raven knows because…because she knows.”
    Ross struggled against the urge to laugh in her face. He could never have imagined how entertaining his future bride would be. Her pleading expression became glacial when he said nothing.
    By fair means or foul , Ross reminded himself. He aimed to persuade her into marriage even if it required dragging the damn filly through the hole.
    “I’ll give ye a leg up,” Ross said, gratified when her expression thawed into pleased surprise. He turned to the trainer. “I’ll shoulder the blame if she gets hurt. Rooney, ride my horse while I watch.”
    Ross cupped his hands together and hoisted Blaze up, admiring her derriere as she swung