Man of Her Dreams by Tami Hoag Page B

his potential as a sire,” Maggie added.
    Katie had also filled her in on what it meant to syndicate a stallion. She was extremely grateful, as the syndication of Rough Cut had been big news and hot gossip. Rumors ran the syndication price to seven figures.
    Maggie thought she would bust from pride when the chairman of the Virginia Grand Prix Association called Ry to the front of the room to present him with a plaque and congratulate him for raising and campaigning a horse that had become a living legend in the sport. Ry had made it to the top of a very competitive business. She knew how hard he worked, how much he loved and sweated over his horses. To hear other people in the business sing his praises made her want to throw her arms around him and declare to everyone in the room that he was hers.
    At the moment, she noted, he didn’t look as though that would please him. He had returned to his seat and was wearing one of his infamous scowls as he watched Carter Hill reluctantly leave the table in search of a dancing partner.
    â€œYou weren’t hiding behind any doors when they passed out charm, were you?” Ry’s tone was anything but complimentary.
    Maggie watched Christian and Marissa, and Katie and Nick step out onto the highly polished dance floor before she deigned to comment. She turned to Ry with a lazy smile as she chose a dark red grape from the plate of fruit at the center of the table. “I’m not quite sure how you mean that, sugar.”
    His scowl darkened from black to bottomless. “I mean, you’ve got all the men here panting after you like a pack of half-starved coon hounds. Carter Hill didn’t take his eyes off you all through dinner.”
    â€œDidn’t he?” she asked innocently, hiding her smile as she brought the grape to her lips and began slowly peeling it with her teeth.
Bless your jealous heart, Rylan Quaid.
“And why should you care,
friend
?”
    Sweat filmed Ry’s forehead. His train of thought momentarily derailed as he watched her small white teeth neatly strip the skin from the grape. “Hell…I-I don’t. It’s just that he’s no man for you. You’d tear him to shreds inside of a week.” The grape disappeared into her mouth. Her ripe red lips closed around it. He swallowed hard. “You need a man you can’t intimidate.”
    â€œIs that a fact?” She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes as she lifted a fat, beautiful strawberry from the silver platter. Holding it between thumb and forefinger, she dunked the tip of it in her champagne glass, lifted it to her mouth, and licked the golden liquid off, her tongue lazily stroking the berry. Rylan went pale, then a blush began creeping up his thick neck from beneath the snow white collar of his shirt.
    â€œY-yeah, that’s right,” he mumbled, suddenly feeling as if there wasn’t enough air in the room to fill a thimble, let alone his lungs. As she nipped the end off the strawberry, he felt every drop of blood in his body gravitate to one vital area. “You need a man with some backbone,” he said hoarsely.
    Maggie shifted on her chair. She’d never seduced a man. It was exciting. Watching him lose the struggle to maintain that damned steely control of his, knowing she was responsible, was turning her on. The tight bodice of her gown scraped against her hypersensitive nipples. Ry’s hands would soothe that ache later.
    Forcing her brain back to the conversation, she said, “A man like you?” She dipped the strawberry in the champagne once again and returned it to her lips. “I don’t know about that, sugar. You were probably right; we’re better off being friends. This way we can enjoy each other’s company and still be—” she licked the strawberry again, “—open—” she took a bite, “—to other relationships.”
    The last of the berry disappeared, leaving