Redeeming Justice by Suzanne Halliday

my guest how to
     handle a horse without getting her kicked in the head. Or worse.”
    Tori knew him well enough not to openly tease him so she adopted a businesslike expression
     and asked him to, “Tell Meghan I said hello.”
    Exasperated, he shook his head and left the room muttering under his breath about
     women. Detouring his growing fascination for his houseguest with an infusion of alcohol
     hadn’t worked. Try as he might, even with a constant mantra that he couldn’t cross
     that line, all he could think about was how her lips tasted and how mouthwateringly
     gorgeous her ass was. He was in such deep shit that he couldn’t think straight.
    Alex knew they’d have to talk about what happened in the hot tub. With every day that
     passed, the anniversary of the bombing that almost killed him, and did, in fact, take
     the life of her fiancé, got closer. He hated talking about what happened, even with
     Drae and Cam, but she had a right to know what went down. Maybe that was why she was
     here. The universe was making him face, in a very blunt way, the cost of his actions.
     Or non-actions as the case might be.
    Being attracted to a woman who had suffered because of him seemed like the ultimate fuck you, and a punishment he hadn’t seen coming. Even though he’d already known that there
     would be no happily ever after for him, it still stung like a bitch that he fell so
     hard and so fast for the one female on the whole planet he absolutely could not pursue.
     And fall he most certainly had.
    While he absently tapped away on the computer all morning, what he was really doing
     was thinking about Meghan. Actually, thinking was an understatement. He’d been flat-out
     fantasizing about her. The gods had a fucked up sense of humor tempting him with her.
     She was everything he’d ever dreamed of in a woman and then some.
    The curves she kept referring to as making her fat were nothing short of jaw dropping.
     Add to that the face of an angel, an Irish one at that, and a personality full of
     wit and intelligence, and you had the ingredients for a made-to-order goddess. He
     felt completely at ease around her even though she made him all hot and bothered.
     He wondered if this was how it had been for Cam and Drae. The thought tore at his
     heart. They deserved their happiness. He still had a lifetime of penance to serve
     for the failings in his past.
    The minute he walked through the house on his way to the stable, Zeus came trotting
     to his side. He wondered if Meghan liked dogs then quickly squashed the thought. It
     didn’t matter, she was only a guest. One who would eventually leave.
    The big Lab must have sensed his troubled thoughts because she nosed his hand and
     tried to jump in front of his legs to get his attention. This dog had been a balm
     for his soul when he settled into the Villa and started building the Justice Agency.
     She was treated like a princess, one of the canine variety, a distinction she’d earned
     by her devotion to Alex.
    When they arrived at the stable, Alex immediately spotted Meghan up on one of the
     American Quarter Horses - perfect for a beginning rider. The handsome mount named
     Sasha was trotting slowly around the riding ring with Gus standing in the middle talking
     horse and rider through their paces.
    Meghan looked fantastic in the saddle, her gorgeous auburn curls pulled back in a
     sloppy ponytail, with the backside he’d been fantasizing about moving up and down,
     her thighs gripping the sides of the horse, and her feet planted firmly in the stirrups.
     She was a natural. It didn’t do any good to pretend he didn’t wonder what her thighs
     would feel like wrapped around his hips as he pounded into her. Trying to ignore the
     shit-kicking case of lust he was experiencing was a total waste of time.
    Lost in his private musings starring a naked and delectable Irish goddess he didn’t
     at first notice the rest of the scene before him until he heard someone shout