From the window of her bedchamber, Lee looked out across the rolling green fields. She could see the racecourse her aunt had constructed three years ago when Lee had convinced her—with the help of Lord Claymont—they should not only breed Thoroughbreds, but race them as well.

The track wasn't large, but it was sufficient for flat-race training and Caleb Tanner was there, working with Noir. She couldn't be certain, but she caught a glimpse of bright red hair and thought Jimmy Murphy must be riding him. Jimmy had started as a stable boy, doing the most menial tasks, but Tanner had recognized a talent that had thus far been overlooked.

At sixteen, Jimmy was small for his age, and with older brothers who were also small, there was every chance he wasn't going to get a whole lot larger. From the upstairs window, Lee watched horse and rider pounding around the course east of the stable. Most of the morning was already gone, but there was still time to get in a ride if she hurried.

In concession to the lateness of the hour and the fact that the household was awake, she dressed in her forest green riding habit and made her way out to the stable. Coeur poked his head over the stall and nickered softly. She led him out and brushed his coat, hoping one of the grooms would appear to help her with the cumbersome sidesaddle. Instead, old Arlie creaked toward her.

" 'Ere, Miss, let me saddle 'im fer ye."

The sidesaddle was heavy. There was no way Arlie could lift it. Together they might manage, but she didn't want to hurt the old man's feelings.

"It's all right, Arlie. I think Billy is around here somewhere. Why don't we let him take care of it?"

"Don't be daft, gel. How many 'orses 'ave I saddled fer ye over the years?" Before she could stop him, Arlie hefted the heavy saddle off the wall. For a moment, he teetered backward, then he swayed forward, his thin legs wobbling with the effort of holding the heavy saddle against his bony chest.

"Arlie!" Lee cried as he teetered backward again. Racing forward, she reached up to help him hold the saddle. An instant later, Lee, Arlie, and the heavy sidesaddle with its padded tapestry seat all went crashing to the ground.

For several seconds, Lee just lay there beneath the saddle, on top of Artie, the breath knocked out of her lungs, terrified she had killed her ancient groom.

Then the sidesaddle lifted away. A grinning Caleb Tanner stood above her, the saddle hoisted up on one of his wide shoulders. "Need some help?"

Reaching down, he took her hand and hauled her to her feet. Embarrassed, wishing she could wipe the grin off his handsome face, she turned her attention to Arlie, still sprawled on the floor of the barn, blinking owlishly up at her as if he had no idea where he was.

"Arlie! Are you all right?"

He reached for the hand Caleb offered him and struggled back to his feet. "Just fine, Miss. Right as rain. Fit as a fiddle. Got a mite off balance, is all."

"Yes, I could see that." She turned, saw that Caleb was fighting another grin. "What are you staring at, Mr. Tanner? Since you don't seem to have any trouble hoisting that saddle, why don't you rig out Grand Coeur?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, though the corner of his mouth twitched. Caleb turned to his task while Lee brushed straw and dirt off her habit, and a few minutes later, the tall dappled stallion was saddled and ready to go.

Walking beside her, Caleb led him over to the mounting block. "Nice day for a ride," he said.

"Yes… yes, it is."

"That big red gelding could use some exercise. I don't suppose you'd want company."

Her stomach contracted. Women often rode out with their grooms. It was a matter of protection. But most grooms didn't look like Caleb Tanner. They weren't the sort to make a woman's insides tremble or her heart start to sputter. And after his cruel words in the garden…

But Caleb always seemed different out here.

Then again, so was she.

"As you say, the red could probably use some exercise." She cast him a look and couldn't resist adding, "And there is a chance I might be willing to give you a pointer or two on how to improve your seat."

A corner of his mouth edged up. "One thing I know for sure… yours doesn't need the least bit of improvement."

She could tell by the wicked glint in his eyes he wasn't talking about riding. She opened her mouth but couldn't seem to think of a single thing to say. She felt his big hands at her waist, lifting her up onto the sidesaddle, then he turned and walked away.

"I'll catch up with you at the top of the rise," he said to her over his shoulder.

Setting a leisurely pace up the hill, Lee reined up to wait for him there, letting Grand Coeur graze contentedly among the deep green grasses. As Caleb rode up the hill to meet her, she couldn't help admiring the ease with which he sat his horse, the way his shoulders remained erect while his body moved gracefully with the rhythm of the animal beneath him.

He rode with the confidence of an aristocrat, and she wondered, as she had more than once, who he was and where he had come from. There was something about him… something that simply did not fit. His speech was that of a gentleman and when he wasn't being surly, his manners were the equal of any of Aunt Gabriella's wealthy guests. Perhaps he was the son of a nobleman fallen on hard times, she thought romantically, trying to imagine what travails he might have suffered that had forced him into the ranks of the lower classes.

He reined up beside her and patted the big gelding's neck. "Duke is full of himself this morning. Perhaps a jump or two will help even out his disposition."

The horse's real name was Le Duc de Gar, but that was too long to say, so they just called him Duke. She smiled, liking the idea. "Let's head north, toward the boundary line." An uphill journey, crisscrossed with streams and low rock walls. "That little run should take some of the starch out of him."

Caleb nodded and they rode off in that direction. The sun was warm on her back and the breeze felt cool against her cheeks. Coeur performed solidly and as Caleb put the bay through its paces, the horse settled into an easy gallop.

Lee was breathing a little faster, exhilarated by the thrill of the chase. They reached a small copse of trees at the north end of the property and Caleb pulled rein on his horse in the shade of the trees.

"I thought we'd rest here for a while," he said. "Let the horses graze a little."

"Sounds like a good idea."

Caleb swung down from his saddle, walked over and caught her round the waist. As she rested her hands on his shoulders to balance herself, his gaze locked on her face. She could see a faint ring of gold in the centers of his eyes, see the way they began to darken. Something thickened in the air between them, grew warm and soft, seemed to swirl around them like an invisible red-hot mist.

Slowly, inch by inch, Caleb lowered her to the ground, his body so close she brushed against him the length of her slow descent. She could feel the heat of him, the solid wall of his chest. She couldn't breathe. The air seemed to burn in her lungs. Caleb set her on her feet but didn't let her go. Instead his hand came up and very gently caught her chin.

He was close. So close that if he lowered his head the least little bit…

"Caleb…" she whispered the instant before his mouth settled softly over hers.

Lee closed her eyes. She could feel the fullness of his bottom lip, the softness, the heat of his mouth moving over hers. His thumb felt warm where it lightly brushed her jaw, controlling the kiss, allowing him to take what he wanted, and yet it was nothing like any other kiss she'd had before.

He tilted her head back and kissed her again, sampling her lips, the corners of her mouth, coaxing her to open for him. She felt the slick heat of his tongue sliding over hers, taking what she had never given a man before. She hadn't expected the quick surge of pleasure, the soft heat coiling in her belly, the urgent pull low in her womb.

He smelled faintly of leather and horses, a pleasant, masculine scent, and where her palms rested on his chest, bands of muscle flexed beneath her fingers.

She knew she should stop him. Mondale would be furious and Wingate would go into a snit. Aunt Gabriella would be wildly disappointed. But she made no protest when Caleb pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, and a sweep of desire washed over her.

Lee clung to his powerful shoulders, drowning in the slow, deep, lingering feel of his mouth and tongue, wishing the moment never had to end. He kissed her one way and then another, kissed her fiercely then gently, kissed her the way she had dreamed a man should kiss. It made her head spin and her knees go weak. It made her heart pound so hard she was sure it would tear through her chest.

"Caleb…"

He didn't answer, but she felt his mouth against the side of her neck, felt the warmth of soft, moist kisses on the skin beneath her ear. She moaned when he took her mouth again, more possessively this time, and her legs began to tremble. One of his big hands moved up to cup her breast while the other began to work the buttons on the front of the short velvet jacket of her riding habit.

Dear God, it was time to bring this to an end. Plans had been made for her future, plans that didn't include Caleb Tanner.

Trembling all over, she turned her face away, ending the kiss, then breaking free of his arms, dizzy for a moment, swaying a little on her feet.

"Easy," he said, reaching out to steady her. "Why don't we go someplace where we can be private? There's a little shepherds' cabin not far away. I saw it the last time I was out here."

She only shook her head. "I have to go," she said, backing away, wetting her kiss-swollen lips, tasting him there. "They'll be… they'll be wondering where I've got off to."