The Tycoon's Tender Triumph Page 0,22
argue with him on that point, “then come back to me and let me help you set up your business the way your dad helped me set up mine.”
Chloe looked at him warily. “How do you know what kind of business I want to begin?”
Sam smiled. “It doesn’t matter what you want to do. I know your father and I know he didn’t raise an idiot daughter. So once you figure out where your passion lies, I’d like to help.”
She considered his words carefully. There was no way she would let him help her with getting started in photography. Sam was a hard driving businessman and probably hated art, only bought it for investment purposes so she’d never tell him her dream. But she could let him pay back her father by doing those awful repairs. His guys would probably do a much better job than she could ever do so it would make sense. Anything she did would probably have to be redone at some point anyway so she might not keep her father off that roof after all.
“You can do the repairs. And I’m grateful for the offer but I’ll pay you back.”
“We’ll see about the payback, but we won’t argue about it at the moment.” He turned and punched something into his computer. “We have a good breeding program. I could definitely use your help selecting the couples.”
She tried to hide the shudder of horror at that idea. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I don’t think I’d be very good in that area.”
“Why not? You’re an excellent rider which means that you’re in tune with the animals. You really connect with them.”
“Yes…”
He smiled slightly as understanding of her hesitation dawned on him. “But your ladies would have to accept their mates, am I correct?”
“Absolutely.”
Sam laughed. “You’re a romantic, Chloe.”
She bristled at that statement, which came across as patronizing, and his amusement. “Just because I don’t want lady horses raped by a male horse doesn’t make me a romantic.”
He tried to smother his amusement at her commentary on breeding horses, knowing it might hurt her feelings. “It generally isn’t rape, you know. The females run, but that’s all part of the game. It’s all about the chase and a filly doesn’t like it when a stallion isn’t willing to chase her.”
“That sounds animalistic.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “They’re animals, Chloe.”
She didn’t like that anyway, even though his laughter made her tingle with awareness. “It just seems barbaric.”
He acknowledged her feelings with another nod. “Okay, I suspect you’ve made up your mind about the business you want to be in but you’re not completely sure that you’re ready. So what can I do to help you?”
“Ideally, I’d just like to be content.”
He looked at her with his dark, intelligent eyes and Chloe knew that she’d revealed too much in that one statement.
“And are you content with your life in New York and your boyfriend?”
She looked out the window and thought back to what she’d been only a week ago. “No. I know that’s not the future I want.”
“And do you know what you want?”
Chloe shrugged. “Despite the cold in the winter, I always loved it here. The air is so much cleaner, I can see the stars at night and I love horses.”
“Especially Nutmeg?”
She laughed softly. “No, not especially but Nutmeg has a different personality. A bit more demanding that the others, but they’re all wonderful.”
“He’s a bit of an autocrat, isn’t he?”
She smiled at him cheekily. “Takes one to know one.”
“Touché,” he came back. “So, you want a small business that keeps you…content.” He watched her face. “And happiness is out of the question?”
She looked away again, all laughter gone from her face. Just thinking about moving here to Texas where she would watch Sam, see him fall for some other woman and marry her, most likely have children with him was a painful thought. But she hadn’t had much success getting over him in Boston, New York and the other few places she’d briefly lived over the past few years. Besides, none had been a really good “fit” for her. Texas seemed to be more of a home to her than any other area she’d ever tried to settle. “Let’s stick to what’s achievable,” she replied, not wanting to go any further down that road.
“Fine. You’ll need dresses and suits if you’re going into any kind of business. Can you afford them? And you’ll need to keep the five beauties in my stable.