Page 54 of Irish Rose
“But I do. I want them to look at you and think he’s the most wonderful man here. And she has him.” Laughing, she spun another circle. “Then I can just look at them and smile, sort of pitying.”
“It’s a shame I won’t be able to notice, because I won’t be able to take my eyes off you.”
She turned back to touch his cheek. “You know, when you say things like that, it still makes my insides curl up. Burke... ” She wanted to tell him she loved him, but she knew he would only smile and kiss her forehead. Then her heart would break a little because he wasn’t able to give the words back to her. “Did you ever think these parties are a little—slow?”
“I thought you liked them.”
“Well, I do.” She moved closer to run a finger down his lapel. “But sometimes, sometimes I find myself in the mood for something that takes a little more energy.” She smiled as she looked up at him under her lashes. “A lot more energy. You smell very nice.”
“Thanks.” He lifted a brow as she loosened his tie. “Are you trying to start something?”
“And what if I am?” She pushed his jacket off his shoulders.
“Just checking,” he murmured while she unbuttoned his shirt. “This isn’t going to make all those women jealous.”
With a laugh she ran her hands up his chest. “That’s what you think.” Grinning, she shoved him onto the bed and jumped in after him.
For the first time since she’d fainted, Erin insisted on going down to the stables with Burke. She told him it was a matter of pride, and it was. Pride in him.
She wasn’t able to bring herself to go in, but urged him to as she stood in the sun and watched the people.
A long way from Skibbereen indeed, she thought. The air was warm with springtime, and flowers were already in bloom. Trainers and exercise boys she’d come to know by sight nodded or tipped their hats as they passed her and greeted her as Mrs. Logan.
There was excitement in the air as well, the kind that hummed before an important race. Before long, it would betherace. The Derby. But for now everyone’s attention was on today and the Bluegrass Stakes. A win here added to Double Bluff’s record would make him the favorite. Erin smiled as she thought that would lower the odds, but odds didn’t matter. She wanted Burke to win, today and at Churchill Downs. She could almost taste the satisfaction of having Double Bluff named Horse of the Year. More than she’d wanted anything, she wanted that for Burke, for him to know he’d done something special, something only the best could accomplish.
“Good day to you, Mrs. Logan.”
“Paddy.” Pleased to see him, Erin opened her arms for a hug. “Oh, it’s a fine day, isn’t it? How’s Dee?”
“Right as right and mean as a bear. She told me to tell you if Travis’s Apollo doesn’t win, Burke’s Double Bluff better.”
“And who are you betting on?”
“Now who do you think? I trained Apollo myself. But if I was hedging my bets, I’d lay some money on the colt out of Three Aces.”
“A smart man would put his money down on Charlie’s Pride.” Durnam came up behind them and slapped Paddy on the shoulder.
“Well, now, it’s a fine colt you have there, Mr. Durnam, and that’s the truth. But I think I’ll stick with my own.”
“That’s your choice. Hello there, Mrs. Logan. You’re looking as pretty as ever.”
“Thank you. Good luck to you today.”
“You don’t need luck when you’ve got the best.” He pulled at the brim of his straw hat and moved on.
“We’ll see who’s the best,” Erin said under her breath.
“Got the fever, do you?” Chuckling, Paddy slipped an arm around her shoulders. “There’s a powerful competition in this business. Can’t be otherwise when money and prestige change hands in a matter of minutes.”
“How do you know when you’ve got a winner?”
“Well, now, there’s breeding and training and a matter of attitude. There’s feed and grooming. There’s the jockey that sits on top and finding the right man for the right mount. But what it comes down to, darling, is blood. It’s in the blood or it isn’t, just like with people.”
“Aye, the blood.” She looked toward the stables and thought of Burke. “So you think that someone could be denied the proper care and feeding, the training, and still be a winner?”
“We talking horses or people?”
“Does it matter?”
