The Man's Outrageous Demands (2 page)

Hanging the dress on a hanger in the closet, she pulled on a silk negligee and slipped between the sheets. Pushing thoughts of the irritating man out of her head, she considered the other men she’d seen tonight. Although her parents were willing to consider her opinion on the subject of her husband, she knew they were growing impatient to have the issue settled. Marabeth knew her father wanted grandchildren and an heir to the throne just in case Max never settled down and married, which was a definite possibility, considering the way he discreetly had a mistress tucked away at all times, but never the same one for very long.

Marabeth slept fitfully that night, her dreams interrupted by a tall, handsome man. She ran from him throughout her dreams but each time she turned the corner, she ran into him, his arms closing around her gently, but firmly and his head bending down to kiss her lips. Each time her dream came to that point, she pulled herself out of the dream, waking and frantically trying to go back to sleep and dream about something else.

By the time the sun was streaming across her bed, she was still exhausted and none of her anger had dissipated since the man had not only intruded upon her embarrassing proposal, he’d also plagued her dreams. The man had absolutely no right to be that invasive she thought.

Walking down to the stables that morning, she tried to let the fresh, spring air calm her temper and soothe her tired soul. The birds were chirping and the sun was just coming up over the horizon as she entered the stables.

“Hello, my Beauty,” Marabeth said to her horse as she entered his stall. “I hope you’re in a frisky mood today,” she said and patted the stallion’s flanks. The horse whinnied and snickered, eager for Marabeth’s touch. “Oh, my. You seem to be ready for a real ride today, aren’t you?” she said and led the great, black stallion out of the stall and into the yard.

Marabeth started the soothing process of saddling her horse, getting ready for her morning ride. Both horse and rider enjoyed these quiet times and Marabeth was in no hurry this morning, enjoying the horse’s frisky teasing.

“I understand,” Marabeth said finally as she lifted the heavy saddle onto the horse’s back, then strapped the buckle underneath. “I’m with you. I need to get away from here. Too stuffy lately,” she said, thinking she was alone. “I’ll bet you haven’t seen that irritating man, but if he ever comes around here, you just throw him off, understand? And tell all your friends, too,” she said and patted the horse’s flank again reassuringly.
“Who in the world are you talking to?” a deep voice said from behind her.

Marabeth spun around, facing the man with the voice, her body instantly starting to tremble as his large frame came closer.

“And who would you like your horse, and the entire stable of horses to throw off his back?” Sam asked, raising one eyebrow as he noted the high color in her cheeks. “Me, perhaps?”

“What are you doing down here?” Marabeth demanded, ignoring his question. She wasn’t going to answer him since he was exactly who she wanted all the horses to toss.

“I’m going riding, of course,” he said. “Didn’t you invite me for a ride?” he teased.

“No. This is my own private time. I ride alone.”

“Pity,” he said, standing too close for her peace of mind.

“Oh, Sam. I’m glad your down here early,” Max said as he came around the corner. “Marabeth! I didn’t know you were going riding this morning. Don’t you usually get out there earlier than this?” he asked. His glance went between Sam and Marabeth, instantly understanding that there was some unexplained tension between the two of them. “Am I interrupting something?” he asked.

“Absolutely not,” Marabeth said and walked her horse over to the mounting block. “I was just on my way,” she said and lifted her leg over the saddle. She settled herself, then smiled behind her at the two men watching her. “Have a good ride,” she said and clicked her heel’s into Beauty’s flanks. The horse instantaneously sprang forward and they were out of the stable area and down one of her favorite paths.

“Is she always allowed to go off on her own?” Sam asked, watching her ride away and noting how gorgeous she looked on the stallion. It was as if the two were made for each other. He inhaled sharply as she led the stallion over a tall fence, then off into the woods, executing the jump flawlessly.

“Yes. She knows those woods pretty well though. She’ll be back in less than an hour,” Max said. “Come on. I think our horses should be saddled by now. I have a lot to talk about with you,” he said and patted Sam on the shoulder.

Sam watched for a few more minutes, then followed Max into the stables to check on their horses. Sam knew what Max wanted to talk to him about so it wasn’t urgent that they get started. He knew Max was trying to make this both private so Sam could turn him down if he needed to, but also a time to talk Sam into taking the position.

Sam knew what his answer would be already. Max was wasting his time. But if it meant getting on a horse and following the sexy redhead into the woods, then Sam was all for it.

“Ready?” Max said, pulling himself gracefully onto a strong, brown and white pinto.

“Absolutely,” Sam said and swung up onto a feisty brown stallion. As soon as he touched his heels to the horse, he jumped forward, eager to gallop through the forest. Sam was glad for the horse’s speed since he wanted to try and catch up with the redhead who had disappeared several minutes ago.

Max led the way through the forest and they spent several minutes racing down a pathway that wound its way through the trees and bushes, then broke out into a field of high grass.

Sam could see where the other rider had ridden. Unfortunately, Max took a different route that led them up a slight incline. The ride was worth it though, since they topped a hill and were able to stop and watch the valley below with the sun rising over the trees. They stood still for several long moments and just enjoyed the stillness.

Max then turned and faced Sam. “So, is there any need for me to try and convince you to take over as Minister of Defense? The current minister wants to retire as soon as possible. Both me and my father think you would be the ideal candidate to replace him.”

Sam looked out over the beautiful countryside. “I don’t understand why you want me to take over. I already have my own security company.”

“That’s exactly why we want you to take over. Your company is arguably the best in the world. Your services are requested by just about every important family and company. You’ve built it up through hard work and common sense. But you also have a strong military background. You’re the ideal candidate to take over as Minister of Defense because you understand both the commercial and military side of all the issues.”

Sam looked out at the horizon, silent for a moment as he took in everything Prince Maximilian was saying. “Basically, I’ve done it all so you now want me to give up the easy life of a CEO who can pretty much come and go as I please in order to serve my country and become embroiled in the security of an entire people as well as the royal family of Cordova.”

Max smiled cheekily. “That about sums it up.”

“So what’s in it for me?”

Max laughed. “Don’t be coy, Sam. I know you better than that. You’re chomping at the bit for a new challenge. You’re company is successful and has a great reputation but you’re bored out of your mind, aren’t you?”

He had a point, Sam thought. The day to day responsibilities of running a large company were starting to bore him. He knew he’d been looking for a challenge, but he was pretty sure it didn’t involve playing politics. “You’re still not giving me any good reason to take the job,” he said.

“You’ll have lots of new toys to play with,” Max said, as if that would entice him.

“I can buy all the new toys I need,” Sam countered. “Not good enough.”

Max watched his friend and considered his next words carefully. “There’s trouble brewing in the military. The training is falling below standards, recruits are starting to get slack, the Navy, although small, is being utilized poorly and the commanders are getting rowdy. The only thing holding the military together is my father’s authority. But he has too many diplomatic obligations right now. We need a strong leader to take over and set things back to rights. That man is you, Sam.”

Sam didn’t move in his saddle and his thighs held the horse still. He considered all the things Max was saying and knew that those were the only words that would have convinced him to take the job. Sam loved this country and knew he would have to step in and fix things. He couldn’t let his beloved country flounder. It was small, but strategic and the strong military and diplomatic finesse of his king were the only two things that kept Cordova from becoming a puppet in the world theatre. He knew he would do anything to keep that from happening.

Sam sighed and, without looking at Max, said, “When do you need me to take over?”

Max smothered a smile of satisfaction. “Tomorrow?” he joked.

Sam glanced over at the prince and raised one eyebrow. “That bad, huh?”

“It’s getting there. How about if you start to look into the situation immediately? Let us know what needs to happen and what kind of support you’ll need. I know Admiral Chennok is ready to step down immediately and head for retirement but after your assessment of the situation, you can determine your own start date. That will also give you the time needed to find a successor to your company.”

Sam nodded and watched as the image he had been hoping to see finally appeared. The woman on the black horse raced across the valley, her red hair streaming out behind her. Although he couldn’t hear her, he knew the moment she laughed in delight. The sun glittered and followed the gorgeous creature as she rode her horse through the tall grass.

He was watching her leap and play, putting the horse through several difficult maneuvers when all of a sudden, the horse took a long jump. Sam knew instantly that the rider was not well positioned. And sure enough, she fell off behind.

Sam’s stomach leapt to his throat. Max had seen the fall as well. Obviously Max was not overly concerned with his sister’s welfare since he laughed at her fall. “I’ll get the horse,” Max called and rode off towards the forest. Sam was already kicking his horse into action to find Marabeth and ensure that she was not hurt from the fall.

By the time he was halfway down the hillside, he breathed a sigh of relief. She was standing up and dusting off her bottom from the dust. He watched as she looked around and picked up something from the ground beside her, then started walking in the direction her horse had run off.

Marabeth picked herself up and looked around, disgusted with herself. She hoped the two men who had been up on the hillside had already ridden off, but she knew her luck wasn’t holding out lately.

And sure enough, the man she’d been thinking of trotted up to greet her.

“Hello,” Sam said, walking his horse up beside her. “Mighty rough fall there.”

“Yes. I know about that.”

“Are you okay?” he said, easily keeping up with her angry strides from atop the horse.

“Yes. I’m fine, thank you for asking,” she said stiffly. Marabeth had been showing off, trying to impress Sam. But hadn’t done a very good job of it obviously. That’s what she got for showing off, she told herself. She’d seen the two men on the hillside and had wanted to show him that she wasn’t just some idiot princess who proposed to sleeping men during balls. Now she’d only reinforced his opinion of her as an idiot. Well, just as well.

“Would you like a ride?” he asked.

“No. I deserve to walk back. And maybe my brother will find Beauty.”

“Beauty? You named your horse Beauty?”

She looked up at him and wondered where he was going with that. “Yes. What’s wrong with the name?”

He smiled at her upturned face, admiring the crystal blue eyes. “It’s a male horse, in case you hadn’t noticed,” he teased her.

Marabeth gritted her teeth. “Yes. I’d noticed. I may conduct embarrassing interviews and fall off horses, but I’m not that dense,” she said and turned back towards the forest to continue walking.

“Well, that explains everything,” he said and sat up straight in his saddle.

Marabeth looked back up at him. She wasn’t going to ask. She wasn’t going to ask. She repeated that phrase to herself several times, walking faster in the vain hope of losing him. In the end, her curiosity won out. “What does it explain?” she demanded, finally asking the question she hated herself for asking.

“Why your horse dumped you.”

Her mouth fell open. Was he able to read minds? She blinked and shook her head. Now she was just being fanciful. “Excuse me?” asking for clarification on why he thought her horse had dumped her.

“You named your male horse ‘Beauty’. He was offended. No man wants to be called ‘Beauty’,” Sam said and looked down at her as if he were explaining something very deep and important.

Marabeth shook her head. “Excuse me, I disagree with you. Beauty didn’t throw me because of his name.”

“Why did he?”

“He didn’t throw me. I fell off,” she said through gritted teeth, glaring at the horrible man.

“Ah…well, that probably makes all the difference in the world…I guess to the horse as well.” The two of them walked for several minutes in silence. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like a ride?” he finally asked.

“No. Thank you,” she said with as much dignity as she could muster under the circumstances.

“Why not?” he asked.

“As I said earlier, I fell off my horse, I deserve to walk,” she said, coming up with an excuse as quickly as possible. In truth, she just didn’t want to be that close to his magnificent body.

Sam shook his head. “You realize it is about a three mile walk back to the stables, right?”

“Yes. I know that. I’ve been on this path almost every day of my life. But thank you for so graciously pointing that out to me, sir. Now that you’ve done your gentlemanly duty, please feel free to head on back to where ever you came from,” she said with a brightly false smile on her face.