Page 108 of Outrageous

Eva bit back the flare of irritation Tommy’s treatment of her best friend always sparked and turned to James, who was holding the mare’s lead. “Give me a moment.”

“Yes, my lady.” He bowed his head and humbly pulled his forelock, his lips pulled into a slight smirk that made Eva want to kick him. He’d been behaving like a groveling servant ever since Tommy had raked him over a few weeks earlier, reminding him—most insufferably—who was mistress and who was servant.

James had taken the bollocking in stride, as a good servant does. But Eva and Tommy had had their first major row; the outcome of which—five days of silence—demonstrated that both parties were equally stubborn.

Although James hadn’t said as much, Eva was left in no doubt of his feelings toward her betrothed of only two weeks.

Speaking of her betrothed . . . Eva met Tommy at the paddock gate and let him kiss her cheek.

“Eva, darling?”

“Hmmm?” She blinked up at him, her mind on the maiden mare James had just led away, rather than the six feet of male loveliness in front of her.

“I’m off to town to do some shopping for your stepmamma.” Eva could well imagine what was on that list: all items for the upcoming wedding. Mia didn’t care that the wedding was taking place in the castle chapel with only family and a handful of friends attending. After Catherine’s even smaller gathering earlier this year, Mia seemed determined to make the most of this opportunity. Eva would have thought her stepmamma’s recent delivery of a healthy son a few weeks earlier would have slowed the older woman down. But, no, Mia was a bundle of irrepressible energy and had focused her attention on making the most of this wedding.

Eva smiled up at Tommy. “Well, that’s good, then. I hope you have a fine time,” she finished lamely. She hoped she was successful at hiding her relief that he was spending his day elsewhere. The way he hovered around her was . . . suffocating, so a day free of said hovering would be a pleasant relief.

His perfect mask stayed in place, but she saw a glint of something not so placid behind the surface. “Are you sure you won’t join us—Melissa and me?”

Eva perked up. “Melissa is going with you? That’s good.” Eva needed to thank her sister for taking on so much of what she was beginning to think of as “the Tommy Burden.” She’d hoped he would be less demanding of her time when she’d accepted his third offer of marriage, but he seemed to become worse with each passing day.

“There’s room for one more,” he said with a cajoling smile.

“I can’t. But the two of you enjoy yourselves.”

He frowned. “I’ve gone in just about every day this past week—and Mel always accompanies me. You haven’t joined me one time, Eva. Don’t you think people will think it odd that you cannot accompany your betrothed on a shopping excursion meant for your own wedding?”

She felt a familiar flare of irritation. “I don’t care if it appears odd, Tommy. That’s another thing you seem to have conveniently forgotten about me since we’ve become engaged: my lack of interest in what other people think of me.”

“I didn’t mean it that way.” He was beginning to look a bit strained around the eyes, so Eva curbed her temper. “You know I had to use every bit of persuasion with Sir Walter to let me have Clancy here, rather than bring the mares to him. So—” She trailed off, hoping he would put the pieces together.

“But I thought that was a few days off?”

“We want to clear the book before he gets here. You know how busy this time of year is. We’ve not only got four maidens to manage, but all of Papa’s stock, as well. James will need me as he’ll be teaching the other lads to work with Liberty so they’ll be able to take over teasing in the future.”

Liberty was their only teaser stallion—a horse who would spend time with each mare daily to determine when the mare came into estrus. Once the time was right, the breeding stallion would then be brought in to cover the mare. Proper teasing could not be rushed and it was labor-intensive, requiring expert handling of both teaser and mare.

Eva took off her hat and whacked it with her hand. “What I’d really like are two teasers, but of course we are nowhere near justifying such an expense. My father always allows his tenants to bring in mares around now, so we’ve got a whole list of those, too.” She mashed her hat back down on her head. “This is the end of breeding season, Tommy, and we are at our busiest.”

His full lips were compressed in a scowl. “And it’s necessary for you to be part of the activities?”

“Activities? You mean in the breeding shed?”

“Yes, Eva, that is what I meant. Will you, along with a handful of men, be present when a stallion mounts and covers mares?”

Eva had a genuine laugh at his prudery. “Lord, Tommy, how else did you think I proposed to breed horses?”

“I certainly did not expect you to be part of every aspect, no matter how low or vulgar.”

“You cannot be in earnest.” But his stern expression told her otherwise. Eva sighed. “You know this is the time of year that horses engage in their, er, low, vulgar activities. James and I have been run ragged managing the construction of the new breeding shed these past few weeks, as well as renting a stud, purchasing mares, and a dozen other things. To be honest, I would rather not have begun our operations here only to have to remove them to Byer Court, but—” She broke off, sure he didn’t need that decision explained to him. “In any event, the mares are here and it’s already late in the season. I can’t wait until after I arrive at my new home.”

He held up a hand. “Very well, you needn’t get worked up about it.”

“Oh? Needn’t I? Because I feel as though we’ve discussed this subject repeatedly over the past two weeks since we agreed to marry. I began all this”—she waved to the area around them, to encompass her new breeding operation—“before I accepted your proposal, so it should come as no surprise to you what I am doing. And before I accepted your proposal, I made it very clear what my plans were and you made no demur. But every day you take issue more and more with what I am doing.”

The muscles in his jaws flexed, his elegant nostrils flaring. “Yes, you are quite correct. I suppose I just thought your interest in the matter would be more, er, well, at a remove.” He grimaced. “Blast it, Eva, you know what I’m saying. How many women do you think spend time not only selecting their own bloodstock but then participating in shoeing, training, and breeding them?”

She crossed her arms and tilted her head as she stared up at him. “I don’t know, Tommy. I’ve not taken a survey on the subject. How many?”