I’m sure watching a horse give birth might trigger that. Plus, you never know how long the labor could go. As the head veterinarian here, Evan would stay with the horse until she gave birth. There is no way Gia would last that long. Barns aren’t exactly the most comfortable places to stay for hours on end.

“More please.” Jax points to his empty plate. Gia grabs the bowl, giving him another giant spoonful of the mashed potatoes before taking a bite herself.

“Are these good to go?” one of the girls from the event planner’s staff asks as she enters the back kitchen area, looking at the stacks of glasses.

“Yes, they’re done. Who gives a shit if they have spots?” Gia answers for me. “The booze is free. No one cares about what it’s served in as long as they get it.”

“Your brother cares,” I remind her. “Tonight is a big deal.” At least I think it is. It looks like a wedding is about to go down with the amount of flowers and liquor I saw coming in the front door.

“It is. Jonas Willits is here!” another girl that’s prepping things rushes to say. I turn around, giving everyone my back. My face flushes. What is he doing here?

“Really? He never comes to this crap,” Gia chimes in. “He’s a hermit.”

“He was in Hong Kong last week.” What is wrong with me? Why did I say that? “I saw it in a gossip magazine,” I rush to say. I turn to see Gia staring at me. There’s a little glimmer of mischief in her eyes that I ignore.

“I’d go to Hong Kong with him anytime,” one of the girls says, wiggling her eyebrows.

“You’re employees here and you will not hit on our guests,” I remind them both. They might be working for the party planner, but they will follow the house rules. I’m guessing that’s a house rule. If it wasn’t before, it is now.

I take a deep breath, getting myself together. I don’t know why I felt a pang of jealousy when the workers started talking about him. I need to get a grip. Just because I read about him at the checkout counter doesn’t mean he belongs to me.

Yet, I can’t help but feel a bit curious. Maybe I could just go take a quick peek at him. It’s not as though he knows who I am. I can look, look some more, and then be on my merry way. I’ll get to extinguish my curiosity once and for all.

“You heard her,” Gia chimes in. Each one of the girls grabs a rack of glasses before leaving as fast as they came. “You got a thing for Jonas Willits?” Gia asks. I look to Jax, thinking we shouldn't talk about crushes in front of him, but he’s in mashed potatoes heaven and isn't going to help me out of this one.

“He’s handsome.” I shrug, playing it cool.

“You wanna go look don’t you?” Gia hops up from the chair. “I can introduce you,” she adds quickly.

“I thought you weren't going to the party.” I remind her. “And I have Jax.” Ha! I can use him as my excuse.

“I’ll watch Jax while you go take a peek. I don’t believe he’s here. He’s never come before.” She walks over, grabbing a napkin and wetting it. “I’m going to clean Jax up and meet you in your room.”

“I’m not going out there.” I point to where the party is already in full swing.

“I’m going to have food brought over for us. What were you planning on binge watching?”

“Are you planning to stay the night?”

“I need baby practice and my husband is gone.” I laugh. Jax isn't a baby but I can’t blame her for wanting to hang out with him. “I’m going to get him ready for a bath. See you in a little.” She winks at me. “Take your time.” She leaves me standing there alone. I am not going to go stalk Jonas Willits.

I bite my lip. I could take a small look. Just check on everything. See if Mr. Ward needs anything else before I head off for the night. I grab one of the trays used for serving drinks. My feet are already moving me toward the sound of the soft music before I can change my mind. I’ll blend in with the staff. No one will ever know what I am doing. What could a small peek really hurt?

Chapter 5

Jonas

I’ve only been at the Ward estate for thirty minutes and I’m already bored. Nothing against the Wards. As rich people go, they’re fine. We used to be close when I was in my early twenties but that was back in college. I don’t think they’ve engaged in eating babies or burning down the poor yet. They seem very devoted to their horses and a person who is good with animals can’t be all bad. Their daughter married one of the help, a vet if I recall, which was decent of them. They didn’t auction her off to the highest bidder as Gran tried to do with Melody.

Her brother doesn’t seem as lucky. His mother has been hauling young socialites over to his corner by the massive hearth all night.

“—we’ve been making solid connections in the east and have at least one big Chinese bank interested in our project. If the Willits were to back us, we could close this deal within the week,” says the man at my elbow.

I nod as if I’m interested but really I just want to climb back onto my jet and return to Chicago. “Send the prospectus over.” Ninety-nine percent of the time, these guys are all talk. Sadly, their spiel works on some investors.

“Ah, sure, but I’ve got some emails here I can show you.”

“We’re at a party, Hackley. We should be talking about the party decorations and not a tech deal in Asia. Send the prospectus to my office. My analysts will look at it and see whether it’s something that we’re interested in.”

“But you need to look at it,” Hackley insists.

I arch an eyebrow. “I don’t need to do anything.”

I hand him my almost empty champagne flute and leave him fuming as I make my way to rescue Luca. I wedge my way past the moms and daughters who have flocked to him. “I’m sorry to interrupt but Ward and I have some serious business we need to discuss. I’ll need him for just ten minutes.”

“More like thirty. I haven’t seen you in years.” He grips my shoulder and flashes a fake smile to the women. “It could be an hour.”

“Maybe even two,” I add.

The two of us escape, barely, to a service hallway between the kitchen and the great room. Luca slumps against the wall. “I owe you one,” he says. “I heard you’ve been in Hong Kong.”

“There’s a lot of money to be made there. You should look into it.”

“We’re actually thinking of trying to add a couple of Akhal Teke to our stables and there’s a man in Singapore who has a lead for me.”

“Great. While you’re working on that, you can set a pony aside for me.”

“I already have that covered. Your sister called me earlier. It’s a pretty girl. White with mottled black spots on the rump and fore—”

“My sister called?” I interrupt.

“Yeah.”

“Well, this is bullshit. Melody said I had to come here and make nice with you.”

Luca bursts out laughing. “Thank God I’m not the only stallion at market.”

“Fuck you.” I grab my phone to give Melody a piece of my mind. “I can’t believe she set me up.”