Winning the Gentleman (Hearts on the Heath #2) - Kristi Ann Hunter Page 0,3

me in the backside to act before I lost her.” Oliver shoved his hand through his hair again.

“Again, I am aware.”

“Yes, well—” Oliver cleared his throat—“so are they.”

Aaron frowned. “Is she—”

“No,” Oliver cut in sharply before sighing. “She understands. Lord Gliddon . . . well . . . I don’t believe he’d have given his blessing if Rebecca hadn’t forced him to. I don’t think he likes me.”

“Everyone likes you, Oliver.”

“That doesn’t mean he respects me.”

The truth of that statement silenced Aaron. Lady Rebecca saw the man’s faults as well as his virtues and loved him anyway, but to someone who didn’t take the time to get to know him, Oliver could look something of a cake.

“I thought if I took an interest in the stable, won a few races, that would be something Lord Gliddon could appreciate.”

Aaron clenched his jaw to keep the words in his head from rushing through his mouth. If Oliver had enlisted Aaron’s help, it would have been simple to teach him the right things to say and do to appear a proper horseman. But what was done was done.

“Don’t worry,” Aaron said, swallowing hard to keep the burn in his stomach from crawling up his throat. “I’ll find another rider.” Somewhere.

Oliver’s shoulders lost their tension, and he smiled, obviously content that Aaron would handle everything.

Before Aaron said something to crush his friend’s ease, he mounted Shadow and pointed the horse toward Cambridge. While he wouldn’t be spending the day leisurely strolling through the fair, he still had to make the final arrangements on his order.

Besides, there wasn’t a better place to ponder a problem than on the back of a horse. By the time he returned to Newmarket, he’d have a plan in mind, if not in place.

As the horse walked by the Heath, Aaron looked over the expanse of grass that had been his restoration. Hopefully it wouldn’t soon be the site of his humiliation as well.

Two

Though the solution didn’t materialize as Aaron rode through the countryside, a sense of desperation did. Unfortunately, the ideas of desperate men are risky. They might pay out in the end, but more often than not, they caused more problems.

Somewhere between stabling Shadow at one of the temporary liveries and meeting with the saddle maker, Aaron convinced himself that his absurd idea was one of the good ones.

What if his solution was hiding among the stalls of horse breeders and tack salesmen? What if he hired a complete unknown as a jockey? All he needed was someone of small stature with a good seat and the proper respect for horses, someone who didn’t fear the rush of wind as an animal in its prime surged at a gallop across the Heath.

Even if he lost, it would look better than putting a groom on Equinox’s back. At least then people could only question the race and not Aaron’s ability to manage and staff the stable.

The entire idea was ludicrous, though. How was he to go about testing a man’s abilities in the crowded confines of a fair? One could barely walk at a decent pace, much less ride.

With more attention on his musings than his surroundings, he didn’t realize he’d wandered into the edge of a crowd until he’d been swallowed by it. Oohs and aahs filled the air as the people pressed against the rickety fence of a traveling show.

He looked up just in time to see a horse performing moves he’d never known horses could do. Startlingly white to the point of glowing, the horse captivated Aaron as it pranced around the performance area, mane and tail flowing behind. Surely anyone who could make a horse do that could encourage one to run fast along a course.

His gaze tracked to the rider. His hopes plummeted even as his attention sharpened. Blond hair streamed down her back and across her shoulders. Her green gown, with long, wide sleeves and panels of sheer fabric floating about the skirt, shimmered in the morning sun. On the back of the horse, she appeared to be flying.

This wasn’t the solution to his problems, but he was intrigued enough to keep watching. It looked like a dance as the horse performed a series of intricate steps before running in a circle while the faerie stood on its back.

Aaron knew that excellent female riders existed—he even counted one among his small circle of acquaintances—but he’d never seen one ride like that.

A man stood to the side recounting some story that was likely meant