Free Lethal Exposure by Lori Wilde Page A

stood him up?
    The knot in his stomach tightened. Sebastian had never been stood up in his life. Was she intentionally making him wait? Heightening the anticipation?
    If that was the case, she’d hit the nail on the head. His self-control shredded.
    Or had she simply chickened out?
    As Sebastian was about to reach for his cell phone and give her a call, she pulled in to the parking lot in her fuel-efficient hybrid car—that Linc’s fiancée would approve of—and got out.
    One look at her and Sebastian lost his breath.
    She was dressed in fawn-colored jodhpurs and black paddock boots, and she carried a riding crop. The sight of her looking all Lady Chatterley caused the muscles along his shoulders to twitch.
    As if in a trance, famished for sex, the raw scent of stable combined with her feminine essence threw him back to his youth. To his first sexual experience. He’d lost his virginity on the commune. To one of Aunt Bunnie’s hippie friends. He’d been sixteen, the woman a good twenty years older. He’d gone into the barn that day a boy and walked out a man.
    Sebastian’s attention locked on her. Adrenaline fused with testosterone. The combination charged through his veins like an infection, blasting him with a feverish heat.
    She strutted right past him.
    Ignoring him.
    For a second he felt slighted and then he realized it was all part of her seduction.
    Expect the unexpected.
    Mesmerized, he turned and followed her.
    She opened the gate and walked up to the stable entrance, where an older woman in faded blue jeans was tying a quarter horse to a circular walker.
    “You wanna ride?” the woman asked, eyeing her attire.
    “May I look at the horses first?” Julie asked. “I work at Confidential Rejuvenations and I was told I could select my own mount.”
    “Sure.” The woman shrugged. “Have a look around.”
    “Thanks,” Julie said.
    Then the woman caught sight of Sebastian. He watched her eyes light up as she raked a glance over him and said in a husky voice, “How ’bout you, cowboy? You ready to ride?”
    Sebastian jerked a thumb at Julie. “I’m with her.”
    The woman looked sorely disappointed. “I’ll be up at the bunkhouse. Just give me a holler when you folks pick out your steeds and I’ll saddle ’em up for you.”
    “Thank you.” Julie nodded and sashayed into the large, clean stables.
    Watching her ass sway in those jodhpurs hardened his cock. Surely she didn’t intend for them to have a tryst right here in the stables in broad daylight.
    Did she?
    The barn smelled of fresh paint, horses and hay. They passed the tack room containing saddles, bridles, ropes and other riding equipment. Ahead of him, Julie was flicking the riding crop as if she knew precisely how to use it. His skin stung just thinking about it and, although he wouldn’t have believed it possible, he got even harder.
    From the stalls came the sound of horses chomping their feed. Julie peeped in one stall after another, murmuring to the animals. She still hadn’t spoken a word to him and her mysterious air was shooting his lust to a whole new level. After they’d past the first set of stalls, Sebastian trailing behind her, Julie stopped and pulled a pair of gloves from her hip pocket. Slowly, she worked her fingers into the expensive, supple leather.
    Sebastian bit down on his bottom lip to keep from groaning.
    She paused at the next stall. “Well, hello there, handsome,” she cooed. “Would you like a sweet treat?”
    The horse nickered.
    Julie drew a sugar cube from her breast pocket and held it out to him. With surprising gentleness, the stallion took the sugar cube from her palm.
    Sebastian moved closer.
    Julie turned her back to him and headed up a stairway leading to the hayloft. The riding boots she wore made provocative scraping noises against the wood.
    He threw a glance over his shoulder. The woman in the faded jeans was no longer in sight. Except for the horses, the stables were empty, but he knew anyone