Free The Italian's Passionate Return by Elizabeth Lennox Page B

when I get a request for information, the buyers come the following weekend and the sale is pretty easy to make.”
    “You need to triple your prices,” he told her.
    Jemma had just opened the stall for the puppies so Dylan and Adriana could go in, which would effectively keep them out of the way of the horses being fed. But his words caused her to freeze and look back up at him. “Excuse me?” she asked, stunned.
    “I looked into your business model. You sell extremely high quality horses that are well trained and fast. They aren’t fast enough to win any derby race, but they’re excellent horses. And you’re selling them too cheaply. You need to triple your prices.”
    She couldn’t believe he was saying that. “Triple them? That’s crazy. No one will buy my horses for that price.”
    He shook his head. “Yes they will. In fact, I’m willing to bet you that tripling your prices will even increase your sales. You have a good reputation, but the sales price is too low.”
    She stared at him, not sure if she should believe him or not. “Why would tripling my price point increase my sales? That’s counter-intuitive.”
    He laughed softly. “Are you doubting my business knowledge?” he asked.
    Jemma blushed and looked down. She’d done a lot of reading over the weekend. Now that she knew his last name, she’d gorged on internet information about Damien. He was embarrassingly wealthy and he’d done it all himself. He’d become a billionaire in the last fifteen years through extremely smart, some even said risky, business ventures. If there was anyone she should listen to about business, it was Damien.
    “I suppose you know what you’re doing,” she finally said and was rewarded by hearing his laugh again.
    “I’ll make a deal with you,” he said, moving closer so he was standing over her. “Triple your prices and, if you don’t make the sales next weekend, I’ll buy the horses for that price. Both of them.”
    She laughed, thinking he was just teasing her. “Why would you want to buy horses?” she asked.
    He shrugged and shifted so that he was less than an inch away from her. “I don’t. But I told Adriana all about you and Dylan and she wants to learn to ride horses. So I’ll buy her a horse.”
    Jemma wanted to laugh again, but he was too close, her breasts almost touching his chest. “You only need one horse for that. And none of my horses are small enough for her. You can’t teach her to ride on a full sized horse.”
    He bowed his head slightly. “You listen to me about business issues, and I’ll listen to you on anything concerning horses.” But he didn’t give her an opportunity to reply. His mouth came down, kissing her ever so gently. Jemma trembled as his lips delicately caressed hers, making her want more, making her need that possession.
    A horse neighed in the background and Jemma jumped back. Startled, she looked up at the man who could so quickly turn her mind to mush. “You’re going to have to stop doing that,” she said and walked over to the feed bins.
    “Not going to happen, Jemma,” he said softly. “Tell me how I can help.”
    Jemma took another deep breath, trying to get her mind back in control. “Um…you can’t really do anything. Just stand back.”
    “Why not?” he asked, standing in the middle of the barn, ready to work. “Looks like you’re just dumping food into various black buckets.”
    Jemma rolled her eyes. “You have to stand back, out of the center aisle so the horses can come through. These guys weigh anywhere between twelve hundred to two thousand pounds,” she told him. “And they are hungry now. They are used to being fed around this time, so as soon as I get their oats ready, I open the doors and they come running in. I need you to stay back so they don’t run you over. They are going to be focused on getting to their food, and they won’t care if you or anyone else is standing in their way.”
    His only response was to raise an