Free Amanda by Kay Hooper

Jesse about us, but you’d love it if he caught us. It might even get a reaction out of him, huh?”
    “Shut up.” Her eyes were glittering.
    Without pursuing that, Ben merely shrugged. “Kate, I work for Jesse, and I like my job. If you think I’m going to crawl all the way out to the end of that limb You’ve got me on, you’re crazy. I’m out far enough as it is.”
    She was silent for a moment, then murmured, “you’re a real son of a bitch, Ben.”
    “Yeah.” He grinned. “But a horny son of a bitch, we both know that. I need to try out one of the new horses tomorrow, so I thought I’d ride up along the north trail during the afternoon, toward the waterfall. No training rides tomorrow, so it ought to be deserted up there. Quiet. Private. About three-thirty or so, I was thinking. If you happen to be exercising Sebastian around that time …”
    “Maybe.” She drew a breath. “Maybe I will.” Then she slipped out of the apartment.
    Ben’s smile died, and he stood there unmoving for a long time. It might have been kinder to tell her the truth, but so far he hadn’t been able to. He wasn’t really averse to sneaking into her bedroom, and he wasn’t afraid of losing his job if Jesse found out about them.
    Because Jesse knew. He had always known about Kate’s men. And he didn’t give a shit.
    A telephone call sent Jesse to his study to cope with paperwork just after they returned to the house (she’d been right about its being behind the locked door, and Jesse had the key in his pocket), so Amanda found herself alone with the dogs once again. She was a little surprised that they remained with her, but decided to view it as a good thing; being on the right side of guard dogs seemed infinitely preferable to the alternative. In any case, they were merely companionable,staying close without getting in her way, and seemed content to be patted or talked to occasionally.
    Neither seemed to take it personally that she chose to address them as “guys” rather than by name.
    Still trying to get her bearings, Amanda found the correct hallway to take her into Glory’s rear wing, and continued exploring. Constructed more recently than the main house, it was nonetheless more than a hundred years old—though modernized like the rest.
    The ground floor held a parlor—or sitting room or den, whatever it was called—along with a
very
large game room that boasted pool and Ping-Pong tables, and several pinball machines that seemed quaintly old-fashioned and would probably be worth a fortune one day. The game room opened out onto a patio by the swimming pool. The wing also contained a couple of guest suites, each composed of a sitting room, bedroom, and bathroom, very private and very nice.
    Amanda hesitated when she reached the far end of the wing, where an exterior door provided access to the garden and a narrow but lovely staircase led up to the second floor. She assumed more bedrooms were upstairs, but until she knew if they were occupied, if family members or Maggie slept up there, she felt uneasy about exploring further.
    Almost idly, she rested a hand on the newel post that was thick and heavily carved, her thumb rubbing over the time-worn ridges of a swirling abstract design. The entire house was impressive, so much so that it was overwhelming … something larger than life. People didn’t live this way anymore, at least not many of them.
    She was about to turn and make her way back to the main house when the thuds of heavy footsteps descending the stairs froze her. A quick glance showed her that the dogs were calm, gazing upward with onlycursory interest, which told her they didn’t regard whoever was approaching as a threat.
    Amanda wished she could have said the same.
    He stopped on the landing when he saw her, his face going a little hard but not expressing nearly as much emotion as it had earlier. His black hair still damp from a recent shower, he was dressed more neatly than the last time she’d seen