My Forbidden Mentor by Laura Mills Page B

Howard?”
    John’s smile changed to a frown. “Robert, her virginity is of no consequence to me and truly I do not plan to be intimate with her.” He let out an exasperated breath of air. “I can’t be it wouldn’t be very professional.”
    “But you want to. You want to so badly you can taste it, I can tell. And this is the whole reason for your outrageous attitude, isn’t it?” Robert beamed proudly when he was confident that he had come up with the conclusion.
    “I won’t deny wanting her, but it’s out of the question. I just have to come to terms with it.” A vision of Mr. Howard flashed before him. The awkward request he had of John flooded his mind but John didn’t feel anything had changed outside of wanting to bed his daughter because he found her attractive. Certainly his personal feelings toward Melissa hadn’t changed, just the physical part, and the physical part he could control.
    “Well you need to find some kind of release, old chap. It’s not like you to bite everyone’s head off.”
    “Yes, I know, I’m working on it. She caught me off guard, that’s all.” John seemed satisfied that he had solved his dilemma.
    While John took another swig of his drink, Robert leaned forward as if to emphasize his next point. “Who are you fooling, John? That young lady’s got a noose around your neck and it’s getting tighter every day. I’d like to meet this little tamer.”
    John about choked on his drink and replied with an arch in his brow above widened eyes. “Noose? Tamer? Robert, I think you’ve gone mad. Like I said, we get along except for the issue of sex, so if that issue is out of the question there shouldn’t be any problems, right?” Robert was right, John realized, he was fooling himself.
    Robert reclined in his chair. “Well, my best friend, it looks like you’ve got everything under control. There’s just one more thing?”
    “What’s that?” John asked, getting frustrated again.
    “What about Vanessa? She’s not going to be easy to turn away.”
    “True enough. I’ll deal with her when the time comes. She has other suitors to keep her busy,” he concluded.
    “Not for long. You’re her favorite, remember?”
    Emptying the remainder of brandy in his mouth, he repeated to Robert, “Like I said, I’ll deal with her when the time comes.”
    “I hear you, but you need to make a decision about this lass you’re obsessing over. I don’t want to lose my best friend to insanity.”
    “I know.” he said, smiling at his good friend.
    “Well, I have a late engagement,” he said as he lifted from the chair.
    “Rose?”
    “Yes, lovely Rose. Until tomorrow then?”
    “It will have to be tomorrow evening, I’ll be training Miss Howard tomorrow most of the day,” John informed him.
    “Miss Howard? You’re behaving more professional by the moment,” Robert said as he strode toward the door chuckling. “Tomorrow night, then.”
    “Ha, ha,” John replied to Robert’s bantering. He reached for the almost empty bottle of brandy and poured the remainder into his glass, determined to finish every last drop, and then he ordered another bottle.
     
     
    John kept wondering why on earth he drank himself into oblivion, and on a weeknight when he knew what his schedule entailed. With one hand on the reins, the other rubbing his face, he tried erasing the stagnant fog that swam around in his head. Topping it off were the daggers piercing his eyes. His hand lifted to his forehead to shield against the bright morning sky. Cursing every movement that made his head pound at what seemed like the bumpiest ride he’d ever had on Clara, he groaned at the invisible hammer hitting his head and began cursing at Clara when she stepped into a pothole. Without delay he apologized to his mare. It wasn’t her fault that he’d let himself be an empty well for alcohol last night. His squinted focus spotted a figure standing in the near distance, a golden- haired figure, and the answer