His mystery woman had leaned against the truck’s front fender so she could pull on her boots. She paused in midmotion. “I’m so sorry. Was it sudden?”
“Yeah.” And he wished to hell he hadn’t brought up the subject. Way to put a damper on the proceedings. “Rollover.”
“How tragic. How long were they married?”
“Almost thirty years. They got married after I was born. I guess it makes sense, considering the times. All that free love and flower power. But then my mom got pregnant again, and that must have tipped the scales toward matrimony.” Sheesh. Maybe next he’d trot out the history of the Last Chance Ranch and regale her with that. He needed to shut up and take her back to…the road? Or the ranch house? Dilemma. He hadn’t thought past the sex, but he’d better start thinking tout de suite.
A gentleman would take her back to the ranch house. He liked to think of himself as a gentleman, despite having just had sex with a woman out in the woods, a woman whose name he didn’t know. But that had been gentlemanly, hadn’t it? She’d needed something from him, and judging from her response, he’d provided it.
Turns out it was also what he’d needed, and would probably need again soon. That was the thing about good sex. It reminded you that sex was a lot of fun and should be enjoyed more often.
In fact, maybe there was a second condom…no, that was pushing it. This area was secluded, but not so secluded that someone might not show up. Like Jack, for instance, checking on his posthole digging. That thought prompted Nick to grab the tarp, fold it quickly and toss it in the back of the truck.
“You look worried all of a sudden.” She finger-combed her short hair, which was still damp with sweat. “If it has to do with me tattling on you, then relax. That would be extremely ungrateful of me, to spill the beans and possibly get you fired.”
“I appreciate that.” He glanced down so she wouldn’t see his smile. No matter what his transgressions, Jack was stuck with him. Although Jonathan Chance Sr. had specified in his will that Jonathan Chance Jr., aka Jack, was in charge, their dad had also dictated that his other two sons have jobs for as long as the Last Chance continued in operation.
Besides, Jack needed him. Nick was a damned good vet, and the horses bred at the Last Chance were valuable and required a vet on the premises. The Last Chance herd didn’t take up all of Nick’s time, so he had other clients in the Jackson Hole area, but his primary duty was to the LC horses. Even without the terms of the will to guide Jack’s decisions, he wouldn’t trust those animals to anyone else.
That wasn’t to say Jack would let this little incident go if he found out. There was a time when he would have laughed about it, but he seemed to have misplaced his sense of humor. Nick would love to fix that problem, too, but so far all his attempts to get Jack to lighten up had failed. If his brother found out what had happened here, it could get awkward.
As if all this thinking about Jack had pulled him in Nick’s direction, he heard the sound of hoofbeats. A few seconds later, Jack rode into the clearing on Bandit, a handsome black-and-white paint who’d been named for the masklike markings around his eyes. The ranch’s top-earning stud, Bandit looked as if he could have belonged to a Shoshone chief.
Jack had some Native American in him on his mother’s side, which explained his dark hair and eyes. Today he wore his don’t-mess-with-me black Stetson, although it was covered with dust, as were Jack’s jeans, his leather chaps and his long-sleeved shirt. He’d probably just finished a training session with one of the horses and was looking for something else to wrangle. His gaze swept over the scene, and his jaw tightened.
Nick did his best not to look guilty as hell. “Hey, there, Jack. What brings you out here?”
“Curiosity.” His tone was even but his eyes narrowed as he focused on Nick. “I figured you’d be done with the postholes by lunchtime and it’s nearly noon.” Turning in the saddle, he touched two fingers to the brim of his hat. “Nice to see you again, Miss Jeffries.”
Just like that, some of the mystery disappeared. Nick knew the last name of his previously anonymous lover. Soon enough he’d learn her first name, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. What if it didn’t fit his image? A woman who had stood naked and eager in the middle of a pine-scented clearing with the sun dappling her smooth skin deserved a really great first name.
He noted that Jack was behaving with polite formality by using her last name. No doubt Miss Manners would approve. Nick wondered what Miss Manners would say about using no name at all, particularly during the activity Nick and Miss Jeffries had engaged in. Nick didn’t think there was a rule of etiquette to cover that situation.
The woman now partially identified beamed at Jack. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Chance. You’ll have to blame me for the postholes not getting finished this morning. I was looking for Wyoming wildlife and your ranch hand was kind enough to escort me into the woods, where I’d have a better chance of finding it.”
Nick almost choked as he swallowed a laugh. Damned if she hadn’t told the truth. He was really starting to like this woman.
“I see.” Jack folded his hands over the saddle horn and studied the scene. “In my experience, wildlife tends to come out at dawn and dusk.”
Nick shrugged. “Usually, but it was worth a shot to accommodate a ranch guest.”
“And it’s a lovely spot,” added Miss Jeffries.
“Yes ma’am, it is.” Jack gave Nick another dirty look. When Nick and Gabe were in high school, they’d each claimed a make-out spot on the ranch. Jack had been their accomplice back then, supplying condoms from his personal stash and handing out sexual advice from his lofty, nonvirginal perch.
Nick wished the old Jack had shown up in the clearing instead of this new version. The old Jack would have smiled knowingly and headed back to the ranch house.
The new Jack glared at Nick with obvious disapproval. “I’d like those postholes dug today. The posts and wire should arrive this afternoon.”
Nick met his gaze. “It’ll get done.”
“I surely do hope so. We’ve needed a fence out here for a long time.”
Nick was willing to argue the point, but not at the moment.
Jack glanced up through the trees at the sun. The guy never wore a watch, never needed to. “It’s late. Mary Lou’s probably dishing up. You two better head back or you’ll miss lunch.”
“We’ll do that.”
“See you there.” Jack touched the brim of his hat again. “Ma’am.” Then he wheeled his horse around and cantered down the narrow road.
Nick wished she wasn’t standing there watching Jack go with such apparent fascination. Jack might be bossy and abrupt these days, but women were still drawn to him. They always had been. For all Nick knew, Miss Jeffries might wish she’d thrown her loop at Jack Chance instead of some nameless cowboy wielding a posthole digger.
She turned to Nick. “What do you call that color horse?”
“Bandit’s a paint. That’s what we breed on this ranch.” So maybe she’d been admiring the horse instead of the man. “Show horses?”
“Can be. But we train and sell them as cutting horses, which means they—”
“I know what that is. I saw City Slickers.” She ruffled her hair with her fingers again. “I think Mr. Chance had a pretty good idea what we’ve been up to.”
“Probably.”
“The way you talked back to him, I’m amazed you still have a job. Or maybe he didn’t want to fire you in front of me. I’m perfectly willing to cover for you, but an employee needs to watch his attitude.”
“Guess so.”
“Yours was kind of belligerent, if you don’t mind my saying.”
Nick decided the game was over. “He can’t fire me. I’m his brother.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re one of the Chance boys?”
“’Fraid I am.”
“But…you were out here slaving away as if…”
“I know. It’s a problem these days. Apparently Jack g
rieves by working around the clock, which is fine, except he insists the rest of us do the same. I’d rather not have a showdown with him, which wouldn’t help morale, either.”
She groaned. “And I’ve only made things worse between you during a tough time for your family. I’m so sorry.”
“Hey.” He rested his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “I’m a big boy and I make my own decisions. I don’t for a second regret what we just shared. In fact, I was thinking that since you’ll be here for five nights, we might—”
“Oh, no.” She stepped back, out of range of his touch.
“What do you mean, no? Didn’t you enjoy yourself? Scratch that. I know for a fact you enjoyed yourself. You couldn’t fake that kind of reaction.”
“But I thought you were one of the hired hands. Sure, I knew I might see you again while I’m here, but we’d pretend nothing happened so you wouldn’t get fired for dallying with a guest.”
He was picking up the drift of her comments, and he didn’t like the implication. “So you bagged your cowboy, and now you’re done?”
Her brow furrowed. “I told you I didn’t expect anything to come of this.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it has to end with one brief moment in the woods! Hell, we’ll be sleeping under the same roof!”
“Even more reason not to take this any further, especially with your brother monitoring everything that happens on the ranch. I don’t want to be the cause of more friction between you two.”
“Why don’t you let me worry about that?” Nick was wondering if he could manufacture a necessary business trip for his dear brother, who was becoming an obstacle to all things happy.
“Let’s just leave it alone. What we had today was perfect. I don’t want to spoil it by turning it into some…some complicated maneuver.”
Nick blew out a breath. “It doesn’t have to be complicated. It could be very simple. I become your date for the time you’re here and I inform my overbearing brother that it’s none of his business what goes on between us.”
“I don’t think—”
“Look, I understand that you’ll return to your life in Indianapolis in five days, and I’m cool with that.”
“I’m not so sure I’d be. I don’t trust myself not to get in over my head. I can’t take that risk.”
Nick gazed at her. “But you were willing to have outdoor sex with an anonymous cowboy.”
“Yes. But now I intend to rein myself in.”
“That’s too bad. Plus, what else are you going to do while you’re here? The skiing is lousy in June and I’m way more fun than a horseback ride or an all-day hike.”
Her lips twitched, as if she wanted to smile but wouldn’t quite let herself.
“Think about it, Miss Jeffries. In the meantime, let’s hightail it to the ranch house before all the food’s gone. I don’t know about you, but I’ve worked up an appetite.”
“Me, too, Mr. Chance.” With a little grin, she walked toward the truck.
He had to clench his hands into fists to keep from grabbing her and kissing her until she melted against him the way she had earlier. He thought he’d done a damn good job of satisfying her, but maybe he hadn’t pleased her all that much if she could turn her back on more of the same.
“The name’s Nick,” he called after her as she climbed into the cab.
“I like that,” she said over her shoulder. “I’m Dominique.”
Dominique. Great name for a very sexy lady. And he would get her into bed again or his name wasn’t Nick Chance.
4
DOMINIQUE SPENT THE short ride back to the ranch house getting her bearings. When she’d first glimpsed a rugged cowboy working in a pasture, she’d thought Fate had sent her down that dirt road specifically to discover him. Everything had played out in fantasylike detail, until she’d learned the identity of her mystery lover.
An anonymous hired hand fit her image of wild and crazy behavior. She wouldn’t say anything about the encounter and neither would he, for fear of getting canned. Very neat and tidy. Over and done with.
Had it gone that way, she could have rounded out the vacation by photographing the landscape, and flown home with a renewed sense of who she was. Her next guy wouldn’t be as boring as Herman, or as disloyal.
But Fate hadn’t been as kind as she’d thought. It had thrown a Chance man in her path, one who had the freedom to continue what they’d started, despite his brother’s obvious disapproval. She dared not risk it. If the prospect of sex with him could make her forget about condoms, then he obviously appealed to a side of her she needed to control.
Besides, why mess with a good thing? She had her perfect memory to take home with her, and there was every possibility a second go-round wouldn’t measure up. After two years with Herman, she had little confidence in her ability to improvise. What if they tried sex in a normal bed and Nick found her boring? She couldn’t bear the thought.
In the midst of her inner debate, Nick reached over and took her hand. She had to admit that felt very good. She didn’t know him at all, and yet she believed he was a nice guy. For sure he was an amazing lover, so amazing that he intimidated her more than a little.
“Look, you might have the wrong impression of me,” she said. “Until today, I’d never had sex with someone I just met.”
“Neither had I.”
“Really? You seemed so…so cool about it.”
He laughed. “Then I put on a good show. That was the wildest thing I’ve ever done in terms of sex. I kept wondering if you were part of a dream.”
“I wondered the same about you. I actually pinched myself before I started taking your picture.”
He squeezed her hand and released it so he could downshift. “Out of curiosity, what are your plans for those photos?”
“I suppose that depends on whether you’ll grant me a release.”
“Be happy to.”
“Then I could…” She was brought up short by the knowledge that this was the first picture she’d taken in ages where the subject wasn’t a relative or a paying client. Her portfolio contained family portraits, wedding photos and high school yearbook shots. All her work prior to Herman’s reign was tucked into the back of a closet, except for a few she’d framed and hung in her apartment.
“I know.” He grinned. “You’ll frame it and put it on your bedroom wall so you’ll have something to remember me by.”
His chutzpah made her laugh. “You have quite the high opinion of yourself, don’t you?”
“If I do, it’s your fault.” He recaptured her hand. “You’re the one who said you had to pinch yourself when you caught sight of me without my shirt.”
She hadn’t been teased much in two years with Herman, and she’d forgotten how fun it could be. “Maybe I was slightly mesmerized.”
“Only slightly?”
“Okay, fully mesmerized. Which means other women might have the same reaction. I could make money off that shot. Maybe a gallery would be interested.”
“Do you do that much? Display your photography in galleries?”
“Not anymore. I was going broke selling my work as fine art and borrowing money from my folks to keep afloat. My ex-boyfriend was right about one thing—weddings and portraits are a steadier income once you build up a reputation.”
“Makes sense.”
“Oh, it’s very sensible.” Herman’s lectures on the subject still echoed in her head. Her parents had been thrilled when he’d steered her in the direction of financial stability. Everybody had said Herman was so good for her, a practical guy to offset her tendency to ignore the mundane details of life.
His practical nature wasn’t quite so attractive to her friends and family now that he’d applied it to his romantic life. But still they’d expressed fear that she’d go off the deep end without someone to counter her impulsive, artistic urges.
“Well, here we are.” The truck’s tires crunched on gravel as he pulled into the circular drive in fron
t of a massive two-story log house. The center section was a good thirty feet wide, and the wings on either side were angled forward so that the house seemed to reach out in a welcoming gesture. A porch ran the length of the house, and rustic wooden rockers beckoned a visitor to sit and contemplate a view of meadows, wildflowers and snow-capped mountains.
Dominique had liked the white clapboard quaintness of the Bunk and Grub, the B and B where she’d originally thought she’d be staying. It sat on the outskirts of the little town of Shoshone, and she’d planned to explore the small village while she was here.
But she wasn’t sorry Pam had moved her on down the road. Besides the obvious perk she’d just enjoyed in the woods, she’d be staying in this majestic ranch house. Pam had told her the ranch had been in the family for a long time. What a treat to grow up here.
“Was the house always this big?” she asked.
“Nope. The old house was trashed, so Grandpa Archie built a two-story box with a sleeping loft upstairs. Then he added the right wing after my dad was born, and my dad added the left one after Jack was born. My mom was the one who insisted on the porches and a new kitchen and dining room.”
“So the house has grown with the family. That’s nice. I’ve never lived in a house built by the original owners.”
Nick turned off the engine. “I can’t think of doing it any other way. I’ll probably build my own house when the time comes.”
From the way he said it, she knew that time would be the day he decided to marry. She pictured the lucky woman and felt a pang of envy. Which was dumb, considering how little she knew about the guy. For sure he had a fabulous body and knew how to use it. But he could also have a thousand irritating habits that would drive a girl insane if she had to put up with him 24/7.
“So, before we go in, I have a suggestion.” He glanced over at her. “How about me taking you into Shoshone for dinner tonight? They’ll feed you here, of course, but I could show you the nightlife, such as it is.”
Wanted! Page 3