barked a laugh of disbelief. “Just once?”
Her eyes rounded, and she took a step back. “Y-yeah.”
“As if that makes it all right or wins him points?” He drilled a finger at her. “Once is one time too many.”
Her hand fluttered to her throat, where she dabbed again at the sweat collecting there. “I agree. But my point is...I owe Laura. I know how much Seth meant to her and how much it would mean to her—how much it would mean to me—if I could spend some time with her son.”
Jack rubbed the bridge of his nose. “For what purpose? So he can have another woman walk out of his life in a few days?”
“Who said I wanted to walk out? I don’t have a child of my own. Maybe I’m looking for something long-term, something permanent.”
Ice slid through Jack’s blood, and he lurched away from the wall. “Excuse me?”
Tracy blinked, confused. “I said I wouldn’t walk out on him. I want—”
“If you’re looking to sue for custody or visitation rights, you should know that the divorce agreement Laura signed denies her or her family the right to come back here and try to take Seth from me.”
Jack stalked toward Tracy until she’d backed against the far alley wall, and he loomed over her. “Seth is mine. All mine. I have sole custody, and that’s how it’s gonna stay.”
She hunched her shoulders, trying to make herself smaller, and he realized how his power play must have appeared to her. Intimidating, threatening, hostile... Okay, he had meant to intimidate her and drive home his point. But he’d forgotten for a moment how that tactic would play with an abused woman. Damn it!
He eased back a step, giving her breathing room, while still making his point that he was unyielding on the question of custody. He would fight her to his last dollar to keep his son. When he drew a calming lungful of air, he inhaled the sweet scent of her. Heat unrelated to the summer temperatures skittered through him. His pulse kicked harder as he imagined what it might be like to pin her against the wall and kiss her full, frowning lips. Standing this close to her, he could see her chin quiver and hear the agitated rasp of her breathing. Damn the man who’d scarred her psyche this way! And damn himself for finding Tracy so alluring, so sweetly sexy and begging for protection.
He was far more likely to need protection from her and her plans for Seth than she needed protecting.
“I don’t want to take him from you.” Her voice trembled, and when she raised her gaze, he saw moisture in her eyes. But also defiance. “I don’t want to be at odds with you on this matter but...if I have to go to court to win the right to see Seth—” her throat convulsed as she swallowed “—I will.”
After Tracy threw down the gauntlet regarding visitation with Seth, Jack hustled her back to the party, driving one of the MULE side x sides this time, and ordered her off the ranch. He’d not have any relative of his ex-wife blackmailing him into visitations with Seth. Especially not if those visits included the possibility of Seth hearing upsetting truths about his mother. Or if said visits could lead to an attempt for shared custody. Or...cripes, the possibilities chilled Jack.
He let Tracy out at the pool area and directed her to leave immediately, before he moved the MULE to the edge of the lawn. When he returned to the party to look for Seth, he spotted Brett near the buffet line, yukking it up with some slick-looking customers in Stetsons too clean and crease-free to be real cowboys. Brett caught his eye and waved him over.
Seeing no graceful way out, Jack crossed the lawn and gave the men with his brother a half smile as he approached. He could smell big-city investors and rancher wannabes from a mile away. These guys reeked of money and little practical ranching knowledge.
“Jack, I’d like you to meet some gentlemen. Bill and George here are from Dallas and are interested in helping us get started in horse breeding.”
Nailed it. Jack gloated silently as he shook the men’s hands.
“I’ve been telling them how I found that stud in OKC with papers and a great bloodline.”
Jack lifted one eyebrow. “What stud?”
“I told you about him when I talked to you last week about my idea for breeding cutting horses.”
Drawing a slow breath, Jack pinned his brother with a level stare. “As I recall, I told you we weren’t making any changes to the business plan for the ranch. I have no interest in breeding cutting horses.”
Brett gave the businessmen an awkward grin. “Well, yeah, but I’m interested, and so is Daniel. I’ve been looking into it, and George here says he has connections that can—”
Jack took his brother’s arm and pulled him aside. “Excuse us for a minute, gentlemen.”
Brett muttered a curse under his breath and glared at Jack. “Don’t blow this for us, man. You know Daniel is looking to set up his own breeding program, and if the Lucky C doesn’t provide him with the resources, he’ll take his talents, and his profits, elsewhere.”
“If he wants to leave the ranch, he should.”
Brett scowled and angled his head. “You don’t mean that. He’s family! He belongs at the Lucky C. That means giving him reason to stay here, and Geronimo is a fantastic reason.”
Jack exhaled slowly and shoved his hands in his back pockets. “He only belongs here if he wants to stay. I won’t be party to strong-arm tactics or guilting him into staying.”
Brett squared his shoulders. “He’ll want to stay if we own Geronimo. He has the best bloodline in Oklahoma and Texas. I’ve been trying to get these guys to invest in our horse-breeding program for months, and I’ve got them on the hook.”
“The Lucky C doesn’t need outside investors. We’ve done quite well on our own and don’t need city boys poking their noses in our business.”
Brett met Jack’s gaze with a stubborn frown. “We do if you’re unwilling to front the cash from the ranch funds to buy Geronimo.”
“We’re not buying Geronimo or any other studs.” Jack leaned close to his brother and kept his volume low but his voice unflinching. “And we’re not shifting any resources to raising cutting horses, saddle broncs, race horses or any other wild scheme you’ve got up your sleeve. Period. I’m the manager of this ranch, and I decide how and where to spend money. Cattle have gotten us where we are today, and they’ll continue to be our business as long as I’m in charge. I see no good reason to change direction and risk everything Big J built.”
Brett shook his head, clearly frustrated. “Damn it, Jack. I know what I’m doing! Daniel knows his business, and he’ll take his business somewhere else if we don’t make some changes around here.”
Jack scoffed. “What did Daniel say when you proposed all this to him?”
Brett flinched. “I...haven’t yet. I wanted to secure the deal before—”
Jack cut him off
