On Monday afternoon when Chance parked his truck in front of the house Lassiter Media had rented for visiting executives, he felt a little guilty about the deal he had made with Fee. He had promised that he would consider her arguments for his being part of her PR campaign and he did intend to think about it.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help the family; he just couldn’t see why one of his cousins wasn’t more suitable for the job of spokesman or for that matter, even his mother. She was the family matriarch and had been since his aunt Ellie had died over twenty-eight years ago. They all knew more about Lassiter Media than he did. He was a rancher and had been all of his life. That’s the way he liked it and wanted it to stay. Besides, he’d never been the type who felt the need to draw a lot of attention to himself. He had always been comfortable with who he was and hadn’t seen any reason to seek out the approval of people whose opinions of him didn’t matter.
All he wanted was to get to know Fee better and that was the main reason he’d suggested that she stay with him on the ranch. They could have some fun together and at the same time, he could prove to her that he wasn’t the man she needed for her ad campaign. He knew she wasn’t going to give up easily and would probably still insist that he was the best choice. But he seriously doubted she was going to make a lot of headway with her efforts.
Getting out of the truck, he walked up to the front door and raised his hand to ring the bell just as Fee opened it. “Are you ready to go?” he asked as his gaze wandered from her head to her toes.
Dressed in khaki slacks and a mint-green blouse, she’d styled her long blond hair in loose curls, making her look more as if she was ready for a day of shopping in some chic, high-end boutique than going to stay at a working cattle ranch. He hadn’t thought it was possible for the woman to be any prettier than she had been two days ago when they’d had lunch, but she’d proved him wrong.
“I think I’m about as ready as I’ll ever be,” she said, pulling a bright pink suitcase behind her as she stepped out onto the porch.
His eyebrows rose when he glanced down at the luggage. It was big enough to fit a body and if the bulging sides were any indication, there just might be one in there already. It was completely stuffed and he couldn’t imagine what all she had in it.
“Think you have enough clothes to last you for two weeks?” he asked, laughing.
“I wasn’t sure what I would need,” she answered, shrugging one slender shoulder. “Other than attending the wedding the other night, I’ve never been on a ranch before.”
“My place does have the convenience of a washer and dryer,” he quipped.
“I thought it would,” she said, giving him one of those long-suffering looks women give men they think are a little simpleminded. “That’s why I packed light.”
When he picked up the suitcase, he frowned. The damn thing weighed at least as much as a tightly packed bale of hay. If this was her idea of “packing light,” he couldn’t imagine how many pieces of luggage she’d brought with her for her stay in Cheyenne.
Placing his other hand at the small of her back, he noticed she was wearing a pair of strappy sandals as he guided her out to his truck. “I’m betting you don’t have a pair of boots packed in here,” he said, opening the rear door on the passenger side of the club cab to stow the suitcase.
“No. I didn’t expect to be needing them,” she answered. She paused a moment before she asked, “What would I need them for?”
He laughed. “Oh, just a couple of things like walking and riding.”
“I...I’m going to be riding?” she asked, sounding a little unsure. “A...horse?”
“Yup.” He closed the rear door, then turned to help her into the front passenger seat. “Unless you want me to saddle up a steer so you can give that a try.”
She vigorously shook her head. “No.”
“You do know how to ride, don’t you?”
There was doubt in her pretty blue eyes when she looked at him and he knew the answer before she opened her mouth. “The closest I’ve ever been to a horse is seeing them in parades.”
“Don’t worry. It’s pretty easy. I’ll teach you,” he said, giving her what he hoped was an encouraging smile as he placed his hands around her waist.
“W-what are you doing?” she asked, placing her hands on his chest. The feel of her warm palms seemed to burn right through the fabric and had him wondering how they would feel on his bare chest.
“You’re short and...the truck is pretty tall,” he said, trying to ignore the hitch he’d suddenly developed in his breathing. “I thought I’d help you out.”
“I assure you, I could climb into the truck,” she said.
“I’m sure you could,” he said, smiling. “But you want to shoot me a break here? I’m trying to be a gentleman.”
Staring down at her, it was all he could do to keep from covering her lips with his and kissing her until the entire neighborhood was thoroughly scandalized. His heart stuttered when he realized she looked as if she wanted him to do just that.
He wasn’t sure how long they continued to gaze at each other, but when he finally had the presence of mind to lift her onto the seat, he quickly closed the truck door and walked around to climb in behind the steering wheel. What the hell was wrong with him? he wondered as he started the engine and steered away from the curb. He’d never before been so completely mesmerized by a woman that he forgot what he was doing. Why was Fee different? What was it about her that made him act like an inexperienced teenager on his first date?
“I still don’t understand...why you insisted on coming to get me,” she said, sounding delightfully breathless. “I could have driven...to the ranch.”
“You could have tried,” he said, focusing on her statement instead of her perfect coral lips. “But that low-slung little sports car wouldn’t have made it without drowning out when you forded the creek. That’s why I suggested you leave it here. If you need to go somewhere, I’ll be more than happy to take you.”
“When we drove to the ranch for the wedding, I don’t remember anywhere along the way that could happen,” she said as if she didn’t believe him. “The roads were all asphalt and so was the lane leading up to the ranch house.” She frowned. “I don’t even remember a bridge.”
“There isn’t one,” he answered. “Most of the year it’s just a little slow-moving stream about three or four inches deep and about two feet wide,” he explained. “But July is the wettest month we have here in Wyoming. It rains almost every day and the stream doubles in size and depth. That little car sits so low it would stall out in a heartbeat.”
“Why don’t you build a bridge?” she demanded. “It seems to me it would be more convenient than running the risk of a vehicle stalling out.”
He nodded. “Eventually I’ll have the road to my place asphalted and a culvert or bridge put in. But I only inherited the ranch a few months ago and I’ve had other things on my mind like cutting and baling hay, mending fences and moving cattle from one pasture to another.”
“Hold it just a minute.
