Her fantasy man leaned back in his chair. “The thing is, I’d hoped to establish the mood with live music, but the country band I’d hired just canceled a half hour ago.”
“What about Watkins?” Mary Lou set down her beer. “That cowhand plays a decent guitar if you could talk him into doing it.”
“It’s a thought, but that’s not the only issue. I also ordered three event canopies because we’re supposed to have some rain, but only one showed up. I’m a little worried that—”
“Say no more.” Tyler leaped into the breach automatically, a learned response from handling this kind of crisis all the time on cruises. “It’ll be fine. I’ll help you figure out some alternatives.” Belatedly she realized that her offer would throw her into direct contact with the man she’d decided to avoid for the duration of her visit.
Alex sat forward, hope in his eyes. “You will? That would be great.” Then he seemed to catch himself. “Wait a minute. You’re on vacation. You shouldn’t have to—”
“Don’t kid yourself,” Morgan said. “She loves this kind of thing. It’s her job to coordinate all the onboard entertainment, so parties are her deal. I had to hold her back or she would have planned my entire wedding from her stateroom on the
Sea Goddess.
”
“Then I accept.” Alex blew out a breath. “I don’t know what kind of magic you can work, but whatever it is, I’ll take it.”
Magic.
That was the exact word she would use to describe the night they’d spent together in the hayloft. She was realistic enough to know how much she’d be tempted to make love with him again, but that was a really bad idea. Considering the emotional tug she felt every time he looked at her, they could end up in a no-win situation that would break both their hearts.
2
LOOKING INTO TYLER’S dark eyes, Alex imagined he could read her mind. She already regretted her decision to help him, but he wasn’t about to let her off the hook. He needed her expertise.
If that meant they’d have to work together and deal with the heat that still simmered between them, so be it. He wasn’t about to interfere with her world cruise and probable promotion. He’d tell her so once they were alone.
In fact, having a private moment to clear the air was a very good idea. “I don’t want to rush you, but we don’t have a lot of time to cook up those alternate plans. If you’d be willing to take a look at the outdoor setup before dinner, that would be great.”
“Sure.” She pushed back her chair. “Give me ten minutes to take my suitcase upstairs and change clothes.”
Morgan stood and pressed a hand to the small of her back. “I’ll go with you and help you get settled in.”
“That’s okay.” Standing, too, Tyler wrapped an arm around Morgan’s shoulders and gave her a quick hug. “No point in lugging baby whosit up those stairs.”
Sarah’s eyebrows arched. “So she hasn’t told you whether it’s a boy or girl, either? I thought she might have let it slip to her little sis, and then we could pry it out of you before you leave.”
“I haven’t told
anybody.
” Morgan sat down again. “Gabe and I are the only ones who know, and it’ll stay that way until July when the little kid makes an appearance.”
“How about a name?” Mary Lou asked. “Have you picked one?”
Morgan nodded. “Yes, and I promise that you’ll know immediately from the baby’s name whether I had a boy or a girl.”
Tyler sighed with obvious relief. “Thank God. As you noticed when some of us were here last summer, our parents conspired to give all of us unisex names.”
“And I have to admit I had trouble keeping everyone straight during the wedding last year,” Sarah said. “I’m sure I called you by your twin brother Regan’s name at least twice.”
“Don’t feel bad about it. Regan and I had our names switched so many times in school it wasn’t funny.”
“I agree it was a nightmare while we were growing up,” Morgan said. “But now, as a real-estate agent, my name works because it’s easily recognizable. Still, I’m not doing that to my child.”
“I’m glad.” Tyler picked up her empty beer bottle and the napkin she’d used for her chips. “Anyway, let me scoot upstairs and get changed.”
Mary Lou made a flapping motion with her hand. “Leave the bottle and napkin, sweetie. I’ll take care of it.”
“And I’ll carry your suitcase upstairs.” Alex pushed back his chair and stood.
“I can manage,” Tyler said.
Alex gave her a smile. “It’s the gentlemanly thing to do, and I’m the gentleman who’s available.” Hell, he probably shouldn’t have said
that.
He’d blame all those years of being a glib DJ.
“Thank you, but it’s a small suitcase, and I really can—”
“You don’t know which room.” He was determined to grab this chance to talk with her. “Where should I put her, Sarah?”
“Let me think.” Sarah tapped her chin. “Maybe we should stick with the wing you’re in, because we’re having some problems with the pipes on the other side. I need to call a plumber, but I haven’t done it yet. Gabe’s room should be in decent shape.”
“It was the last time we were up there packing his high school trophies,” Morgan said. “I don’t think the bed’s made up, though.”
Sarah started to rise. “Maybe I should come up there with you.”
“Sit still.” Alex wasn’t giving up this opportunity to have a conversation with Tyler. “I know where the linen closet is. Tyler and I can handle it.”
“Absolutely,” Tyler said. “I’m perfectly capable of making a bed.”
And lying in it?
Alex was trying so hard to play it cool, but thinking of Tyler smoothing sheets over the bed she’d sleep in for several nights, a bed that would be in a room right across the hall from his, didn’t help at all. He’d never shared a bed with her, but he had no trouble imagining how wonderful that would be. The hayloft had been earthy and exotic, but a good mattress had advantages, too.
At this point, he needed to decide how he felt about the possibility. Obviously, considering her career plans, it couldn’t be more than a short-term experience. Was that a mistake? Maybe, but not a huge one unless they slipped up on birth control, and he wouldn’t let that happen.
Still, an affair could be a small mistake in that both of them could get more involved than they wanted to be. He didn’t know if he could jump into a temporary affair with her and jump back out with ease. And even if he could, what would be the point? When he was totally honest with himself, he had to admit that he craved what all three Chance men had found—a solid marriage that showed all the signs of lasting a lifetime.
He’d always wanted that, but he’d chosen the wrong woman the first time around. He didn’t like making mistakes, and he wasn’t about to make another one. That meant being careful with his heart. He wasn’t convinced that Tyler didn’t already own a piece of it.
She had a zest for life he’d admired from the moment she’d stepped onto the dance floor last summer. She’d been the one to suggest the romp in the hay, which had told him she wasn’t some finicky city girl and she had self-confidence, besides. That night he’d also learned that she was an unselfish lover with a great sense of humor.
Being wanted by someone like Tyler had soothed his divorce-battered ego. But he wasn’t feeling battered anymore, and she still had the power to make him ache with longing. He wasn’t positive he could satisfy that longing without taking an emotional risk.
“We’d better get with the program,” Tyler said.
What program? Alex made a mental U-turn so he could figure out what she was talking about. Oh, yeah. He was supposed to get her settled upstairs so she could go outside with him and make suggestions for the open house. His concentration was already whacked.
“I left my suitcase and purse out in the front hallway.” Tyler looked at Sarah. “Thank you so much for putting me up for a few nights.”
Sarah laughed. “I’m afraid Alex plans to make you earn your keep. Don’t let him work you too hard.”
“Actually you should worry about me working Alex too hard. He may regret asking for my help. I’m a slave driver when I get going.”
Alex shook his head. “No worries. I admire dedication.”
“Good. Me, too. We should make a good team.”
And maybe that’s all she had in mind. He could tell by her matter-of-fact tone that she wasn’t flirting, not even a tiny bit. He should be relieved if she wasn’t interested in getting chummy. Instead he felt the sting of disappointment.
He followed her out of the kitchen and through the empty dining room. Her hair bounced when she walked and her heels clicked on the hardwood floor. Her shoes were the kind that didn’t make an appearance very often at the Last Chance, where boots were the norm.
Tyler’s shoes consisted of an arrangement of black straps that left most of her foot bare. Her toes were shiny, as if they had clear polish on them, but the white part was brighter than a natural nail would be. Crystal used to get that kind of pedicure, and he vaguely remembered it was connected with a nationality. Maybe French.
He’d never thought of himself as having a thing about toes, but Tyler’s French pedicure generated a definite response from his libido. He could imagine himself kissing his way down to her slender toes and running his tongue between each one. During the night they’d shared, they’d been too busy with some very satisfying basics and hadn’t detoured into embellishments like sucking on toes.
Her shoes stirred his baser instincts, too. The heels were at least three inches, maybe closer to four. In Chicago they’d call them do-me shoes.
He wasn’t sure what they’d be called in Wyoming, but the effect was the same on a guy no matter where a woman wore them. As Tyler’s heels created a sensuous beat, Alex imagined backing her up against the nearest wall and wrapping her legs, sexy shoes and French pedicure included, around his waist. Her skirt would be easily bunched up, and if she still favored thongs, her panties would provide no challenge whatsoever.
“How long have you been living at the ranch?”
“Uh…” His brain wasn’t functioning as efficiently as it might, considering a certain amount of blood had been routed elsewhere. “About three months, I guess.”
“I thought you liked being a DJ.”
“I did. I do. But as a DJ I work indoors, and that just seems like a waste in this kind of country. The marketing director job allows me to live on the ranch and spend a lot more time outside.” Talking about something besides sex helped control his reaction to her. But every time he took a breath, he caught a whiff of her sweet perfume—part peach roses, part Tyler.
“The Jackson Hole area seems to have a strong effect on people. It sure captivated my sister. She loved it when we lived here years ago, and she loves it even more now.”
“Yeah, she’s talked about going to high school in Jackson.” Alex paused to pick up Tyler’s flowered suitcase and she grabbed her black leather purse before they headed up the winding staircase to the second floor. “So you didn’t fall in love with the place?”
“We were only in Shoshone for about six months. I was thirteen and miserable because I had to wear hand-me-downs to school. I wasn’t paying much attention to my surroundings.”
“That’s a tough age. I don’t know if anybody’s happy at thirteen.” He was willing to bet she’d been a knockout, though, even at thirteen and wearing hand-me-down clothes. “So what do you think of the area now?”
“It’s beautiful. And Morgan’s so happy here.”
“So’s my sister Josie. She came out on a skiing trip and made the decision to move. I wouldn’t have discovered this place if she hadn’t come here first.”
“And now she’s married to Jack. Were you the DJ for the reception then, too?”
“I was. They got married, along with Nick and Dominique, in early October.” But there had been no Tyler O’Connelli on the dance floor that night, no woman stirring him up and tempting him with hayloft sex. “Like Sarah said, we barely beat the snow, but now all the Chance men are hitched.”
“Wow.” Tyler laughed. “Must be something in the water.”
“Yeah, you might want to stick with bottled.”
“No kidding. Does Josie still own the Spirits and Spurs bar in Shoshone?”
“She does.” They reached the top of the stairs. “To your left.” He gestured in that direction. “Now that Josie lives out on the ranch, she’s not constantly at the bar, but she loves that place and I think she likes having her own income, too.”
“I sure get that.” Tyler’s voice grew more animated. “I would
never
be financially dependent on a man. My mother and father seem to have worked it out, but sometimes I wonder if she’d had her own money whether she might have vetoed some of his crazy ideas.”
Alex filed that statement away as a valuable insight into Tyler’s attitude. She wanted to maintain control over her life, and he admired that, too.
He paused beside the doorway into Gabe’s room on the right side of the hall. “This is it. Home sweet home for the next five fun-filled nights.” Probably shouldn’t have said that, either, but it was cruise lingo and…okay, he
was
flirting, even if she wasn’t.
She glanced up at him. “And where is your room?”
He pointed across the hall.
“Oh.”
He put her suitcase on the floor. “Look, Tyler, that wasn’t my idea. There are some plumbing issues in the other wing, like Sarah said.”
“I know. I just—”
“You just wanted to pay a surprise visit to your sister,” he said gently. “You didn’t count on dealing with me, and you certainly didn’t expect me to be sleeping across the hall.”
“Right.” Relief softened her dark eyes. “Thanks for understanding.”
“Oh, I understand, all right. I’m as conflicted about this situation as you are.”
“Because of your ex? Are you still—”
“Hell, no, I’m not still hung up on Crystal.” He looked into her eyes and figured the truth would work as well as anything. “But I’m afraid I might get hung up on you.”