“You look worried all of a sudden.” She fingercombed 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 topearning 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 grieves 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