It Takes a Cowboy

Rapidly revising several of the plans he’d made for the upcoming weekend, he turned his attention to Blair. She looked great, he noticed. She was dressed more casually than the last time he had seen her, in snug jeans and a forest-green camp shirt unbuttoned over a white T-shirt. Her feet were laced into a pair of hiking boots that looked small enough to fit her young nephew.

He was hit again with the attraction he’d felt for her when he’d met her after the auction. Whether dressed in her professional lawyer clothes or this outdoorsy outfit, she looked spectacular. But it was more than just her appearance that appealed to him; he was drawn to the intelligence in her eyes, the challenge in the tilt of her chin, the confident yet undeniably sexy way she walked. “Hi, Blair.”

“Good morning, Scott.” Her manner was briskly polite, as if she were greeting one of her legal clients rather than a weekend companion. “This is my nephew, Jeffrey. Jeffrey, this is Scott McKay.”

Jeffrey tossed his longish, center-parted hair out of his face and subjected Scott to an intense scrutiny. Scott had the sensation that the boy didn’t miss one detail of his appearance, from his breeze-tossed hair to his denim shirt, faded jeans and scuffed western boots. And he got the distinct feeling the kid wasn’t particularly impressed with what he saw.

“Hi, Jeff. How’s it going?” Scott said casually, careful not to be overly friendly.

The boy shrugged and mumbled something.

He looked so damned young, Scott thought again. So small in his oversize jersey and baggy jeans. So vulnerable behind the defiance in his snub-nosed face. Looking at this boy, Scott recognized emotions he had thought long since behind him.

He cleared his throat, determined to show the kid a good time this weekend—for Jeffrey’s sake, and not just because he wanted to impress the boy’s aunt. “Did you bring the stuff I suggested?” he asked Blair.

She nodded. “It’s in the car.”

“Great. Want to help me load the plane, Jeff?”

“The plane?” Blair repeated as the boy shrugged again. “We’re going in a plane?”

He raised an eyebrow. “We’re at an airport. Did you think we were going by submarine?”

Jeffrey chuckled, then looked rather surprised that he had done so. Blair glanced at him quickly, her expression softening. And then she turned toward Scott again. “I thought you flew in this morning and wanted to meet here for convenience.”

“No, we’re flying. You like flying, Jeff?”

“I’ve never been in a little plane,” the boy answered, glancing at the two-, four-and six-seaters parked nearby.

“I bet you’ll like it,” Scott predicted, then moved toward the back of Blair’s car. “The stuff’s in the trunk?”

In response, she opened the trunk, still looking a bit worried. “Have you chartered a plane? Who’s our pilot?”

“It’s my plane, and I’m the pilot.”

“You’re a, um, good pilot, I hope?”

Grinning at her, he quipped, “You bet. I’ve had my license for a whole week tomorrow. Bought it out of the back of a magazine. You know, one of those ads that begin, ‘You, too, can soar like an eagle....’”

“That’s not funny.”

“Jeff thought it was. He’s smiling.”

The boy immediately changed his expression to a scowl. “Am not.”

Scott knew better than to push it. “Whatever. Got all your stuff?”

Jeffrey pulled a grubby backpack out of the car and slung it over his shoulder. “Okay.”

Blair locked the car, slipped her purse beneath her arm and turned toward Scott with the general air of a turkey at Thanksgiving. “We’re ready.”

Scott grinned and slung an arm around her shoulders for a quick, bracing squeeze. “Trust me,” he said. “it’s going to be a very interesting weekend.”

*

BLAIR INSISTED that Jeffrey should take the copilot’s spot in the little four-seater Scott led them to. She explained that she would be much more comfortable in the back, though she was really hoping Jeffrey would find the ride more exciting in the front. She wanted so badly for him to take pleasure from the weekend, to show some excitement about anything. Maybe if he enjoyed being with Scott, he would be more likely to listen when Scott talked to him.

Buckled very tightly into the snug back seat, she watched as Scott matter-of-factly showed Jeffrey all the instruments and gave him a quick explanation of their purpose. After he started the noisy engine, she wasn’t able to hear much of what they were saying, but she noticed that Jeffrey seemed to be listening closely as Scott continued to talk.