It Takes a Cowboy

She turned her head to smile at Scott, but her smile wavered when she saw him. He was so incredibly attractive. How could he possibly look this good still rumpled from sleep, his hair tousled, his shirt wrinkled and untucked over his jeans, his feet bare? She could almost laugh at how foolish she’d been to think she was bidding on a conservative, buttoned-down businessman.

She cleared her throat and tried to keep her eyes focused on his face rather than the intriguing triangle of tanned skin revealed by his partially unbuttoned shirt. “Good morning. There’s coffee in the...oh, I see you found it.”

He sipped from the mug she hadn’t noticed in his right hand. “It’s good.”

She nodded toward his bare feet as he settled into a chair beside her. “Aren’t you cold?”

“No. Compared to being at the top of Mount Everest during a blizzard, this early morning air is merely pleasantly mild.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “You’ve been through a blizzard at the top of Mount Everest?”

“Well, actually, I was only two-thirds of the way up,” he admitted. “The blizzard pretty much ruined the trip.”

“Your ranch must be quite successful,” she remarked, thinking of the adventure trips, the airplane, this lovely cabin in the woods.

“Are you asking if I have money?”

“No, of course not. I—”

“Because I do. Tons of it.”

His matter-of-fact tone made her blink. “Oh. I—”

“My father was the only offspring of well-to-do parents. My mother was the only child of a filthy-rich couple. When they died, their wisely invested money and all their business holdings came to me. And I went to the Lost Springs Ranch for difficult boys.”

He wasn’t looking at her, but was watching a squirrel romping through the trees. Blair studied his unrevealing profile. “How old were you?”

“Twelve when my family died. Fourteen when my grandparents shipped me to Lost Springs.”

He’d been angry, Blair thought. Bitter. Lost.

Like Jeffrey.

“How long did you live there?”

“On and off until I graduated from high school. By the time I left, I knew how to channel my anger more productively.”

“By climbing mountains? Racing cars? Jumping out of airplanes? Riding bulls?”

“Don’t forget snowboarding and hang gliding. I’ve done those a few times, too.”

“And your ranch? Who takes care of things while you’re risking your neck for kicks?”

“I pay people quite handsomely to take care of things there.”

Blair frowned. She really didn’t understand Scott McKay at all. Maybe he could get through to Jeffrey—but did she want him to? The last thing she wanted was for her nephew to end up as reckless and unconventional as Scott seemed to be. And yet...

“Hey. What’re you guys doing out here? Jeez, it’s freezing.”

She turned toward the door, pushing whatever she might have said to the back of her mind. “Good morning, Jeffrey.”

“I’m hungry. And I’m cold.”

She rose. “Then go back inside and get dressed while I make breakfast. You shouldn’t be out here barefoot.”

“Scott’s barefoot.”

“And I’m freezing my, er, toes off,” Scott commented dryly. “I was just trying to impress your aunt with how macho I am.”