Kiss Me (Fool's Gold 17)

“No. There hasn’t been a steady woman since Sally.”

Maya looked surprised. “Does he date?”

“I don’t know. I guess. Maybe. When he goes to town or maybe on his business trips.”

“How often does he do that?”

“A couple times a year.”

“Maybe his bad temper comes from not getting laid,” she said.

“Another problem I can’t fix,” he grumbled.

Maya started to respond, then shook her head. “Hold on. Phoebe looks like she’s in trouble. I’ll be right back.”

He watched as she rode on ahead. About fifty feet in front of them, Phoebe was doing a piss-poor job of turning around her horse. Maya demonstrated how to tug on the reins, and Rocky slowly rotated in the direction Phoebe indicated. Chase urged his mount to trot forward so he could join them.

“What’s up?” he asked, mindful of Andrea’s close encounter with the forest.

Phoebe shifted on her saddle. “I was wondering about rest stops. When do we make them? And where? I haven’t seen any facilities. Is there a campsite or something?”

Chase stared at her. Maya’s mouth dropped open.

“What?” Phoebe looked from one to the other. “What did I say? Are you trying to tell me that real cowboys don’t go to the bathroom?”

Maya reached out and patted Phoebe’s arm. “I thought you knew.”

Phoebe’s eyes narrowed. “Knew what?”

“We use nature’s restroom.”

Chase knew it was rude to laugh, but he couldn’t keep himself from grinning as Phoebe’s eyes widened with horror.

“Outdoors? In the bushes? But what about sanitation? What about washing my hands?”

“What about back to nature?” Maya asked.

“I’m not sure I want the two of us to be that close.”

Chase shook his head. “You don’t get out much, do you?”

“Not like this.” Phoebe swallowed. “We’re not going to be showering, are we?”

“We have camp showers,” Chase said. “Big bags of water you hang in the sun so they get warm.”

She winced. “Sounds really great. I can’t wait.” She looked at Maya. “You didn’t say anything about this when you talked about an exciting vacation on a cattle drive.”

Maya didn’t look the least bit contrite. “I forgot.”

“Like I believe that.” Phoebe carefully turned her horse around again. “I need to get back to my place in the herd.”

When she was gone, Chase nudged Maya. “What about Phoebe?”

His former stepsister shook her head. “I considered it for a while, but I’d worry that Zane wouldn’t treat her right.”

“Hey. What about me? I deserve a break. Phoebe’s nice and I think Zane might like her. He talks to her more than to anyone, and I think I’ve seen him watching her. If he was distracted by her, he would get off my back. You should want to help me out here.”

“I’m not sure you’ve earned the privilege of having Zane off your back.”

“You have to help me.”

“Sorry, kid. You’re on your own with this one.”

* * *

WHEN THEY STOPPED for lunch, Phoebe walked around in an attempt to get feeling back into her butt. She wasn’t too keen on “nature’s restroom,” and the tingling in her fanny was kind of strange; but aside from that, she found she was starting to like her time in the outdoors.

Although Rocky still scared her a little, she didn’t think he would try to bite her or throw her, which was a step in the right direction. She tried to be considerate and not flop around too much in the saddle. When she’d dismounted, she’d been careful to pat Rocky’s neck and thank him for the ride, although she wasn’t 100 percent sure he’d understood what she was saying. Still, it had been a start to what she hoped would be a pleasant working relationship.

She walked along the edge of the grove of trees where they’d stopped. The air was just warm enough for comfort, the blue sky seemed to stretch on forever, and there were mountains not that far away.

Phoebe had never much thought about being away from the city. She’d lived in Los Angeles her whole life, and her idea of back to nature was new plants for her patio. Her various foster parents hadn’t been big on camping trips or hiking in the foothills, and as an adult, she’d never considered the option of getting away. But now that she was here, in the wilderness, she found that she liked it.

If she’d thought about it ahead of time, she would have expected silence, but it wasn’t quiet at all. There were all kinds of birds flitting around, along with small creatures making rustly noises in the bushes. The cattle had a symphony of their own—the rhythm of their hooves, the grunts and occasional moos. She wished she knew more about this part of the country. She would like to be able to name the trees and the small yellow flowers. Maya knew as little as she did, and when she’d asked Chase, he’d rolled his eyes and reminded her that he was seventeen. His interests lay more in the direction of computers and girls than flora and fauna. Since she hadn’t brought her cell phone along on this stroll, that left only Zane, but she couldn’t actually bring herself to ask him to give her a botany lesson.

So she contented herself with admiring the leaves and walking around small bushes until some feeling returned to her butt. Then she walked toward the stream they’d passed a few minutes before stopping.