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Prologue
1 Present Day NICK CHANCE WAS PISSED. There was no logical reason to fence this rocky section of the Last Chance Ranch. It would make a lousy pasture and was too far from the barn to work as a corral. But big brother Jack had decreed that it should be fenced “just in case” they’d need it someday. There went Nick’s day off. Jack had discovered that Nick had no vet duties today, either at home or at any of the other ranches in the valley, so he’d handed Nick a posthole digger. Nick had been tempted to suggest where Jack might shove his posthole digger, but going off on Jack wouldn’t solve anything. The guy was harder on himself than he was on anyone else. The rollover that had killed their dad last fall wasn’t Jack’s fault, but nobody could tell him different. So Nicholas Chance, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, was driving one of the battered ranch trucks instead of his primo medical rig, and he was digging postholes that didn’t need digging. What the hell. He’d work on his tan. Climbing
2 NICK WAS A FIXER. Pop psychology said that was his role as the middle kid in a family of three boys, and maybe there was something to the theory. He’d been drawn to veterinary school partly because he saw it as an alternative to hard physical labor, but mainly because he loved healing injured creatures. He’d been the boy who brought home the strays, the birds with broken wings, even a porcupine once, which had not been appreciated by his family. But that was what the Last Chance Ranch was all about, giving people and animals a second chance at life. His grandpa Archie would want it that way. He wasn’t sure what his grandpa would have said about this woman, but Nick saw her as injured, at least psychologically. Some jerk had done a number on her and left her to bleed. Nick wanted to help. He was honest enough to admit that wasn’t his only motivation. Helping her would be a lot more fun than bandaging a horse’s leg or delivering a breech-birth calf. Thank God he had an emergency condom
3 NICK HAD EXPECTED GOOD. Good would have done nicely to bind up her psychological wounds and scratch his temporary itch. Good would have made her fairly easy to forget when she left Wyoming. But just his luck, she’d turned out to be great. Worse yet, he’d told her so as they laughingly searched for their clothes, both of them staggering a little from the effects of incredible sex. “You were great, too.” She smiled as she reached behind her back to fasten her bra. He’d always adored watching a woman do that, and this woman was especially graceful at it. He had the urge to unhook her bra so she’d have to refasten it. But if he unhooked it, he’d want to touch her, and that would lead to more of what they’d recently shared. He wasn’t sure where she stood on that issue. “I can’t tell you how this has improved my outlook,” she said. That statement had a ring of finality, of completion, as if one session had fixed her right up and she had no inclination for another round. Bummer. “How long a
4 DOMINIQUE SPENT THE short ride back to the ranch house getting her bearings. When she’d first glimpsed a rugged cowboy working in a pasture, she’d thought Fate had sent her down that dirt road specifically to discover him. Everything had played out in fantasylike detail, until she’d learned the identity of her mystery lover. An anonymous hired hand fit her image of wild and crazy behavior. She wouldn’t say anything about the encounter and neither would he, for fear of getting canned. Very neat and tidy. Over and done with. Had it gone that way, she could have rounded out the vacation by photographing the landscape, and flown home with a renewed sense of who she was. Her next guy wouldn’t be as boring as Herman, or as disloyal. But Fate hadn’t been as kind as she’d thought. It had thrown a Chance man in her path, one who had the freedom to continue what they’d started, despite his brother’s obvious disapproval. She dared not risk it. If the prospect of sex with him could make her forg
5 DOMINIQUE DECIDED she was a hopeless case. Yes, she’d turned down Nick’s offer, which was the sane thing to do. But she’d spent the lunch hour regretting her choice. She could probably handle another night with him. It wasn’t as if she’d put a limit on how many sexual experiences she might have on this vacation. She’d nearly made up her mind to go over and tell him she’d like to have dinner with him, after all, when he disappeared. She’d lost her chance, and trying to track him down was too obvious a move. Excusing herself from the table, she climbed the curved staircase up to her room and grabbed one of the books she’d brought along. She could sit in one of the rockers on the front porch and read for a while. Nick might happen along while she was sitting out there. On her way back down the stairs she paused to admire the room below. The focal point, on the wall opposite the front door, was a huge fireplace made of mammoth chunks of butterscotch-colored stone. Four brown leather armc
6 DOMINIQUE WAS STANDING by the fireplace finishing up her conversation with Pam when Nick came through the door. Pam turned to greet him with a smile that told Dominique that for this childless woman, Nick was the son she’d never had. The two women had exchanged a lot of information in a short time once they’d discovered a common bond— they’d each had the bad luck to hook up with a slimeball. Dominique told Pam all about Herman and Pam described finding her cheating husband with his secretary. That was six years ago, and Pam had taken him for every dime she could get. Soon after that her parents had passed away, leaving her a large inheritance. Her only sibling had died in her twenties, so everything had gone to Pam, to her surprise. She hadn’t spoken to her parents in years, ever since they’d disowned her sister for having a baby out of wedlock. Pam had assumed they’d donate their money to charity. She’d sunk most of her newfound riches into the Bunk and Grub and turned it into a suc
7 DOMINIQUE WAS IN HER ROOM clicking through the photos on her digital camera when she heard Nick come in. At dinner she’d found out from the cook that he wouldn’t be eating with them because he’d decided to go into town for a meal. Mary Lou had said that with a sniff of disapproval, as if she couldn’t understand why anyone would choose a restaurant meal over one of hers. Dominique had guessed that Nick had based his actions less on food and more on proving he could have a good time with or without Dominique’s cooperation. The hands didn’t eat up at the main house for dinner, so Dominique had been stuck with Jack in the small formal dining room until she’d begged Mary Lou to join them. Fortunately, Mary Lou had been willing to fill in the gaps in conversation left by Jack, and the meal had gone well enough. Afterward he had excused himself and Dominique had hung out with Mary Lou in the kitchen, where she’d heard all about why Sarah, the lady of the house, was in town instead of at the
8 NICK WASN’T ABOUT TO leave the office until he heard the sound of Jack’s footsteps going back upstairs. Even then he didn’t particularly want to go up to his room. Now that he knew Jack was in on the conspiracy, he needed some time away from his big brother. Dominique wrapped her arms around him and he welcomed that. Right now she was the only person he felt he could trust. Good thing his mom— no, Sarah— wasn’t around. He’d always claimed he’d inherited his sense of humor from her and his tendency to protect helpless, homeless creatures. Dear God, he’d been a homeless creature, brought here at such a young age that he had no memory of anything but this ranch. He had so many questions, but he wasn’t ready to face the people who could answer those questions— Sarah, Emmett… Emmett must have known. Probably Mary Lou, as well. Some of his dad’s old friends who had come to the funeral must have been in on the secret. Dominique rubbed his back and gazed up at him with her warm brown eyes. “
9 NICK HAD NEVER BROUGHT a woman out here, and he knew doing it now was taking a chance that Dominique would become an indelible memory. Maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. He’d had a shock tonight and she’d been there to offer solace. Remembering her gift to him was the right thing to do whether or not they ever saw each other again after she went home. But she was here now. Her knees straddling his hips, she sat back and smoothed on the condom. He couldn’t choose which sensation to focus on— her tight ass resting on his thighs or her talented hands on his cock. She looked like a goddess with starlight sprinkled in her short dark hair and glowing on her smooth skin. He caught her spicy scent, which was no longer unfamiliar. The aroma of an aroused Dominique was now imbedded in the pleasure centers of his brain. He’d expected the rock underneath him to be cold, but it still held warmth from a day in the sun. Or maybe it had absorbed the heat from their bodies, because he felt like a kerosen
10 ON THE WAY BACK to the ranch, Nick drove a little faster than was wise and hit some ruts pretty hard. “Sorry.” “It’s okay.” Dominique held on to the door handle. “I know you want to get there to help with the birth.” “I do. Calamity Jane’s my brother Gabe’s favorite horse.” Nick grimaced. “I suppose now he’s technically my half brother.” “Hogwash. He’s your brother. Do you suppose he cares about some technicality?” Nick gave her a quick glance. “Thanks for saying that, even if you don’t know Gabe from Adam.” “I don’t know him, but I know you. What if the situation were reversed?” Nick didn’t even have to think about it. “I wouldn’t give a damn. We’re less than a year apart. We grew up almost like twins. Matter of fact, I always thought Jack resented how close Gabe and I were… still are.” “So where is he, exactly?” Nick steered around a pothole in the road. “He’s riding in an event in Colorado.” “Are you going to call him?” “Once Calamity Jane delivers? You bet. He’d want to know mot
11 NICK DISTRIBUTED THE cigars, but shoved his in his shirt pocket. Although he was thrilled about the birth, he wasn’t in the mood to sit around the barn and talk about it. Jack had already made his excuses and headed out, claiming a watering trough was malfunctioning. Nick was relieved to see him go. The new foal, which they’d named Calamity Sam, had briefly distracted Jack from his grief and guilt, but Nick had watched the familiar black cloud settle over his brother as the minutes passed. It was hard to believe he used to be a hell of a lot of fun. Once outside the barn, Nick gave each of the dogs a biscuit from his pocket as a reward for waiting quietly during the birth. They accepted the treat and joyously returned to their usual occupation of chasing rabbits and squirrels. Nick watched them bound off, and then headed toward the house. As he climbed the steps to the porch, he tried to decide whether to take a shower first or phone Gabe. Before finding the letter from his birth mo
12 NICK KEPT MEANING TO CALL Gabe and tell him about the foal. He really did. But by the time he’d gone back to the barn to check on Calamity Jane and Calamity Sam so he could give his brother an update, lunchtime had rolled around. Might as well wait until after to make the call. Jack wasn’t in the dining room when he walked in, and neither was Emmett. But of course Emmett wasn’t there. If Pam had succeeded in her campaign, he was off somewhere having a picnic. Just as well. Nick was conflicted about Emmett. Realistically, the guy couldn’t have defied his boss and risked his job to tell Nick about his parentage, but Nick wished he had taken that chance and done it, anyway. For Emmett’s sake, he would have kept his mouth shut. Over the years he’d come to think of him as a second father. Emmett could have taken him fishing some lazy summer day and filled him in. They would have made a pact never to tell anyone that Nick knew the truth. And that would have been that. Yeah, Nick could hav
13 ONCE SHE FELT THE WARMTH of Nick’s hand at the small of her back, Dominique regretted lecturing him. She needed to keep her big mouth shut and concentrate on the sexual chemistry between them. What happened with Sarah and his brothers as they worked through this issue was none of her damned business— but she couldn’t seem to remember that in the heat of the moment. Before Nick opened the battered wooden door of the Spirits and Spurs, she heard the wail of a steel guitar. Then he ushered her inside and she tried to absorb the bevy of sights and sounds coming at her. Most of the tables grouped around the dance floor were occupied, but she spied one in the corner that was empty. A polished wooden bar occupied the far right wall. The band on the small stage consisted of four guys who barely fit up there. The lead singer played an acoustic guitar, and his backup boys were on a slap bass, a banjo and the steel guitar she’d first heard. She couldn’t claim to know much about country music,
14 DOMINIQUE LONGED TO BE a mouse in Nick’s pocket, so she could listen in on the conversation they were having on the dance floor. “Those Chance men are dancers, every last one of them,” Lucy said. “It’s good to see Nick out there. The man has great buns, doesn’t he?” Dominique laughed. “Yes. Yes, he does.” Although dancing with Nick meant being held close and feeling his animal magnetism, watching him dance brought its own kind of sensual delight. He really was a gorgeous man. And when he had a partner who could dance, the two of them were poetry in motion. If Dominique were going to hang around— which she wasn’t— she’d have to learn. Herman, who had no rhythm, had lulled her into thinking the skill wasn’t important. But when it meant sweeping around the floor with a man like Nick, it became important. Dominique envied Sarah her grace and style. She was wearing jeans, but from the way she moved, Dominique could imagine her in a ball gown. Love glowed in her expression as she gazed up
15 DOMINIQUE HADN’T MISSED his “Let’s go home,” a comment that could have been an offhand one, but she didn’t think so. For a man like Nick, a man with a heart the size of the whole Teton Range, that statement would have significance. The comment itself wasn’t nearly as worrisome as her reaction to it. She’d loved hearing him say that, loved listening to his soft baritone resonating with his anticipated pleasure. She wrapped herself in that warmth and allowed his suggestion to run in a continuous loop through her mind as he drove down the dark road toward the ranch. She wasn’t surprised when he switched on the truck’s radio so they were serenaded with country tunes on the way back. The music maintained the happy mood they’d established at the bar. She also wasn’t surprised when he reached over and took her hand. Foolish or not, they were falling for each other. She couldn’t deny that her heart had melted when she’d watched him dancing with his mother. But that was only the final item o
16 DOMINIQUE’S FLIGHT DIDN’T leave until afternoon, but she wanted out of Shoshone ASAP, so she’d talked Pam into driving her to Jackson right away. She’d rather sit in the relative anonymity of the airport than hang around the Bunk and Grub. “I’m sorry things worked out this way,” Pam said as they neared the outskirts of Jackson. “I should have listened to you. Nick got attached. Hell, I got attached. But you’re a successful businesswoman. Would you throw away everything you’ve worked for on the slight chance something will materialize with a guy?” Pam’s laugh had a tinge of sadness. “Funny you should ask. No, I wouldn’t, but it appears my success is a stumbling block to romance for me, too.” “With Emmett?” “Mmm.” “In what way?” Her expression tense, Pam tapped her finger against the steering wheel. Obviously the subject frustrated her. “Emmett doesn’t have a lot of money, mostly because it isn’t important to him.” “I can see that. He lives on the ranch, doesn’t seem to own much of an
17 AS NICK DRESSED for the evening, Pam called on his cell. Or at least that was the readout. For one wild moment he imagined that Dominique hadn’t left, and she was using Pam’s cell phone because… because… When he answered, heart pounding, and heard Pam’s voice, he cursed himself for a fool. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from asking about Dominique. “Did she get off okay?” “She’s on her way back to Indianapolis.” His heart ached. “Good. That’s really good. It’s the best for her, the best for me.” “I suppose it is. Listen, she forgot to get a release form signed so she can use those pictures she took of you. I offered to get that done. Should I drop the forms by?” “That’s okay. Gabe and I are going right by your place in just a little bit. We’re meeting my mom and Grandma Judy for dinner. Hey, would you like to come along?” Nick realized Pam was another person he should tell about his recent discovery. She’d be hurt if she found out from someone else. “Thanks for the invite, but I ha
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