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  Luke examined her with hooded eyes, managing to look totally at home on a piece of

  furniture that looked far too small for his big body, and he eyed her like she was a tasty buffalo, and he was Yellowstone gray wolf with hungry cubs to feed.

  If she wasn’t starved for that promotion, Jane would have leaped off the chair and run away as fast as her legs would carry her.

  #

  Luke knew what was coming and sympathized with the gorgeous blonde, even as he tried to cloak his amusement. Judging by her reaction to his early-morning dip in the fountain, he was expecting her to come unhinged when Gramps lowered the boom.

  “Jane,” Rupert began, sucking in his gut and throwing back his broad shoulders. "I’m not a young man, and after my heart attack two months ago, I’ve given some thought to retirement.”

  Jane.

  Luke liked her name. Simple. Straightforward. Efficient. Competent. No nonsense. It suited her.

  “Um, okay.”

  “Luke is my only living relative. His mom, my daughter, passed away when he was twelve, and because his father got custody, we haven’t been in each other’s lives as much as we would have liked.”

  Yeah, Luke thought. That’s one way of putting it.

  Another way would be that the old man hadn’t really wanted anything to do with him. That is until Luke started gaining acclaim as one of the leading authorities on food insecurities in developing nations.

  Rupert leaned back in his desk chair and rested his interlaced hands on his belly. "I want to be upfront with you, Jane. My daughter eloped to Montana with Peter Black, very much against my wishes. I had a suitable young man all picked out for her to marry, but she was headstrong and defied my wishes.”

  According to Luke’s dad, Rupert had been a controlling son of a bitch that his mother, Meredith, had been desperate to escape. But that was one-sided. Luke was willing to give his grandfather a chance.

  Their marriage lasted only a short time, and she ran off to find herself, only to die in a skiing accident in the Swiss Alps with a boy toy. She’d left Luke behind because he was too much of a handful.”

  Luke grimaced and shoved those memories aside. He was glad his mother had left him in Montana; she’d never taken much interest in him anyway.

  But his father had never recovered from her desertion. Luke had loved growing up around rough-and-tumble cowboys while his father worked the ranch and hanging out with his cousins. Then Luke went off to college to get his undergraduate and master’s degree in farm and ranch management. And he later spent eight years working for a nonprofit that served third-world countries struggling to feed their populations.

  Peter Black began drinking too much and dabbling in conspiracy theories. His father hadn’t believed the Covid-19 pandemic was real, and he refused to take precautions. In the end, his erroneous beliefs had killed him.

  Not being there when his dad passed away was the most profound regret of Luke’s life. He wasn’t about to let that happen with his grandfather. When Rupert called, told him about the heart attack, and finally asked to see him, Luke jumped on a plane, leaving his life in the Congo behind.

  Maybe if his father had lived, Luke wouldn’t have been curious enough to answer his grandfather’s summons. And for the record, it had been a summons and not an invitation, Luke realized now. Rupert was accustomed to being obeyed.

  Luke was still feeling things out. He’d promised to stick around for a while and learn the business. Still, Luke had no interest in taking over the Cox Corporation. All he really wanted was to get to know his grandfather.

  What he hadn’t yet figured out was why Jane was here. What was the old man up to? Was he offering her up as a prize if Luke stayed?

  C’mon, do you really think that little of him?

  Hmm, maybe. Luke barely knew Rupert.

  But Jane was a looker with hazel-green eyes, creamy skin, and honey-colored hair pulled back except for a few soft strands that had escaped and drifted around her heart-shaped face. Her entire lower lip had the smooth, plump look of a woman who should be kissed well and often. But she avoided his gaze, and he couldn’t help feeling she was shy at heart. An introvert. He’d bet she loved books and reading—his total opposite.

  “It’s really lovely to meet you, Luke,” she said, blinking all wide-eyed and innocent. She planted both hands on the arm of her chair and pushed up.

  “Sit back down, Jane,” Rupert commanded.

  Like a well-trained pup, she sat.

  “I have a favor to ask of you,” Rupert said.

  What did the old man have up his sleeve? Luke narrowed his eyes and glanced from his grandfather to Jane and back again.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “I want you to tutor my grandson.”

  “Excuse me,” Jane and Luke said in unison.

  Jane stared at Luke with questions in her eyes. He shrugged. He had no idea what was going on either.

  Her forehead crinkled in a frown. "You want me to be Luke’s what?”

  “Tutor,” Rupert confirmed. "And for the record, not only will you receive a generous bonus, but you are also the top candidate in the running for the opening we’ve got coming up in marketing.”

  Jane’s eyes lit up, and Luke could see Rupert had found her kryptonite. Money and position.

  Luke lost a little respect for her at that moment.

  “I don’t understand.” Jane rubbed her upper arm as if she’d just gotten a painful injection. "What could I possibly teach your grandson?”

  “It’s straightforward, Jane. Before I hand over the company’s reins to Luke, he needs to learn some basic etiquette and navigate the corporate environment. In short, I want you to civilize my grandson. He’s spent too much time on ranches and in impoverished cultures to take over the reins of Cox Corp just yet.” He sent Luke a chiding glance. "No more stunts like parading around naked in the fountain.”

  "Not quite naked,” Luke said mildly, desperate to cloak his alarm. He had no intention of taking over as CEO. "I had underwear on.”

  "But why me? I’m not an etiquette expert.” Jane sounded desperate to escape, and he couldn’t blame her.

  “You handled the situation in the fountain beautifully, Jane. You sent this rascal scampering for his clothes.” He got up and walked over to pat his telescope. "I saw it all. He needs a handler.”

  Luke bit the inside of his cheek. People had been telling him that his entire life, and it didn’t sting any less the millionth time than it had the first. People didn’t say things like that to him in Africa, which was why he loved his adopted country.

  Demurely, Jane ducked her head. "You give me far too much credit, Mr. Cox, I’m really not qualified to—”

  “According to Ms. Polk, you’re competent. Complete this assignment, and that position in marketing is yours, complete with a company car.”

  Jane’s face paled.

  It was all Luke could do to stay silent. He didn’t want to pick a fight with his grandfather in front of Jane.

  “Do we understand each other, Jane?” Rupert leveled her a knowing stare.

  Jane fidgeted. Her eyes flashed, and her jaw set.

  For a minute, Luke thought she’d tell his grandfather where he could stick the ridiculous assignment. He wished he had some popcorn to watch the fireworks, and he waited...

  “Yes, sir.”

  Well hell. So much for fun.

  “Splendid, splendid.” Rupert sucked in his gut and slicked back his full mane of silver hair, reminding Luke of an aging wolf still fighting to lead the pack. The man was too accustomed to riding roughshod over people and getting his own way.

  Really, Luke should walk out and grab the next plane back to Africa. The only thing stopping him was his stupid desire to find a way to connect with his grandfather before it was too late. After losing his father the way he had, Luke didn’t want any more regrets.

  “Do you have anything specific in mind for this transformation?” Jane took out her cell phone and opened a notetaking app.

  Rupert tapped his chin with an index finger and glanced at Jane over the rim of his glasses. "Have you ever heard of the stage play Pygmalion?”

  “Yes, sir. The movie My Fair Lady is based on it.”

  “Aah,” he said. "You’ve chosen a timelier reference."

  “Actually, sir, My Fair Lady is an older reference. She’s All That is more to date, but even that movie was made in 1999.”

  She must be a killer at trivia night, Luke thought and didn’t even bother stifling his grin. Yep, she had to be a reader. Something Luke was not.

  “Whatever.” Rupert waved a hand. "You get the idea. Give him a makeover—polish his rough edges. Teach him how to use a fork and knife. Show him how things work in the real world.”

  "Um, I’ll see what I can do.”

  “You have thirty days. It’ll be intensive. I’ll have Ms. Polk arrange for you to use my ranch house in Sedona. You’ll have an unlimited expense account to spruce him up—buy him some decent clothes. Get him a haircut and manicure too.”

  Jane’s eyes grew wider still. "You expect me to—”

  "Stay in Sedona with him. No distractions there. This is no forty-hour-a-week assignment, but you’ll be extremely well rewarded for your troubles. Your bonus will be based on how well he turns out.”

  “Sir, it’s not just about the money.”

  “Yes?” Rupert threw her a thundercloud frown.

  “It’s, it’s—” The way she was floundering, Luke could tell it was precisely about the money.

  “Just answer my question. Are you in or you out, Jane?”

  She moistened her lip with a pink tongue. She looked from Rupert to Luke and back again and gulped visibly. "I’m in.”

  “Terrific,” Rupert said. "I knew you were a team player. Go see Ms. Polk. She’s making the arrangements for your departure.”

  “You mean right this minute?” Jane asked.

  Rupert nodded. "Yes. Now get out of my office, both of you.”

  Chapter Three

  “Tell me more about the bronzed cowboy,” Jane’s younger sister Kim said as she watched her packing for Sedona.

  “He’s...” Pondering optional word choices, a few of them unkind, Jane finally settled on, "challenging.”

  "He sounds utterly fascinating. A wild Montana cowboy turned white knight for countries with food instability. I’m sold.” Kim held a folded red tank top in her hands and added it to the pile of clothing waiting to go into the suitcase.

  “Please take your tank out of my things. You know I never wear red,” Jane said, eager to stop talking about Luke Black.

  “I don’t know why. The color makes you come alive.”

  “The last time I checked, I was definitely breathing.” She usually wasn’t sarcastic, but Kim was treating the whole thing as a lark. Her sister wasn’t the one desperate for a promotion that could pay for a better neighborhood to live in.

  "Wait. Is the guy a creeper? Are you afraid of him?” Kim didn’t pull any punches.

  “Oh, no, no. Not at all. Luke’s just so...so—” Jane paused, casting around for the right word again.

  “Masculine? Macho? Alpha?” Kim put the red top into the suitcase along with a yellow string bikini.

  Jane was too agitated to protest the wardrobe additions. "No. Well, yes, he is those things and more.”

  Kim wriggled her eyebrows. "So, what’s the problem?”

  "He’s smug. That’s it—smug. You should see his smirk. He thinks he has the world on a string, and I suppose he does. He’s poised to inherit a billion-dollar company, and he doesn’t even seem to care.”

  "Mmm, I’d love to see him smirk. I’ll go with you and help train him not to take showers in fountains.” Kim giggled.

  “There’s an idea,” Jane muttered, but she’d been a substitute mother too long to let her kid sister walk into trouble with her. "Unfortunately, you have classes starting soon.”

  “Rats. My loss. How long do you expect to be gone?”

  “The entire month of August.”

  “Seriously? You’ll be staying alone with a sexy cowboy for a whole month?”

  "Oh no, we won’t be alone. A couple lives on the ranch as caretakers, and company execs are scheduled to come down in two- and three-day shifts to teach him about the business. I’ll just be his...”

  “Governess?”

  Jane laughed for the first time since Rupert Cox dropped the bombshell on her. "That’s as good a title as any. To get my promotion, I must ride herd on a grown man who doesn’t know what is and isn’t appropriate in corporate America. Apparently, his mom—Mr. Cox’s daughter—died when Luke was young, and he was raised on a Montana cattle ranch, and his dad let him run wild. Then he’s spent his life since then in Africa. He doesn’t know how to behave in the corporate environment. It’s my job to tame his unruly ways.”

  "Wish I’d seen him in the fountain.” Kim sighed moonily.

  “Well, I wish I hadn’t. Then I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  “Maybe he’s a quick learner, and you can polish him up in less time,” Kim mused. "Although I don’t think I’d want to. What’s so terrible about staying in Mr. Cox’s fancy ranch hideaway in Sedona?”

  "Being strongarmed into it,” Jane muttered.

  "Couldn’t you have just said no?"

  "I want that promotion."

  "Yes," Kim said. "So, you can spend even more time working."

  "What’s wrong with that?"

  "There’s more to life than work, big sister. Open your eyes."

  Easy for Kim to say. She wasn’t the one who’d had to support them from the time she was seventeen years old.

  "Look at it this way," Kim plopped onto the mattress beside Jane’s suitcase. "You get a paid vacation."

  "Vacation? With that guy? Ha. You have no idea how rough around the edges he is."

  "Making a hot guy look good." Kim put the back of her hand to her forehead, feigning drama. "However, will you cope?"

  Kim’s curly-haired, dimpled cuteness was a magnet to the opposite sex. She often urged Jane to be more assertive and go after men who attracted her, but that wasn’t Jane’s style.

  "I can understand why you’re a charter member of the born-again virgins," Kim teased. "After your bad breakup with Bryan, I get it. But sister, it’s time to get on with your life. That guy was a narcissist. You’re far better off without him."

  Jane knew that. She was just scared to take chances now. What if she got hooked up with the wrong man again? She picked up Mr. Hopper, the shabby stuffed kangaroo from her childhood, off the dresser and threw him at her sister.

  Laughing, Kim ducked, and Mr. Hopper hit the wall with a soft thud. "C’mon, it can’t be that bad. No one can blame you if the guy is totally not executive material. What have you got to lose?"

  "A promotion," Jane said dryly. "Or if I totally blow it, even my job.”

  "Let me get this straight. You’re off to spend a month tutoring a virile cowboy who oozes sex from every pore. He has a body worth giving up chocolate for and a dreamy face, but you don’t want to go because he’s too self-confident."

  "Smug and cocky."

  "Because he plays by his own rules, not anyone else’s? Are you sure you’re not just scared silly of having a close encounter of the romantic kind?"

  "Don’t you ever think about anything but men?"

  Jane knew her question was unfair. Kim worked hard and got excellent grades. But she wasn’t in the mood to be analyzed by her cheeky little sister.

  Nor was she reassured by Kim’s devious smile. If she didn’t know better, she’d think her sister was up to something.

  #

  Rupert’s sleek red Ferrari had one helluva engine.

  Grinning, Luke negotiated the switchback roads to Sedona with the skilled touch of a racecar driver. In fact, he’d driven in—and won—a few races and had briefly toyed with the idea of turning pro. But he’d gotten hooked on farm and ranch management. Ending world food insecurities and making a difference in people’s lives was more rewarding than blasting around a track at top speed. But now, he was headed to his grandfather’s Sedona ranch where he’d be sequestered with a gorgeous blonde as she attempted to teach him how to fit into "polite" society.

  It was laughable.

  He’d jump through the hoops—for now—because he had hopes of building a relationship with his only living grandparent. In the aftermath of Rupert’s heart attack, he had no idea how long the old coot would be around.

  Honestly, he had no intention of ever being CEO of Cox Corp. But if spending a month getting "tamed" by sweet Jane helped him forge a relationship with Rupert, he’d give it a shot.

  Hanging out with Jane wouldn’t be a sacrifice.

  "Sly old devil," he muttered under his breath. "You caught me in your honey trap."

  Was she in on his grandfather’s plan to get him to stay in Arizona, or had Rupert decided to use her on the spur of the moment after the fountain incident? Him and his bloody spyglass!

  Ahem. If you hadn’t been in the fountain in the first place, none of this would have happened.

  Okay, it had been a silly stunt meant to irritate Gramps. And yes, he still had some residual anger toward the man who’d never made much of an attempt to get to know Luke until he was ailing.

  Thinking about Jane brought a smile to his face, and he decided she was probably just what she seemed. An employee roped into teaching him corporate-style manners. She hadn’t been acting when she ordered him out of the fountain.

  He was still disappointed that she’d insisted on driving her own car instead of riding to Sedona with him, but he got it. She didn’t want to be stranded, and he couldn’t blame her for that.

  This promised to be an exciting month.

  He’d expected plush digs, but the red rocks of Sedona were so spectacular under the hot August sun, he fantasized camping on a mesa with his bedroll. The landscape was a deep orange-red the color of burning coals, but the town itself was plagued with tourists who didn’t have enough sense to take a siesta on such a hot afternoon.