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  If she’d ever met a more adorable guy than Wyatt, she couldn’t recall who it might have been. If he truly wanted to relocate to Shoshone, Wyoming, she’d do whatever she could to help him make that happen.

  * * *

  ONCE AGAIN, OLIVIA HAD GOTTEN the drop on him. Wyatt vowed that the next time he’d be ready for her when she did that and he’d get in some lip pressure of his own. In the meantime, he stood there holding one full bottle of beer and one nearly empty one while he gazed after her like some love-struck adolescent. He finished off the almost-empty beer and looked for a place to put the bottle.

  “I’ll take that.” Morgan appeared at his elbow with her red-haired mini-me propped on her hip. “You need to finish your meal because we really do have some burning questions.”

  If Wyatt had hoped Morgan had forgotten her original plan in the flurry of excitement over Sarah’s admission, that hope was now officially dashed. “I’m really not very knowledgeable about—”

  “Now don’t be modest, Wyatt. You’re eligible and you’re gorgeous, which puts you in the perfect position to give us some insight into how guys think these days.” She gestured to an empty chair. “That seat’s available. I’ll be right back.”

  Wyatt glanced over at Olivia, who’d just started working on Pam Mulholland’s nails. Olivia looked up with an encouraging smile. She’d told him he had support in this room, so maybe he should stick around. Retrieving his plate, he sat in the chair Morgan had indicated and began to eat. He probably needed to keep up his strength.

  With a little doggy sigh, Rodney plopped down on the floor beside him.

  Kids and dogs. Wyatt realized he hadn’t had much to do with either because his mother hadn’t wanted any messes in her perfectly decorated house. All his playing as a kid had been at the school yard or somebody else’s place.

  Pets hadn’t been an option either. Once Wyatt became a wilderness guide, he’d given up any thoughts of getting a dog even though he no longer lived with his mother. He traveled too much. But if he was based in Shoshone and was welcome at the ranch, he could interact with the dogs and horses here.

  As he was polishing off the last of his dinner, Morgan sat in the chair next to his and settled her daughter, who was drifting off to sleep against her shoulder. “Okay. I get the first question. Inquiring minds want to know…what’s the most important thing a man looks for in a woman?”

  “For what?” He figured hedging was a good tactic.

  “For anything. Conversation, working together, bedroom games, whatever.”

  “I can only speak for myself.”

  Tyler, Morgan’s dark-haired sister, dropped onto a sofa nearby. “Tonight, my friend, you’re speaking for every man.”

  Wyatt took a fortifying sip of his beer, which bought him a little more time to think. Finally he settled on his answer. “Enthusiasm.”

  “Can you be more specific?” Tyler combed her dark hair back from her face. “Enthusiasm for what, exactly?”

  “I think he’s talking about sex,” Morgan said. “You are, aren’t you, Wyatt?”

  “Not just sex.” He slugged back some more beer. “It’s fun to be with someone who goes all in with whatever she’s doing. And sure, that goes for sex, too, but—”

  “I think he means sex,” Pam called over from the manicure station.

  “Not only sex.” Wyatt sat forward in his chair and gestured with his beer bottle. “I’m talking about enthusiasm for her work, and if she plays any sports then I hope she plays them with all she’s got. If she has hobbies then I hope she loves doing them. I want her to be passionate about whatever she’s doing.”

  “I’m here to tell you I’m not enthusiastic about housework,” Dominique said.

  “That’s something I think men should be enthusiastic about.” Josie held her hands out in front of her and gazed admiringly at her pink fingernails. “Then maybe this manicure would last awhile.”

  “Wyatt.” Morgan gazed at him. “Do you clean your own place?”

  “Uh, yeah.” He felt a trap was about to be sprung.

  “Enthusiastically?” Tyler asked.

  “Not exactly, but—”

  “Aha!” Dominique pointed a finger at him.

  Wyatt glanced over at the fire. “Gee, will you look at that? I need to tend the fire. If you’ll all excuse me.” Setting his empty beer bottle down, he stood and walked over to the fireplace.

  “Be sure and tend it enthusiastically!” Morgan called after him, which made everyone laugh.

  “Oh, you know it, ladies.” As he moved the screen aside, he started whistling some snappy tune he’d heard recently on the radio. He often whistled on long drives to amuse himself, so he was pretty good at it by now. Then he added a few dance steps when he picked up a log from the rack beside the fireplace. The women began clapping rhythmically.

  At that point he felt he had no choice. Instead of backing off, which any sane or less inebriated man would have done, he turned the fire building into a hip-swinging, foot-stomping routine worthy of Chippendales. He’d never actually seen a Chippendales routine but this was how he thought it might go, minus the logs and the fireplace tools.

  Where he got the inspiration was a mystery, although it might have been the beer he’d had. It also might have something to do with Olivia being in the room. He wanted her to know he was up to the challenge thrown down by these women.

  He finished with a flourish that won him loud applause. Amazingly, both babies slept through the whole thing. He met Olivia’s gaze for one quick moment and had to look away. She’d obviously liked the performance, and that sizzle passing between them was liable to attract unwanted attention.

  Returning to his chair, he sank into it gratefully.

  “Well done,” Morgan said.

  “Relax and have another beer.” Dominique brought it to him this time. “Girls, let’s stop picking on the poor guy for a while. He’s acquitted himself admirably, and besides, we have brownies to eat.”

  “And beauty to accomplish.” Josie smiled at Wyatt. “You should at least have Olivia give you a pedicure.”

  “I don’t think so.” When Olivia finally touched him, he didn’t want her to start with his feet.

  “Maybe he’d agree to just a foot massage,” Olivia called over from the manicure table. “I give great foot massages.”

  He’d just bet she did. The thought spiked his blood pressure because anyone who gave good foot massages was into sensuous contact of all kinds. He shifted his weight in the chair and told himself not to think about it.

  “Pam’s done,” Olivia said. “Who wants to be next?”

  Mary Lou waved her hand in the air. “I’d love a pedicure.”

  “Then come on down, Mary Lou.” Olivia stood and squirted some liquid soap into the stainless-steel bowl in front of the second chair. “I’ll go fill the footbath.”

  “No, I’ll fill the footbath.” Wyatt left his seat and walked over to take the bowl from her. He hadn’t given enough thought to how much work this night would be for Olivia. He couldn’t paint nails, but he could fetch water.

  “Thanks.” The look in her eyes told him he’d done a good thing.

  “Any instructions?”

  “Test the temperature on your wrist. It should feel warm but not scalding. I think the water coming from the faucet in the tub should still be warm enough, but if it’s not, leave room so I can add some from the fireplace kettle.”

  “Got it.” Following her directions, he soon returned with a sudsy pan of water, which he placed carefully in front of the chair where Mary Lou already sat barefoot with an eager expression on her lined face. She immersed both feet with a sigh of pleasure. “Thank you, Wyatt.”

  “I’ll be in charge of the footbath from now on, Olivia.”

  From the group of women gathered in the seating area came a long, drawn-out “Awww.”

  “I swear to God, Wyatt,” Tyler said. “You are redefining the word hero.”

  “I have to admit he’s setting the bar pretty high,” Josie said. “I—” She paused as the theme song from Pirates of the Caribbean started playing. “That would be Jack on my cell.”

  Wyatt tensed as Josie located her purse, pulled the phone out and answered it. Holding the phone to her ear, she talked quietly as she stood and walked down the hall he’d just come from. In an instant he went from feeling welcome and appreciated to thinking of himself as an intruder.

  Conversation flowed again after the interruption, and Wyatt joined in as if that phone call didn’t occupy ninety-nine percent of his thoughts. Josie would mention his arrival. It was the right thing to do in an open and forthright relationship, and Wyatt believed Josie and Jack had that.

  Fortunately for Wyatt’s sanity the call was short. Josie walked back into the room looking calm. That was promising, he told himself.

  “Is everything going well in Casper?” Morgan asked.

  “Very well. They’ve sold several horses and Clay’s written up quite a few orders for semen delivery.”

  Emily’s face seemed lit from within. “That’s so great. He had high hopes for this trip and I’m so happy for him. Well, and for the Last Chance, of course.”

  “That is good news,” Sarah said. “How’s the weather down there?”

  “Not bad at all, and that’s why Jack called. He heard about the storm hitting Jackson Hole and wanted to know how we were doing. I told him the power was out but we were coping fine.” She looked at Wyatt. “And of course I told him you were here.”

  Wyatt’s gut tensed. “What did he say to that?”

  “Not much.” Her voice gentled. “But that’s Jack. He’s not chatty on the phone. He said he’d be home late tomorrow afternoon.”

  Wyatt nodded. “It’ll be good to see him.” At least Jack hadn’t said that Wyatt had better be gone by then.

  5

  BY THE TIME OLIVIA HAD finished six manicures and three pedicures she should have been exhausted, but having Wyatt around kept her energy level high. For one thing, he insisted on emptying and refilling the footbath and the soak bowl, which saved her some time and effort. But just looking across the room and exchanging a glance with him was enough to recharge her batteries whenever she started to drag.

  Besides helping her, he carried the chafing dishes back to the kitchen once everyone had finished eating, took down the folding tables and worked with Mary Lou on cleanup duty. After Archie woke up and was fed and changed, Wyatt took a turn at holding the little guy.

  Although holding a baby seemed to make him nervous to begin with, soon he relaxed and began making faces at Archie. That activity entertained both the baby and the women gathered around sipping the last of their wine and exclaiming over the beauty of their nails.

  Olivia finished her last manicure, a pale peach shade for Emily, and began packing up her supplies. Rain still pounded on the roof and slashed at the windows. Sarah had called down to the bunkhouse and the few hands who were there reported that the horses were fine and the barn didn’t seem to be leaking, so they were all going to bed.

  Olivia had brought pajamas and a change of clothes, but she didn’t know where Sarah planned for her to sleep. One of the recently constructed bunks upstairs would be fine. Growing up in the chaotic household of an eccentric father had made her flexible when it came to sleeping accommodations.

  As if reading Olivia’s mind, Sarah set down her empty wineglass and stood. “I see some droopy eyelids, and I’m about ready to turn in myself.”

  Josie yawned. “Yep. It’s been great, but I’m ready for some shut-eye.”

  “Go on up whenever you want.” Sarah waved a hand at the upper floor. “The only ones who don’t know where they’re bunking down are Wyatt and Olivia, so now would be an excellent time for me to show them.” She picked up a candle sheltered inside a small glass chimney. “Come on upstairs, you two.”

  Olivia knew Sarah hadn’t meant to link them together as if they’d be sleeping in the same room, but the image stuck in her mind anyway. She didn’t know Wyatt well enough to sleep with him…yet. But she intended to further the acquaintance. All the signs pointed to the possibility that something wonderful could develop between them.

  Leaving her tidying, she stood and followed Sarah toward the wide, winding staircase. Archie Chance, little Archie’s great-grandfather, had been a master carpenter who’d constructed the graceful wooden stairway leading to the second floor. Olivia had wanted to climb that staircase from the first time she’d seen it, which had been at Emily and Clay’s wedding.

  That day she’d had no reason to go upstairs. But now she had a chance to sleep in one of the rooms and she was thrilled about it, even if she wouldn’t be sharing with Wyatt. The Last Chance Ranch house seemed like the height of casual elegance to her.

  Wyatt was right behind her on the stairs, and she was superaware of that fact. The attraction between them seemed to be growing rapidly, at least from her perspective, and sleeping under the same roof tonight would be tantalizing. She wouldn’t allow anything to happen and she doubted he would either, but the forced proximity heated her blood.

  Sarah reached the landing and waited for them both to join her. “As Olivia knows, we’ve converted some of these rooms to dormitory-style spaces to accommodate the teenagers who are coming—God help us all—in two weeks.”

  “Olivia told me about that.” Wyatt stood close, but not so close as to imply they were a couple. “I love that idea.”

  Olivia imagined she could feel his body heat, but that was probably her hyperawareness kicking in. “I’d be perfectly happy in a bunk,” she said. “Put me wherever.”

  “Actually, the others are in the dorm spaces. They all know each other so well, so I assigned Morgan and Josie to one room, along with a couple of portable cribs for SB and Archie. Dominique, Tyler and Emily are in another dorm room. Pam’s downstairs with me and Mary Lou has her own apartment off the kitchen.”

  Olivia would have been happy to squeeze in with the other women, but this was Sarah’s call, so she kept quiet.

  “So I’m putting you in Roni’s old room, Olivia. That’s one we decided not to convert, so you have your own bath attached.”

  “Roni’s the mechanic for a NASCAR team, right?” Olivia was grateful for all the gossip in the salon, which had filled her in on the players at the Last Chance.

  “That’s her, the runaway teen we took in years ago. Come to think of it, she kind of foreshadowed this program Pete and I have created.” Surrounded by the glow of her candle, Sarah started down the hall to her right. “Occasionally Roni comes home for a visit and brings her husband, Judd, with her, so we like to keep her room available. But it’s yours for the night.” She reached a doorway on the right side of the hall, stepped inside and lifted the candle up. “I think it’ll work for you.”

  Olivia glanced into the room and could make out a race car motif on the bedspread covering the double bed and repeated in the curtains and the pictures hanging on the walls. It wasn’t her style but she didn’t care. Any room at the Last Chance was special.

  “It’s perfect,” she said. “Thank you for putting me up.”

  Sarah stepped back into the hall and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Thank you for agreeing to participate in our little party. Everyone had fun, and our nails look fabulous.”

  “I was happy to do it, Sarah.” But now Olivia couldn’t help but wonder where Wyatt would be sleeping. Considering that she’d be in this wing with the other women, she had a suspicion…

  “I’m putting you in the other wing, Wyatt,” Sarah said.

  Bingo. That would have been Olivia’s guess. Underneath it all, Sarah had a touch of old-fashioned propriety, and Olivia respected that. She wasn’t about to violate the unspoken rules.

  “Anywhere is fine,” Wyatt said.

  “You’re going to be in Jack’s old room.” Sarah walked to the other side of the house, with Olivia and Wyatt trailing behind. “Eventually we may turn this side of the house into dorm rooms, too, but for now they’re just guest rooms. Jack’s enormous bed is gone but I bought something to replace it.” She held the candle aloft once again.

  Olivia released a little sigh of pleasure. In the pool of candlelight she could see that the room was furnished in soft greens and browns—a man’s room, and yet the kind of room a woman would love to slip into and be seduced by that man. Olivia repressed a tug of longing and promised herself that she would not, would not, lie in bed tonight and picture Wyatt stretched out under that fluffy hunter-green quilt wearing…probably nothing. He had no clothes of his own here, and anyway, he didn’t seem like the pajama type.

  “It’s a very nice room,” Wyatt said. “I’ll only be here one night, of course, but thanks for letting me—”

  “Don’t be silly.” Sarah turned to him. “You’re family, and I won’t have you paying for a room somewhere else, even if it’s in Pam’s B and B. I’ve already discussed it with her and she’s fine with having you move over here.”

  “But I just appeared, without notice,” Wyatt protested. “You shouldn’t feel the least bit obligated to put me up under the circumstances.”

  “It’s not a matter of obligation,” Sarah said gently. “It’s a matter of welcoming those who are related to us.” She paused. “And much as I hesitate to say this, that would go for your mother if she were inclined to visit.”

  Olivia’s breath caught. Really? Sarah would house Diana under her roof?

  “I would never expect that of you,” Wyatt said. “That you would even say such a thing speaks to your generosity of spirit, but my mother has forfeited any right to stay in this house.”