Vicki Thompson - Feels Like Home

Digging his cell phone out of his jeans pocket, he speed-dialed his brother.

Wyatt answered immediately. “What’s up, bro?”

“What if Meg has the hots for me?”

“She does?”

“I think she might, yeah.”

Wyatt let out a gusty sigh. “Figures.”

“Look, I don’t want to cause— Whoops, gotta go. Here she comes.” He disconnected and shoved the phone back in his front pocket. He’d thought of leaving it behind, but the jeans fit tight enough that he wouldn’t lose it, and he was used to having his phone with him at all times.

Her eyes narrowed as she approached on Spilled Milk. “Keeping up with stock prices?”

With a sense of shock, he realized that he hadn’t thought of his job once since waking up this morning. Normally he’d have checked the market several times by now. “No. I had to ask Wyatt about something.”

The disapproval faded from her green eyes. “Best man stuff?”

“Yeah, kind of.”

“I know the preparations are important, but could I ask you a big favor?”

“Sure.”

“Would you mind turning off your phone during the ride? We have a bright, sunny day to enjoy some gorgeous scenery. I hate to think of it being interrupted by a cell phone chime.”

“I can do that.” He took out the phone and noticed there was a text message from Wyatt. He’d read it later. Turning off the power, he tucked the phone away again.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He met her gaze. Her eyes glowed with happy anticipation. She was looking forward to this ride, looking forward to spending time alone with him. Wyatt and Emmett might be worried about a potential involvement, but she seemed to have no such fears.

He allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to kiss her, and fire licked through his veins. Wyatt had said she was a big girl who made her own choices, and for some reason, she’d chosen a private ride.

Unless he was mistaken, and he rarely was when it came to a woman’s interest, she was giving him the green light. Only a fool would ignore that kind of opportunity. Rafe’s body warmed to the possibilities as his expectations shifted. He was no fool.

“I’ll lead because I know the path, but if you have any problems at all, sing out. I’ll keep tabs on you from time to time.”

He grinned. “To make sure I’m not being dragged to my death?”

“Yeah, stuff like that. Let’s ride.” Turning Spilled Milk, she started away from the barn at a brisk trot.

Rafe enjoyed the sight of her ass rising and falling in sync with her horse. Although he was glad she wasn’t babying him, he hoped the entire ride wouldn’t be a trotting marathon. He still bounced. Even with the bouncing, though, he was filled with elation at the prospect of riding out into the open field … and what might follow once they were truly all alone.

The sun warmed his shoulders and the mountains thrust pristine white peaks into a sky so blue it looked painted on. To think he’d planned to spend the day working. Tightness in his chest that he hadn’t realized was there began to loosen.

They stopped briefly so Meg could deal with a gate that led to the wide-open spaces.

“Do you know if all of this is Chance land?” he asked as she leaned down from her horse to fasten the gate behind them.

“Yes, it is.” She moved past him so she was once again in the lead. “Archie Chance won it in a card game in the thirties.”

“That sounds like a myth. Things like that don’t really happen.”

“I guess they do in Wyoming. Ready for some cantering?”

“You know it.”

“Then let’s go!” She urged her horse forward.

Destiny didn’t need any nudging as he set off in pursuit of Spilled Milk. A gust of wind nearly took Rafe’s hat, and he used one hand to anchor it. At first he held the reins and the saddle horn with his other hand, but as his body adjusted to the horse’s rhythm, he let go of the horn and held the reins like a real cowboy would.

He was riding! If he hadn’t been worried about spooking the horses, he’d have let out a whoop of delight. What a rush. He couldn’t believe he’d gone twenty-nine years without experiencing this. Sharing it with a sexy woman like Meg made it even better.

Before he was ready for the canter to be over, she slowed her horse, and Destiny fell back to a trot, and eventually a walk.

“That was fun,” he said. “I could do that again.”

“I’m sure you could.” She swiveled in her saddle to glance back at him. “But I don’t want to overdo it on your first ride. You might feel great now, but you could end up being miserable tonight.”

“If I recover okay tonight, do you think we could come out here again tomorrow?”

She smiled at him. “So you really like it that much?”

“Yeah. It’s much better than I imagined it would be.”

“So maybe you’re not totally a city boy.”

He shook his head. “I’m still a city boy. Just because I’m enjoying the hell out of this doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to find a coffee shop over the next hill.”

“No coffee shop. Are you getting hungry?”

He hesitated to admit it after announcing that he never ate breakfast. “A little.”

“We can go back.”

“Not yet.” No way was he going back until he’d had a chance to find out exactly what that wink of hers signified.

“Then we’ll keep going.” She faced forward again. “It is spectacular, isn’t it? According to Sarah, the wild-flowers will be gone soon. By September or October, they could have snow.”

“I know Wyatt didn’t want to wait any later to have the wedding because he was worried about weather.”

“I’d like to see this place in the winter. I’ll bet it’s beautiful then, too. A different kind of beauty.”

“Do you ski?” Walking the horses wasn’t as exciting, but it meant he could talk to her, get to know her better.

“Not yet. I plan to learn. Olivia wants me to come out here again, so if I visit her this winter, I could learn then. Do you ski?”

“Some. I haven’t done it much lately, though. I always seem to be working.” The comment made him sound like a drudge, and he wasn’t. But he owed it to his clients to keep up with the markets and emerging trends. That required constant vigilance. Today was a rare break in his routine.

“Jackson Hole is a fantastic place to ski.”

“So I hear. Wyatt’s already said something about celebrating Christmas here, but I don’t know …”

“We could visit at the same time and you could teach me to ski! That would be a nice trade, don’t you think?”

“It would.” So now she was suggesting that they coordinate visits. If that wasn’t an indication of interest, then he knew nothing about women.

He liked the prospect of seeing her again in December. He liked it quite a bit, assuming he could do some work while he was here. Many of his clients were shifting assets around at the end of the year, so he was usually busy.

“Of course, there’s always the possibility I’ll be living here by then.”

“Living here?” He had trouble keeping up with her whirlwind approach to life. “You’d move?”

“I’m seriously considering it. I’ve fallen in love with the area. All I need is a job. Shoshone’s a one-traffic-light town, but Jackson might be able to use me in some capacity.”

“And you’ve been here how long?”

“Four days. Five counting today.”

“Don’t you think you need more time before making a major decision like that?”

She shrugged. “Not really. I grew up in Pittsburgh, and I like it okay, but something about this area just feels like home, you know?”

“Not exactly.” He’d never thought in those terms. His parents’ house had been a showplace, but not what he’d call a home . His own apartment worked for him and had that outstanding view, so he supposed it was home, although he’d never called it that.