Emmett was definitely an old-school cowboy. His worn clothes and battered cowboy hat indicated a man who cared more for function than style, and Josie was sure the red bandana poking out of Emmett’s back pocket was there for practical reasons and not for the jaunty splash of color it gave his appearance.
Josie’s clothing choices had been much more deliberate. Underneath her tight jeans she wore her sexiest black lace panties and bra. She would have loved to appear in her red silk blouse, because Jack used to say she looked hot in it, but she didn’t dare tip off Alex to the underlying reason for the riding lesson.
So she’d worn a dark blue shirt, and once she was in the Bronco, she’d unfastened the top three buttons. When she’d seen Emmett with Jack, though, she’d done up the buttons again. She’d also put on her hat, none the worse for having fallen off during her wild ride yesterday. Jack had retrieved it on their way back to the barn.
She had to believe that Jack had kept their plans for this morning to himself and that Emmett had no idea what they had in mind, and yet Emmett must be a savvy guy to be the foreman of such a major operation as the Last Chance. Although she considered herself a gutsy woman, she wasn’t above being intimidated by an authority figure like Emmett Sterling.
Finally she pulled Jack aside and spoke in a low voice. “Does Emmett know anything?” she murmured.
Jack’s answer was swift and concise. “No.”
“Are you sure? Because he has that way of looking at a person that makes you think he knows everything.”
“He might suspect, but he doesn’t know.”
“I suppose it doesn’t matter.”
Jack checked the bridle on his black and white Paint. “Nope.” He adjusted the fit of the bridle with calm assurance.
Watching Jack ready his horse for the ride sent tingles of sensual awareness through her. There was something very sexy about a man who worked with horses. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago she’d been surrounded by accountants and computer geeks. Nice guys, smart guys, but then she’d come west and encountered the equivalent of knights in shining armor.
Jack epitomized the breed — strong, silent, elemental. She didn’t kid herself that she’d have the same reaction if he traded his cowboy duds for a Brooks Brothers suit. She craved the denim, the leather, the rakish tilt of a hat and the occasional jingle of a spur. Once Jack had shown up in chaps, and she’d almost had an orgasm on the spot.
Emmett gave Destiny a pat on the rump. “He’s all set for you, Josie.”
“Thanks, Emmett.” She reminded herself to walk over to the left side of the tall horse. “If I intend to keep riding, I should learn how to saddle my own horse.”
“Not much to it,” Emmett said. “Common sense will take you a long way when it comes to horses.”
Josie smiled at him. She liked this guy. She wouldn’t mind being friends, if the opportunity presented itself. “Common sense takes you a long way when it comes to most things.”
“That’s a fact. Need help climbing up on that horse?”
“No, thanks. Jack taught me how to do it.” Thrusting her left foot into the stirrup, she grabbed the saddle horn and swung her right leg over Destiny’s back. As she eased down onto the curved saddle, the sun-warmed leather touched her in places that were already sensitized by thoughts of what the morning would bring.
Once aboard, though, she realized that Destiny was still tied to the hitching post and there wasn’t much she could do about it from where she sat.
“Let me fetch your reins.” Emmett made it sound as if that was the way everyone did it — mounted up and then had someone else untie the horse.
Josie knew better, but when Emmett settled the reins around Destiny’s neck and knotted them together before handing them to her, she allowed herself to feel like a real horsewoman. “Much obliged,” she said, because that was the kind of language she’d heard in western movies and it just sounded right when a person was sitting on a horse.
“Anytime. You look real natural up there.” Emmett touched the brim of his hat. “Have a good ride.”
“I’m sure I will.” Josie focused on the innocent meaning of that statement, because if she thought about the sexual implications, she’d turn redder than the bandana in Emmett’s hip pocket.
She glanced over to find Jack watching her interaction with Emmett, a bemused smile on his face.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
“Yes.” She meant that sincerely. She’d been awake since before dawn. Although she’d worried that Alex might assign special meaning to her behavior, she’d indulged in a long shower, taking care to give her legs a close shave.
She’d been tempted to curl her hair and leave it loose around her shoulders, but then Alex really would know she was primping for this supposed riding lesson. Instead she’d put her hair in its usual braid after washing and drying it.
“Then let’s go.” Jack wheeled Bandit around and motioned for Josie to go ahead of him. “Want to try a trot again this morning?” he called out.
She wondered if that was for Emmett’s benefit, so the foreman would be convinced they were focused on her riding skills. “Sure,” she called over her shoulder, and nudged her heels into Destiny’s flanks.
The jolting began immediately, and her fanny bounced against the saddle exactly the way it had the day before. So much for hoping she’d magically be able to ride a trot today. She lost one stirrup and was in danger of losing the other one. Without the saddle horn to grip, she would have ended up on the ground.
Jack caught up with her and grabbed Destiny’s bridle. “Whoa, son.” He slowed the horse to a walk. “Okay, Josie, get your stirrups back and we’ll try that again.”
“I don’t wanna.”
“Come on.” He flashed a smile in her direction. “Being able to sit a trot is a basic skill.”
“But it’s embarrassing to have Emmett see me bouncing around like that.”
“I don’t know if he even stayed around to watch, but I was hoping he did.”
She bristled. “You want to show off my ignorance? That’s not very nice, Jack.”
“Depends on how you look at it. The more he sees you as a rank beginner, the more he’ll understand about these two-hour lessons.”
“Oh.”
“Now are you willing to trot, just in case Emmett’s still watching?”
Josie secured her feet in the stirrups and pressed her heels against Destiny’s ribs. “Let’s ride!” Sure enough, she was as bad as ever, but Jack had made an excellent point.
Just when she thought her teeth would rattle right out of her head, Jack came alongside again and took hold of Destiny’s bridle.
“Easy, son.” He brought the horse’s gait back to a walk. “We’re out of sight of the barn, so you don’t have to punish yourself anymore.”
“I figured that was the case, but I was too busy holding on to go for the brakes.” Now that she wasn’t sitting on a pile-driver, she was able to appreciate her surroundings. The soft buzz of honeybees mingled with the chirp of birds and the steady clop-clop of their horses’ hoofs on the dirt.
Underneath the scents and sounds of nature hummed her constant awareness of Jack, a low note of excitement in the otherwise peaceful landscape. He cut a fine figure on that big black and white horse. Today his shirt was hunter green, which showcased his dark coloring inherited from his mother, who’d been part Shoshone.