Her whole body tingled. Not good.
“The official toasts will happen tomorrow,” Nick said. “I know Josie and Tyler each have one, and Jack assures me he’s written his, so I—”
“Jack’s written a toast?” Gabe leaned around Morgan to stare at his older brother.
“Don’t get all excited, Gabe.” Jack tossed his napkin on the table. “I’m leaving all the sappy stuff to Nick.”
“That’s a relief,” his brother said with a grin. “I wouldn’t know how to act if you started getting all sentimental on us.”
Josie wanted to shout but he needs to get sentimental! She controlled the urge. The Chance family dynamics had been in place long before she came on the scene. All his life Jack had gotten away with shutting down his emotions. To expect anything different was a fool’s game, and she’d decided to stop being a fool. Now if she could stop loving Jack, she’d be aces.
Seamus O’Conner, Morgan’s father, rose to his feet. “I never write my toasts, but I’ll want to give one tomorrow.”
His wife rolled her eyes. “Now there’s a shocker.”
“In fact,” Seamus continued, “I wouldn’t mind having a word or two now.”
“Tomorrow would be so much better, Dad,” Morgan said. “Tonight we really don’t have time for—”
“Sure we do, Morgan.” Gabe, who’d had a fair share of wine, smiled at his future father-in-law. “Take it away, Seamus.”
Jack tilted his head toward Josie. “Suck up.”
“Mm-hm.” They used to have these private conversations back when they seemed to view the world in the same way.
“Five bucks says Morgan’s kicking him under the table.”
“No bet. Ten says Bianca’s kicking Seamus.”
“No bet there, either. How many minutes you give this toast?”
“Fifteen.” She wondered if he was aware that he’d slid his arm across the back of her chair.
“Five bucks on Bianca cutting him off at ten.”
“You’re on.” She shouldn’t have kept up the interchange and definitely shouldn’t have taken the bet. Old habits died hard.
As Seamus began what was obviously a rambling account of Morgan as a little girl, Josie glanced at her watch and settled back in her chair. Jack’s fingers curled ever so slightly around her upper arm. She should tell him to move his hand. But the feather touch was so heavenly, and harmless…
Maybe not so harmless. As Seamus droned on, Jack lazily rubbed his fingertips against her arm. She wore a silk blouse, so he wasn’t touching her bare skin, but the silk transmitted that caress in an increasingly erotic way.
Josie stared at her plate, where the food was mostly untouched. She gazed around the room and noticed Alex watching her. Looking away immediately, she tried to pretend that Jack’s touch was accidental, that it was something he wasn’t even aware of doing.
But she knew better. She knew him better. He was trying to get a reaction from her, and he was succeeding beautifully. Her body hummed and her panties grew moist. Visions of their naked bodies flashed with increasing frequency through her mind. Still Seamus talked.
“Jack,” she murmured.
“Six minutes and counting.” He kept his attention on Seamus. “Mark my words, Bianca’s ready to blow.”
She took a breath, then another. “What are you doing?”
“Taking advantage of a golden opportunity.” He drew lazy circles on her arm.
“Jack, please.”
His grip tightened imperceptibly. “Please, what?”
Please don’t stop. Please make love to me until all the reasons why we can’t be together are burned away. “Please stop.”
He did. When he moved his arm and sat back in his chair, she wanted to weep.
“Seamus, for God’s sake, wind it up.” Bianca said. “We have a big day tomorrow, and we all need to go home and go to bed.”
“Then I’ll end by raising a glass to this fine company.” Seamus lifted the tankard he’d brought along with him for good luck. “And to the happy couple, Morgan and Gabriel. May good luck follow you all your days.”
Everyone echoed the sentiment, and once again, Josie was forced to click glasses with Jack. She tried to regain their light mood. “Ten minutes, on the dot. You win.”
A soft smile flashed and was gone. “Depends on how you look at it.” Setting down his glass, he pushed back his chair. “You can pay me tomorrow.”
She wanted to shake him until his teeth rattled. He’d seriously hoped that his animal magnetism, which he had in spades, would make her forget that he would gladly give his body, but not his heart. He would never know that his plan had almost worked.
Jack didn’t make the decision until hours before the wedding. He wasn’t even sure why he was doing this, except it felt right and he was going with his gut. Bandit would stay in his stall for the ceremony and Jack would ride the brown and white filly his dad had been transporting the day of his death.
Bertha Mae would be up to it. He’d worked with her during the past week, and when Josie had cut out on him, he’d devoted even more time to Bertha Mae. The filly was a sweetheart and Jack thought it was high time for her to become an official part of the Last Chance. She’d been ostracized long enough.
But he decided the family members needed to know about it.
Gabe was in the barn helping Emmett weave ribbons through the manes and tails of the horses he and Morgan would ride in the ceremony. He barely looked up when Jack announced his plan to ride Bertha Mae. “That’s fine,” he said.
Emmett did look up and squinted at Jack. “I’m not sure it’s the best idea you’ve ever had.”
“Maybe not, but I want to do it, unless somebody’s going to have a fit.”
“Not me,” Gabe said. “But Emmett’s right. Ask Nick and Mom before you go doing something like that.”
“That was my plan.” Jack headed up to the house and met Nick coming out the front door. “Just the man I want to talk to. How would you feel about me riding Bertha Mae in the ceremony instead of Bandit?”
Nick blinked. “Why?”
“I’m not sure I can explain that. It’s just that her presence here has been like this sore spot that won’t heal, and so this past week I’ve been working with her. She’s a great horse, and I… I think this is the perfect time for her to become part of things.”
Nick tilted his hat back with his thumb. “Anybody else know about this?”
“Gabe said it’s fine. Emmett wanted me to check with you and Sarah.”
Nick gazed at him quietly. “It’s something you need to do, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I think so. But I’ll reconsider if you—”
“No, I’m not going to stand in your way on this. But I have no idea what Mom will say. It might be tough on her. Or maybe not.” Nick rubbed his chin. “She’s probably thought about that horse plenty, herself. Go ask her. She’s in the kitchen with Pam and Mary Lou.”
“Thanks.” Jack started up the steps to the porch.