“I think I should go, just to keep the guy honest.”
Inside Josie was screaming no! but she struggled to remain calm. “That’s silly. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m not so sure. Two nights ago he was drunk and disorderly. I think it would be good for me to keep an eye on this character. I could — oh, wait. What time is the lesson?”
“We haven’t settled on an exact time. I need to call him.” She would definitely need to call him if she couldn’t talk Alex out of this idea.
“I have my interview with the radio station at nine-thirty.”
She almost sighed with relief. “We’ll probably go at nine.”
“I thought you weren’t sure about the time?”
“I knew it would be somewhere around there — nine, nine-thirty, ten.” She didn’t dare mention the lesson had been extended another hour. That would definitely make Alex suspicious.
“All right. I’m probably being paranoid because I got slam-dunked by Crystal.” He put some money on the bar and stood.
Josie shoved the money back at him. “Put that away. You don’t have a job, yet.”
“I will.” His cocky smile flashed. “I’m that good.”
“And so modest.” But she knew he was right. If the station needed a DJ, Alex would get the job.
“I’m going upstairs to call Mom and Dad. Any message you want to give them?”
“Tell them I love them and that you moving here was not my idea.”
“I was planning to blame it all on you.”
She laughed. “Brat.”
“Pest.”
“Come on down afterward and have some dinner.”
“Sounds good. And thanks, Josie. You’ve helped me get my life back.”
“My pleasure.” Smiling, she watched him leave the bar. Having Alex around on a permanent basis would be fun… except for the small matter of Jack. She needed to keep those two far away from each other.
The following morning Jack walked down to the barn and announced to Emmett that the riding lesson with Josie would take two hours instead of one. He’d take his cell phone in case anybody needed him during that time, but he asked Emmett to handle anything that wasn’t an emergency.
Jack had chosen Emmett as the person to notify of this two-hour lesson because Emmett wasn’t a gossip. If Jack had mentioned it to Sarah or Gabe, or even Nick, it would be the topic of conversation for most of the morning.
But Emmett didn’t pass on information unless someone asked him. Jack was counting on the fact that nobody would ask. After all, people had a wedding to plan. They didn’t have time to keep track of him. Or so he hoped.
He expected Emmett to be surprised at the length of time Jack planned to spend on something that wasn’t strictly speaking ranch business. If Jack hadn’t been such a workaholic for the past ten months, Emmett probably wouldn’t have batted an eye. As if was, Emmett looked at Jack as if he’d suggested they dedicate the north pasture as an UFO landing field.
“Is there a problem with me being gone from nine to eleven?” Jack asked.
“No, no problem.” Emmett rubbed his jaw, a sure sign that he was thinking. “I just didn’t expect you to take these riding lessons so seriously.”
Jack gave Emmett the standard answer. “I don’t want any problems to interfere with the wedding.”
“I understand that, but all she’ll have to do is walk that horse a bit and then sit on him when he’s standing still. It’s not like she’ll have to run a barrel race.”
“It’s not only the riding.” Jack could see that Emmett, a logical thinker, needed more background. “Gabe and Sarah want to make sure that Josie and I don’t have any leftover bad feelings from when we broke up. They figure if I can teach her to ride without us blowing up at each other, then the wedding will go fine, at least as far as Josie and I are concerned.”
Emmett nodded. “Looks like you and Josie are getting along, then, if you’re stretching out the time.”
“We’re doing okay.” Jack realized there was no fooling Emmett. The foreman had known him his whole life, practically. He’d watched Jack maneuver through puberty and become somewhat of a player as an adult. Jack could tell from Emmett’s expression that he suspected what was going on with Josie.
He would rather Emmett didn’t dwell on that, so he took the offensive. “How’s that vegetable garden at the Bunk and Grub? Did you fix that drainage situation for Pam?”
Emmett glanced away and cleared his throat. “I think so. Took a little digging, but she shouldn’t have any more problems with her garden.”
Jack pressed on. “She’s crazy about you, Emmett. You know that, right?”
Emmett met his gaze. “Yes, I do. And if she wants an arrangement that gives us both pleasure, then I’m willing. But I’m afraid the woman’s after more than that.”
Whoa. Jack had never heard Emmett admit that he was sleeping with Pam, but apparently he was. Well, good for them. They deserved some happiness, both of them.
“Did I shock you, Jack?”
“No,” he lied. He was always shocked to realize that people over fifty had sex.
“Well, I’m a little shocked that a woman like Pam is interested in a man like me. The thing is, she wants to get hitched.”
“Married?”
“That’s what I said. And I’m not having any of it. I’ll be her boy toy, but I’m not about to become the husband of a woman who’s worth four or five times what I am. That’s a bad deal.”
Jack was still back on Emmett’s use of the term boy toy. He’d never expected those two words to come out of the foreman’s mouth, let alone have them referencing Emmett himself. Jack’s world was definitely shifting.
“I hear a vehicle coming,” Emmett said. “I’ll bet that’s Josie, and near as I can tell, you’re not ready.”
“I don’t have the horses saddled, if that’s what you mean.” But Jack was ready in other ways. He’d packed a blanket in his saddlebag and tucked condoms in the pocket of his jeans.
“Then let’s get to it,” Emmett said. “I wouldn’t want you to waste any time.”
From the way Emmett said it, Jack was convinced the foreman knew how precious time was to this endeavor. “Thanks,” he said. “I appreciate the help.” They walked together into the tack room as a car door slammed.
Josie was here. And within the next hour, Jack would make love to her. He shoved that thought aside. If he let himself think about what lay ahead in the next couple of hours, he’d be shaking so bad he’d never get the horses saddled.
“Women change everything,” Emmett said.
Jack reached for a saddle blanket. “Yes, Emmett, they sure as hell do.”
Chapter Eight
Josie was a little disconcerted to discover Emmett helping Jack saddle the horses for what was supposed to be a secret rendezvous, but the foreman gave no indication that he thought a thing about this two-hour ride. Josie assumed Jack had mentioned the longer timeframe. With his duties at the ranch, he’d have to.