didn’t mean she was falling in love with him. Chance was intelligent, caring and the most selfless man she’d ever met, and any woman would be lucky to win his heart. But she wasn’t that woman.
* * *
The next morning as Chance got dressed, he smiled at the woman curled up in his bed. Fee was sound asleep and he wasn’t going to wake her. They had spent most of the night making love and she had to be every bit as tired as he was. But he had chores to do and a ranch to run. Otherwise, he’d crawl back in bed, make love to her again and then hold her while they both slept.
As he stepped out into the hall, he regretfully closed the door behind him. He had never met any woman who felt as good or as natural in his arms as Fee did. She was amazing in just about every way he could think of, and even though she was a good nine or ten inches shorter than his six-foot-one-inch frame, when they made love they fit together perfectly.
Yawning as he entered the kitchen, he smiled when he thought about why he was so tired. “Gus, Fee and I are going into Cheyenne later this morning,” he said, walking straight to the coffeemaker to pour himself a cup of the strong brew. “Is there anything you need me to pick up while I’m there?”
“Can’t think of a thing,” Gus said, opening the oven. “Where’s Fee?”
“The storm kept her awake most of the night,” Chance answered, going over to sit down at the table. “I thought I’d let her sleep in this morning.”
When Gus turned, he stared at Chance for several long seconds before he slammed the pan of biscuits he had just removed from the oven onto the butcher-block island. “What the hell are you thinkin’, boy?”
“What do you mean?” He was used to Gus and his off-the-wall questions and normally managed to figure out what the old man was talking about. But Chance had no idea what he’d done to piss the old boy off this early in the morning.
“I wasn’t born yesterday,” Gus said, shaking his head. “That storm moved on just past midnight and if you hadn’t been awake with her, how would you know she didn’t sleep?”
With his coffee cup halfway to his mouth, Chance stopped to glare at his old friend, then slowly set it down on the table. “Watch it, Gus. You’re about to head into territory that isn’t any of your concern.”
“That little gal up in your bed ain’t the kind of woman you bed, unless you’re willin’ to change her name,” Gus said, ignoring Chance’s warning.
“When did you become an expert on the subject of women?” Chance asked, doing his best to hold his anger in check out of respect for Gus’s age and the fact that he was more like family than an employee.
“I never said I was an expert.” Gus walked over to shake his finger at Chance. “But there’s women you have a good time with and the kind you court for a while and marry.” He pointed his index finger up at the ceiling. “That little gal upstairs is the courtin’ kind.”
“She’s not interested in getting serious any more than I am,” Chance said defensively.
“That may be what she’s sayin’,” Gus insisted. “And she probably even believes it. But I’ve heard how she goes on about you and the look in her eyes when you walk in a room.” He grunted. “Your momma wore the same look every time she looked at your daddy.”
“Yeah and we both know how that turned out,” Chance muttered.
“Boy, don’t go judgin’ a man till you walk a mile in his boots,” Gus advised. “Your daddy loved your momma more than life itself.”
“Is that why I’ve got a half sister from the affair he had with Hannah’s mother?” Chance shot back before he could stop himself. He loved that he finally had a sibling, but the truth of the matter was, Charles Lassiter had cheated on his wife and that was something Chance wasn’t sure he could ever come to terms with.
“Your daddy made a mistake and till the day he died, he did everything he could to make it up to your momma.” Gus shook his head. “She forgave him, but I don’t think he ever did forgive himself.”
“Well, that’s something I’ll never have to deal with,” Chance said, shrugging. “You can’t cheat on your wife if you never get married.”
Gus stared at him for a moment before he sighed heavily. “I never took you for a coward, boy.”
Before Chance could tell Gus to mind his own damn business, he heard Fee coming down the stairs. “We’ll finish this later.”
“There ain’t nothin’ to finish,” Gus said stubbornly. “I’ve said all I’m gonna say about it.”
“Chance, why didn’t you wake me?” Fee asked, entering the kitchen. “I wanted to help you feed Belle and her mother this morning.”
“I thought I’d let you sleep in.” Rising to his feet, Chance walked over and got a cup from the cupboard to pour her some coffee instead of taking her into his arms and kissing her the way he wanted to. “I know the storm kept you up last night and thought you could use the sleep.” When Gus coughed, he glared at the old fart a moment before he walked over to set her coffee on the table. “I’ll go out to the barn and give Slim the list of things I want him and the boys to get done today. Then after breakfast we’ll feed the cow and calf before we take off to go into Cheyenne.”
Her smile sent his hormones racing. “Great! I’ll help Gus finish breakfast while you go talk to your foreman.”
As Chance walked out of the house and across the yard, he thought about what Gus had said and how irritated he’d been with the old guy. Gus had been best friends with Charles Lassiter for years and it was only natural that he would defend him. And Chance had to admit that being out on the rodeo circuit had probably been lonely for his father without his family with him. But as far as Chance was concerned there was no excuse for infidelity. When a man committed himself to a woman, he didn’t go looking for relief in another woman’s arms.
That’s why Chance had made the decision to remain single. Finding out a couple of months ago that a man like his father hadn’t been able to resist temptation was enough to make Chance question a lot of things about himself. With the exception of his college girlfriend, he’d never been in a relationship for any real length of time. He’d always thought that was because he hadn’t met the right woman. But could it be a clue he was incapable of committing himself to one woman? He wasn’t sure and until he knew the answer to that question, his best bet would be to avoid getting too deeply involved with anyone. He certainly didn’t want to run the risk of causing any woman the emotional pain that he was certain his mother had gone through.
He shook his head as he walked into the barn. He didn’t know why he was giving anything Gus said a second thought. Gus had never been married and to Chance’s knowledge the old guy hadn’t had a date in more than twenty-five years. That wasn’t exactly a glowing recommendation for Gus’s advice on matters of the heart.
Besides, there were too many differences between Chance and Fee for anything to work out between them. She was a city girl who loved spending a day at the spa or in a boutique on Rodeo Drive, while he would rather go skinny-dipping or attend a rodeo. And then there was the matter of their jobs. She had a nice clean office in a climate-controlled skyscraper in downtown L.A. and his job required being out in all kinds of weather, doing things that most people considered dirty and thoroughly disgusting.
He took a deep breath and faced the facts. When Fee had to go back to L.A., he would tell her to get in touch with him whenever she was in town, kiss her goodbye and let her go. That was just the way it would have to be. But what he couldn’t figure out was why the thought of her leaving made him feel completely empty inside.
* * *
“Chance is amazing with animals,” Fee said to Jenna Montgomery-Lassiter after they enjoyed lunch at her new husband’s restaurant. Chance and Dylan had gone into the office to discuss an increase in the amount of beef the Big Blue supplied to the Lassiter