One Unforgettable Night: Wild at Heart / From This Moment On / Her Last Best Fling

“That nest’s not as big as some.” Naomi took a sip of the draft she’d ordered. “It’s only about seven feet across. I’ve seen reports on nests that are ten feet and weigh close to two tons.”

Emmett shook his head in disbelief. “That’s like putting my pickup in the top branches of one of those pines. I had no idea they could be that heavy. I’d—” He stopped talking and glanced at the door. “What do you know? There’s Pam. Excuse me a minute, folks. I need to go over and say hello. Maybe she can join us.” He stood and walked toward the door.

Luke grabbed his chance. He kept his voice low as he looked over at Naomi. “You do realize Emmett’s trying to save you from me, right?”

“I thought he might be.”

“He told me earlier tonight that he thought you wanted a steady guy in your life. That’s why I backed off.”

Naomi sighed. “I’m not surprised he’d say something like that. He’s friends with my parents, and he’s a dad. He probably sees me as being like his daughter, Emily.”

“Ah. Okay, I get that.” Luke thought about the blonde woman who was in training to eventually take over Emmett’s job when he retired. Emily and Naomi had several things in common besides their coloring. They were both only children who had been raised to be independent and fend for themselves without leaning on a man. They both enjoyed testing themselves with physical challenges.

But Emily was now married to Clay Whitaker, who ran the stud operation for the Last Chance. Emmett might figure that Naomi, having similarities to his daughter, also should find herself someone like Clay.

He glanced at her. “Maybe Emmett knows what he’s talking about. Maybe I should just—”

“Don’t you dare back off because Emmett thinks I’m just like his daughter. I’m not.”

The defiant sparks flashing in her blue eyes gladdened his heart. She thought for herself, and that was a quality he admired. “I’m sure you’re not just like anyone.”

“Nobody is. We’re all unique, which means we get to choose our own path. What you and I decide to do is none of Emmett’s business.”

The tension that had been tightening a spot between Luke’s shoulder blades eased. “And you won’t be upset if I tell him that?”

“No, but I think I’m the one who needs to tell him.”

“I’ll tell him.” He started to add that it should be a man-to-man talk but decided that might not sit well with Naomi. She liked being in charge of her destiny.

“No, you work for him and I don’t.”

“But he built you a research platform.”

“Well, one of us needs to say something. Uh-oh. Here he comes. And he doesn’t look happy.”

“Bet it has something to do with Pam.” Luke noticed that Pam Mulholland, the woman Emmett cared for but couldn’t bring himself to marry, was being helped into her chair by a guy Luke didn’t recognize. The barrel-chested man dressed in flashy Western clothes and what looked like an expensive hat. “Or that guy.”

Emmett returned to his seat, his expression grim. “It’s my own damned fault,” he muttered to no one in particular.

“What is?” Luke asked. “And who is that guy with Pam? I’ve never seen him before, and if that’s the way he normally dresses, I doubt I’ve missed him.”

“You haven’t missed him.” Emmett picked up his beer and drained the contents. “Name’s Clifford Mason. Just flew in today from Denver. Booked a room at the Bunk and Grub.”

Naomi looked over at the table where Pam and the newcomer sat. “Does Pam normally go out to dinner with her B and B guests?”

“No, she does not.” Emmett smoothed his mustache. “Far as I know, it’s never happened before.”

Luke could see Emmett was seething with jealousy and was doing his best to keep a lid on his feelings. “Is he on vacation?”

“No, he’s been in contact with both Pam and Tyler Keller, Josie’s sister-in-law.” Emmett looked over at Naomi. “I don’t know if your folks told you that the town hired Tyler a while back as a special-events planner to bring in more business. She’s been doing a great job.”

“I think Mom and Dad said something about it. And I certainly see the results in the increased tourist trade. So this guy is connected to an event?”

Emmett nodded. “Something to do with special preparations for the Fourth of July celebration. All very hush-hush. They want to surprise the good people of Shoshone.”

“Well, then.” Luke sat back in his chair. “It’s only a business dinner. He’ll be around until everything’s set up, and then he’ll leave. No big deal, right?”

Emmett scowled at him. “It wouldn’t be if I hadn’t seen the way he looked at Pam, like she was a helping of his favorite dessert.”

“That’s understandable.” Naomi seemed to be trying to soothe the troubled waters, too. “She’s a beautiful woman. But there’s no way she’d prefer a citified dandy like him to you, Emmett. She probably went to dinner with him to be polite.”

“I’d be willing to believe that if she hadn’t flirted with him right under my damned nose.”

Naomi smiled. “Emmett, that’s the oldest trick in the book. She’s trying to make you jealous. Everybody knows how you feel about her. And she’s made no secret about how she feels about you, too. Why not end the suspense and propose to her?”

“Can’t bring myself to do it. Doesn’t seem right when she has so much and I have so little.”

“Love?” Naomi asked with a twinkle in her eye.

Emmett snorted. “’Course not. Money’s the problem, not love.”

Luke checked on Pam and Clifford’s table. “Then you’re leaving the door open for the likes of him. I agree with Naomi. I’m sure Pam would rather have you than that character. But she might be tired of waiting for you to get over this hang-up.”

Emmett muttered something that could have been a curse.

“I have an idea.” Luke tucked his napkin beside his plate. “Go over and ask Pam to dance. Stake your claim.”

The light of battle lit Emmett’s blue eyes as he pushed back his chair. “All right, I will. That sonofabitch probably can’t dance a lick.”

Luke grinned. “If he could, he wouldn’t dress like a peacock.”

“That was brilliant,” Naomi murmured as they watched Emmett amble over to the table.

“Let’s hope it works.” Luke thought it might. He hadn’t spent his adult life romancing women without learning a thing or two. Pam looked surprised, but she left her chair and walked to the dance floor with Emmett.

Luke pushed back his chair. “That’s our cue. Dance with me, Naomi Perkins.”

Laughing, she took the hand he offered and soon he had her right where he wanted her, in his arms. He’d had a hunch that she’d be a good dancer. He thanked the series of coincidences that had given him the opportunity to dance with Naomi. What a joy.

Her breath was warm in his ear as she twirled with him on the polished floor. “Did you talk Emmett into dancing for his sake or yours?”

“I figured it would help us both out.” He spun her around. “I couldn’t leave here tonight without at least one dance.”

She brushed a quick kiss on his cheek. “I knew you had more hidden talents.”

“Anything I have is yours for the taking.” He moved her smoothly across the floor in a spirited two-step.

“I’m taking it.”

“When?”

“I’ll be up on my platform by ten in the morning. After that, it’s up to you.”

He twirled her under his arm. “Are you sure we can’t manage something tonight?”

“Positive. You’re going home with Emmett and I’m sleeping in my parents’ house.”

He brought her in close for one precious second. His heart hammered so loudly he could barely hear the music. “I want you so much.”

“I want you, too.” Her cheeks were flushed. “And I will have you. And you’ll have me. Tomorrow.”

The music ended, and he held her close. “Promise you’ll think about me when you’re lying alone tonight.”

She gazed up at him, her lips parted as she breathed quickly, recovering from the exertion of the dance. “Only if you’ll promise to think about me.”

“That’s an easy promise.”

“I think I should leave now.” She eased out of his arms. “See you tomorrow.”

He watched her go and fought the urge to follow her outside for one last kiss.

“That was a good idea you had.” Emmett came over and clapped him on the shoulder. “We dance great together, and I don’t think she’ll be flirting with that Clifford guy so much now. Thanks, son.”

“You’re welcome. Ready to go home?”

“Yeah. I made my statement.” He reached for his wallet and tossed some bills on the table. “Let’s leave.”

Back in Emmett’s truck, they rode in silence for a couple of miles. But finally Luke decided he needed to clear the air. “I know you’re worried about me getting involved with Naomi.”

Emmett blew out a breath. “I wouldn’t be, except you keep talking about leaving. I wish you’d rethink that, Luke. Frankly, I’ve never quite understood it.”

“I have more things to see and do. Too long in one place and I get restless, wondering what’s on the other side of the hill. When you start getting attached is when you’re reluctant to leave, and then you slowly settle into your rut.”

“I suppose you think I’m in a rut, then.”

“From my vantage point, yes, but if you’re happy, that’s all that matters. I was born a wanderer, just like my dad.”

Emmett slowed down so that a family of raccoons could cross the road. “So he travels all over the place, too?”

“Nope. He got mired in a mortgage, car payments, a lawn that has to be mowed, a fence that has to be painted, a garage that has to be cleaned. My mother wanted all that, and he became trapped by those things in order to please her, or at least keep the peace. He never went anywhere. He warned me that he was a cautionary tale.”

“Hmm. So your father is miserable?”

Luke nodded. “Not completely miserable, but he has regrets. He sighs when he glances through the travel section of the newspaper and he watches every travel documentary he can find. He even clips out coupons for discount travel adventures that he can’t follow up on.”

“Excuse me for saying so, Luke, but unless he’s an invalid, he could still travel. What’s stopping him from going?”

“Like I said, the responsibilities at home, and my mother, who has no interest in traveling.” But as Luke laid it out for Emmett, he had to admit that his father was an adult with free will. If this was his passion, he could find a way to make it happen. Maybe it was easier to stay home and complain.

“You know, son, could be he’s using your mother as an excuse not to go.”

“Maybe. He might be scared to actually go now. I see your point, but that only emphasizes mine. I don’t want to tie myself to the same things that weigh him down, whether he’s allowing that or not. I’d rather avoid being in that mess in the first place. I wouldn’t be good at settling down, and I know it.”

“I suppose, with an example like that, you don’t think so.”

Luke had the feeling that Emmett had more he could say, but he was refraining from saying it. That was okay with Luke, because they’d strayed from the topic, which was his intentions toward Naomi and hers toward him.

So he tackled the subject again. “Naomi knows all about my wanderlust. She and I are attracted to each other, and I’ve told her I’m not a forever kind of guy.”

“Yes, but she might think she can change you.”

“I don’t think she wants to.”

“All women want to get a man to settle down. It’s the way of the world.” Emmett spoke with certainty.

“It used to be, Emmett, but not so much anymore. Naomi’s like a lot of women—not sure where she’s going, what her next job will be. She wants to stay flexible. She’s no more ready for a husband than I’m ready for a wife.”

“She told you that?”

“She did. And she’s not the only woman who’s said the same kind of thing. I don’t want to go behind your back, Emmett, but I intend to spend time with Naomi, and she’s heading into it with her eyes wide open. In fact, she likes the idea that I won’t be begging for her hand in marriage.”

Emmett was quiet for at least a full minute. “Her folks wouldn’t appreciate knowing about this.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t.”

“So I won’t tell them.”

“Thank you.”

“I won’t pry into your activities during your free time, but I expect the same amount of work out of you that I’ve always had.”

“You’ll get it. But I have an afternoon off coming, and I’d like to take it tomorrow.”

“Guess I don’t have to ask where you’ll be going.”

“No. And…I’d like to borrow a horse. If you can’t lend me one, I understand, but I—”

“You can borrow the damned horse.” Emmett sounded gruff. “Smudge can always use the exercise.”

“Thanks, Emmett.”

“You’re welcome. And if you have any more bright ideas regarding Pam, don’t keep them to yourself.”

Luke smiled. “I won’t.”

5

NAOMI HAD EXPECTED to toss and turn, but she slept great. She loved camping, but there was something to be said for a good innerspring. As she packed up for the hike back to the campsite, she thought about what likely would be happening there in the next few days and searched around for items she wouldn’t normally take camping.

Lacy underwear topped the list. Then she threw in a see-through nightgown that she’d never considered wearing while sleeping in a tent. She had a perfume bottle in her hand, ready to pack it, when she came to her senses.

Good grief, had she completely lost her mind? Fragrance of any kind was a no-no. She was in bear country, for God’s sake, not at a beach resort.

For that matter, she might want to forget the see-through nightgown, too. It was the sort of thing a woman wore when she emerged from the bathroom of a luxury suite and sashayed over to the king-size bed where her lover waited, his gaze hot. When two people were crammed into a small dome tent, transparent lingerie lost most of its impact.

With reality smacking her in the face, she pulled out her lacy underwear, too. She was doing field research on a nesting pair of eagles, not arranging a romantic tryst with the man of her dreams. Luke had suggested this arrangement after catching her at her rumpled worst. If she got all fancy on him, he might laugh.

Or worse yet, he might wonder if she was trying to snare him with her feminine wiles. Then he’d turn tail and run. He’d proposed a straightforward liaison where they both understood the parameters. Seductive clothing could easily send the wrong message.

Because she could cut cross-country to the campsite, her hike was only about five miles. Hiking always helped her think. As she walked, she examined her knee-jerk response to this situation with Luke.

She’d automatically reached for the accepted female lures—fragrance and suggestive clothing. She’d reacted as if she needed to make herself more desirable to him. Oh, yeah, Luke would have been suspicious of her motivation for doing that.

She was suspicious of her motivation. Before this affair started, she might want to search her conscience to make absolutely sure no hidden agenda existed. This relationship couldn’t be a bait and switch where she accepted his invitation to a no-strings affair and then subtly tried to bind him to her.

Hiking across a sunny meadow filled with sage and wildflowers, butterflies and songbirds, was perfect for soul-searching. She did a mental practice run through the scenario. For a few weeks, she would enjoy Luke’s company and his gorgeous body. They’d have great sex and watch the eagles together. She’d become used to having him around.

But the eagles would leave the nest. Luke had already said that was about the time he planned to head for parts unknown. She’d have to bid him goodbye without making a big deal out of it. Could she?

Well, of course she could. After she’d graduated from college and before starting her first job, she and some friends had spent the summer backpacking through Europe. They’d had an amazing time, but that trip had ended and the friends had scattered. They kept up through emails, but their summer of bonding was only a memory now.

Had she been sad when the trip had ended? Of course. Would she like the chance to do it again? Definitely. But that wasn’t possible. Everyone’s lives had taken different turns.

She vowed to think of this time with Luke that same way, minus the continued email connection. She doubted he’d want that. For the next few weeks, she’d pretend to be on vacation with Luke Griffin, her traveling companion on the road to sexual adventure.

Satisfied with her conclusions, she hurried toward the campsite. Fortunately it was as she’d left it. The tent was secure. After stowing her food supplies in a canvas sack attached to a pulley, she hoisted it out of bear reach. Then she opened the outside tent flaps to air it out and tucked her clean clothes in another canvas sack inside the tent.

At last she was ready to check on the eagles. With her computer, her camera and her binoculars in a smaller backpack, she climbed the ladder to her platform. Like an absent mother coming home to her children, she was eager to see what had happened to her charges while she’d been gone.

And like that same mother, when she looked through her binoculars and spotted the two nestlings, she was sure they appeared bigger than they had the day before. Her scientific self knew that one day wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Yet they seemed to be moving around more. The larger of the two lifted its fuzzy head and looked in her direction.

“Hi there,” she murmured with a smile. “Miss me?”

The nestling turned, giving her a profile view, and blinked.

“Someday you’re going to be a magnificent eagle with a snowy head and talons strong enough to grip a small deer. I won’t recognize you.”

She wouldn’t have any artificial means of tracking them, either. She agreed with the professor’s decision not to use telemetry to keep tabs on these birds after they left the nest. Radio tracking could help researchers learn about the eagles’ habits, but Naomi disliked anything that might interfere with their normal behavior.

Yet at times like these, when she felt a kinship with the creatures she’d been studying, she longed for a way to trace their journey after they left this meadow. She thought she’d be able to recognize the parents if they returned next spring. The male had a scar above his right eye, and the female was missing one toe on her left claw. But even if the babies came back here, too, they would have changed drastically by then.

Lowering the binoculars, she set up her folding table and camp stool. Then she turned on her computer and checked the webcam feed. She hadn’t updated Professor Scranton recently, so she sent him a report and received an immediate and grateful response.

The guy could easily be in his nineties, and he had done his share of fieldwork in his day, but now health issues prevented him from doing the research for his paper. He’d told Naomi that her information provided the energy boost he needed to keep writing.

Even so, he’d urged her to take breaks and not neglect her normal life while observing the eagles. She’d assured him that at the moment, she didn’t have a particularly exciting life and would be happy to spend most of her time focused on the nest and its occupants. Of course, that had been before Luke Griffin had ridden under her tree.

But Luke didn’t want her to drop everything for him, even if she’d been so inclined. He actively wanted her to be involved in her career, because that guaranteed she wouldn’t become needy. She began to see the sense in what he’d been trying to tell her. He was a man for the new breed of independent women, of which she was definitely one.

An eagle’s shrill cry caught her attention. Raising her binoculars, she watched the female glide into the nest with another fish in her talons. Feeding time. Naomi grabbed her digital camera and took several shots. Then, using the webcam image, she sat at her computer and made rapid notes.

After the female left the nest again, Naomi scanned the area with her binoculars for no particular reason, except…a feeling. Something about the scenery had changed. The more she’d worked in the wild, the more her senses had sharpened, so maybe she’d known he was coming even before he’d appeared.

Through the powerful lens she watched Luke riding toward her, exactly as he had the day before. He had the same relaxed style, and although his shirt was a different plaid than the one he’d worn yesterday, he looked very much the same. But nothing was the same.

She lowered her binoculars, unwilling to spy on him today. He was no longer a hot stranger to ogle as a distraction from her research duties. He was Luke, the man she’d agreed to have sex with. And he was coming for her.

LUKE RODE INTO the clearing and wondered if she was watching him through her binoculars. He couldn’t remember ever starting an affair this way, where they’d discussed the issue and had come to the conclusion they’d go for it a good twelve hours before anything actually happened.

Usually the decision was made during a passionate make-out session, and there wasn’t much logic involved until later. After they’d had wild sex, he would gently explain his position on commitment, and because he’d chosen wisely, the woman in his arms would thank him for not expecting anything permanent.

Everything was different with Naomi, probably because they’d met out here, under the blue Wyoming sky, and he was fascinated by the nature of her work. In the past he’d hooked up with business types who’d been looking for a hot cowboy in a country-and-western bar. That had to be the source of the difference. His other lovers had come looking for someone like him.

When he’d heard about Naomi’s eagle research and her wildlife background, he’d been so intrigued that he’d made a point to connect with this interesting woman. That had put him in the unfamiliar position of trying to impress her. He seemed to have done a decent job so far. He couldn’t speak for her anticipation level, but the twelve hours since they’d decided to become lovers had ramped up his libido considerably.

Still, he might want to add some style to his entrance. Slapping his hat against Smudge’s rump, he urged the gelding into a gallop and cut across the meadow, heading straight for her tree.

He didn’t dare look up to see how she was taking this frontal assault, because he had to keep his attention on the terrain. Racing toward her wasn’t all that bright, perhaps, but it had chutzpah. A few yards shy of the platform, he reined in his horse in a spurt of dust.

Very showy, if he did say so. He kept a tight hold on Smudge, who was prancing and blowing like a stallion. Tilting his hat back with his thumb, he glanced up. “Howdy, ma’am.” He might sound casual, but his heart was pounding like crazy.

“Howdy, yourself.” Grinning, Naomi leaned over the railing. She looked adorable, with her hair in a high, flirty ponytail. “That was quite—”

“Stupid?”

“I was going to say dashing.”

“Dashing.” He squinted up at her. The sun created a halo around her blond hair, but he knew she was no angel. Desire tightened his groin. “That’s what I was going for. Dashing.”

“You achieved it. You looked like a Hollywood cowboy.”

“You should see me twirl my lariat.”

“I’d love to.”

He couldn’t seem to stop staring at her. The sunshine fell on her like a spotlight, turning her into a blonde princess. If he hadn’t pushed his horse into a gallop on the way over here, he could have ground-tied him and ascended to the platform as any decent Hollywood cowboy would do.

As the ache for her grew, he longed to climb that ladder and claim his prize. But Smudge needed a cooldown. And while Luke was at it, he might as well settle the horse into his temporary quarters.

“Are you coming up or do you want me to come down?”

“I’ll come up. Let me get Smudge sorted out first. How are the eagles?”