Should've Been a Cowboy. Vicki Lewis Thompson

and he was dizzy from craving her.

      He needed to get over it. They’d set the parameters and he would abide by them. But he might not get much sleep for the next five nights while he lay across the hall from the woman who’d given him the most fantastic night of his life.

      There. He’d admitted that making love with Tyler in the hayloft had topped anything he’d experienced with any other woman, including Crystal. The spectacular nature of that experience had been neatly contained in one night of craziness, but the situation wasn’t so neat anymore.

      Obviously he was still wildly attracted to her, and the force of that attraction made him a little nervous. Ultimately, he’d be happier if he kept away from her. The more time he spent with her, the more right she’d feel and the more he’d want her to be his forever girl. And she couldn’t be.

       3

      TYLER HUNG ON TO the bedpost to keep herself from walking right into Alex’s arms. Her strong response to him scared her a little. No, it scared her a lot. She hadn’t planned on this kind of complication.

      Releasing her hold on the bedpost, she walked over to her suitcase, her legs trembling from the adrenaline rush of wanting Alex. Maybe she should leave, catch a flight out of Jackson and return to her little apartment in L.A. Then her longing for Alex Keller couldn’t possibly create a detour on her carefully charted course.

      She couldn’t leave, though. Morgan would be crushed, and Morgan was the person Tyler had come here for. When Tyler had walked into baggage claim at the airport and caught sight of Morgan waiting for her, they’d both squealed and jumped up and down like teenagers. Their hug had been awkward because of Morgan’s big belly, but that hug might have been the happiest, and the most tearful one, they’d ever shared.

      No, Tyler couldn’t pack up her marbles and go home just because Alex happened to be living here and he tempted her with the kind of bone-deep commitment that might make her forget all about her promotion opportunity. Unzipping her suitcase, she rummaged through it looking for jeans and a T-shirt, both of which she’d bought last week for this trip to the ranch.

      She loved her job, loved the challenge of making a ship full of passengers happy while seeing the world she’d always dreamed of as a child. As a bonus, she could afford nice clothes and regular trips to the ship’s beauty salon. She’d been raised to dismiss such things as unimportant, but her parents’ disdain for material wealth had meant their kids never wore anything new and got haircuts at home.

      Tyler agreed that character was more important than outward appearance, but she couldn’t see anything wrong with being a worthwhile person who happened to be well dressed and well groomed. In the first place her job demanded it, and in the second place, looking good didn’t mean she was shallow and materialistic.

      Once she’d left home—or rather, the wildly painted van that had been a home on wheels for her entire childhood—she’d vowed to find a profession that allowed her to buy pretty clothes and patronize a good salon. And travel well. She adored seeing new places and having new experiences, but she never wanted to camp out again as long as she lived.

      The cruise business was a perfect fit for her, with the tiny exception of having no room for a man in her packed schedule. Alex had quickly uncovered the one disadvantage to her chosen lifestyle. That might be another reason the night with him in the hayloft sparkled so brilliantly in her memory. She hadn’t had many such experiences since taking a job with the cruise company.

      She’d have to figure out how to fill that lack, but now wasn’t the time to worry about it. She was one world cruise away from nailing the job she’d coveted from the beginning—cruise director. Sure, it would be more responsibility, but she had tons of ideas and the job would give her the authority to act on them.

      Tossing her dress on the bed and taking off her sandals, she put on the snug jeans and formfitting yellow T-shirt with the scoop neck. She hadn’t brought anything baggy to wear because baggy wasn’t her style. As a kid she’d been forced to wear clothes that didn’t quite fit, so now she chose outfits that showed off her figure.

      Alex might think she did that to attract a man, but that wasn’t really her goal. She bought the outfits to please herself. She’d spent too much time as a child hating the shabby girl she saw every day in the mirror.

      Once she’d put on socks and running shoes, she took a deep breath. Then she opened the bedroom door and stepped out into the hall. Alex leaned against the opposite wall, arms crossed as he waited for her, long legs stretched out, a tooled belt that drew attention to his narrow hips, and a chambray shirt that emphasized his broad chest and wide shoulders. Her heart rate kicked up. She couldn’t help that automatic reaction, but she didn’t have to give in to its power.

      Male appreciation flickered in his gaze before he pushed himself away from the wall. His expression became a careful mask. “Ready?”

      “Show me what you’ve got.”

      He laughed. “You might want to rephrase that.”

      “Is everything between us going to turn into a sexual joke? Because that won’t work.”

      He started toward the stairs. “I’ll try to do better if you’ll try to avoid saying things like show me what you’ve got. You have to admit that line begged to be turned into something suggestive.”

      “I was referring to your … oh, never mind.” She descended the winding staircase beside him, her palm sliding down a banister smoothed by countless other hands, and possibly a few fannies, too. The house and its history fascinated her. That kind of permanence and connection between generations was foreign, almost exotic, and she’d learned to appreciate exotic experiences during her travels.

      She glanced down into the living room with its leather furniture grouped around the massive fireplace, and remembered that Alex was missing two of his three canopies for the open house. “Were you planning to make use of this space tomorrow?”

      “I hadn’t thought I would. This area seems more private. I’ve called the event an open house, but I wasn’t really figuring on opening the actual house, just the grounds and the barn.”

      “If it rains, you might not have that luxury. How would Sarah feel about extending the event into the living room and possibly the dining room?”

      “I don’t know, but let’s see if there are alternatives before we ask her. She might agree, but I doubt if the Chance brothers would like it. They’re protective about this house.”

      Tyler paused at the foot of the stairs to glance around. “I can understand that. I—”

      She was interrupted as the front door opened. A blast of cool air was followed by a broad-shouldered cowboy sporting a sandy-colored mustache. Until he took off his hat, Tyler didn’t recognize that he was her brother-in-law, Gabe. She hadn’t seen him since the wedding last August, and apparently he’d decided to grow a mustache over the winter months.

      “Tyler!” He pulled her into a quick hug scented with horse and dust. “Thanks for coming. Morgan sounded so excited when I talked to her. I know it means the world to her that you made the effort.”

      “I’m glad it worked out.” She stepped back and smiled at him. “I can tell you’re treating her right. She’s really happy.”

      “I hope so.” Gabe turned and hooked his hat on a rack standing beside the front door. “We didn’t plan for her to get pregnant this quick, but …” He shrugged.

      “She doesn’t seem to mind a bit.”

      Gabe scrubbed a hand through his hair, which bore the imprint of his hat. “No, she really doesn’t, and I can’t tell you how relieved I am about that. When we first got together she wasn’t sure she ever wanted kids.” He glanced over at Alex. “Looks like the two of you were headed outside.”

      “That was the plan,” Alex said.

      “Then you’d better