A Real Cowboy. Carla Cassidy

away from Cass’s ranch, he would be alone, as he’d been for so many years.

      Besides, the only woman who had captured his attention for more than a minute recently was definitely a woman who would prefer champagne to cold beer, chiffon to flannel and city lights to the starry Oklahoma skies.

      It was almost noon when he finally finished his survey, finding no issues with the fence line. He got off his horse to open the gate and from there he walked Lucky toward the stables.

      He’d almost made it to the building when he saw Sammy running toward him, his dark hair gleaming in the sun and a happy smile on his face.

      Lucas had a feeling his mother wouldn’t be wearing a happy smile when she saw the filthy condition of what had once been white sneakers on the boy’s feet.

      “What are you doing out here?” Lucas asked. He guided Lucky into the stables with Sammy close on his heels.

      “Waiting for you.” Sammy watched as Lucas unsaddled Lucky and hung the saddle over a sawhorse, where several others also hung, waiting to be oiled and polished by Dusty. “I was hoping maybe I could eat lunch at the bunkhouse with all you cowboys.”

      “Does your mom know you’re out here?” Lucas asked.

      Sammy hesitated a moment, giving Lucas his answer. “She and Cassie were making a big salad for lunch and talking about Cassie’s painting and clothes.” He wrinkled up his nose. “They’re boring. I want to be out here with you and learn everything about being a cowboy.”

      His blue eyes shone with an eagerness that Lucas remembered feeling the first day he’d arrived here at the ranch. Still, the last thing Lucas wanted was to be pulled into the life of some kid who would certainly be around for only a short period of time.

      “Where’s your dad?” Lucas asked, more gruffly than he intended.

      Sammy shrugged. “Probably he’s on his yacht. He’s a very busy man. I haven’t seen him since we divorced him two years ago and I didn’t see him much before then.” Again Lucas’s heartstrings were plucked. “So, can I eat lunch at the bunkhouse with you?” Sammy asked eagerly.

      Lucas put Lucky into his stall before replying. He stepped outside the stables with Sammy at his side. He was about to tell the kid that he needed to talk to his mother, but at that moment he saw Nicolette hurrying toward them...and she looked like a mad bull who had just seen red.

      * * *

      Nicolette’s heart felt as if it might beat right out of her chest. For the past fifteen minutes she’d run through the house, calling her son’s name without hearing any response.

      Unsure where her son might have wandered, but knowing how vast the ranch was and how unknowledgeable he was about the dangers, she’d become frantic with worry.

      Now that she saw him safe and sound with Lucas, her worry turned to anger. “Samuel Ray Kendall,” she yelled as she drew closer to the two.

      “Uh-oh,” Sammy said and winced.

      Her boy understood that when she called him by his full name he was in big trouble. As he should be, she thought, fully steamed. “Don’t ever leave the house again without telling me,” she exclaimed when she finally reached him. “I’ve been frantic, searching everywhere in the house for you.”

      “We were just about to come and find you,” Lucas said. “I found him just a minute ago by the stables.”

      Nicolette gazed at her son. “You can’t just run wild around here. You don’t know how dangerous it might be.”

      “I just wanted to find Cowboy Lucas and see if I could eat at the bunkhouse dining room,” Sammy replied, looking down at his feet. “I’d rather eat a cowboy lunch than a girlie lunch.”

      “If you don’t mind, he can eat lunch with me,” Lucas said.

      Sammy begged her with his eyes. “Please, Mom?”

      The last thing Nicolette wanted was for her son to forge any real bonds with the cowboys here. She didn’t want his heart broken when they eventually left...and they would leave as soon as Cassie decided it was time to go. But, surely a lunch wouldn’t hurt and she hated to disappoint her son, who had already had a lifetime of disappointments.

      “I suppose it would be okay as long as you come right back to the house when you’re finished eating,” she relented.

      Lucas touched Sammy on the shoulder. “Why don’t you run ahead and tell Cookie that I said to set an extra plate.”

      “Cool,” Sammy replied and took off running toward the building in the distance.

      “I don’t want him to be a bother,” she said to Lucas once Sammy was far enough away not to hear her.

      “I’ll let you know if he becomes a bother,” Lucas replied. “I asked him where his father was and he told me he was probably on a yacht, that he is a very busy man.” Lucas’s blue eyes gazed at her not just with curiosity, but also with the heat of an interest in her as a woman.

      Nicolette felt her cheeks warm. “I divorced my husband two years ago and he probably is on his yacht, or in his penthouse or someplace that is party conducive, because that’s what he likes to do.”

      Lucas tilted his head, the cast of the sun and the brim of his hat momentarily hiding his eyes. “You don’t sound bitter about it.”

      She smiled and shook her head. “I’m not bitter. It’s a long story and lunch is waiting. Sammy was the best thing that came out of my marriage and he’s all I wanted when I walked away. Samuel got to keep his yacht, his trust fund and whatever else he owned, and I got Sammy, definitely the best part of the deal.”

      Lucas leaned his head forward so that she once again got a look at his beautiful blue eyes, and they appeared to be filled with a longing and an admiration that she wasn’t sure she understood.

      It unsettled her and she smiled again and took a step backward. “I’m keeping you from lunch.”

      He nodded. “I’ll see to it that Sammy gets safely back to the house after eating.”

      “Thanks, I appreciate it.” She turned and hurried away, feeling the heat of his gaze lingering on her. She hadn’t been so attracted to a man since nine years ago when she’d first met Samuel Kendall, and never had two men been more different from each other.

      She’d been a naive twenty-one-year-old when she’d met Samuel. He’d been elegant, airbrushed and hair sprayed, but he’d managed to sweep her off her feet with sweet talk and empty promises.

      She had a feeling that Lucas Taylor had never made a promise to anyone that he hadn’t kept and that the wind-and-sun scent he carried was just as evocative as the expensive cologne that Samuel had worn.

      “I see you found him,” Cassie said as Nicolette stepped up on the porch.

      “He wants to eat lunch with Lucas at the bunkhouse.”

      “Why is it that every time you say that cowboy’s name your cheeks get pink and your eyes sparkle just a little bit brighter?” Cassie asked.

      “Don’t be ridiculous,” Nicolette scoffed and pushed open the door to enter the house. She walked through to the kitchen, where she and Cassie had prepared a chicken Caesar salad for lunch.

      She sat at the round oak table and Cassie took the seat opposite her. “You know it would be crazy to get attached to any of the men here,” Cassie said.

      “I know that.” Nicolette filled her plate with the salad. “I have no intention of getting close to anyone. How did things go this morning with you and Adam?” she asked in an effort to get the conversation off Lucas.

      Cassie groaned. “There’s so much to learn. Thankfully Adam pretty much knows everything and can keep things going smoothly. He told me in the last couple of years Aunt Cass had depended on him more and more. I won’t