Page 3 of 40 and Flirting (with Disaster) (Silver Foxes of Black Wolf’s Bluff #5)

Three

S he was still the prettiest thing he’d ever laid eyes on, despite the fact that he’d first seen her a decade ago.

Jamie knew his smile was strained with worry, but it was genuine—as he watched the pure black mare circle her stall, his heart felt tight in his chest. She’d stolen it the moment she was foaled ten years ago, and he figured she’d own it till the day they reluctantly parted.

Though the filly she would give birth to any day now—her first, as her two previous breedings had produced colts—might just take a piece of it as well.

The walkie-talkie attached to his belt crackled. “Sir?”

His mouth quirked, a chuckle escaping. If foaling was unpredictable, Marilyn was the exact opposite. He’d told her from her first day working for him to call him Jamie, but his housekeeper had her own ideas about what was proper. He unclipped the walkie and pressed the button. “Here, Marilyn.”

Baby meandered toward the door to her stall at the sound of his voice. He cupped her muzzle, enjoying the softness of her sable coat as he waited for a response. Not that he needed to—he knew what Marilyn was going to say, just as she knew what his reply would be.

“Ms. Deveraux has arrived.”

“Perfect.” He ran his thumb firmly back and forth along Baby’s cheek, just as she liked. “Have Harris bring her down to the barn, please.”

“Of course, sir.”

Shaking his head at the woman’s stubbornness, he replaced the walkie in its holster and continued to give Baby the comfort she sought.

The mare was uncomfortable; he could see it in her eyes, in the way she lifted her head over the gate and rested her forehead against his chest, her breath blowing gently against his stomach.

“Just a few more days, darlin’. It won’t be long and the little one will be here.”

As if she knew exactly what he was saying, the horse gave a huge sigh. He switched to rubbing her ears. They stayed that way for long minutes until the sound of an ATV crunching through the gravel drew near.

With what he swore was a long-suffering harumph, Baby backed into her stall. Eyeing her hay, he gauged how much she had left before turning toward his morning visitor. “Erin, welcome to the farm! I’m sorry you had to come all this way.”

His general contractor slid from the back of the vehicle.

Walking through the wide doorway to the barn, she rubbed her rounded belly.

Her face was lit with that glow only pregnancy gave a woman.

“Nonsense. I’m on my feet all day, and when I’m up at Black Wolf’s Bluff, it’s all uphill.

A ride down to your place is a welcome change. ”

Jamie gave Harris, one of the longtime hands that helped run the ranch, a nod of thanks before reaching for Erin.

A quick kiss to her cheek had become his signature greeting despite their business relationship.

He’d grown to genuinely like and care for the woman, her husband, Carter, and their son, Thad, over the past year.

Erin was not only the best contractor around in his opinion, but the best kind of human being, and he was proud to call her a friend.

“You, my dear, are absolutely radiant.”

“Am I? I feel a little bit like I swallowed a beach ball and waddle better than most penguins.”

He laughed. “Nonsense. There’s nothing more beautiful than a pregnant woman.” He led her inside out of the sun. “The vet is due this morning, and I didn’t want to miss her,” he explained, though he’d already told Erin the same thing on the phone. “I appreciate you coming.”

Erin waved away the words and wandered over to the gate to Baby’s pen. “Is this the troublemaker?”

He chuckled. “Erin, meet Daddy’s Girl, or as I affectionately call her, Baby.”

Erin wiggled her brows, her focus on the sleek black mare with the bulging belly moving curiously toward her across the stall. “Daddy’s Girl, huh?”

“The minute I saw her wobbling around on shaky legs, fresh from her mother’s womb, I couldn’t call her anything else,” he admitted.

Erin grinned. “Some lucky woman would swoon if you called her that, you know.”

He swore a blush heated his cheeks; damn his Irish ancestors for passing down their redheaded complexion. Luckily Erin was focused on offering Baby her fingers for a sniff. “I would be the lucky one.”

Erin threw him a warm look over her shoulder. “And that right there is what makes you the most eligible bachelor in Gatlinburg.”

“Don’t remind me,” he groaned. Last year the city council held an auction for charity and solicited Jamie for a donation.

At the suggestion of some of his (mostly female) staff at the Carousel, he’d offered a date night out on the town, purely platonic.

Needless to say, he’d been dubbed “Gatlinburg’s Most Eligible Bachelor” ever since.

Erin never missed an opportunity to tease him about that.

“I’m too old to be the most eligible bachelor around,” he groused good-naturedly. He’d hit fifty-eight on his last birthday. Far too close to sixty for his liking.

“Hey.” Erin gave him a mock frown. “I’m proof age has nothing to do with anything when it comes to love.”

He’d guess she was somewhere in her midforties and having her first child. He didn’t know her full history, although he did know she’d been a widow for years before meeting Carter and marrying earlier this year. He guessed if she could have a baby, he shouldn’t give up on matters of the heart.

The image of a certain lovely woman walking away from him across the Carousel’s back parking lot flashed into his mind.

Don’t think about it, Worthington. It’s way too soon.

The one woman to interest him in forever, and she’d been married—emphasis on the past tense, thank God.

Even so, a handful of months wasn’t near long enough for Iris Daniels to recover from the blow her husband had dealt her that night, the bastard.

Jamie’s only consolation was that Kirk Daniels had left Black Wolf’s Bluff’s sexy-as-hell librarian open to the playing field, so to speak.

Eventually, anyway. Jamie felt like he was chomping at the bit, but he’d sworn to give her time to heal before seeking her out.

He of all people understood the importance of healing.

He cleared his throat. “You had some supplier issues you wanted to discuss?”

Erin took the hint and got down to business, intermingled with crooning and caresses for Baby. The mare ate up the attention until more crunching gravel outside signaled the arrival of the veterinarian.

As Baby pulled her head back into the stall and moved away, Erin threw a glance over Jamie’s shoulder. “I can go and leave y’all to it.”

He closed his phone on his notes, shaking his head. “We’ve still got to go over that change in the architect’s plan for the upstairs restrooms.” A jerk of his head indicated a bench nearby. “Why don’t you take a load off while I talk with the doc?”

“Don’t you mean harass the doc for answers she can’t possibly give you?” Dr. Everest asked, stepping into the dim light of the barn.

Jamie scoffed. “I haven’t been that bad.”

Laura Everest eyed him like he’d been replaced with an alien. “You haven’t?”

Behind her, Harris chuckled, quickly muffling the sound with his hand. Jamie did his best to look offended without laughing. Laura loved giving him a hard time. “I’m just worried.”

Shaking her head, the vet shot him an incredulous look as she arrived at Baby’s stall. “Right. Why aren’t you this worried when I come out to treat any other horse?”

Because Baby is special. “I worry,” he said again, voice gruff.

“About that one especially,” Harris said with a jerk of his head toward the favored one, who nickered as if she knew exactly whom they were all discussing.

“Don’t you have something you could be doing?” Jamie asked his ranch hand.

Laura laughed. Behind Jamie, Erin joined in. Harris backed out of the barn, shaking his head good-naturedly. Jamie gave them all his best scowl.

“Everyone knows you’re a pushover for this mare, Worthington,” the vet said, grinning. “But that’s okay; I like you all the better for it.”

Refraining from an answer, he unhooked the door to Baby’s stall and waved Laura inside.

Baby’s snort of displeasure told him she knew exactly why the doc was here, but she stood quietly as Laura examined her.

Finally, anxious minutes later, Laura gave the mare a soft pat on the belly and declared, “Everything’s looking good. ”

Jamie breathed a sigh of relief.

Laura gathered up her equipment. “I’m thinking she has a week at least, maybe ten days. Mama and baby are both doing well.”

“You’re sure about the time frame? I’ve got to be in Nashville tomorrow, and I hate being that far away when she could go at any time.”

The vet shook her head. “You know as well as I do that these things are unpredictable, but I’m giving you my best guess. You’re safe, don’t worry.” Laura slapped him on the back on her way past. “She’ll be fine, Daddy.”

Erin raised an amused eyebrow behind the vet’s back but refrained from comment. Jamie silently gave thanks.

He walked Laura out to the path leading back to the house, thanking her for coming.

When he re-entered the barn, Erin had her shoulder propped against the door to Baby’s stall, the black horse nuzzling the long brown braid that hung over Erin’s shoulder.

Jamie pulled his phone back out to retrieve his notes.

After a thorough discussion of the architect’s recommendations, Jamie put his phone away again. “You know,” Erin said, her tone casual, “if you’re going to be in Nashville tomorrow, you should stick around and meet Carter and me at Bourbon & Bone for dinner. We could check out the competition.”

His smirk matched hers. “You know as well as I do that there’s no competition for the Carousel.

” He’d built the best restaurant possible from a foundation of nothing, and the success they’d enjoyed through the years proved it.

The Carousel was the go-to location for hours around.

“Besides, I don’t want to be the third wheel for your date night. ”

Erin waved away his words. “Don’t worry about that.

Several of us are going. The girls and I are having a spa day in Nashville, and Carter and JD are meeting us tomorrow night.

Linc is out of town filming, and Gavin had to make a quick run to New York for business, so they can’t join us.

But we figured if we’re going all that way, might as well enjoy ourselves.

” She chuckled as Baby lipped curiously at her hair. “You should come.”

By this time Jamie was familiar with Erin’s circle of friends, which included some of the most prominent people in Black Wolf’s Bluff—and one in particular that he’d had his eye on.

Feeling like he was back in high school, nosing around his friends for a particular girl’s whereabouts, he asked, “Iris wouldn’t happen to be joining you, would she? ”

At Erin’s knowing look, Jamie silently cursed. “She would.” A sly grin appeared. He barely held back a groan. “Iris is definitely joining us.”

“Erin…”

She shook her head at his warning tone, actually giggling like a schoolgirl. “Nope, there’s no backing out now. You just let me in on a little secret, and you get to reap the consequences.”

She was practically rubbing her hands together with glee. He dragged a rough palm down his face. “Lord.”

“Yep,” she quipped. “Be prepared.”

Did she have to sound so happy about it?

He looked down at his friend, amused, but then his mood shifted toward the serious.

In for a penny, right? “I don’t care what you say about me, but I don’t want Iris to be uncomfortable.

She’s been through enough already.” He didn’t know what all Iris had told her friends about the reason for her divorce and he’d never tell tales about what he’d witnessed, but word around town was that the divorce had been a messy affair.

Not because of Iris, but because of her lousy husband.

Erin’s gaze softened, and she squeezed his biceps. “You’re a good man, Jamie.”

The words tightened his chest. He shook his head. “She’s a good woman. She deserves the time out without me being foisted on her.” Still, a desire to throw caution to the wind and jump on this chance was rearing its ugly head inside him.

Erin turned toward the opening of the barn, throwing a wink over her shoulder. “Trust me. You I’d make uncomfortable all day long”—she laughed—“but not Iris. Just come. You won’t regret it.”

He hoped not, because damn his hide, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to bring himself to Iris’s attention once again.

He only prayed she could forgive him for being present tomorrow night, a reminder of things she’d probably rather forget.

If she gave him the chance, he’d replace that unhappy memory with ones he hoped she’d never want to erase.