Page 23 of Wyoming Heart

LUNCHWASDELICIOUS. The cook had made a bacon and egg quiche with fresh fruit and a poppy seed dressing, followed by Cherries Jubilee for dessert.

“I can’t remember when I’ve had better food,” Jake said as he worked on his last cup of coffee.

“Neither can I,” Mina added, smiling at Pam. “It was delicious!”

“I’m glad you liked it,” Pam said. She wiggled her eyebrows. “Was it delicious enough for you to tell me what the new book you’re working on is going to be about?”

“You wish,” Mina chuckled. “You know I never talk about them when I’m writing them. I’m afraid it will jinx them!”

Pam sighed. “I knew you’d say that.”

“I can tell you that the hero is a mercenary, and it’s set in Texas,” Mina volunteered.

“Wow!” Pam frowned. “Why not in Wyoming?”

“Well, I’m from here,” Mina said. “And Texas is one of my favorite states.” She sighed. “Zane Grey wrote about Texas, you know. I think I have all of his books.”

“So do I,” Jake said. “I grew up on cowboys. I guess it’s why I was so happy to inherit my dad’s ranch.”

“Your dad’s ranch was a mess,” Pam said with a twinkle in her eyes. “Dead broke and almost done for. You turned it into a going proposition and made a fortune with it.”

“With oil and minerals, mostly,” he confessed on a laugh. “I love cattle, but the by-products under the land made me rich.”

“I need to have an oilman look under my husband’s old classic car,” Pam said with a straight face. “I’ll bet he could find the mother lode.”

They all laughed.

JAKEWALKEDOUTwith Mina after they’d said goodbye to their hostess. Mina compared her little economy car with Jake’s big, new Mercedes and grimaced inwardly. It certainly denoted the difference in their economic status.

“That’s one of the new Mercedes,” she noted. “I’ve seen them on the internet.”

He chuckled. “What I really wanted was the one that lights up inside. The Maybach. But I needed a car right then and they said it would be a couple of months before I could get the Maybach. So I bought the best Mercedes they had on the lot instead. It’s not bad. A real champ on the roads... When the state police aren’t looking,” he added with a grin.

“It goes fast, then?” she teased, and her big brown eyes sparkled.

He looked down into them with real interest. “It does.”

She smiled. She liked him.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the sort of liking he wanted, and he realized it very quickly. She was pretty and sweet and he could do worse. But she wasn’t feeling the things he was. He pursed his lips and considered that. Then he discounted it. He knew she wasn’t seeing anyone locally. That meant he had a chance with her. He wasn’t wasting it.

“How about a nice steak a week from this Friday?” he asked.

She hesitated, but only briefly. “That would be nice. There’s a good restaurant in town...”

“Not here. In Billings.”

She blinked. “Montana?”

He nodded. “Best steak in the northwest,” he added with a grin.

“But it’s a long drive,” she began. “We’re over a hundred and fifty miles south of Billings!”

“I have my own baby jet,” he said easily. “We can land on the Rimrocks at the Billings Airport and I’ll have a limo waiting to take us to the restaurant.”

Her lips parted on a shocked gasp. The expense would be monstrous. She said so.

“I’m rich,” he reminded her with a wicked smile. “There’s no sense in being rich if I can’t enjoy it while I’m still alive. I like a good steak. Best one in the whole territory is in Billings. I’ll have you home by midnight,” he added. “I promise.”