Claimed!. Vicki Thompson Lewis

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СКАЧАТЬ since then she’d admitted to herself that she’d woven a fantasy out of nothing. Jack had never told her he loved her, never suggested they could spend their lives together. No matter what happened between her and Jack now, she wouldn’t wear rose-colored glasses ever again.

      She liked having the advantage that he’d come to her, though. True, he was slightly drunk and his guard was down. Ever since the painful phone call announcing Jonathan’s death and the end of their relationship, Jack had avoided the Spirits and Spurs. Josie had run into him a few times in town, and he’d remained polite but distant. He wasn’t that way now, but he could be again.

      In fact, she could count on it. Jack didn’t like to be vulnerable, and that’s exactly what he’d been tonight. He didn’t want her driving him home, but she’d played her trump card by reminding him that his dad had been killed behind the wheel.

      She’d played that card willingly. Jack might be able to navigate the rural two-lane between Shoshone and the Last Chance Ranch, but she wasn’t going to risk it. If anything happened to him …

      Grabbing her wallet, her cell phone and the keys to her Bronco, she headed down the hall.

      Alex stood and tossed aside the magazine he’d been reading. “I’m going. Mom and Dad told me to keep an eye on you while I was out here, and this qualifies.”

      “You’re not going.”

      “I don’t trust him.”

      “I’m perfectly safe, Alex. Jack may have broken my heart, but he’d never harm me. Underneath all that bluster is a very gentle soul.”

      Alex snorted. “So I noticed when he assaulted me.”

      “That was a mistake.”

      “Oh, it was a mistake, all right. Now he’s on my list.”

      “Please don’t judge him by tonight. He’s not that kind of guy.”

      “What kind of guy is he?”

      “Confused. His mom left when he was three. He pretends it was no big deal, but I think it colors everything.”

      Alex gazed at her. “You’re still in love with him.”

      Josie opened her mouth to protest, but she knew it would be a lie. She’d tried to stop loving Jack, but she hadn’t had much luck. She’d meshed with him in a way she hadn’t with any other man. Their conversation came easily and their silences were never uncomfortable.

      Then there was the sexual connection. His deep voice still haunted her dreams. She’d wake in the middle of the night, hot and aching for his touch.

      With Jack she’d lost all her inhibitions. She’d felt alive, sensual, beautiful. Several people had warned her that he was a playboy who never stayed with a woman for long.

      Some said it all went back to his mother leaving. Jack didn’t want to be left again, they figured, so he made sure he cut out before another woman could hurt him. But his affair with Josie had lasted six glorious months and he’d shown no signs of leaving.

      Extraordinary circumstances had ended the relationship. Josie wondered what would have happened if Jonathan Chance hadn’t died and reawakened all Jack’s fears of being abandoned by those he loved. It was clear Jack hadn’t forgotten about her if he’d come here tonight ready to fight for her.

      Alex sighed. “So you’re in love with him. Unfortunately, I don’t think that he’s—”

      “Maybe he isn’t in love with me, but we were building something together. Then when his dad died, it all went to hell.”

      “He was cruel and insensitive. Those are your words, by the way, not mine.”

      “I know, but people can change. They can escape their past.”

      “Oh, Josie, don’t fall into that trap.” Then he laughed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Listen to me, giving you advice when my love life is in the dumper.”

      Josie moved closer and gave him a hug. “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about me.”

      “Too late. I’m already worried. Listen, tell that guy that if he doesn’t treat you like royalty, he’ll answer to me. He doesn’t want to mess with somebody who grew up on the mean streets of Chi-town.”

      “You did not. You grew up in Arlington Heights.”

      He grinned. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have connections. I know people who know people. Mention cement overshoes to him.”

      She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll do that.” As if it would matter, but she didn’t say that to Alex. Jack Chance had been through hell and back. He wasn’t afraid of anyone or anything.

       2

      JACK CHOSE TO WAIT for Josie beside her dark green Bronco. As he leaned against the fender, cool night air blew most of the cobwebs from his brain and left him with a clear and present truth. He’d behaved like an ass tonight.

      He’d been doing that quite a bit lately, but tonight could qualify as his most spectacular display of assholeness in his entire thirty-two years. If they gave out medals for being a complete loser, he would win the gold, hands down.

      As his punishment, he would accept this ride home from Josie, because the reality was, he didn’t have a lot of choice. Rousting Gabe out of Morgan’s bed and demanding the keys to his truck would only add to Jack’s list of transgressions. Sure, he could walk home, but that would take a good hour, maybe closer to two. And besides, everyone knew cowboys didn’t walk.

      So instead he waited for Josie and stared up at the unlit sign of a cowboy on a bucking bronco, with Spirits and Spurs lettered underneath. The bar used to be called The Rusty Spur, but Josie had changed the name when she’d bought the place three years ago. Newcomers to Shoshone assumed the Spirits part referred to alcohol. A person had to stick around a while to find out that Josie considered the bar haunted. Many locals played along and called the after-hours visitors Ghost Drinkers in the Bar.

      Jack didn’t believe in ghosts. More specifically, he didn’t want to believe in ghosts. All he needed was to have his father come back from the dead and tell him he was screwing up the management of the ranch.

      He probably was. Everyone complained that he worked them too hard, that he worked himself too hard. But he was in charge of the whole operation now, and he’d be damned if the Last Chance would go in the red on his watch.

      He’d never wanted to be in charge, but his dad had assumed he would be someday. Jack hadn’t known how to tell him that he didn’t want that honor, that he’d rather have Nick or Gabe run the place. It had seemed ungrateful.

      His unspoken dream was to take over as foreman when Emmett retired. He’d intended to propose that to Jonathan eventually, but he’d procrastinated and now it was too late. He would do what was expected of him.

      Footsteps on gravel alerted him that Josie had arrived. He turned to watch her СКАЧАТЬ