Claimed!. Vicki Thompson Lewis

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      JOSIE BARELY HAD TIME to wrap her head around Morgan’s request that she be a maid of honor before she had to be downstairs taking a delivery of beer. Good thing her cook, Andy, was there to double-check everything, because Josie was having trouble concentrating.

      All she could think about was this wedding coming up in less than two weeks, a wedding that would involve Jack. And horses. Morgan had promised her that the riding would be no big deal. Josie could go to any of a number of stables in the area and get some basic instruction.

      The horseback riding didn’t worry Josie all that much. She’d learned to ski as an adult, so she could learn to ride. In fact, a ski vacation had been her introduction to Jackson Hole.

      She’d come back several times before realizing that if she truly intended to buy a bar, she wanted it to be in this area. And that decision had led to her meeting Jack Chance.

      As the beer truck pulled away, she glanced at her watch. The bar opened for lunch at eleven-thirty, which gave her fifteen minutes to get her act together. At least someone else would be behind the bar. Josie turned the operation over to Tracy Gibbons on weekdays and she occupied herself with the computer in the office.

      She had bills to pay and books to reconcile, but she wondered how much she’d accomplish when all she could think about was the darned wedding … and Jack. She would have loved to talk this over with Alex, but he’d left early in the morning to hike in the Tetons.

      On second thought, she should decide how she planned to handle this turn of events before telling Alex. He might want to confront Jack, after all, now that his sister would be required to be in Jack’s company for the better part of a weekend. Josie didn’t want Alex and Jack to square off again. Once was enough.

      So Alex would have to cool it, and somehow Josie would manage to get through the wedding without letting Jack know he’d ripped open the wound she’d been trying so desperately to heal. With a sigh of resignation, she walked through the back door of the bar into her tiny office and turned on the computer.

      The scent of onions simmering in olive oil told her Andy had started cooking the lunch entrées. Usually by now she was hungry, but not today. Her tummy twisted in knots at the thought of eating. She’d have to get over her nerves in the next ten days, though, or she wouldn’t be much good to Morgan as a maid of honor. The bride was the only one allowed to be nervous.

      As she waited for the computer to load its various programs, a gut-wrenchingly familiar knock sounded at the back door. She and Jack had devised a code so she’d know in advance it was him—three soft raps and two harder ones.

      Ten months ago that rap would have been a signal to fling open the back door of the office and pull him in for a scorching kiss. Sometimes they’d gone beyond a mere kiss. On at least three occasions she’d locked both doors—the one to the outside and the one leading into the bar—and they’d had sex in her office.

      This morning the door to the bar stood open and she could hear Andy banging around in the kitchen. Tracy would arrive any minute, along with any customers who liked to get an early start on their lunch or a midday beer.

      She could imagine why Jack was here. Undoubtedly it had something to do with the wedding. And so it started, their required interaction. Taking a deep breath, she left her chair and opened the back door.

      Ten months rolled away as her gaze swept over the cowboy standing there. His black hat shaded his eyes, making their dark depths look sexy and mysterious. His hat was slightly dusty. So was the rest of him, including a blue plaid western shirt, faded jeans and well-worn boots.

      Jack hadn’t spruced up for the occasion. He’d come straight from whatever work he’d been involved in this morning. The combined scent of leather and sweat had become an aphrodisiac to her during the months they were together, and it had lost none of its punch. Damn it all, she still wanted him with a ferocity that left her shaking.

      But wanting him wasn’t the only issue. Being alone with him filled her with nostalgia for the days when Jack had been her entire world. She’d been giddy with happiness, floating through her daily routine in anticipation of spending her nights with Jack. She had to believe that he’d enjoyed their time together just as much, because he’d used every possible excuse to be with her.

      She took a long, restorative breath. “Is this about the wedding?” There, that sounded sufficiently curt and businesslike.

      “Yes.” His dark gaze flicked over her in much the same way she’d surveyed him.

      She wished now that she’d taken more time with her hair, her clothes, her makeup. She’d СКАЧАТЬ