Emmy Lou stood and headed for the refrigerator.“Come to think about it, I read that Brian Hastings is a vegetarian.Are you a vegetarian, too?”
“Nope.I’d be willing to bet there is almost nothing about me that is the same as Brian Hastings.”
Emmy Lou shook her head.“What a shame.”
“Now, Emmy Lou,” Jo said.“You sound as if Brian Hastings sets the standard for all men.That’s a little extreme.”
Emmy Lou pulled some containers from the refrigerator.“Not for me.”
Jo sat at the table and smiled at Quinn.“You’ll have to excuse her.She’s been a real fan for ten years.”
“I’m pretty much used to it by now.”
“I’m sure you are.”And if you’re so used to it… Jo couldn’t help herself.A plan was forming—a daring, audacious plan.And it just might save her bacon.
Jo decided to wait until Quinn had some of Emmy Lou’s home cooking in his stomach before she hit him with her proposition.Still, she could do some preliminary spadework.“Is there a problem with you being away from your office for another day or so?”she asked.
“Not a huge problem.My personal assistant knows where I am.I thought I’d call her in the morning and see if anything major is going on I need to deal with.”
“What time is your flight?”
He hesitated.“I didn’t book a return because I didn’t know exactly how long it would take me to find you.I can take care of it in the morning.”
Excitement built within her.“Have you ever been to Montana?”
“Nope.First trip.”
“Then as long as you’ve come all this way, how about staying for a few days?Spring is a great time of year in this country.You arrived in the dark, so I’m sure you didn’t get the full impact.We have wildflowers galore, and all the trees are greening up.It’s beautiful.”
He looked interested, but cautious.“I’d hate to inconvenience you.”
“No problem!”Jo liked her plan more and more.It might save the ranch and give her more time with this guy, and that was a good thing.Physically he appealed to her, but more than that she was charmed by his humanness.He might be afraid of snakes, but he’d traveled all the way to Montana to return a cooler of horse sperm.Although she wasn’t bold enough to say so, Quinn interested her far more than the macho image projected by Brian Hastings.
Emmy Lou turned from the stove.“Betsy and Clarise are fixing to foal any day now.”
“The miracle of birth,” Jo said.“How many Wall Street investment bankers have seen a mare bring a foal into the world?”
“Certainly not this investment banker,” Quinn said.
“You just said he was afraid of snakes,” Emmy Lou pointed out.“They’re starting to come out now.It’s snakes and more snakes this time of year.”
Jo smiled at Quinn, who was looking doubtful at the mention of snakes.“Will you excuse me a minute?”She walked to the stove, put her arm around Emmy Lou and leaned down to murmur in her ear.“Will you work with me here?I have a stupendous idea.And besides, I think he’s very cute.”
“I can see that he’s cute,” Emmy Lou said under her breath, “but you need a greenhorn like him around like you need an alligator in the stock tank.”
“Maybe I should go back to New York tomorrow, after all,” Quinn said.
“Just taste Emmy Lou’s cooking first,” Jo said.“And then tell me if you wouldn’t like to stay a few extra days.One bite of her chicken, and I promise she’ll have you moaning in ecstasy.”
ChapterSix
Quinn could think of another scenario that would have him moaning in ecstasy.Not that Emmy Lou’s cooking wasn’t melt-in-his-mouth perfect, especially considering how hungry he was by the time he bit into her fried chicken, but it wasn’t the housekeeper’s skills at the stove that had him considering a stay on the ranch.
Of course there were the snakes to consider, and he still worried about how the town of Ugly Bug got its name.Maybe he could just stay inside a lot.Jo awakened basic urges in him, and basic urges were best investigated inside, anyway.He’d started fantasizing what it would be like to hold her in his arms, kiss those cherry red lips, touch her soft skin.But her physical attributes weren’t the only draw.He was also a sucker for a woman in distress.
At first he’d only been concerned with getting the horse sperm to her on time, but now that he’d seen the ranch, he couldn’t help thinking what a shame it would be for her to lose it.He didn’t know a damn thing about ranching, but he knew a fair amount about money management.If he stayed a few days he might be able to suggest some things that would get Jo out of the bind she was in.
He doubted that she’d accept a personal loan, and he didn’t have enough liquid assets to make that sort of gesture, anyway.But he might be able to arrange a new bank loan with one of his contacts or find her some investors.He mainly wanted to loosen the grip of this local guy and set her on a better course than the one that seemed to be leading her into trouble.
