Page 26 of High Heels & Heifers

I gasp and look around to see the calf he was leading tied off to a stump.

Luca begins working at the knot, but his brow furrows and he leans closer to examine my work. “Where’d you learn to make knots?”

“Well, not in Boy Scouts.” I snort, thinking I’m making a joke. But then I realize it just comes off as awkward and I fight the urge to slap myself in the forehead with the heel of my hand.

Luca lifts one brow, but thankfully, he doesn’t comment on my bad attempt at humor.

I tuck my hair behind my ear. “It’s actually a surgical knot. My parents...” I suck in a breath and tuck my lips between my teeth. I don’t need to share my whole life story with Luca, but somehow that little detail tumbled out without thought.

He makes an “ah” expression as if that cleared everything up. “I’m not sure you needed a triple square knot for this purpose.”

As he works on removing my piece of work, I stand by and watch, not knowing what to do with myself or why he suddenly came over to help. I inhale and open my mouth to ask when Eddie comes around the other side of the tree. “Hey... uh, oh! Hi, Luca.” He stops on Luca’s other side and makes direct eye contact with me, wagging his brows.

I make the cut-off sigh, hand across my throat, fist it, and shove it back into my pocket when Luca glances over.

He finishes with the rope and holds it out to Eddie. “Wanna put that away for Jack?”

Eddie’s shock turns into a devious smile. “Of course. I’ll just... ah... leave you two kids to it.” He winks at me and simultaneously hops and turns to jog in the other direction.

Luca leans a shoulder onto the tree and crosses his arms over his chest, facing me so that his broad shoulders block the view from everyone else. “So, games that reinforce trust, yeah?”

My cheeks flare. “It’s just something I found online. These games are so cheesy.” I roll my eyes and hold out a hand, trying to brush it off as total coincidence.

He purses his lips and nods musingly or perhaps accusingly. Or maybe a bit disbelievingly.

But my attention isn’t on what’s behind his expression, because my gaze has drifted down to his lips. For the first time, I notice how incredibly full they look and how ... I blink and shake my head quickly.What in the world are you thinking, Jack?

“Well,” he says, “I thought you did a wonderful job, wherever it came from. And you say your parents are surgeons?”

My eyes widen, and I stammer, “Uh, yeah.” I haven’t talked to anyone about my parents and their high-pressure expectations. Not even Mari. And I’m not about to get into that conversation out here with a near stranger. Although, he’s not feeling like a stranger anymore, and I can’t figure out why I want to be more open with him than anyone else. I fidget and take a few steps to move around him. “We, ah, should join the others for lunch.”

I walk away, and after a few steps, his boots crunch in the gravely sand behind me. I stand near Emma, who looks up at Luca and clears her throat. With chagrin, he swipes a sandwich from her hand and turns away to retrieve the calf he left tied to the tree. As he’s walking away, Emma hands me a napkin-wrapped sandwich. “Sorry. We don’t have much out here except for cheese.”

“No worries.” I accept the offering and open it up just as Eddie comes over. I shove a huge bite of cheese and mayo sandwich into my mouth so I don’t have to speak. He’s smiling, and his little jibing is the last thing I want to deal with at the moment.

After lunch, we mount up and get back on the trail in the same formation; Wyatt’s group to the right, Emma’s to the rear, and us on the left. The drive into the afternoon goes smoothly and everyone is quiet. We’ll apparently arrive in a couple of hours and Emma mentions a wagon will be waiting us there with more supplies for dinner. She’d sent someone to grab some things that would better fit my diet.

Suddenly, Wyatt whistles from across the herd and Frankie lets out a bark.

“Go on, girl,” Luca says, and the dog runs back and around the rear toward Wyatt’s side.

There’s a dust cloud over there.

“What’s happening?” I ask.

“A few cows probably got out of line, and Wyatt’s working them back into the herd. Happens all the time,” Luca answers.

Things settle down after the small excitement, and Luca turns Lucy away. “I’ll be right back.”

I watch him ride around and pull his horse up beside Emma and chat for a second before continuing on to the far side of the herd. There’s a hill we’re cresting, so he ends up a little out of sight. I focus on the horizon where the cows are now descending into another valley. Hoof beats on the ground ahead stir up a bit more dust.

“Uh, Eddie?” I call over my shoulder.

He trots his horse alongside Jasper, eyes trained in the same direction.

I point. “Is there something we should do?”

“Ho-ly buckets,” Eddie drawls. “Can you whistle like Wyatt did?”

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