Her Rancher's Caress: (Taken by Cowboys: Part 3) A Billionaire Western Romance Read Online Free PDF Page A

skin.
    Spencer produced a bottle of wine from the cooler. From a wicker basket on the table he took out a wineglass. “For the lady,” he said after uncorking the bottle and pouring out a glass of pale yellow liquid. “Pinot grigio, of course. From Alsace.”
    “Thank you!” she said, accepting the glass. She took a sip. The crisp, chilled wine tasted like heaven rolling down her throat. “Wine with lunch. This sure feels luxurious.”
    “Just because we’re out West doesn’t mean we don’t know how to live,” Spencer commented. An array of ingredients was set out on the table, as well as two cutting boards and assorted knives and utensils.
    “When did you get to plan all this?” she marveled. They’d had the conversation leading up to this cowboy contest just last night.
    “Let’s just say that when we put our minds to something, it gets done,” Nate said. He was busy chopping up vegetables, his knife reducing them to neat cubes with practiced speed.
    “Do I get a hint about the menu?” she asked.
    “No hints,” Nate said. “Just relax and enjoy the show.”
    She watched Spencer take out a juicy-looking steak from the cooler and lay it on the board. Her mouth watered with anticipation. There were few things she enjoyed more than a well-prepared steak. She leaned back on her elbows and closed her eyes.
    The pinot grigio was already having its effect. Then again, it might have just been the intoxicating effect of the sun and the attention being lavished on her that was going straight to her head.
    The smell of toasting spices filled the air. She opened her eyes. They had hung a cooking pot over the fire and Nate was standing over it, stirring something with a spatula.
    “You’re making my mouth water,” she said.
    “That’s the point,” he said.
    “Hey, scoot over.” Spencer came up from the fire carrying another pot, which he slid over the fire.
    “You’re really going to cook this whole meal over an open flame?” she asked.
    “It’s the cowboy way!” Nate said. “The food tastes better this way, anyways.”
    “How long is it going to take?” she asked. The rumbles in her stomach were growing louder and louder.
    “Patience,” Spencer said with a smile. “The hungrier you are, the better it will taste.”
    “No kidding,” she said.
    “Have another glass of wine and relax,” Nate said, picking up the bottle and refilling her glass. “You city girls. You have to be taught how to take a load off.”
    “You might have a point there,” she admitted, taking a sip. “But I have to say, I don’t remember the last time I was this content. My New York life already feels like a distant memory!”
    “We call it Getaway for a reason,” Nate said.
    She took another sip of wine and lay on her back, looking at the fluffy white clouds that were moving lazily across the sky. It was still a marvel to her how wide and expansive the sky looked out here, like it was getting ready for an enormous embrace. The diaphanous seeds of a dandelion floated above her eyes, carried on the gentle breeze, as the smell of burning firewood and aromatic spices cooking floated into her nostrils. If this wasn’t heaven on earth, it was pretty darn close.
    “Lunch is ready,” said a deep voice next to her. Her eyes fluttered open.
    “Nice nap?” Nate asked with a grin. He was kneeling next to her on the picnic blanket.
    “How long was I out for?” she asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
    “Not more than thirty minutes,” said Nate. “Even when you’re asleep, you’re a distraction. I could barely keep my eyes on my dish. They kept straying back to you.”
    She blushed. “I guess I must have been really relaxed.”
    “Ready for some grub?” Spencer asked, wiping his hands on a dishtowel.
    “Am I ever,” she said.
    “First up is my special cowboy chili with skillet cornbread,” Nate said. He ladled a fragrant brown stew out of the cooking pot into a thick bowl. “ Bon appétit ,” he said,