Wild Trail (Clean Slate Ranch #1)(47)

“I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t expect him to be a bad lay, but it was...more intense than I thought it would be. More chemistry.”

“Chemistry is a good thing, pal. Don’t sound so morose about it.”

Mack shrugged, even though his friend’s back was to him as he kept dressing. “Not morose. Just not looking to start something with the guy.”

“So don’t start anything. Enjoy your chemistry while he’s here, and then say goodbye.”

Nothing was ever that simple, especially when chemistry and feelings got involved. He liked Wes a hell of a lot more than he ought to. Wes was straightforward and strong, and he was loyal to his friends—all very appealing qualities. He was also a firecracker in bed, and that turned Mack’s crank hard. Mack hated passive partners. He liked it when a guy challenged him. And Wes challenged him like no one else ever had.

“Yeah, I guess,” Mack said.

He ducked into the bathroom to shower and trim his beard. Wes had enjoyed it rubbing against his skin last night. He got the impression Wes wasn’t into hairy guys as a general rule, so it was nice to be an exception.

Reyes was sitting in his chair, sipping coffee, when Mack was finally dressed for the day, boots and all. Even though Patrice had plenty of coffee at the guesthouse, the guy needed his fix first thing.

“You doing the lake trip today?” Mack asked.

“Yeah, me and Quentin.” Reyes gazed at him over the lip of the coffee mug. “You taking Arthur out to the ghost town?”

“That’s the plan. Me, him, Colt and Judson are all going out on the ATVs. Gonna map a road out and take a look around. Colt’s not a licensed contractor, but he can give us a good idea of the structures, see what’s sound and not.”

“You’re taking Judson, too?”

Mack nodded. It was unusual that both Arthur and Judson were away from the main ranch at the same time, in case someone had an emergency. “Sure. With all the guests out at the lake, won’t be anyone on the ranch who’ll need him.”

“Well, be careful out there.”

“We will. Gonna take a shotgun, just in case.” In all of his years, Mack had fired his shotgun exactly once, and that was to scare a coyote away from a group of campers. He’d never actually shot a living creature on that ranch, and he hoped he never had to.

Reyes finished his coffee, and they headed up to the guesthouse kitchen for breakfast. Mack had worked up quite an appetite after last night, and a big plate of Patrice’s biscuits and sausage gravy was the perfect thing. He resisted peeking into the dining room for a look at Wes. Mostly he wanted to see how red the beard burn on his face was. No real way to explain that to people, unless he lied about allergies, and Mack kind of liked that he’d left a small mark on the guy.

Except no, he’d left a very real mark on his lower back. He had been ecstatic to discover a new pleasure spot Wes hadn’t seemed to know existed, and tormenting Wes like that was probably his favorite memory of their night together.

Good luck explaining that bruise if Wes took his shirt off to go swimming in the lake today.

“What do you look so smug about?” Colt asked. He sidled up to Mack with a bacon and egg sandwich in one hand and coffee in the other.

“Not a damned thing,” Mack replied. Telling Colt about last night was the fastest way for the entire ranch to find out, and no thank you. “You excited to see the ghost town?”

“Definitely. Not every day your friend stumbles into a potential historical landmark.”

“Technically, Wes stumbled into it. I rode in directly.”

“Pedant. Whatever. You helped discover it, so it’s half yours.”

Mack snorted around a bite of biscuit. “It’s on Arthur’s land, so it’s actually his ghost town.”

“Garrett Ghost Town. I like it.” Colt sipped at his coffee. “So you do the city slicker yet?”

“You are unhealthily obsessed with my sex life.”

“That wasn’t a no.”

“It wasn’t a yes, either. Eat your food and stop yakking, so we can get on the road.”

“‘Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.’”

Reyes started laughing, and it took Mack a minute to place the quote to Back to the Future.

“Ha ha, funny guy,” Mack said.

They all finished eating and went their separate ways: Reyes to get ready for the lake trip, and Colt and Mack over to the shed where they kept the ATVs.

Arthur and Judson were already there, checking the wheels and gas tanks. Judson had a video camera with him, the kind that could take still photos while recording. Colt strapped a small toolbox to the back of his machine. Arthur had the shotgun. Mack unfolded a small paper map that he’d drawn yesterday, certain he could follow it and get them to the town butting up to the back forty.

Once they were ready to go, Mack led the way to the north, careful to keep his eyes off the guesthouse as they passed within range. The beating sun already promised another hot day, and he wiped sweat off his forehead a handful of times as he navigated the terrain. Wouldn’t be too hard to put in a proper road to the town’s location. Probably connect it to the ranch road south of the actual buildings, so ranch guests weren’t disrupted by ghost town guests.

If the restoration plan was even possible. No sense in getting ahead of the game.