Chasin' Eight (Rough Riders #11)(19)

She smiled at him. “Bored yet?”

“Nope. It’s a gorgeous day, I’m hauling around a gorgeous…ah, friend. What more could a man want?”

Her sultry look said a real man should want more. A lot more. Like hot kisses and frantic touches that led to bare skin rubbing on bare skin. Like bodies slamming together, hard breathing and moans of raw pleasure. But Ava didn’t give voice to that image. She didn’t have to. Every thought was right there on her beautiful face.
Movement on the edge of the ridge caught his eye. “Quick, get your video camera.”

She picked up the equipment and said, “Where?”

Chase pointed to the sky. “There. Two red-tailed hawks are hovering on a thermal.”

“I see them.” They didn’t speak, just watched the grace of the birds. Circling higher, swooping down, then floating, remaining so still they’d look like blots on the horizon to the casual observer. After the birds drifted away, she shut off her camera and faced him. “Thank you.”

“For?”

“Being observant.”

He didn’t ruin the moment and confess if he hadn’t been observing her, he wouldn’t have noticed the birds. He smiled back. “No problem. You ready to move on?”

“Yes.”

Seeing the long line of tourists at the Devil’s Tower entrance, he suggested an alternative.
“How much of this is McKay land?”

“A lot of it.” All of it for the last ten miles in fact. But he knew she couldn’t grasp the enormity of McKay land holdings.
“I’m not sure how the ranch succession works. Do you, or will you own part of it?”

“Not since I opted out.” He settled in the driver’s seat and stole glances at her when she talked about expectations of family businesses. “How does the succession work in yours?”

“My mom was an only child, so she inherited everything. She’s been at the helm of the Cooper Hotel chain and the other businesses in the Cooper conglomerate since before I was born. Since I’ve no interest in running it, my brother has been learning the ropes, but I still own a chunk of it by default.”

She was an heiress to the Cooper conglomerate, which meant she was loaded. Like really f*cking loaded. “This might sound weird, but as an actress, did you purposely use Cooper as your last name because of…?”

“Paris Hilton? Yep. Worked for her, didn’t it? But while I’m on sabbatical, I’m Ava Dumond.”

He drove, although it seemed they stopped every two miles so she could get out and film something new. Everything from gnarled fence posts to different breeds of cows, to clusters of scrub oak. She got a huge kick out of the frolicking calves and the bovine mamas mooing a warning at her.
Chase noticed the calves were awful young for the time of year. He squinted at the mile marker at the end of the gravel road. Near as he could tell they were near the Glanzers’ place. He’d heard through the McKay grapevine the trio had increased their acreage the past five years and were experimenting with different breeds. He didn’t want to stick around and find out if these late-born calves were theirs.
Ava put the video camera away. “How far are we from the closest town?”

“Why? Bored already?”

“No, Sundance, I’m not bored. Geez. Give me some credit.”

“Sundance. Funny.”

“I need to use the facilities.”

“Okay.” Chase stopped the car on the edge of the road. He pointed across the field. “See that tree? It’ll offer some privacy, but be careful when you climb over the barbwire fence. Watch out for snakes.”