Morning rush had almost cleared.

It hadn’t been a hard breakfast to prepare, eggs, biscuits and gravy. I usually did a variation on those. The cowboys loved a hearty breakfast, and needed the sustenance for all the hard, physical work they did. Mustering all that cattle made a man have a huge appetite.

Lance had certainly woofed his down, asking for seconds. It was good to see him up and about, ready to get stuck back into the running of the ranch. Hank was a great manager, but it wasn’t the same as having the owner here. And it warmed my heart to see that Lance was intending to be hands on. I would have thought lesser of him if he had come back and stayed in the house, ordering from above.

But then, Lance had always been a hands-on kind of guy. My skin glowed at the memory of those hands, large and broad. Smooth, but calloused in all the right places. The kind of hands that made you tingle when they were laid upon you.

Stop it, I told myself. You must stop! I really did need to get myself a cowboy, even if it was only for a night. I had never had a one night stand before, but a woman had needs. It had been so long. And it might stop me thinking about Lance.

Speak of the devil. Here he was, bringing his plate into the kitchen. Always had been a gentleman like that. He wasn’t the kind of guy too proud to clean up after himself.

“Gemma.” He leaned against the kitchen bench as he watched me stack the dishwasher.

“Lance.” I didn’t stop what I was doing for a second. If he wanted to talk to me, he would have to do it as I was working. I had a job to do, after all.

“A group of men and I need to go into the high country to herd some cattle over to Ryan’s Ranch,” he said. “It’ll take a few days. We are going to camp out.”

I nodded as I kept stacking. “Well, have a fine old time.”

He smiled. “I don’t think you understand me.” He paused, looking down at his feet. “We are going to need to be fed on the trip. You’re coming to take care of all that.”

“Me?” I stood up from what I was doing, looking at him. “But the men back here still need to be fed. Can’t you bring some beef jerky?”

He laughed. “It’s hard work. I think we need a bit more than that.”

“But who will take care of the men here?”

“That’s all taken care of. Jessie can step up and do it. She knows how to cook.”

“Yes, she does.” I paused, digesting what he was telling me. “But she’s not used to leading a feed for a large group. Why don’t you take her with you, instead? She’d be better suited to preparing camp fire meals for just a few of you.”

“If I didn’t know better, Miss Gemma, I’d be thinking you were trying to avoid camping out with me.”

I blushed. “It’s not that. You know I love camping. It just seems it would be better…”

He put up a hand, cutting me off. “Bosses orders. Be packed and ready to go by this afternoon. Work out with Jessie what she is going to cook while we’re gone, and get the stuff ready that you’ll need to cook while we’re away.” He walked off.

Well I’d be damned! Seemed to me Lance had decided to play the Big Boss card after all. He could toss around orders with the best of them.

I picked up a tea towel and vigorously wiped a pot.

Camping out. With Lance.

I couldn’t deny that a fission of pleasure had run through me at the very thought. Spending time with him outdoors, under that wide blue sky. Winding up into the mountains, breathing that air. The thought was pretty intoxicating.

I shook my head. It wouldn’t be like that. It was a working trip, after all. We wouldn’t be alone, several other people would be with us. And I had no right to expect anything else.

I thought of the time that I had suggested a camping trip to Jack. Just the two of us, getting away from it all. Re-connecting in nature.

It had never happened, of course. Just like nothing I had suggested to him that we should do together had ever eventuated. It was part of the reason we had broken up.

I blushed at the thought of some other things that I had suggested that we do. Oh well, I had to try. I was fighting to make things better for us, see if there was a way back to each other. But Jack had never been interested. It made me embarrassed thinking about it, but it was the past.

Gone. Over. Done.

I watched Lance through the window, talking with some of the guys. Then they walked off, preparing for the trip, no doubt.

Better get cracking. There was going to be a lot to organise, if I was heading off for a few days. Preparing an easy menu for Jessie to follow while I was gone would be one of them. And making sure I had everything I needed to feed the men while we were away.

I stared out at the window at the sun bursting its way above the mountains. It was going to be a beautiful day.

What it would bring was another matter entirely.