"Yes." Morgan turned to her. "Gabe was nice enough to switch horses with me. His was better trained than mine, and I'm not a very good rider."

"You had a very stubborn horse," Gabe said.

"Yes, well." She swallowed. "Did you happen to talk to Jack?"

"I did, as a matter of fact. I gather you talked to him, too."

"Yes. We had a...conversation." Her expression was carefully controlled.

"You two can catch up later," Edgar said. "It's time to eat us some watermelon!" He lifted an old-fashioned school bell and started ringing it. "Watermelon-eating contest! Last chance to enter!"

Morgan reached for the ties around her neck. "You know what? I don't think I'll do this, after all."

Gabe caught both her hands in his. "Don't you dare chicken out on me, Morgan O'Connelli." He hadn't counted on her hands being quite so soft and warm. Or her mouth being quite so close and inviting.

She glanced up at him. "Gabe, it's not a good idea." Her eyes darkened as they had when he'd chased down Geronimo.

He didn't think fear was the reason this time. He'd bet good money she was as s.e.xually aware of him as he was of her. As further evidence, pink tinged her cheeks and her breathing changed.

"Go on, both of you." Madge shooed them toward the table as if they were five-year-olds, and Gabe was forced to let go of Morgan.

She allowed herself to be herded toward the table, but fumbled with the ties of her bib along the way. "Seriously, I'm taking myself out of the compet.i.tion."

"That's exactly the problem," Madge shot back.

"There's too much seriousness these days. It does people good to act foolish once in a while. Sit right there, Morgan. Gabe, you take the next seat."

Gabe sat down and glanced over at Morgan with a shrug. "I think you're outvoted."

"All right." Morgan met his gaze and a flicker of her usual good humor returned. "But I need to warn you, I've been looking forward to these events for a long time, and when it comes to watermelon contests, I eat to win."

Gabe smiled. "Them's fighting words, ma'am."

Madge put a hand on each of their shoulders. "Morgan, it's only fair to tell you that when Gabe was in high school he won this compet.i.tion three years out of four."

"Because one year I beat his a.s.s." Nick clapped Gabe on the back and sat down next to him. "You're toast, bro. I've been practicing."

"So that explains the love handles!" Gabe had never been so glad to see Nick in his life. Maybe Nick's cheerful acceptance of Morgan would erase the bad impression Jack had left.

"A guy has to do what a guy has to do." Nick leaned around Gabe to talk to Morgan. "Watch out for my brother. He cheats."

"I do not!" Gabe looked at Morgan and was gratified to see a smile back on her face. "Don't listen to him. It's character a.s.sa.s.sination, pure and simple. Nick's the sneaky brother."

"I'll vouch for that." Aiming her camera at the two men, Dominique crouched in front of the table and took a shot. "Nick is very sneaky. I found this taped to my lens cap an hour ago." She waggled the ring finger of her left hand, where a diamond caught the sunlight.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Gabe left his seat and came around the table. "Could we have a short delay in the proceedings? My brother Nick just had the good sense to propose to Dominique."

"And I had the good sense to accept," Dominique said.

Gabe hugged her. "Welcome to the family. Nick's a lucky guy."

Nick joined them on the other side of the table and put an arm around his fiancee. "Grandpa Archie used to say that Chance men are lucky when it counts."

"Nice going, Nick." Gabe shook Nick's hand as the rest of the people at the table and in the surrounding crowd came up to offer their congratulations.

Morgan joined in as naturally as if she'd lived in Shoshone for years. Gabe liked seeing her relax back into her normal upbeat personality. Best of all, he didn't detect any envy or wistfulness on her part. No engagement fever going on, there. She probably wanted to keep focused on her career, and that was a good thing.

At last Edgar Perkins rang the school bell again. "This is all very exciting, but we're falling behind schedule. I need the contestants to be seated so we can bring out the watermelon."

Gabe watched Morgan to make sure she didn't use this interruption to sneak out, but she hurried back to her chair beside him.

Once Nick sat down, Gabe leaned toward him. "Does Mom know about this?"

"Yeah, and Jack and Emmett and Mary Lou. You would've, too, but you were over dealing with the Appaloosa."

"Must've been a pretty quiet announcement. I didn't hear any commotion over there."

"It was a quietly emotional announcement, not a wild and crazy one. Mom's feeling kind of teary today, anyway, and this started up the waterworks again. You know how Jack gets when she cries."

Gabe's gut tightened. "Speaking of Jack, I-"

"Here are your watermelon wedges, ladies and gents." Edgar came over with two plates and Madge followed with two more. On each plate sat a quarter of a melon sliced lengthwise. The process was repeated until all ten contestants had watermelon.

"We'll talk," Nick said. "But not now."

"Nope, not now." Gabe tucked his Stetson under his chair before giving Nick and then Morgan the evil eye.

"I hope you both know you're going down."

Excitement sparkled in Morgan's blue-green gaze. "We'll just see about that, Gabe Chance." Pulling a scrunchie out of her pocket, she tied back her hair. "I intend to chomp my way to victory."

Now that was the Morgan he liked to see-full of p.i.s.s and vinegar. He thought again about that Italian mother of hers. This could be a very interesting day, and quite possibly a more interesting night.

4.

WHEN MORGAN had heard about the watermelon-eating contest a week ago, she'd decided to sign up for it, as well as any other activity going on during the celebration. She'd always enjoyed contests, but her parents frowned on compet.i.tion. Besides, their wanderl.u.s.t had pretty much guaranteed Morgan wouldn't be playing organized sports.

Watermelon-eating wasn't exactly a sport, but she would take what she could get, although she hadn't expected to be squaring off against the Chance brothers. Somewhere she'd heard that a woman had to be careful of a man's ego and not beat him at games. Forget that noise. As long as she was here, she planned to whip everyone at this table, including the gorgeous Gabe Chance.

Edgar Perkins raised his hand. "The rules are that you may not hold on to the plate. You can touch it to pull it closer, but you may not hold on. Anyone caught holding the plate will be disqualified. We'll start on my signal."

Morgan's blood was up. After her set-to with Jack she'd headed to town ready to show everyone this girl knew how to have a good time. She'd changed her shirt because it was a pain in the a.s.s having to worry about that snap, but otherwise, she intended to enjoy herself fully.

Then Gabe had appeared, and her bravado had disappeared. His family didn't like her, so she'd decided she didn't like them, either, and that had to include Gabe. No doubt he'd choose pleasing his family over pleasing her, so why bother with him? She'd only set herself up for heartbreak.

Madge Perkins hadn't made it easy to duck out, though, and now Morgan had recommitted herself to the contest and to a day of fun. Gabe's mother and his oldest brother weren't around, so if he wanted to share that day with her, she wouldn't push him away. It was a free country-which was what they were celebrating-after all.

"On my signal," said Edgar. "Ready, set, go!"

Morgan dove in. She ate without stopping, swallowing pieces whole and biting off gigantic chunks of the sweet melon. She swallowed her share of seeds in the process.

She might be sick after this, but she didn't care. Watermelon juice coated her mouth and her chin. As she buried her face deep in the cool pulp, even her cheeks became slicked with pink slime.

She paid no attention to Gabe, chomping away on his melon next to her. Focus was the name of the game. But even through her intense concentration she heard people starting to chant her name. Dominique was pulling for Nick, of course. All the other contestants, including Gabe, had cheering sections. But Morgan didn't know many people, so if they were shouting her name, she must be ahead.

She ate faster and realized Edgar was leaning close, watching her and Gabe intently. She was down to the white part when he sang out "winner!" Looking up, she discovered Edgar's hand poised over her head. She'd done it. "Congratulations, champ."

She turned, her chin dripping with juice, to find Gabe in the same condition, and he was grinning at her.

"You did it." He didn't sound upset. He even seemed happy that she'd won. Then he did the most amazing thing. He put his hand behind her head, pulled her close, and kissed her, watermelon juice and all.

A cheer went up from the crowd.

Morgan was too shocked to react at first. Gabe was kissing her? In public? When they were both totally slimed with watermelon juice?

Then the heat of his kiss began to register. He was using his tongue. And so was she. Watermelon juice made for one s.e.xy kissing session.

She forgot where they were. She forgot to breathe. She forgot her name. Whistling and stomping noises caused her to realize vaguely that their behavior wasn't particularly appropriate for this venue. Even so, she had the urge to pull Gabe under the table and continue the kiss a long time.

Mercifully, he drew back before she did something really embarra.s.sing. A low chuckle rich with implications told her that he'd been a little surprised by the intensity, too. "We might want to try that again sometime," he murmured.

She lifted heavy-lidded eyes to his. "I'm game."

"So I gathered."

Edgar approached with the prize, which was a gift certificate for two lunches at the Shoshone Diner. "Well, Gabe, you are sure a good loser. I don't think I've ever seen such a good loser in my life."

"No kidding," Nick said. "Good thing I didn't win. I don't think I could have handled playing tonsil hockey with my brother."

Dominique walked forward. "Wanna see the pics?"

"You took pictures?" Morgan wasn't so sure about that.

"Get used to it," Nick said. "Dominique takes pictures of everything. Don't be surprised if this ends up in a gallery in Jackson, although I promise she'll ask first."

"Don't worry," Dominique said. "Just say the word and I'll delete it. But I hope you don't tell me to, because I think it's great." She turned the camera so that Morgan could see the shot on the back screen.

There she was, kissing Gabe for all she was worth. Good thing he was kissing her for all he was worth, too, or she'd have been mortified. As it was, she was sort of...fascinated. She'd never seen a picture of herself kissing anyone, let alone a hottie like Gabe Chance. She couldn't look away. The photo captured exactly what she'd been feeling-wonder, pa.s.sion, discovery.

"I want a copy," Gabe said.

She stared at him. "You do?"

"Yeah." He smiled at her. "Wouldn't you like one, too? To commemorate winning the watermelon-eating contest?"

"Maybe." She thought about it. "But what would you be commemorating?"

His gaze was open and his voice rang with sincerity. "Our first kiss."

A chorus of awww went up from the crowd.

Morgan felt as if someone had poured warm syrup in the general area of her heart. She couldn't remember any guy saying something that sweet to her. She studied Gabe to make sure he wasn't poking fun, but she saw no evidence that he was.

"I'll be happy to get each of you copies," Dominique said. "But how would you feel about me turning it into a gallery shot?"

Gabe shrugged. "It's okay with me."

Morgan wondered if he'd thought about potential consequences. "Maybe you should check with your family first."

Gabe didn't hesitate. "It's none of their business."

"That's the spirit." Nick pushed back his chair and accepted one of the wipe cloths Madge handed to each of the contestants. "Maintaining the Chance family reputation has been highly overrated, wouldn't you say, little brother?"

"That's for sure, big brother." From his tone of voice, Gabe seemed to be making more than a casual remark.

Morgan recognized the kind of unspoken communication that happened between siblings. She and her brothers and sisters, all seven of them, shared certain truths that could only come from weathering a common past. From the look that pa.s.sed between Nick and Gabe, she gathered that both of them had some problems with what had happened in that shared past. Well, join the club.

"Sack races in fifteen minutes!" shouted someone from the door of the Shoshone Feed Store. "Come collect your sacks if you're gonna be in it!"

"That's me," Gabe said. "Morgan, are you up for this?"

She grinned at him. "You couldn't keep me away."

"I was hoping you'd say that. Nick? You racing?"

"Yes, he is," said Dominique. "I made him promise to be in everything so I could take pictures."

Nick groaned. "Pictures that will be used against me when we have kids."

"And grandkids!" Dominique said, laughing.

Morgan listened without a smidgen of envy. As the oldest in a large family, she'd grown up taking care of her brothers and sisters and in many cases sacrificing her own needs to theirs. She wouldn't mind hooking up with someone for fun and games, but she wanted to enjoy her freedom a while longer. The idea of having kids didn't excite her at all.

GABE HADN'T MINDED losing the watermelon-eating contest, but the sack race was going to be all his. When he crossed the finish line only a foot ahead of Morgan, he claimed a victory kiss. Games that ended in kissing Morgan were a good thing.

Hanging out with Morgan, Nick and Dominique was a good thing, too. If Morgan hadn't been there, Gabe might have felt like a fifth wheel tagging along after Nick and Dominique. A foursome was better, and they made up their own team for events like the spoon-and-egg relay.

Gabe couldn't remember the last time he'd had such a pressure-free day. Sure, he played the games to win, but when he didn't win, he could still dream up an excuse to kiss Morgan. Kissing Morgan beat winning all to h.e.l.l.

Late in the afternoon the four of them helped Josie, owner of Spirits and Spurs, carry her tables outside. Traditionally Shoshone's Fourth of July ended with a street dance, and Josie was no fool. She'd figured out that serving food and drinks in the open air made a lot more sense than trying to coax people into the saloon.

She rewarded the four of them with bottles of beer and a prime table next to the section of street where the dancing would take place. Once they were settled, Morgan and Dominique left to repair their hair and makeup in the saloon's bathroom.