Free Gettin' Lucky (Love and Laughter) by Kimberly Raye Page B

at the same time?
    “Darling!” Helen cried, opening her arms wide. Dutifully, Bennie walked into her grandmother’s embrace.
    “You got her to put on a dress,” Tyler said, sidling up beside Lucky who stood in the doorway, one hand braced on the doorjamb. “I’m impressed.”
    “Piece of cake.” She smiled at Helen who smiled at Bennie, obviously pleased with her granddaughter’s wardrobe choice.
    “Do you remember the drill?” he asked.
    “Wealthy oilman, kids, Scotland...piece of cake.”
    “Miss Myers,” Helen started, but the clatter of dishes from the dining room effectively drowned out the rest of her sentence. Every gaze turned toward the archway.
    “Dinner is served,” Mabel announced, her face pinched into a frown directed solely at Helen.
    “I don’t suppose we’re having a nice big piece of Bubble Yum?” Lucky whispered, her eyes hopeful as Tyler steered her forward, all the while conscious of Helen’s intense gaze.
    “Remember the story and I’ll buy you an entire case of the stuff,” he promised in a low voice. His grip tightened ever so lightly when Lucky snagged her heel on the plush carpet and started to pitch forward.
    “What do you think of my dress, Grandmother?” Bennie piped up, effectively distracting Helen while Lucky caught her balance.
    “Lovely, dear. Just lovely.” Helen followed Bennie, who twirled toward the dining room. “Wait until you see the outfit I brought for you. It’s simply divine.”
    “What did you do to my daughter?” he whispered to Lucky.
    “We have an agreement. She scratches my back and I scratch hers. So to speak.” A warm giggle passed her lips.
    The sound filtered through Tyler’s head, skimming his nerve endings like champagne bubbles tickling his nose. A strange warmth flooded him.
    Think cool thoughts, he told himself. Searching for a lost calf during the dead of winter. Plunging into an ice-cold creek after hours of herding cattle.
    Try as he might, though, he couldn’t summon any goose bumps, or push away the enticing image of Lucky underneath him, soft and warm and open. Especially with her so close.
    She was good, all right. A woman who knew how to rope, hog-tie and brand a man without him ever knowing what happened.
    “Here.” He thrust her into a chair so fast she had to catch the edge of the table to keep from tipping over. He skipped a chair and sat down, ignoring her raised eyebrow. Bennie took her seat opposite Tyler, and Helen sat down beside her.
    “Well, it’s about time,” Helen declared, her gaze darting to the dining-room doorway. “We were about to start dinner without you.”
    Tyler turned to see his father-in-law, a large man with gray hair and matching eyes, looking impeccable in a charcoal suit.
    “Good to see you, Tyler,” Merle said, clapping Tyler on the shoulder and giving him a quick handshake before rounding the table to hug his granddaughter and sit on her free side.
    “Whatever took you so long—” Helen’s sentence drowned in a high-pitched buzz.
    “Hold that thought, dear.” Merle reached into his coat and pulled out a cellular phone. “Whitman here,” he barked into the phone, before mumbling, “Excuse me, I have to take this call.”
    “So,” Helen said as a scowling Mabel started ladling soup into everyone’s bowl. “Tell me about yourself, Miss Myers. You’re from the Dalton Agency, correct?”
    “Yes, she is,” Tyler interjected. “She’s one of their best. She’s been living in Scotland the past few years, caring for the children of a rich Texas oilman.”
    “Why, I know nearly every oil family in the state. What’s his name?”
    “Uh, Mel,” Lucky stammered, shooting Tyler a panicked look. “I mean, er, Dale. Dale...Stinson. Yes, Dale Stinson.”
    “Dale Stinson?” Helen asked. “You say he’s in oil?”
    “Among other things.”
    “Well, I can’t say as I’ve ever heard of him. Merle—” she turned to her husband “—do you know any Stinsons?”
    “Tell