Wanted!. Vicki Thompson Lewis
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Mills & Boon is thrilled to welcome Vicki Lewis Thompson back to Blaze.
Look what people are saying about this talented author’s latest works …
“Vicki Lewis Thompson gives readers a sexy, funny tale.”
—Romance Reviews Today on Better Naughty than Nice
“Hang on for the ride of your life … I could not put this book down!”
—Night Owl Reviews on Blonde with a Wand
“If you thought Over Hexed was phenomenal, wait until you read Wild & Hexy! … a rip-roaring good time.”
—Romance Junkies
“The same trademark blend of comedy and heart that won Thompson’s Nerd series a loyal following.”
—Publishers Weekly on Over Hexed
“Thompson mixes magic, small-town quirkiness, and passionate sex for a winsome effect.”
—Booklist on Over Hexed
About the Author
New York Times bestselling author VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON has been writing books for a few (cough, cough) years now, and she has a Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award from Romance Writers of America to prove it. Turns out that after all these years and all these books, the process is as exciting and challenging as ever. In other words, the 101st book is no easier to write than the first! And she wouldn’t have it any other way. This is a great job and somebody has to do it. She feels lucky that she’s been allowed to share her fantasy world with readers everywhere.
Dear Reader,
Welcome to the SONS OF CHANCE series, where the men are hot and the women are happy! Travel with me down a winding dirt road to the Last Chance Ranch, dedicated to the proposition that we all need a last chance to find whatever we deserve, especially love (and great sex). AS you sit on the wide front porch of the Last Chance and gaze at the magnificent Grand Teton in the early morning light, you’ll notice a tall, broad-shouldered cowboy climbing into a dusty ranch truck. That would be Nick Chance, the middle son. He doesn’t know it yet, but his world is about to be turned upside down. And a brown-eyed beauty from back east will try to help him put it together again.
Don’t you adore a man in boots, snug jeans and a Stetson pulled low over his eyes? Trust me, you’ll have a really good time at the Last Chance Ranch. It’s great to be back in cowboy and Blaze® country again!
Happy trails,
Vicki
WANTED!
VICkI LEWIS THOMPSON
To Daniela Cardy, talented research assistant, photographer, writer, and most important, friend.
Prologue
May 1, 1937
CHANCE MEN ARE LUCKY when it counts. Sitting at a smoky card table in the back room of a bar in Jackson, Wyoming, Archibald Chance muttered his father’s favorite saying as he tossed his last dollar into the pot. His buddy Seth had thrown in the deed to a worthless ranch called the Double Zero, because that was the only thing of value he had left.
At the end of the game, Archie possessed that rundown piece of property plus enough to buy gas to get there. Seth was busted and would have to live on the pittance his sister Eleanor made as a seamstress until he found work or drank himself to death.
Archie couldn’t let that happen to his friend. Besides, there was the matter of Eleanor. Archie had been sweet on her for months and he had a hunch she liked him a lot, too. He couldn’t abandon her, either.
He threw an arm around Seth’s drooping shoulders. “You and Eleanor come to the ranch and work for me. I can’t pay you, but you’ll have a roof over your head. We’ll make a go of that place.”
Seth looked doubtful. “It’ll be a leaky roof. The Double Zero’s in terrible shape. Nobody’s lived there for years.”
“We’ll fix it up. Come on, Seth. You’re out of work and my carpentry isn’t in demand these days. We might as well take a stab at ranching.”
“Ranching?” Seth laughed. “We got no cows.”
“Don’t worry about the details. The way I look at it, this is our last chance. Hey, that’s perfect! My name’s Chance, so we’ll rename it the Last Chance Ranch. What do you think?”
“I think you’re crazy, but what the hell? I’ll go, but I can’t speak for Eleanor.”
“She’ll go.” Archie decided his father’s favorite saying might be true, after all.
“How can you be so sure?”
“’Cause I’m asking her to marry me.”
Seth looked doubtful. “It’ll be a leaky roof. The Double Zero’s in terrible shape. Nobody’s lived there for years.”
“We’ll fix it up. Come on, Seth. You’re out of work and my carpentry isn’t in demand these days. We might as well take a stab at ranching.”
“Ranching?” Seth laughed. “We got no cows.”
“Don’t worry about the details. The way I look at it, this is our last chance. Hey, that’s perfect! My name’s Chance, so we’ll rename it the Last Chance Ranch. What do you think?”
“I think you’re crazy, but what the hell? I’ll go, but I can’t speak for Eleanor.”
“She’ll go.” Archie decided his father’s favorite saying might be true, after all.
“How can you be so sure?”
“’Cause I’m asking her to marry me.”
Seth looked doubtful. “It’ll be a leaky roof. The Double Zero’s in terrible shape. Nobody’s lived there for years.”
“We’ll fix it up. Come on, Seth. You’re out of work and my carpentry isn’t in demand these days. We might as well take a stab at ranching.”
“Ranching?” Seth laughed. “We got no cows.”
“Don’t worry about the details. The way I look at it, this is our last chance. Hey, that’s perfect! My name’s Chance, so we’ll rename it the Last Chance Ranch. What do you think?”
“I think you’re crazy, but what the hell? I’ll go, but I can’t speak for Eleanor.”
“She’ll go.” Archie decided his father’s favorite saying might be true, after all.
“How can you be so sure?”
“’Cause I’m asking her to marry me.”
1
Present Day
NICK CHANCE WAS PISSED. There was no logical reason to fence this rocky section of the Last Chance Ranch. It would make a lousy pasture and was too far from the barn to work as a corral.
But big brother Jack had decreed that it should be fenced “just in case” they’d need it someday. There went Nick’s day off. Jack had discovered that Nick had no vet duties today, either at home or at any of the other ranches in the valley, so he’d handed Nick a posthole digger.
Nick had been tempted to suggest where Jack might shove his posthole digger, but going off on Jack