She took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and....
"Jack, tell me about Sam’s mother."
Fucking coward.
He smiled. "Does this mean you accept my gift?"
No. "It means I’ll think about it."
"Okay, good enough. For now. What do you want to know?"
"Let’s start with her name."
"Isabel Watkins. She was a cocktail waitress in a small ranching town on the eastern plains. She was nineteen and needy, I was twenty-two and horny. That about sums it up."
"Was she pretty?"
"Pretty enough. Not as pretty as you."
"Jack...."
"Yeah, she was pretty. Had dark eyes and hair like me, which explains why Sam looks like he does."
"Sam looks just like you. He’s the spitting image of you in the painting."
"Yeah, a little."
"A lot. You’re both beautiful."
"Shucks, ma’am," he drawled, "I ain’t beautiful."
She swatted him in the arm. "Of course you are, and you know it. You’ve surprised me at every turn, Jack. I never would have imagined that my hot one-night stand would turn out to be such a fine man."
"I don’t go out lookin’ for one nighters, Holly. I want you to know that. Sam came from a one nighter, but I was younger then. Not as discriminating."
She grinned. "Just a young and horny cowboy, huh?"
"Something like that."
"You’re more than just a horny cowboy. More than just a nude model. Though I can certainly see why the modeling appeals to you. You get to show off that magnificent body of yours."
"Sugar, I don’t do it to show off my body."
"I was just teasing, Jack."
"I know. But the nude modeling appeals to me for another reason. The money. It pays $200 an hour."
Holly widened her eyes. "Mark pays you that much?"
"The college does. Big universities pay even more. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to what it would cost to hire a real model to take his clothes off."
"Is it weird going naked in front of your godfather?"
"Nah. He’s an artist and I’m just a model. He offered me the job because he knew I’d jump at the chance to make the extra income. My ranch is a small operation. Don’t get me wrong. I do fine, but Sam and I aren’t rollin’ in it by any means. The extra bit helps."
"Ah, I see." She gave him what she hoped was an impish grin. "So your body had nothing to do with it?"
"Well...." His face reddened. God, he was so adorable. "Students do need a...good physique to learn to draw the muscle groups and all. But you’re a student. You know that already."