Read A Cowboy for Christmas for Free Online

seated at the table. “Miss Harrington, nice to finally meet you.”
    She rose and extended her hand, all business and corporate-like. “The pleasure is all mine, sir.”
    Jake shook her hand. “Please. Sit. Finish your breakfast.” He moved to the empty chair at the head of the table. “My apologies for not being here yesterday when you arrived. I had some business to take care of in the city. I didn’t get back until late.”
    “Quite all right. I got here after dark myself. Thank goodness Mr. Boyd here was driving by at the right time. I was nearly lost on the ranch. I never expected it to be so big.” Her eyes grew wide.
    Bonner had to smile. She hadn’t been lost at all. She was on the drive headed straight for the main house. She just hadn’t gone far enough.
    “Well then I owe Bonner a thanks. Can’t have my new director of marketing lost on my own ranch, now can I?”
    “We could have come looking for you if Blue hadn’t found you.” Justus jumped in.
    “Blue?” Casey glanced from Justus to Bonner.
    Bonner sighed. He liked to avoid talking about his old rodeo days. The past was best left buried. “It’s just an old nickname. It’s what my father used to call me when I was little.”
    “I call you that.” Justus glanced up from his plate.
    Dakota nodded. “Me too. So do all the guys. And that’s the name you rode under when you were rodeoing. Blue Boyd. I used to come see you compete when I was little.”
    Great. Just what Bonner needed, a reminder of how much older he was than these two.
    “Rodeo?” Casey spun toward Bonner. “You’re in the rodeo?”
    “Not anymore.” And that was all Bonner was going to say about that, even if Casey’s eyes had lit up at the prospect. What interest did a city girl have with rodeo anyway? He noticed Jake watching the exchange with an amused expression and decided to bring this conversation back to business, where it belonged. “So, boss, any special instructions for me today?”
    Jake let out a bark of a laugh. “Since when do you ever ask me for instructions?”
    Since he’d been told the new Maverick director of marketing would be up his ass for a week. Bonner decided he shouldn’t say that. Instead he shrugged. “I was just wondering if you wanted me to cover anything in particular with our special guest, is all.”
    Casey turned toward Jake. “I want to see everything. I think you’re right. It’ll help me better craft the tone of the social media campaign if I can be totally immersed in daily life here at the ranch.”
    Oh, Bonner could show her everything, all right. Gladly. Glancing at his boss, the man who’d been like a grandfather to him from the day he was born, he gave himself a mental slap. Not gonna happen. He had too much respect for Jake and Maverick Western to indulge his baser instincts and diddle with the new hire. “Well, today the boys and I are going to see which cows are open.”
    Her perfectly shaped eyebrows rose. “Open for what?”
    Justus and Dakota both let out snickers. Bonner shot them a look before turning back to Casey. “Open means they’re not pregnant.” He put it in the simplest terms he could since she was a city girl and all.
    “Oh.” Impossibly, her brows shot higher. And did her cheeks turn a bit pink? “And, um, how do you determine that?”
    Now, even Bonner couldn’t control his smile. “It’s probably best if we wait and not tell you that right now.”
    “Why not?” A deep frown creased Casey brow. Tough city girl didn’t like being told no. Bonner tucked that information away for later.
    Justus snickered. “Because you’re still eating.”
    The two younger men chuckled as Mrs. Jones came through the doorway carrying a bowl and a mug. “Don’t scare her away on the first day.”
    She put the steaming bowl in front of Jake, who scowled down at it. “Oatmeal again?”
    “You know what the doctor said. Oatmeal and decaf coffee, and I don’t want to hear anything more about it.”