Trish Milburn - The Rancher's Surprise Baby

“You really don’t mind living in such a small space?”

“Nope. It’s all I need for now.”

“For now?”

“It’s okay for a single person, but even I don’t see fitting an entire family in here.”

An entire family? Was she dating someone? And why on God’s green earth did that thought irritate him? The miniature room seemed to shrink even more, their proximity to each other suddenly feeling awkward, and he had to forcibly keep himself from beating a retreat.

What the hell? That pigeon really had scrambled his brain.

He screwed the top off the water bottle with one quick motion and downed about half the contents.

Mandy laughed. “You must be as hot and thirsty as I am.”

She had no idea how right she was. As if to make things even more uncomfortable, when she took her own drink he couldn’t take his eyes off the column of her neck or the trickle of water that escaped and ran down it.

“Well, I better get going.” Thankfully it only took him two strides to get from her living room to the front porch of her little dollhouse.

Mandy followed him out, closing the door behind her, no doubt to preserve the precious chilled air. “Thanks for bringing me home.”

He descended the step and had started toward his truck but then he turned halfway back toward her. “Least I could do. I was the one who put your car out of commission.” Then it hit him he was basically stranding her here alone with no mode of transportation. “How are you going to get back into town to work?”

“Maybe Devon can pick me up.” She gestured toward the side of her tiny house. “Or I have a bike I can ride.”

The idea of her trying to safely ride into town on a road with a nonexistent shoulder sent a big bolt of “nope” straight to his brain.

“You are not riding a bike on that road,” he said. “You’re liable to get taken out by a horse trailer or some fool driving too fast.”

“You volunteering to be my chauffeur?” The little teasing smile on her face had him thinking he might do whatever she asked of him.

“Yeah. As a matter of fact, I am.”

Her smile fell away in obvious surprise. “I was kidding, Ben.”

“I know, but it’s my fault you don’t have your car, so I’ll take you wherever you need to go until Greg can fix it.”

“It’s actually the pigeon’s fault.”

“Unless he’s got a driver’s license and a pigeonmobile, you’re stuck with me. When do you have to be at work next?”

“Um, eight in the morning.”

“Then I’ll see you at seven forty.” He tapped two fingers to the edge of his hat in farewell then made for his truck before he could think too hard about why he’d just committed himself to who knew how much time away from his work.

As he started the truck and made the turn to leave, Mandy was still standing in the same spot looking every bit as surprised by the day’s turn of events as he was.

Chapter Two

Mandy had just finished her salad and was enjoying a second glass of wine when her phone rang. She’d been so lost in her thoughts that the sound startled her, causing her to nearly slosh wine over the rim of her glass. That was just what she needed to end this day, to waste perfectly good cabernet.

The phone display showed it was her best friend, Devon, calling. “Hey.”

“Are you okay? Cole said you were in an accident.” Cole being Devon’s superhot husband.

“I’m fine. I wasn’t in an accident, though my car was.”

“Huh?”

Mandy explained what had happened and that her car was currently sitting at Greg Bozeman’s repair shop so he could assess the damage.

“Take whatever time off you need,” Devon said.

“I don’t need time off. I told you I’m perfectly fine.”

“Well, okay. I’ll pick you up in the morning, then.”

“It’s your day off. I’m sure you have sappy married-people things to do. Besides, I already have a ride.”

“Oh, well, tell your mom I said hi. I need to swing by and see her soon.”

Mandy considered letting Devon think her mother was the one chauffeuring her, but she was curious how her friend would react to the truth. Would it be no big deal? Or would her reaction validate how Mandy had sort of been freaking out since Ben made his offer and drove away with a promise to see her in the morning? She took a deep breath. Only one way to find out.

“Ben’s actually going to be taking me to work.”

“Feels guilty, huh?”

Okay, so no big deal. Mandy chalked up her overreaction to Ben’s kindness to a long, tiring day and heat exhaustion. Oh, and the fact he was superhot.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“What are you not saying?”

That was the problem with being friends with someone most of your life. They could even read your thoughts, no eye contact required.

“Nothing. I’m worn out and I’ve had some wine. I just need to go to bed and sleep today away.”

“Do you know how to party on a Saturday night or what?”

“Not all of us have a sizzling-hot cowboy to get frisky with.”

“Maybe you could,” Devon said. “Last I heard, Ben was single. And you gotta admit he’s not hard to look at.”

She’d walked right into that one, hadn’t she?

“I’ll be sure to tell Cole you think so the next time I see him.”

“Listen, chickie, I received no end of teasing from you about Cole, so it’s my turn to dish it out.”

“Good night, Devon.” Mandy hung up and knew exactly how Devon would react the moment she did. They’d been through many similar scenarios since the moment they both acquired their first cell phones.

As if on cue, her phone buzzed with a text. With a sigh, she looked at the display.

You know you just confirmed you like Ben by hanging up on me, right?

Mandy took a swig of wine and texted back. Sorry, wrong number.

She imagined Devon laughing as she read the reply. Why hadn’t she just let Devon think her mother was the one driving her?

Because there was a part of her, the part that inhabited all giggly teenage girls and evidently never went away, that wanted to talk about a boy she thought was cute. And Ben Hartley was way beyond cute. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, picturing how he’d looked standing there next to her car, talking to Greg. Tall, lean, his blond hair peeking out from under his cowboy hat. Her body temperature had gone up more than even the scorching heat of the day could account for, and it did so again now just thinking about it. Even the blissfully cool interior of her home wasn’t enough to prevent the flush to her skin.

Maybe this was all Devon’s fault. After all, her best friend wore a permanent grin of satisfaction on her face these days. It was only natural to want a little of that for herself, right? And she could do worse than Ben Hartley. Not that he was even interested. They’d lived in the same town for as long as she could remember and they’d never been more than classmates as kids and passing acquaintances as adults. But couldn’t the same be said about Devon and Cole? And look how that had turned out—wedded bliss.

Mandy shook that thought away. Ben was only going out of his way to help her because he felt responsible for the accident.

But a bit of fantasizing never hurt anybody, did it? No one ever needed to know what she thought about while sitting here in her own home enjoying her wine. Enjoying imagining what it might be like to kiss Ben Hartley.

* * *

OF COURSE HALF his family was outside and able to see his return in a truck more damaged than when he’d left earlier that afternoon. That was just how his day was going. And when he parked and got out of the truck, the amusement on his brother Adam’s and sister Sloane’s faces told him the pigeon story was already winging its way around the county.