Trish Milburn - The Rancher's Surprise Baby

“I’m more than happy to come get you in the morning.”

“Mom, it’s taken care of. You don’t need to worry about me, okay? I’m a big girl—have been for a long time.”

Her mom laughed a little. “Old habits die hard, I guess. Well, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Have a good night, hon.”

“You, too. Love you.”

Her mom reciprocated the sentiment then hung up. No doubt she was tired from another day of cleaning rooms at the Wildflower Inn followed by a shift as a dishwasher at a café over in Fredericksburg.

Mandy placed her phone back on the countertop and stared at it for several seconds before glancing toward the porch. She could barely see the top of Ben’s head through the glass in the front door. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and put an end to a day filled with one frustration after another. She was normally a cheerful person, and she hated feeling irritated at every turn.

She closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath, then let it out just as slowly. It was still within her power to make something positive out of what was left of the day. She should just do that in something other than her skimpy summer pajamas. She wasn’t even wearing a bra!

After hurriedly pulling on a T-shirt and gym shorts, and replacing the bra she’d ditched about five seconds after Ben left earlier, she grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the fridge and went back outside. She plunked herself down beside Ben and extended a bottle toward him.

“Figured if you were going to sit out here, you at least should have something cold to drink.”

He took the bottle. “Thanks. And sorry if I came across as bossy. Been one of those days.”

She smiled. “Yeah, I know.”

A grin tugged at the edge of his mouth, and that small change in his expression made her middle feel funny. Not funny as in ha-ha or “I’m going to be sick,” but rather “Oh, that’s a nice hint of a smile on a really nice face. I wonder what those lips would feel like on mine.”

Yep, she’d officially gone bonkers.

“Guess we both could use a do-over,” he said.

“My mom has always said if you’re having a bad day, don’t focus on it. Just remember there’s a brand-new one coming in a few hours.”

“Your mom sounds very Zen.”

“Just practical. She doesn’t see the point in wallowing in self-pity. Chances are it won’t change anything and will only make you feel worse.”

“If life gives you lemons, make lemonade?”

“Oh, great. Now I want, like, a bucket of lemonade.”

“I’m not sure you have room for a bucket in there,” Ben said, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb.

“That’s it. It’s now my mission to make you a tiny-house fan.”

He shook his head and chuckled as if she was setting herself up for a Sisyphean task.

“Was that Greg calling again?”

Again? “No, my mom.”

“Guess I didn’t get to that part earlier. Greg called and said that it would be a few days until he could fit your car into his schedule.”

She sighed. “Well, that’s about par for today. Why didn’t he call me instead?”

“He said he did, that you didn’t answer and that your voice mail was full.”

Mandy’s forehead wrinkled. “No, it’s not. And there were no missed calls.”

Ben shook his head.

“Let me guess. Greg is messing with us.”

He nodded. “Guess he got infected with the matchmaking virus that seems to be spreading all over town.”

“You say that as if it’s the bubonic plague.”

“At least people don’t go around trying to give you the plague.”

“Wow, remind me to tell the single ladies of Blue Falls to give you a wide berth.”

“And there went my dating life, pitiful as it is.”

Mandy laughed. Who knew Ben Hartley was so funny? And dang if being funny wasn’t one of the things that really attracted her to a guy.

“We should totally mess with Greg, convince him he’s the best matchmaker ever. Go in tomorrow and tell him we’ve set a date. I could take a bridal magazine and ask him to help me pick out a dress.”

“I’ll ask him to be my best man.”

“Oh, oh, I’ve got it! Tell him we want him to get ordained online so he can marry us.”

Ben snorted. “Greg Bozeman an ordained minister. And that’s where you lost me.”

“Yeah, that was the step no one would actually believe.” She stared out into the darkness. “We could always toilet-paper his house as payback.”

“Shrink-wrap his truck.”

“No, wrap it in pink streamers. We just happen to have a couple of cases in the back of the shop.”

Ben slowly turned his head to look at her, and up this close, even in the half-light, his blue eyes threatened to make off like a bandit with her ability to breathe.

“Already stocking up on decorations for Valentine’s Day?”

Valentine’s Day. Romance. Kisses in the moonlight.

Oops, keep your brain in the present if you don’t want to look like a dimwit.

“No. They were delivered to the wrong place. Were supposed to go to a party store in Austin.”

“That mix-up doesn’t make sense.”

“Nope, but the company said to just keep them and they’d send new ones to the right address.” She smiled wide. “I’m thinking that’s the universe telling us they have a greater purpose here in Blue Falls.”

He lifted a dark blond brow. “You’re serious?”

“I am.”

“And if we get caught?”

“We won’t.”

“You know this is going on the front page of the Gazette if we do,” he said.

“I expect you to use your connection at the paper to keep that from happening.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “What the hell? Not as if I’m going to get any work done tonight anyway.”

“And it’ll be a lot more fun than sitting out here waiting for Mr. Kitty to make an appearance.”

“Mr. Kitty?”

“Makes him seem less scary.” She jumped to her feet. “Be right back.”

Mandy hurried inside and pulled on her sneakers, trying not to think about how excited she was to go out pranking with Ben. Or how the idea of it seemed to dispel her earlier fatigue and frustration. She didn’t dawdle, not wanting him to have second thoughts. Maybe she should let him go home. Maybe she could ignore how much she liked being around him. But she simply didn’t want to.

He looked up at her approach. “We’re really doing this?”

“Come on. Live a little.”

She expected him to call a halt to her crazy plan, but when he didn’t, she nearly sprinted to his truck. Granted, that probably wasn’t the wisest move when a mountain lion could be lurking about. She’d probably just made herself look even more like dinner. But she made it safely and breathed in a quick, deep inhalation while Ben took one more look at the surrounding area before opening his door.

His truck smelled like him—a mixture of horses, leather and another striking scent that reminded her of pine trees and long, tall Texans making Wranglers the sexiest piece of clothing on the planet.

Ben secured the rifle in the rack in the back window then slid into the driver’s seat. “I must be crazy doing this.”

“Sometimes you need a little crazy in your life to make things interesting.”

As Ben turned the truck around and headed down her driveway, she watched his hands on the steering wheel. They looked strong, probably also a little rough from his work on the family ranch. She really needed to find a safe topic of conversation before he caught her staring or, heaven forbid, drooling. Maybe she ought to toilet-paper Devon’s house instead for putting these kinds of hot-and-bothered thoughts in her head in the first place.