Corporate Cowboy

Austin didn’t miss the way his secretary cringed at the action. After a polite greeting, Jean exited, leaving Austin alone with the high fashion model, but not before casting him a disapproving look. Ever since the day his father had introduced him to Daphne, Jean had felt it was her duty to warn Austin of the dangers of a woman like Daphne Delattre.

Austin had told his secretary on several different occasions that the model was his father’s choice of companions for him, not his. Judging by her attitude, she didn’t believe him.

Daphne perched herself on the corner of his desk, deliberately exposing the slender thigh of one leg. “Why are you scowling? Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“I’m not scowling,” Austin answered. “I always look like this when I’m working.”

“Then you should stop working and take me to lunch.”

Austin ignored the flirtatious pose and glanced at his daily planner. “Can’t do that. Schedule’s full.”

“You must be able to get free for at least an hour?”

“As long as I’m in the building I’m never free,” he answered, grimacing as he ran a hand around the back of his neck in an attempt to work free a kink that was cramping a muscle.

She immediately hopped down off the desk and pushed away his hand, replacing it with hers. “Here. Let me.”

Austin didn’t protest. If there was one quality he appreciated in Daphne it was her therapeutic touch. “You know you went into the wrong profession. You should have been a masseuse.”

She harrumphed in disagreement. “So are you going to tell me what has these muscles as hard as a rock?”

“No.”

She made a sound of disgust. “What you need is some time away from this place.”

“You sound just like Jean today.”

“Well, for once I agree with her. You need a break.”

“Well, you’ll be happy to hear that’s exactly what I’m going to get.”

Her fingers stopped massaging and she turned to face him. “You’re taking a vacation?” Hope danced in her eyes.

He chuckled. “No, a business trip.”

“When is it? I have some time coming up. Maybe I could arrange my schedule and come with you.”

Austin never mixed business and pleasure. “No, that won’t work.”

She stopped her kneading. “You don’t want me there?”

There was a little catch in her voice, a ploy that was becoming very familiar to Austin. Daphne was not above using every feminine wile she possessed to get her way. At first Austin had found it amusing, but lately it had begun to annoy him. She played games, which was the kiss of death for any relationship with a woman as far as Austin was concerned.

About the only good thing he could say about a trip to this ranch in North Dakota was that it would put a little distance between him and Daphne. Lately she had started assuming their relationship was more serious than it was. It didn’t help that his father encouraged her.

Neither one of them wanted to accept the fact that Austin wasn’t ready to settle down with any woman. His father and Daphne had become a tag team whose goal was to get him to the altar.

Austin sighed. Maybe getting out of Chicago for a week wasn’t such a bad idea.

KATHLEEN CHARLOTTE JUDD was not a stubborn person, although she had every right to be. It was in the Judd genes. Her grandfather, her father and both of her brothers had stubborn streaks that could try the patience of a saint. Fortunately, Kacy took after her mother’s side of the family and although she could be a bit headstrong at times, the folks around Cavalier, ND, knew she had a sweet disposition which was difficult to undermine. She was also good under pressure and enjoyed working with people, which is why the Judds had put her in charge of public relations for the Triple J.

Only today she was not feeling very sweet. It had rained six of the last seven days. If the sun didn’t shine soon, she would get downright cranky and not just because she needed its rays to boost her endorphins. The creeks were swollen, the ground was muddy and fifteen people were expecting to spend the next four days in the outdoors, riding, roping and rounding up cattle. It was enough to make any cowgirl edgy.

Kacy, born and raised on the ranch, was accustomed to working through not only rain, but snow, sleet and ice. The guests at the Triple J, however, didn’t have her years of experience with the elements. They were urban cowboys who wanted to experience life on the ranch, which was why unless the rain stopped, the upcoming week would be one big muddy challenge.

Because it was wet, the opening dinner was served in the dining room instead of outside around a campfire. All of the staff at the Triple J wore western wear, including Kacy and her sister, Suzy, who had on long denim skirts and fringed leather vests.

Halfway through dinner, her brother Dusty said, “Someone has to go back to Grand Forks to pick up the last guest.”

“What last guest?” Kacy asked warily.

He didn’t so much as blink. “The one that’s coming in at nine-thirty.”

“This isn’t the entire group?” she asked, surveying the crowd in the dining room.

“Nope. There’s one more coming and someone has to go get him at the airport.”

She set her fork down and fixed him with an inquisitive glare. “Since when do we make special trips for one?”

“Since it’s the CEO—Mr. Austin Bennett himself.”

Kacy groaned. “You should have told him to rent a car and drive out here if he couldn’t come with the others.”

Dusty clicked his tongue. “That’s what Dad said.”

“Well, for once I agree with Dad.”

He rested his arm along the back of her chair and said, “Aw, come on, Kacy. You know you don’t mean that. If you did you wouldn’t be in charge of PR around here. You’re the one who’s always telling me how important it is to be accommodating.”

Normally, Kacy wouldn’t have argued with her brother, but today she was feeling in no mood to cater to anyone, especially not a man in a suit. “I’m sorry, Dusty, you’ll have to forgive me, but I just don’t feel very accommodating today.”

“Aw, Kace, I know it’s been a bad day, what with you getting that letter and all,” he sympathized. “But you can’t blame all the suits for what one man did.”

She didn’t. But getting a Dear John—or a “Dear Joan” letter, as her sister Suzy had called it—made her feel as if she were entitled to be just a bit irrational today. “Gran always said that on any given day you’d find at least one Judd holding a grudge against someone or something. I guess today’s my day.”

Dusty groaned. “Dad should never have encouraged you to go to New York.”

But her father had urged her to go. Since childhood she had dreamed of living anywhere but on the ranch. She had been consumed with a need to explore the world outside of North Dakota, to soak up all the excitement she knew had to be happening in the big city. As soon as she had graduated college with her degree in art history, she went in search of that dream.

She took a job in an art gallery where she discovered that the life she had fantasized was not all she expected it to be. As she gradually became less enchanted with the bright lights of the city, she began to realize that although she loved art, what she really wanted was to be with her horses in the wide open spaces of North Dakota. After three years she had packed up her things and moved home. Her only regret about leaving the city was that she had to leave the man she loved.

At least she thought she had been in love with Steven Delancey. Now she knew that she should have ended their relationship when she had told him she was quitting her job and moving back to North Dakota.

He hadn’t tried to convince her to change her mind. Instead he had acted relieved that she had made the decision to leave New York, telling her he would be able to get more work done if she wasn’t around to distract him. Kacy knew now that that’s all she had been—a distraction. An up-and-coming lawyer wanting to make partner in his law firm, Steven was focused—too focused. For him, work was more than a way to earn a living. It was an obsession.

No woman would ever be number one in Steven’s life. Work would always come first, because his whole life centered around his profession. A wife and children would always take a back seat.

It was not the kind of life Kacy wanted—to be second fiddle to a job. And she did want marriage and a family—something she wasn’t sure would ever be on Steven’s agenda.