Page 160 of Her Boss, Her Rancher: Sunrise On The Ranch

Jared grinned and shook his brother’s hand and then walked over to hug Lauren. “Congrats, you two.”

“Thanks,” she said. “It’s finally out in the open. We’re having a girl!”

“Yeah, too bad your mom couldn’t be here. Cooper said she was out of town this week.”

“She’s in Louisiana for the week visiting a friend, but we found a way. She’s on FaceTime now.” Lauren looked into the cell phone and waved. “Hi, Mama. Wish you were here with us.”

“Me, too, honey. Oh, sweetheart, you’re having a girl. I’m very excited. Be sure to save me a piece of that pink cake.”

“We’ll do that, Mama.”

When all the hoopla died down and the final details of the Christmas party were discussed, Jared and his mother said their goodbyes and drove off. He was dying to see Bella, to tell her how sweet it was of her to bake the cake for Lauren and Cooper. To tell her he’d missed her. He glanced at his mother behind the wheel of his car, and shook his head.

With his houseguest, this evening, there would be no rendezvous with his Midnight Contessa.

Instead it was going to be a long, lonely night.

Nine

Bella stood at the top of the stairs, dressed in a snow-white, knee-length, tailored dress adorned with a red-ribbed belt with a matching poinsettia bow to her side. Her shoes matched, too. The only jewelry she wore was a pair of sterling-silver chandelier earrings. Sienna was dressed in Christmas plaid, the dress flaring out in poufy layers, shiny black Mary Janes on her feet.

They were ready for the Christmas party.

“Okay, Sienna. Remember, best behavior, sweet girl. This is your first Christmas party,” she said as she held Sienna’s hand and started down the staircase.

Jared stood at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in a black suit, looking sharp and crisp and deadly handsome.

She’d missed him these past couple of nights. And she was eager to be his date for the party. Veronica sidled up next to Jared at the bottom of the staircase, and she also watched them descend. There was a point when Jared’s mother looked at her and flinched, and then she seemed to recover, leaving Bella with an odd sensation before Veronica walked off.

“You look beautiful, Bella,” Jared said. He touched her hair, a sweet, innocent touch that sent shivers up and down her spine. “I like your hair like that.” She’d pushed all of it to one side, letting it drape down her chest. It was held in place with a long silver clip.

Then Jared bent to Sienna. “Sugar plum, I don’t think there’s a prettier girl here. Give me five.”

Sienna giggled and slapped at Jared’s hand. Sometimes she made it, sometimes she missed. Tonight she made it and her chest puffed out.

“That’s my girl.”

Jared rose and took Bella’s hand.

“This place is really transformed,” she said.

“Thanks in part to you.”

“Just a small part. I helped with the decorations.”

They strolled around the warm, cozy house, two big, blazing fires in the fireplaces keeping the cold December air away. The two trees were decorated with colorful bulbs and ornaments and garland. Christmas music played and Sienna danced about.

Jared introduced Bella and Sienna to many of the ranch hands, workers and their families who kept the ranch going. There were many small children present and Sienna made fast friends with a few of them. Bella also met some of Jared’s associates from his Dallas office. All in all, there were about fifty people.

“Champagne?” he asked, grabbing two flutes from one of the wait staff.

“Sure, thanks.”

He put his arm around her waist and brought her up close, so they were hip to hip. “God, I miss you,” he whispered in her ear.

She swallowed hard. It was the first time he’d touched her in public like this for all the world to see. Heat rose up her neck. She was his date, but she hadn’t expected any real show of affection from him in front of his crew and friends. After all, she was his employee.

She whispered back, “Do you really think this is wise?”