Send Me a Cowboy

  Send Me a Cowboy

  Send Me a Cowboy

  Midpoint

  Copyright © 2013 by

  Joann Baker and Patricia Mason

  Smashwords Edition

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  Blush Publishing

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  OTHER BOOKS BY JOANN BAKER AND PATRICIA MASON

  The Lady and the Law

  Emmaline Conway knew only one way to deal with problems and life in general and that was to rush at them head-on. Dancing around a problem didn’t solve anything—it only made your feet hurt. And she’d had enough hurt to last a lifetime.

  Sheriff J.C. Duvall hadn’t just been bitten by love once, he’d been chewed up and spit out. Now the by-the-book lawman wanted only to raise his daughter and live a quiet, peaceful life in the little town of Utopia County, Wyoming. But Emmaline’s constant shenanigans threaten his peaceful existence. Even if they can find a way to put their pasts behind them, can the solitary lawman and the fiery lawyer overcome their differences and build a future together?

  The Reluctant Rancher

  "Luke Tanner and women didn't mix, plain and simple."

  Luke Tanner learned early on that no one cared enough to look past his roughhewed appearance and sour attitude to discover what lay beneath the surface - other than his wallet. When Mary Carter hits him up for a loan, he makes her a proposition she can't refuse.

  Mary fantasized about Luke Tanner since her first glimpse of the veritable mountain of a man. She knows there's more to Luke than his bank account. Though she tries to hide her feelings, a fire burns between them. Will it end in ashes - or forge a love that would last a lifetime.

  The Grinch and Miss Goody-Two Shoes

  Mistletoe, falling snow and a six foot grinch!

  Private investigator Nicholas Trent hates the snow and whole sentimental hype of Christmas. All he wanted was to finish his investigation and get the heck out of Winterfall, Nebraska, and back to the sunny beaches of California. But he hadn’t counted on falling for his new assignment. The quiet beauty had a knack for melting his cold heart. But would she forgive him once she found out the secret he harbored?

  Kate Harris had never met a sexier man than Nicholas Trent. Even though he’d been sent to dig into her personal life and perhaps take away the niece she’d raised on her own for the past three years, his soul-stirring kisses fueled her dreams. Would she lose more than her heart, or would she receive a Christmas miracle?

  Christmas with the Millionaire Cowboy

  The only thing Penny Shepherd loved more than the Rocking J Ranch she called home, was the cowboy that held her heart in his calloused hands. The only thing she hated worse than being thought of as his stepsister, was being the overweight girl that couldn't possibly catch his eye.

  Ryan Jacobs felt not one ounce of brotherly love toward Penny Shepherd. And it was getting harder to pretend that he did. What he did feel was something so raw and powerful that it ate away at his gut a little more each day.

  With Christmas fast approaching, will these two hearts find a bit of holiday magic?

  SEND ME A COWBOY

  “Valentine’s Day is only three weeks away.”

  “So?”

  Katie Lenard sighed dramatically. “So, everyone will get either roses or candy or a diamond. Everyone but me. Again.”

  Her best friend, Jessica, snorted. “Well, boohoo for you. You have got to get over this obsession with Valentine’s Day, Katie. It depresses you every year. Even when you have a boyfriend.”

  Katie tried to contain her gasp at her friend’s harsh-sounding words, but couldn’t quite manage it. In her defense, Katie knew Jessica hadn’t meant to sound so mean.

  “Oh geeze, sweetie, I’m sorry.” The other woman squeezed her hand, a look of contrition on her pretty face.

  Katie hadn’t had a date for Valentine’s Day in the last three years—nor had she had a serious boyfriend or even a casual relationship in that time. Her last so-called romance had been the result of leftover Christmas blues when she’d accepted a date in desperation with a man in the audit department, hoping against hope the relationship would still be going strong when the hearts-and-flowers day rolled around. It had lasted a whole week before Katie dumped him after he had made it perfectly clear all he wanted was a roll in the hay with the fat girl. Apparently making it with a chubby chick had been one of his New Year’s resolutions.

  “I just want one special Valentine’s Day, Jessica, is that too much to ask?” She pushed away her half-eaten ham and cheese sandwich. Maybe if she started a diet now, she’d be slim and trim by next year. Maybe she would even join a gym. Again. She’d heard it was more difficult to lose weight after a woman turned thirty. She would reach that milestone birthday in less than six months.

  “You’ve had great Valentine’s days,” Jessica pointed out.

  “A Care Bear card from a boy in kindergarten does not count. Especially when the teacher made us give a card to all of our classmates.”

  “What about Roger? He took you out to dinner that one year, didn’t he?”

  True, Roger had been her boyfriend about five years ago. They’d been dating for almost four weeks when Valentine’s Day had rolled around. She’d never told Jessica, but she’d been planning to have sex with him that night for the very first time. She’d even bought a sexy red satin bra and panty set to wear under her little black dress. That, along with the three inch heels she’d been wearing, had made her feel confident and downright desirable. She’d gotten the roses and candy–and the bill for dinner when Roger’s ex had shown up halfway through the meal and demanded he leave his floozy–Katie–and come back to her.

  Katie gathered up the remains of her meal, throwing her friend a dark look. “The man left skid marks on the way out of the restaurant, remember?”

  “Oh. Yeah.” Her friend grimaced and finished her soda. She followed Katie out of the cafeteria and into the lobby. Their offices were located on the fifth floor of a twenty floor skyscraper in downtown Atlanta.

  “I’m just cursed.” Katie hit the button for the elevator. Her lunch hour was over and it was time to get back to work. Time to stop dreaming about what would never be. Being a big, beautiful woman–as the media liked to call any woman larger than a size twelve and sometimes even a size ten!–made dating difficult. Having long-term relationships even more so. There were men who liked to date larger women, but usually only until a smaller version came along. What man wanted a size twenty hanging on his arm when he could show off a size two?

  The elevator dinged and Jessica put her arm around Katie, giving her a quick hug. “Don’t worry, girlfriend, you’ll get your dream Valentine’s Day. Just leave it to Ms. Cupid.”

  *****

  “Still down in the dumps?”

  Two days later, Katie sat entering data into a spreadsheet when her friend took a seat on the edge of her desk. The women worked for Collins and Collins, one of the largest accounting firms in Atlanta, Georgia. Katie’s job duties usually included overseeing the finances for the smaller businesses while Jessica worked with the larger accountholders. Katie liked it that way. Seeing to the day-to-day accounting for the sole proprietor was usually more interesting and challenging than mindlessly entering the same information over and over again for the larger corporate accounts. She tried as hard as she could to make sure the small business owners received every possible tax deduction. Plus, it was always amusing to see what some people thought they could take as a business deduct
ion.

  “No, I’ve resigned myself to asking you to be my Valentine. Again.” Katie entered the last of the figures and hit save before giving her friend her full attention. “How about it? Want to come over to my house and watch chick-flicks and order a pizza?”

  Jessica patted Katie’s cheek and gave her a beatific smile. “You know you’re always my number one choice, but I don’t think you’re going to be available this year.”

  Katie’s eyes narrowed. “What are you up to, Ms. Warren?”

  “Not Ms. Warren.” She wagged a finger in front of Katie’s face. “Ms. Cupid, remember? Here’s your Valentine.” She placed a red folder on Katie’s keyboard.

  Katie stared at the folder as if waiting for it to turn into a snake and strike her.

  “Go ahead, open it.” Jessica’s voice trembled with excitement.

  Katie flipped open the folder. Inside was a picture of a cowboy. An unsmiling, ruggedly attractive cowboy who could give the guy on the Marlboro commercials a run for his money.

  “Wow. You’re going to hire me a male escort and make him dress up as a cowboy?” Katie had always had a soft spot for cowboys. What red-blooded American woman didn’t? Cowboys were the ideal man–strong and determined with drool-worthy bodies who treated their women like gold–or at least that’s how Hollywood portrayed them. “Who is that?”

  “That, my girl, is your next assignment.”

  Katie pulled her gaze away from the picture with difficulty. The quality of the photograph was excellent and the vibrant male subject was hard to turn away from. The man’s eyes were the darkest shade of green she’d ever seen. Almost black, with swirling emerald strands. Mesmerizing. “What?”

  Her friend smiled smugly. “John Kinkaid, owner of the Triple K Ranch and CEO of Kinkaid Oil and Gas Holdings. And Katie Lenard’s own personal cowboy valentine.”

  “Wow.” Katie said again. The Triple K and Kinkaid Oil and Gas were two of the company’s biggest accounts and Jessica had been put in charge of them last year. Katie picked up the picture and studied the man. He was too rough-around-edges looking to be conventionally handsome, but he made Katie’s heart pound nevertheless. There was something about him that spoke to her. He looked solid and secure and she’d never had anything stable in her life. Her mother and father had divorced when she was three and she hadn’t shared more than an occasional holiday card with her father since she was ten. Her mother went through men like Sherman marching through Atlanta. They’d moved in and out of strange men’s houses so frequently, Katie had finally stopped trying to learn their names or form any emotional connection.

  John Kinkaid had inherited his family ranch when he was only twenty and, by the time he reached twenty-five, had turned a mediocre breeding program into a multi-million dollar business. Fortune continued to smile on the imposing Mr. Kinkaid and oil and gas had been discovered on his land about five years ago. At the still young age of thirty-nine, he was well on his way to becoming a billionaire.

  There were other pictures in the file along with various magazine articles written about his success. Katie flipped through them, becoming more and more entranced with the man as she read. It didn’t escape her notice that all the pictures featured a woman. And some even featured women who were above average in size. Unfortunately, they were above average in looks as well. He was escorting some of the top plus size models from around the world. When she got to the end of the file, she looked up at Jessica. “I don’t understand.”

  “Mr. Kinkaid has asked for a consultation regarding his latest project. His younger brother wants to open a guest ranch.”

  “His brother wants to turn their home into a guest ranch? Why would he want to do that?” Katie’s brow furrowed. “They’re loaded.”

  Jessica shook her head. “No, no. Not the Kinkaid residence. Apparently there’s an older home, the original homestead, on the ranch which the brother inherited.”

  Katie closed the folder, shutting out the man’s disturbing image. Disturbing to her peace of mind. He seemed like the perfect Valentine. Handsome. Check. Rich. Check. Cowboy. Double check. Apparently liked plus-size women. Triple Check.

  Reality check. Why would a handsome, rich cowboy who dated beautiful, famous women want a chubby little nobody like Katie Lenard?

  Real world reality double check: He wouldn’t.

  “Why are you showing me this, Jessica? Is this some kind of practical joke?”

  “God no, Katie,” Jessica objected vehemently. “I’d never do that to you. Mr. Harper has asked me to choose the individual who will do the consulting.” She leaned closer. “This is right up your alley. Plus, in case you didn’t notice, Mr. Kinkaid as an, umm, thing for women of size.”

  Katie snorted. “Plus size women who look like Miss Universe. It was a nice thought, Jessica.” Although she wasn’t completely lacking in the looks department, she would definitely never win any beauty contests, even if her weight wasn’t a drawback. She had a rather ordinary oval face, high cheekbones, and nice brows. Her hair was average as well–light brown, worn in a shoulder-length style, currently pulled back into a low bun on the nape of her neck. Jessica was always urging her to get her hair cut, but she had no patience for the time and maintenance that went with a complicated style. The only thing about herself that Katie even considered any way out of the ordinary was the color of her eyes. They were a deep, dark brown that everyone described as warm and inviting.

  She tried to push the folder back into Jessica’s hands, but the other woman refused to take it. “I can’t do that.”

  “Yes, you can.”

  “No. I can’t.” Katie was quite happy with her position at the firm. She made a good salary for a reasonable amount of responsibility. Jessica was more career-driven than Katie. Katie had a job, not a career. A job she would give up in a New York minute to become a stay-at-home wife and mother. Or not. If she needed to work, she would happily continue to do so in order to help support her family. It would be a struggle to juggle both, but with a loving partner, she knew it would be possible.

  A loving partner. A man who loved her. Someone to love. That’s what Katie wanted. She sighed. That was not in her future.

  “Take the folder, Jessica.”

  “No.” Her friend stood up and backed away. “The assignment is yours, Katie. I’ll send you the details later. Just study up on your Valen-, umm, client.”

  *****

  A week later Katie sat in the waiting room of John Kinkaid’s plush office. She had an appointment with the owner of the Triple K to discuss projected costs of the proposed guest ranch project. She was more than a little excited to meet the man, but she’d never admit it to Jessica. The more she’d read about John Kinkaid, the more she’d liked him. He’d had a hard life. His parents had died when he was sixteen and then his grandfather had passed away four years later, leaving him and his younger brother alone in the world with nothing but each other and a ranch which was barely holding its own.

  “Ms. Lenard?”

  “Yes, that’s me.” She glanced up at the woman calling her name and almost groaned aloud. The tiny seed of hope that had started to grow of catching Mr. Kinkaid’s eye withered away and died. Katie rose and tried not to compare herself to the other woman but with little success. The woman was beautiful. Long, curly blonde hair framed a gorgeous face with big blue eyes. She was at least four inches taller than Katie’s five-foot-five generous frame and, of course, didn’t sport nearly as much padding. It seemed as if her legs made up almost half her height.

  Not even one of Katie’s favorite outfits, a mid-thigh olive green skirt with a matching jacket and a cream colored blouse made of cashmere-like material that clung to her abundant breasts, could make her feel better. She didn’t even have that advantage she thought sourly, although she was pretty sure the other woman’s large rack was courtesy of a surgeon whereas Katie had her grandmother to thank for her curves–all of them.

  Maybe she should take Mr. Harper up on his offer to increase
her responsibility. Because it looked like she’d have no one else to depend on in her old age but herself. It was highly unlikely that someone such as John Kinkaid would look twice at a woman like her when there were always going to be women around who looked like his secretary.

  “Go right on in.” The woman smiled and ushered her through a set of double oak doors.

  Katie put a smile on her own face and clutched the briefcase Jessica had loaned her. Inside it was a fairly comprehensive draft of a business plan and a one-year cost projection based on her preliminary research. Until she spoke to both John and his brother concerning the specifics of the business, there was only so much she could accomplish.

  John Kinkaid sat behind a mahogany desk, talking on the phone. She sighed. His picture—although exceptional—hadn’t really done him justice. He was broad-shouldered and dark-featured with a face that should be gracing the covers of magazines, all craggy lines and planes. Beautifully masculine. Over the last week she’d developed a huge crush on her temporary boss. Unless there was some horrible character trait that hadn’t been mentioned in the newspaper articles and industry reports, this was a man she could easily lose her heart to.

  She stopped in front of the desk, her heart pounding. He didn’t say anything, just stared at her as he finished his conversation. His dark green eyes roved boldly over her figure and she resisted the temptation to suck in her gut. She was what she was, extra love handles and all.

  When he continued to stare, she raised her chin. Any other woman might have taken the intense scrutiny as interest, but not Katie. The intense man behind the big desk apparently didn’t like her–or at least didn’t like her looks. She felt incredibly vulnerable but didn’t let it show. Here she stood before a tiger with no way out–both figuratively and literally. The door was now firmly closed behind her, cutting off her escape route. Plus, this was her job, so she couldn’t leave even if she gave in to the instinct to turn tail and run.