Ranchers family christma.., p.15
Rancher's Family Christmas (Christmas at the Harvey Ranch Book 1),
p.15
“That’s our rodeo star,” someone said from the porch. “Always has girls hanging off of him.”
Travis, overhearing him, threw back his head and laughed at his younger brother’s comment. “These sure are the prettiest buckle bunnies I’ve ever seen, bar none.” Raising an eyebrow at Alex, he added, “I’m guessing we have you to thank for the hairstyles?”
The girls looked pretty in their fancy holiday dresses—but their hairstyles were a godawful mess. They looked like they’d been attacked by rabid barrettes.
Before Alex could respond, Travis scanned the rest of the porch and saw a familiar but unexpected face standing alongside his brothers. Juniper Marsh was the girl next door—literally, since she’d grown up on her aunt and uncle’s ranch, which bordered the Harvey property. She had also been Will’s best friend since they were all kids, which made her an honorary little sister.
“Hey there, you,” Travis said, stepping over to give her a hug.
“So, the prodigal son has returned, has he?” she said with a giggle.
“Now that you’ve hugged all the girls, do your brothers get a hello?” Will asked wryly. This started the customary handshakes and back slaps between the three brothers, who saw precious little of each other despite the love between them. They kept it going, reacquainting themselves with one another until their father, inside, started complaining loudly about all the fuss. When he asked if they planned to stand on the porch all day, letting all the warm air out, Travis couldn’t help rolling his eyes.
Alex took this as his cue and turned to his daughters. “Okay, girls—time to go inside. You’ve been out here long enough without coats. Why don’t you show Juniper how pretty you’ve decorated the table for brunch?”
That set Thora off on a monologue about everything she’d decided to do to decorate the table. Travis didn’t really catch it, but he did notice everyone tromping inside. He headed back to the truck so he could grab his bag and then join them. The duffel, when he hefted it over his shoulder, was comfortingly light. It was a pleasant reminder that he wasn’t planning to stay long. He’d give Thora the Christmas she wanted, catch up with his brothers and his dad, and then he’d head back out before he could get swamped with that old, familiar feeling that there was no place for him here.
He was so busy dreaming of escape that he forgot to look where he was going. As he stepped up onto the porch, he ran smack into someone who was just coming out of the house. Said someone gave a startled yelp and stumbled backwards. If not for Travis’s quick reflexes, she would likely have landed on the floor.
“Shoot, I’m sorry!” He exclaimed, his hands still on the stranger’s shoulders to keep her steady.
The victim of his distraction laughed prettily. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’s my fault. I wanted to bring out everything in one trip, but I’m carrying so much that I’m paying more attention to keeping everything balanced than to watching where I’m going.”
Now that he wasn’t in the process of bowling her over, it was impossible to miss how striking the woman was: petite, with light freckles and hair pulled up in a messy bun. Her eyes were wide and dark, peering up at him with a glint of humor. He also saw that she was carrying several bags, one of which was a medical bag. So, his father’s nurse, then. He’d had no idea she was so pretty.
“So, where are you running off to so fast? And can I help you carry your things to your car?” Travis asked.
She smiled again and started forward. “You can if you like, although you certainly don’t have to. Now that I’ve gotten Abbot squared away, I’m just headed home. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon, though.”
Despite her saying that she needed no help, Travis reached for one of her bags. With a little shrug, she allowed him to do so, hurrying down the porch steps alongside him and toward her little car. Travis loaded her things into her car, then stood there watching as it drove off. He was still standing there when Alex descended the steps to stand beside him.
“What?” Travis asked with a sheepish grin.
Alex just shook his head. “Nope. Don’t go there, brother. There has got to be someone other than Dad’s nurse for you to amuse yourself with while you’re home.”
Grab your copy of Cowboy’s Christmas Return
Available November 4 2021
Available for pre-order now! www.LeslieNorthBooks.com
Cowboy’s Secret Son
BLURB
Lights, Camera, Romance…
Remington’s late father left him half of the family’s famous cowboy camp. But he left the other half to a kid Remington has never met—although the adorable child's mother is no stranger. Melody Naly was Remington’s childhood best friend, until they foolishly spent a night together.
When Remington left home to become a hot shot rodeo star, Melody stayed to run the Collier Cowboy Camp, and to take care of Remington’s ailing father. But in the process, she sacrificed her dreams of traveling to raise her son...Remington’s son.
Remington only came back to star in a new reality show, following his renovations of the old-school camp, as he turns it into a state-of-the-art getaway for kids. With the cameras always rolling, nothing can stay hidden for long. Especially the smoldering tension—and chemistry—between Melody and Remington.
Once Remington finds out about his secret son, he’s desperate to be the best father he can be. But can Melody trust him this time, when he says he’s back for good?
Grab your copy of
Cowboy’s Secret Son
Available 27 January 2022
Available for pre-order now
www.LeslieNorthBooks.com
BLURB
All his life, billionaire hotelier Josh Denton loved only one woman—his mother, who died a few years back. So when the Cedar Grove Resort and Spa, a place where he’d spent the last Christmas with her, comes on the market, he allows a bit of sentimentality into his heart and sets out to purchase it. Sure, the place is a bit shabby, but he wants it. Problem is, the current owner is a family man, who won’t take kindly to his hotel being sold to a slick, single New York billionaire. When Amelia MacTaggart, his efficient and effervescent assistant, who just so happens to come from Cedar Grove, walks into his office, a plan starts forming. Amelia can act the part of his fake fiancée over the Christmas weekend at the hotel, and in return, she’ll get that promotion she’s been angling for. Seems like a win-win. And it is, until the ‘fake’ relationship between them starts getting a little too real, too fast. What’s a hot hotelier to do?
While Amelia readily agrees to participate in the farce, she feels guilty lying not only to the hotel’s grandfatherly owner, but also to her own family. Still, it’s not such a difficult task pretending to be in love with her sexy boss. If only she’d known that one kiss would turn their platonic ruse into the real deal. If only Josh weren’t being so nice, so fiancé-like. Sexy bed time aside, Amelia finally reminds herself of the brutal truth: This is all about business, about Josh’s obsessive need to win at any cost. She knows that. But as Christmas approaches and their hot romance turns decidedly frosty, Amelia begins to wonder if the only Christmas gift she is going to receive is a broken heart.
Grab your copy of The Billionaire’s Christmas Fiancée www.LeslieNorthBooks.com
EXCERPT
Chapter One
“Amelia, you got a minute?”
Joshua Denton ran his thumb along the curve of his chin as he awaited the throaty voice of his assistant, Amelia, over the speaker phone.
“Yeah, boss, what’s up?”
He smiled without meaning to—the natural side effect of hearing her happy-go-lucky rasp—and leaned forward to sit closer to the speakerphone. She was his right-hand woman and had been for the past two years.
“I need you to help me plan an upcoming trip.”
“Sure thing.” He could hear papers rustling, and then what sounded like a pull on a straw. She always had an iced tea from her favorite burger joint on her desk. The line went dead, and Josh leaned back in his chair. He and Amelia spoke probably fifty times a day, five days a week. It was the other two days per week that always left him curious about her—what she did, who she saw, whether she was still sucking on that iced tea in the comfort of her own home.
But Amelia was any Chief Development Officer’s dream, and he knew better than to mess things up by probing too far into her personal life.
Still, when she breezed into his office, strawberry blonde hair pulled back into a loose braid hanging to the top of her shoulders, her blouse the perfect shade of sky blue to complement her eyes, he heard that familiar whisper in his head.
God damn, she’s beautiful.
But he knew better than to let that whisper turn into a roar.
“That was fast,” he remarked, turning toward his computer. If there was anything he excelled at, it was focus. And the quickest way to ignore how attractive his extremely effective assistant was came through hyper-focus on the task at hand.
“You act like you forget that my desk is right outside your door.”
He smirked as she settled into the chair facing his desk, notebook at the ready.
“So what’s on deck?” She set her iced tea down, clicking at the top of her pen. “Hit me.”
“Cedar Grove Hotel and Spa,” he said, pulling up the open tab on his browser with the realty listing. He stalked these things daily, sometimes hourly. It was the only way to get the jump on exciting new business properties to help expand his family’s empire. And this one was particularly exciting. “Upstate New York. One of the oldest luxury hotels in the state. My personal favorite Christmas destination as a child. And currently on the market.”
She blinked and cocked her head. “I know that place. I grew up down the street.”
This tidbit forced Josh to turn her way again. “What?”
“Yeah.” She shrugged, reaching for her iced tea again. “It’s so beautiful, especially in the winter.”
“You’re from Cedar Grove?”
She nodded, giving him a duh look. Josh frowned, turning back to his computer. This little tidbit would have been nice to know weeks ago when he’d started his research and plan of attack. Because all along, he’d had one crucial piece of his arsenal missing. His in to Cedar Grove.
Because Cedar Grove Hotel and Spa wasn’t just any regular hotel property going up for grabs. No, this place was family-owned and operated. It had generations worth of history, and the owners—a married couple set to celebrate their fortieth wedding anniversary this Christmas season—were very clearly searching for the right buyer. Which meant price, or the thickness of the wad of money Josh was prepared to offer, didn’t matter. At all.
They wanted a family-oriented buyer, and Josh was the farthest thing from it.
He must have spent too much time staring at his computer screen in thought, because Amelia finally said, “Uh, Josh?”
“Hm?” He clicked through a few screens as a new idea occurred to him. He went into the search engine to type in “wives for hire.” This seemed like one of those searches that could only end poorly, but he had to try.
“Are we going to plan your trip?” Amelia asked.
“Right.” He sighed as the results showed exactly what he feared, all sorts of barely-legal international stuff. The IT department would get a kick out of this if they ever searched his browser history. “Dammit.”
“Sooo…” Amelia clicked the top of her pen. “Are we trip planning or not?”
Josh worked his jaw back and forth, swinging to face Amelia. He studied the top of his desk, lost in thought.
“You look like a mad genius right now,” Amelia said.
“Do you know the owners of the Cedar Grove Hotel?” he blurted.
She knit her brows together. She’d recently begun filling in her eyebrows, per the recent makeup trends. She was the only woman he thought could pull it off with flair. “Not personally, no…But I think their youngest might have been a few grades above me in high school.”
Prickles spread through his gut. He was on to something here.
“And you’re, uh, single, right?” He hated that the words hadn’t flowed easily for him. When she’d started at Denton Hotels, she’d had a boyfriend, but along the way he’d caught wind that situation had dissolved. He made it a point to not inquire into her love life. Deep down, a part of him worried he’d get jealous.
Her brows formed a ridge. “Yes…”
He drew a fortifying breath as the final piece of the puzzle clicked into place. The plans he’d wanted Amelia to make were for him to visit Cedar Grove and woo the owners himself. But what if he included her in the mix, and they just happened to think she was his doting fiancée?
“I need you to hear me out,” he began.
“I really hate it when you start sentences like that,” she said.
“When have I ever started a sentence like that?”
She lifted her hand, counting off each finger as she spoke. “First, there was the prank you wanted me to pull on your brother when I first started. Next, you had me rearrange the seats for the annual gala, which almost caused the accounting department to withhold my paycheck. Then, there was the—”
“Okay.” He raised a palm. “I get it.”
“Harebrained schemes, I think they’re called,” she added.
He fought a smile. “I’ve got one more scheme.”
She sighed exaggeratedly, cocking her head. As she shifted in the chair, the front slit of her blouse opened, and he caught a glimpse of the fascinating landscape beneath, pure cleavage and creamy skin. His gut tightened.
“I wanted you to come in here and help me plan a business trip to go woo the owners.” He paused, wetting his bottom lip as he raked his gaze over her. She had to agree to the plan. He’d make sure she couldn’t say no. “Now I want you to come with me and pretend to be my fiancée.”
Amelia’s eyes went saucer-wide. “What?”
“Do I need to repeat myself?”
She scoffed. “Josh. I can’t do that. That’s my hometown, everyone there knows me.”
“Except the Cedar Grove owners.”
She paused.
“It’s not like I’m going to ask you to do this without compensation,” he went on. “What do you think—time and a half for the duration of the trip?”
She blinked. “Like…for every hour we’re gone?”
He nodded.
“How long will the trip be?”
“Probably a week,” Josh said, his heart rate picking up. Just say yes. “I promise, it won’t eat into your Christmas vacation time. We’ll finish up right before you’d be heading home for the holidays anyway.”
Her crystal blue eyes went wider, cheeks stained pink. “You’re kidding me.”
“I’m not. I need you to do this.”
She deflated slightly. “But, Josh, you want me to lie. It’s true I don’t know the owners, but I know everybody else. The people in my hometown have known me since I was a baby.”
“If money won’t convince you, then what will?”
Amelia nibbled at her bottom lip, the lip that he had imagined kissing only in his weakest moments. He looked away. He knew better than to mix business and pleasure, which was why this idea felt safe to him. Amelia posing as his fiancée was pure business. And he’d make sure to keep it that way.
“Honestly? A promotion.”
Her words fell with a thud. He frowned, letting the idea percolate through him.
“You’re sick of being my assistant?” He tried to joke it off, but the fear was real.
“No, not sick of it. I just want to move up the ladder.” She softened a moment later, like maybe she’d noticed that he was worried. “Trust me, I love working with you. But I want to be a location scout. I want to take the trips to find the new properties…and then I want to move up from there. Maybe so high that I’ll be sitting on the same tree limb as you someday.”
He couldn’t fight the grin. “Yeah, well, it’s not as great up here as it might seem.”
“You’ve got power and prestige.”
“And no time for a personal life.”
She shrugged, not even flinching. “I already don’t have one of those, so no big deal.”
He hesitated. “I really hate the thought of losing you as my assistant. But…” He shook his head, allowing the truth to settle into him. “I knew this day would have to come.”
She batted her eyelashes at him, an infectious grin overtaking her face. “So? You’ll do it?”
“If you’ll come on this trip with me and help me secure the hotel,” he said, the words coming out heavy, “then yes. You’ll get your promotion.”
Amelia squealed and leapt out of the chair, pumping her fist in the air. “Then you have a deal!”
Grab your copy of The Billionaire’s Christmas Fiancée www.LeslieNorthBooks.com
Leslie North, Rancher's Family Christmas (Christmas at the Harvey Ranch Book 1)
