Page 24 of My Secret Santa Dallas

“Good morning, Miss Marie,” I said.

She smiled. “Hello, Blair, and please, just Marie.”

I laughed softly. “It’s my southern manners. Do you have any coffee going?”

Pointing to the pot across the room, she added, “Would you mind taking another cup to Dallas? I don’t think he’s gotten his usual three cups.”

Even though I’m not particularly bad at mornings, one cup always got me going; for Dallas to have three, how crotchety was he?

I cocked my head. “Did you know Dallas before this?”

“Sadly, no,” she said. “But in the few days he’d been here, he’d been guzzling coffee like a camel does water. He’s out there on the ranch with the rest of the guys.”

“Hey Marie, do you have—” The door to the patio opened, and a woman came in, short, her blond hair stuck up with a pencil through it… and was that a screwdriver? She had a pair of blue overalls, most of which were stained with oil. She stopped in her place and stared at me. “You must be Miss Blair, right?”

“I am,” I replied. “And you are… Connie?”

“Yep.” She stuck her hand out. “Nice to meet you.”

“Thank you for the boots,” I said, “I'm going to ask you if I can buy them off you.”

“Nah,” Connie grinned. “You can keep ‘em. Consider it my welcome to the ranch gift to you.”

Even taken aback, I took her offer with grace. It was not gracious to press an offer after it was rejected. “Thank you. I owe you a coffee sometime.”

“A fancy one?” she grinned.

“As fancy as you want,” I laughed while crossing the room to fill the traveling cups with coffee. I didn’t know how Dallas took his coffee, so I took some small cups of cream, sugar sachets, and a spoon with me as I headed out into the backyard.

Luckily, Connie was a few steps behind and pointed me toward the stables. Before I went off, I asked her, “What are you doingso early?”

“Tuning up the ATVs.” She grinned. “We just got a new set of brake-pads to install; I’m replacing the oil and tuning up the transmission.”

The utter delight I heard in her voice made me smile inside; I liked women who went off the script and did something men said was theirs. I could change a tire on my Audi if needed, but I knew next to nothing about a car’s engine. I had roadside assistance and an army of mechanics for that.

“The guys love horses, and while I do too, I prefer motors. A four-wheeler was a rancher’s best friend. It didn’t need to be fed, vaccinated, or taken out for rides. It didn’t get lonely or break a leg in a hole.”

“What about when an axle shatters?” I asked.

Her face twisted. “Damn.”

“I hope it never happens, though.” I nodded. “But it sounds like you’ve got a fun day ahead of you, so I will see you later.”

“You betcha.” She headed off to the garage, and I walked over to the stables, which were mostly empty. A few horses were munching away in their stalls, but no humans were in sight.

I headed out to a pasture close by and saw the men on horseback roaming through the herd of bulls. I spotted Dallas in seconds, even under that beaten brown Stetson he wore. He rode a massive gray stallion like a professional, as if he’d never left the ranch and hadn’t sat at a desk for over fifteen years.

Muscle memory truly was something.

I stole a glance at his profile. His jaw was set with determination, and he appeared far more serious than usual— which was something in itself because he was always serious. With the sharp slant of his cheekbones and chiseled jut of his jaw, there was no doubt that Dallas was an attractiveman with a brooding quality that drew ladies to him like flies to honey, kind of like that guy in the boy band with eyeliner and black clothes.

He lifted the hat to wipe his face and shook out his hair, which oddly, as early as it was, was wet to the ends.

“How long has he been out here for?” I wondered to myself.

Frankie, the cocky cowboy, rode closer and nudged Dallas with a sly smile, pointing him my way, and when he turned, the two rode over to me. I was behind a post with two coffees in hand, and when Dallas dismounted his massive mount, Frankie stayed on his brown mare.

“I never expected to see you here,” Dallas said while patting the horse’s neck. “Is there something you need?”

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