Page 6 of A Cowboy Christmas

“Oh Booker!” Mary Beth sing-songs. “Can I bend your ear for a second or ten?” She giggles at her own joke but doesn’t wait for me to respond. “Now we’ve got to talk about getting your barn decorated for the tour. Christmas is around the corner, and we need to sprinkle a little cheer before it’s too late.”

“I’ve got it taken care of,” I tell her, and then I watch as her eye twitches.

“Already taken care of? But what do you mean? The girls and I were going to come over and do it for you.”

“It’s not necessary.” I tip my hat in her direction, but when I go to walk into the diner, she jumps in front of me.

“Booker, I’m sure whatever you have planned is fine for a normal event, but this is the tour of homes.” She smiles like a retired beauty queen that forgot the pageant was over forty years ago. “We want this event to be better than fine, we want it to be spectacular.” She waves her hand through the air, and I let out an exasperated sigh.

“Either I decorate my barn the way I want to, or I’m out.” She puffs up her cheeks like she’s going to say something, but I stare down at her, not flinching.

“Well, I suppose I don’t have a choice then,” she concedes.

“I’ll see you on the tour,” I tell her before I step around her and go into the diner.

When I get inside the diner, it’s busy, but I take the same seat I had last time. Joy is already talking to another customer, so I wait for Sabrina to come over.

It’s been two days since I last saw her, but I’ve thought about her nonstop. I had a shipment of cattle come in yesterday and I had to go out with my ranch hands and make sure they got them taken care of. Normally I’d leave it to them, but a couple of my guys on the crew had food poisoning, so I had to fill in.

“Morning, Booker, what can I get you?”

I look up and see Joy waiting to take my order. My eyes shift to the back of the restaurant like I can will Sabrina to make an appearance.

As if Joy can read my mind, she bends down a little. “Your girl’s in the back helping George with the books.”

For a second I think about pretending that I don’t know who she’s talking about, but Joy isn’t stupid, and I’m not going to treat her like she is. Instead, I nod. “All right.”

“He’s busy in the kitchen. Why don’t you pop your head in the office?” She gives me a wink before straightening up. “I think she’ll be happy to see you.”

I can’t help the grin that tugs at the corner of my mouth as I get up from the booth and go to the back of the diner. There’s a swinging door that separates the back from the front, and when I push it open, I see George and another guy are over the griddle and not paying me any attention. The office is farther back, and the door is ajar.

When I peek inside, I see her sitting there, still in her waitress uniform but sorting through papers. She’s got the cutest expression on her face as her nose crinkles and she tries to make sense of whatever it is she’s reading. There’s a pencil in her mouth, and every now and then she takes it out and scribbles something before putting it back.

I watch her for a long time, but eventually I need her to look at me, so I clear my throat.

She must have been deep in thought because as soon as she sees me standing there, she lets out a squeal of fright, and the pencil drops from between her lips. I’m pretty sure she hops out of her seat about a foot in the air because when she comes back down, her tits are jiggling. I make a mental note to do that to her more often.

“Booker,” she says and then puts a hand over her heart. “What are you doing back here?” She looks behind me like someone could be watching us. “Did George say you could be back here?”

“Joy gave me permission.” I shrug. “That seems to be about the same.”

“Good point,” she agrees, and I don’t miss how her eyes move up and down my body.

I’ve got on what feels like my own uniform. Jeans and boots with a thick flannel shirt and a cowboy hat. I’ve probably got a dozen of the same things because I don’t deviate from the things I like. I’m not one for change or to try something new, but everything about Sabrina makes me want to turn my life upside down.

“I need you,” I tell her, and her eyes snap to mine.

“Oh, right, for the tour thing.”

I want to correct her and tell her I need her for a lot more than that, but I don’t want to scare her off just yet. “I wrote down my number and address. Can you come by tonight?”

“Um...” She hesitates as I hold out the piece of paper and wait for her to take it.

“It can be after you get off work.”

Finally she takes the paper from me, and the feel of her soft fingers against mine is like a jolt of lightning.

“Okay,” she agrees and pulls the paper close to her like I might try to take it back.

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