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Chapter One
“Ineed to buy that man an answering machine.” Furious, Ally held the receiver away from her ear, eyes closed as the phone on the other end continued to ring. “Come on, Daddy, where are you?”
She was ready to hang up in frustration when the mechanical ringing stopped and then a loud clanging, ending in a finalthud. Then, a moment of silence.
Finally, “Circle K,” said a deep male voice rather breathlessly.
“Where in the world were you?”
“Excuse me?” the husky voice asked.
Oh crap, that’s definitely not him.She’d been so surprised her call had finally been answered, she hadn’t realized there was nothing familiar about the voice at the end of the line “I’m sorry….” she cracked.Wow, where did that high-pitched squeak come from?“I’m sorry, who is this?”
“This is the Circle K Ranch. Who’s this?”
The man’s question held an impressive sexy drawl. Definitely not a voice she’d ever heard in New York City, and one she’d only be lucky enough to find in her dreams.
“I’d like to speak to Jesse Kincaid, please.” She did a mental inventory of all the ranch hands but couldn’t place the voice. And he obviously didn’t recognize hers, either. Must be somebody new her father had hired since the last time she’d been there.
“Sorry, ma’am, he’s not here. What can I do for ya?”
“When will he be available, please?”
“Now, ma’am, I don’t guess I’m at liberty to say until I know exactly who it is I’m speaking at.”
God, men could be so arrogant. Why did he need to know who was calling? A simple answer would suffice.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but this is Ally Kincaid. Who exactly areyou?”
“Well, well, isn’t this a nice surprise? Miss Ally Kincaid. Did your father know you’d be calling?
She gritted her teeth in frustration and completely ignored his question.Who does this cocky, know-it-all cowboy think he is?“How soon do you expect him back? I need to talk to him today, and if you don’t mind, could you please not refer to me as ‘ma’am’? I’m not an old spinster, yet. I have a name. It’s Ally if that’s not too difficult for you.”
“Sorry to say,ma’am, but he’s out on roundup at the moment. Same place I was headed ‘til the phone jingled.”
Ooh. What a smartass. I can’t believe Daddy would hire someone so rude.She squeezed the handset tighter. “Forget it. Just give him the message, please.”
“Of course,ma’am. Anything for the boss’s daughter,ma’am.”
She was so pissed off she’d turned the chair away from her desk, banging it against the window. “Listen here, cowboy—”
“Hey there, been nice talking to you, but I gotta go. The boys’re yelling for me. I’ll tell Jesse you called, and you have yourself a good day,ma’am.”
Aclickand then silence.
“Tell me he did not hang up on me!” she screamed into the receiver.
“Everything okay?”
Whirling around fast, she dropped the phone. “Dang it, Daniel, you scared me,” she shrieked. “Doesn’t anybody know how to knock in this place?”
Her boss stood in the doorway, wearing a shocked expression. “Um. Sorry, Ally. I did knock. You didn’t answer, and the door was open a crack, so I came in when I heard you yelling. Is there something wrong?”
She leaned over the side of her chair to retrieve the handset from the floor and replaced it on the cradle. “I’m sorry. I was trying to contact my dad.”
“He’s okay, right? Do you need to go see him? You could take a few days off. You haven’t had a vacation in a while.”
She grimaced.Lovely. Apparently Jesse Kincaid isn’t the only one who thinks I need to take a vacation.She remembered his exact words on her voicemail the night before. “Ally-cat, you work too much, come see your old man. Ain’t gonna be here forever, you know.” Then he’d hung up without saying goodbye. Typical of her stubborn father.
