Mistletoe Wedding Read Free

Just not as soon as he’d planned.
    Even now, he felt like the wranglers’ dad, though he wasn’t much older than them, but that was part of his job as foreman. He had zero interest in parenting someone else’s kid or his own.
    Life as a bachelor suited him fine. He didn’t intend to change his marital status unless he found a woman who didn’t want kids. Even then, being single seemed like the way to go after seeing what his parents struggled through during their marriage.
    Yeah, Ty corrected, single and carefree was the only way to go. Kids only tied you down. Best to get rid of this one ASAP.
    And her mother, too.

    D on’t look back.
    Meg picked up the bell ornament from the floor. She blew off the dirt. Fixing tree decorations would keep her from staring at Ty’s retreating backside. She didn’t have to glance over her shoulder to know how nicely his jeans hugged his butt and thighs. The image had been burned into her brain like a Bar V5 brand the first time she’d met him three weeks ago.
    The man was attractive, but Meg didn’t dare let him know. The cowboy-wrangler-foreman whatever you wanted to call him spelled trouble.
    T-R-O-U-B-L-E!
    All capital letters with an exclamation point on the end.
    At least for her.
    Best to stop thinking about him and concentrate on the job at hand. Brooklyn, her six-year-old daughter, would be awake soon. Ellie and Siena, co-workers, would have things under control at the women’s bunkhouse, but the sooner Meg finished, the more time she would have to see to guests’ needs, as well as her daughter.
    Montana had been a good place to grow up when Meg had been a kid. She wanted to give Brooklyn more than a shabby, one bedroom apartment near the L. The only thing holding her to Chicago had been her job at a luxurious boutique hotel downtown. She crossed her fingers hoping this job at the Bar V5 turned out to be long lasting, and as good as it seemed to be after three weeks. She adjusted the ribbon on the top of the ornament.
    “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” played. Meg sang along. This Christmas would be different and better than last year. She had no doubt.
    The scent of pine filled the air. Her boss, Nate Vaughn, co-owner of the Bar V5 and the man who’d hired her for this dream job, had cut down the tree somewhere on the ranch.
    In another week or two, she and Brooklyn would go to a local tree farm and cut down their own. No more artificial ones. Meg couldn’t wait. She wanted to make this the best Christmas ever for Brooklyn.
    Meg looped the red ribbon ornament holder around one of the branches, but farther back this time. That should deter the cats from knocking off the bell again.
    Immediately, a black cat pawed at the ornament, ringing the bell, but the ornament stayed in place. A pair of green eyes challenged her with a how-dare-you stare.
    She laughed. “You won the first round, kitty. This one is mine.”
    She’d show the barn cats she was in charge. Ty might be another story.
    He hadn’t liked the decorations. Oh, he’d been too polite to say so, but the way his eye color changed from hazel brown to a sharp green gave him away, as did the muscle flicking at his jaw.
    Meg chewed on the inside of her mouth. Not her problem, she realized.
    Nate wanted the Christmassy feel of the main lodge to extend throughout the ranch. She’d done that, turning the red barn into a winter wonderland suitable for guests and wedding photographs. There was more she could do, too. If Ty had complaints, he could address them with his partner.
    Too many lights? That was a non-issue, given how bright and festive everything looked, since this was the oldest building at the ranch.
    “Meg,” Ty called for her.
    “Right here.” She turned to see him standing outside his office. “Need something?”
    “You.”
    Her heart bumped. A stupid reaction.
    So what if she knew from watching his interactions with guests, staff and animals that Ty was dedicated, hardworking