Free The Cowboy's Little Surprise by Barbara White Daille

enough to trust Tina. But not long enough to trust himself.
    The guards had gone up again, the defenses had been put back in place, and the next day in the cafeteria, he had turned down her invitation to the dance and walked away.
    Maybe he hadn’t done it nicely.
    All right, yeah, he’d been an ass. A typical, teenaged-male ass.
    That didn’t give her the right to cheat him of all these years with his son.

Chapter Six
    Once Jed had left the unexpected business meeting in the dining room, Tina’s cousins did most of the talking. Her mind kept wandering to Cole and Robbie. If they were together, she wanted to be there, too.
    As soon as she could, she left Jane and Andi and made her way to the lobby.
    In the reception area, she saw Jed ambling down the hall toward her from the direction of the kitchen.
    Cole barreled through the sitting room doorway. A quick look past him showed all three boys playing happily with Robbie’s ponies. Nothing wrong there.
    Yet when she met Cole’s gaze, his narrowed eyes told her she wouldn’t like hearing whatever he had on his mind.
    Slipping into her professional role, she stepped behind the registration desk.
    By the time Jed joined them, Cole had gotten his expression under control and found a smile. “You know, Jed, I’ve rethought the idea about staying at Layne’s. Considering how early I need to report in here every day, I’ll only throw off her morning routine and probably interfere with Scott’s sleep schedule. I’d like to take a bed in the bunkhouse, after all.”
    She froze. She didn’t want him living so close to the hotel, having so much access to Robbie. When Jed shook his head, she could barely hold back her sigh of relief.
    “Nope. That won’t work,” he said. “We haven’t got a bed free in the bunkhouse right now.”
    She blinked in surprise. They had room for several more wranglers. Why Jed would refuse to put Cole up in the bunkhouse, she didn’t know, but she felt immensely grateful.
    Until he added, “But that’s no problem. We’ve got plenty of rooms right here.” He turned to her. “Tina, take care of the man, will you?”
    Her heart sank. “But...we’ve never had a ranch hand stay in the hotel.”
    “Then maybe it’s high time we did. You know the cowhands are one of the biggest draws on this ranch.” He grinned. “Imagine folks checking in and finding a real, live cowboy joining them for their meals. They’ll get a kick out of it.”
    “But...” She stopped.
    When she made financial recommendations for the ranch or the hotel, Jed always heard her out. But naturally, as he owned the properties, the final decisions rested with him.
    The look of smug satisfaction on Cole’s face said he realized she had no choice.
    Jed sauntered down the hall again.
    She raised her chin and glared at Cole.
    “Is there a problem?” He glanced around the vacant lobby. “It doesn’t look like you’re all booked up. In fact, from what I saw this morning and the other day, you could use some customers.”
    “Guests,” she corrected. “And you’re not serious.”
    “Why not?”
    “You don’t need to take a room.”
    “Oh, yes, I do. You heard what I said to Jed about messing up Layne’s schedule.”
    “And that was a load of bull.”
    “No, it wasn’t. Besides, remember what I told you about her short couch? A few nights sleeping on that were enough to convince me to move over here.”
    “You don’t need to do this,” she insisted, her voice strained. “I told you, you can see Robbie.”
    “Yeah, you did. But look at the odds. You kept my son a secret from me for all these years. You haven’t even told your own grandparents the truth. How can I trust you to keep your word?”
    “That’s ridiculous.
I’m
the trustworthy one standing here. I’m the one who doesn’t run from responsibility.”
    “Maybe so. But suppose you’d given me the news a long time ago. How do you know I wouldn’t have stayed in town?” He leaned over the