“You’re far to flattering,” she said with a smile. Emily could tell she and Edward were going to be great friends.

“Why don’t you spend as much time as you want in here and get used to it. Your son is in puppy heaven right now and will be perfectly fine,” he said and then slipped out the door.

Emily walked over to the large patio door and spotted her son and Joseph sitting on the covered porch, with six black puppies crawling all over the both of them. Trevor threw his head back and laughed with pure joy as one of the puppies stretched out across his body and licked him right across the face.

She knew her son was in good hands. She headed back to the kitchen and became familiar with the location of everything she would be using. Taking inventory of what food was there, she found paper and pen and began making up a menu for the next couple days. She couldn’t wait to start preparing a meal.

Emily looked up as her son and Joseph came back into the room and then noticed the clock. She hadn’t realized over an hour had already passed. She felt terrible she hadn’t checked on Trevor the whole time. She couldn’t believe how secure she was already feeling in the new place.

“What do you think about the kitchen?” Joseph asked her.

“Oh, it’s absolutely perfect. I can’t wait to get started on dinner.”

“You don’t have to start tonight you know. You can wait until tomorrow.”

“I don’t mind starting tonight at all. I honestly love to cook and this kitchen is more equipped than a five star restaurant. My hands are itching to get started.”

“Only if you insist. I’m sure the guys would much rather have a home cooked meal than the microwave dinners they were going to eat,” Joseph said.

“What time do they normally eat?”

“In the summertime, around seven and in the winter, five. We really only have two seasons on a ranch,” he said.

“I better get started then.” She went over to the fridge to grab some things. “What time should I have breakfast ready?”

“The guys like to usually come in around nine for breakfast. They’ve already been up and around a few hours by then and are pretty hungry,” he stated.

“That sounds perfect.”

“Do you mind if I take Trevor to look at the horses in the barn?” Joseph asked her.

“You really don’t have to do that, Mr. Anderson. He can hang out in here with me and color,” she told him, not wanting her son to be a burden.

“He’s no problem, Emily. I enjoy hanging out with the lad and no boy wants to hang around the kitchen until the food is all done. Come on Trevor, you can pick your favorite horse to ride. The boys love training young ones. We have to let the men know when dinner is ready anyway,” Joseph said. He led Trevor out of the room, before Emily had a chance to protest any further.

She knew Joseph wasn’t the type of guy who was told ‘no’ too often. She figured if he got frustrated with her son, he’d bring him back in. She started humming to herself as she began several large pots of chicken and dumplings with fresh bread.

Mark was in an unbelievably bad mood as he returned to his hotel room, which was unusual for the normally happy go lucky guy. Anyone who knew him knew he was far more likely to crack a joke than ever raise his voice.

He threw his cowboy hat onto the bed and stared at the blinking light on his phone indicating he had a message. His business deal fell through since the guy he’d been speaking to over the last several months had neglected to tell him the ten thousand head of cattle he was trying to sell were on the brink of death.

One of the few things Mark couldn’t tolerate was animal abuse. He could understand one guy punching another but to abuse an animal was uncalled for. A man didn’t abuse an animal, or ever hurt a woman. Those were pretty basic. When he dealt with scum like the guy he’d dealt with that evening, it took everything in him not to revert back to his teenage years and whoop the guy one.

He poured himself a drink and let the warmth spread down his throat to help calm his nerves. He then finally listened to his voicemail.

“Great news son, I found you a new cook. She’s absolutely perfect. She made dinner for the crew tonight and I think the men gained a few pounds. By the time they had nibbled every last crumb from her apple cobbler, we almost had to have a crane brought in to lift them from the table. Call me back when you get in,” his father’s overly loud voice came across the phone.

“Good deal. One less thing I have to worry about,” Mark said aloud to himself. He sat down to return his father’s call.

“About time you called back,” Joseph’s voice boomed over the line.

“I’m great and how are you, Dad?”

“Yeah, yeah how are you and so on,” Joseph joked back.

Mark really loved his father. He loved his entire family, including his sister-in-laws and beautiful nephews and nieces. His family had grown over the last few years and he was starting to feel a bit of loneliness, watching the clear love between his brothers and their wives. He would never admit that to his matchmaking father though.

“Did you get the cattle?” Joseph asked him.

“No, the guy turned out to be a real crook,” Mark answered, feeling his anger start to boil up again as he explained the story to his father.

They talked business a while longer and then Mark told him he needed to get some rest. “I will see you tomorrow. I’m coming home early since there’s no need to stay here any longer,” Mark told him.

“Good deal son, I’ll drive back out tomorrow. I’ll call the rest of the clan and we can have a family get together. It’s been a few weeks now, which is way too long,” Joseph said with complete seriousness.

“I agree with you, call the gang and we can have a barbeque. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Mark said hanging up the phone. He was already feeling better. There was nothing that made him feel as good as being with his family.

Chapter Two

“Can you make some side dishes for the family barbeque tonight? They are bringing everything else,” Edward said to Emily when she came downstairs.

“Of course,” Emily answered. She was incredibly nervous. Her boss was going to be home that night and not only him but his entire family. She really hoped she didn’t lose her job once Mark found out his new cook had a son.

She made the crew of men breakfast and lunch and then spent most of the day in the kitchen preparing a variety of dishes for the meal later that evening.

“Mom may I please swim now?” Trevor asked, as he came running into the kitchen, wearing his swim trunks and a hopeful expression on his face.

“How can I say no to that face?” she replied. “Let me run upstairs and change and then we can swim for a while,”

The pool was just what she needed to relax her muscles and stressed mind. There was a diving board and floating toys. She played with her son in the shallow end, enjoying his laughter. They were in the middle of a splashing war when Mark stepped out onto the patio.

He sucked in his breath when he caught sight of his new cook. She was stunning and he found himself trying to control the tightening of his body. He stood in the shadows and watched as she played with the young boy. Her laughter carried over to him, making him want to strip down and join them.

She climbed from the pool and the water dripped off her barely clad body. She had long dark hair cascading down her curvy body. She definitely had curves in all the right places. His hands itched to explore those curves.

She finally looked up and her stunning dark eyes noticed him standing there. They rounded in surprise as they both stood there, staring at each other for what felt like hours. Emily finally pulled out of the trance, wrapped the towel around herself and started walking over.

She took a deep breath and introduced herself. “Hi, I’m Emily and you must be my boss,” she said with a bright smile. She was hoping if she faked her confidence enough he would see past the fact she had a son and allow her to keep the job.

He was seriously the sexiest man she had ever seen before. He was well over six feet tall and solidly built. He had muscles in all the right places and the tight shirt and fitted jeans hid nothing from her view. He had dark hair, covered by a worn Stetson hat and his sea blue eyes seemed like they didn’t miss anything. She was having a hard time looking away from those mesmerizing eyes.

He looked her up and down, before finally replying to her. “I’m Mark Anderson. You’re the new cook my Father hired?” he questioned her, although he knew the answer.

Trevor had noticed the new man and came running out of the pool. “Hi, I’m Trevor. I like your hat,” he said, grinning at the man, while dripping all over his cowboy boots.

“Trevor Honey, back up a little. You’re dripping water on Mr. Anderson’s boots,” she said, a little horrified. She was trying to blend in and there she was with Trevor dripping all over the poor man.

Alex bent down so he was eye level with Trevor. “It’s okay Little Man. You can call me Mark. Are you enjoying the pool?” he asked.

“It’s the biggest and best pool ever and the puppies are so cute and did you know there are horses everywhere and Doug said he’s going to teach me how to ride them and everything,” Trevor stated all in one breathe. He couldn’t contain his excitement.

Mark laughed at Trevor’s enthusiasm and then ruffled his hair. Emily finally allowed herself to relax. The man seemed to genuinely like children. He was drop dead gorgeous and had a soft side for kids. She didn’t know men like him existed anymore. She started to feel her first stirrings of relief as she realized he most likely wasn’t going to fire her over bringing an extra person into his beautiful home.

“Maybe you can help me pick which one of the puppies we keep and give it a name,” Mark said.

Trevor’s face seemed to fall instantly and there were tears in his eyes. “What’s wrong baby?” Emily asked, as she dropped to her knees next to Mark.

“Why do the puppies have to leave?” he asked Mark, as tears streamed down his face. All Trevor heard was only one puppy would get to stay and he was devastated about it.

Mark was completely taken aback. If he saw a child or woman crying, all he wanted to do was fix the problem, no matter what it was.

“We’ll keep all the puppies. There’s plenty of room for them to run around here. You can name them all,” Mark said in a bit of a panic. He would’ve given the kid a handful of hundred dollar bills if it would have made the tears stop.

“You promise?” Trevor asked, with some skepticism.

“Scouts honor.”

“Thank you,” Trevor said as the tears instantly evaporated and he launched himself into Mark’s arms. Mark held him close and felt his heart grow a little larger. He didn’t even notice the water soaking into his clothes.

Emily had to turn away from the scene before her. She could see herself falling for her boss and wouldn’t allow that to happen. She needed the job and men like Mark didn’t settle down with women like her so there was nothing that could happen between them more than sex and then her employment ending. She almost wished he was a standoffish bully, instead of a sexy cowboy with a soft heart for children.