Corporate Cowboy. Pamela Bauer

I’m Kacy Judd. Welcome to North Dakota.”

      He took her hand, his blue eyes continuing to pierce hers with an intensity that made every red curl beneath her hat want to straighten. Just as quickly as he had clasped her hand, he dropped it, causing Kacy to wonder if he had experienced the same jolt as she had when their skin had touched.

      “Where’s your luggage?” she asked.

      He made a sound of derision. “It’s lost. Apparently it didn’t make the connecting flight in Minneapolis.”

      “Oh.” Inwardly, Kacy smiled. It served him right. “No need to worry. I’m sure someone from the airlines will bring it to the ranch when it gets here. Until then, you can pick up a few things in the Triple J’s western wear shop.”

      From the look on his face she doubted that he wanted to wear anything that had the word “western” connected to it. He didn’t look happy and as they passed the baggage claim area Kacy gave the clerk a sympathetic glance. No doubt Mr. Austin Bennett had made sure she understood his predicament.

      Judging by the look on the CEO’s face, Kacy thought it would be wise for anyone to avoid talking to the man if possible. Not a friendly word had dropped from his lips yet. She could only imagine what the long ride back to the ranch was going to be like. Everything about his body language told her he didn’t want to be here.

      When her father and brothers had announced they wanted to convert the ranch to a conference center for professionals, Kacy had laughed out loud. Despite the fact that one of her brothers had a business degree and the other had one in psychology, neither one excelled in the public relations department.

      Which was why they needed her to be a part of the family business. When it came to smoothing ruffled feathers, Kacy was a pro. After three years in New York and encountering what she thought had to be the crankiest people on the face of the earth, working with professionals hoping to find better methods of communicating was a piece of cake.

      Only this piece of cake looked as if someone could break a tooth if they tried to do anything but stay out of his way. He was going to be a challenge and although it would be easy to avoid Austin Bennett, Kacy was not one to run away from a job she was supposed to do. One way or another, she’d get this city slicker saying “yee-haw” before the week was over.

      Chapter Two

      “I don’t suppose you have an umbrella in that, do you?” Kacy pointed to his briefcase. “It’s coming down pretty good out there.”

      Austin thought pretty good was an understatement. The road out front looked like a river. “It wasn’t raining when I left Chicago.”

      “I take it that’s a no.”

      “Considering the prices your facility charges, Ms. Judd, one would expect that umbrellas would be provided for guests by the Triple J.” Austin didn’t mean to snap at the woman, but he didn’t care for the censure in her tone. After his conversation with Daphne, he wasn’t in the mood to be defending himself to any woman.

      And especially not this one. His gaze slid over her again, wondering just what kind of a place would send a woman wearing cowboy boots, a cowboy hat and a yellow rain slicker better suited to a two-hundred-pound firefighter.

      “Oh, but we do provide umbrellas, Mr. Bennett. All of your employees who came on time were greeted with an umbrella escort. We carry them in the vans.”

      “But you didn’t come in a van?”

      “Uh-uh. I drive that orange pickup that’s in the front row of the parking lot.”

      He glanced outside and noticed an orangish blur which he knew had to be the truck. Running even a short distance would leave him with a drenched suit. Not a pleasant thought especially since he had no change of clothes.

      “I think it would be more prudent to wait a few minutes,” he advised.

      “Don’t want to get your fancy suit wet, eh?” She gave him an understanding grin. “All right. You wait here. I’ll bring the truck to the door.”

      “That won’t be necessary. I can walk out with you, although I don’t see why we can’t wait until it isn’t raining quite so hard.” He could feel his patience slipping away.

      She shrugged. “It’s only water, but if you want to wait, that’s fine with me. I should tell you, though, that the way it’s been raining here lately, who knows when it’ll clear. And the longer we stay here, the less time you’ll have to spend with your employees when we get back.”

      “I’m sure my employees can get along without me this evening,” he retorted smoothly.

      “That may be true, but it is a long drive back to the ranch, Mr. Bennett, and it’s already late.” She reached for the door. “You’re the guest, I’m the driver. You wait here. I’ll get the truck.”

      “I’m not having you pick me up at the door!”

      “Why not?”

      “Because I’m not.” He unzipped his briefcase to get a section of the newspaper to use as protection from the rain.

      “Is that a laptop?” Kacy asked, peering over his shoulder.

      “Yes.” He pulled out the business section of the Chicago Sunday Times, aware of her eyes watching him closely.

      “Now that’s a shame.”

      “What is?”

      “That you brought your PC in that carry-on. You could have packed a change of clothes. Most people do that—pack an extra set of clothes just in case the luggage goes astray.”

      Austin wondered if she was deliberately trying to annoy him or if he was simply in a bad mood because number one, he didn’t want to be here and number two, he had just argued with Daphne. “I’m not most people and I happen to need my laptop.”

      “Not at the ranch you don’t. You’re going to be unplugged while you’re there.”

      “Unplugged?”

      “Yes. No telephones, no faxes, no PCs. This isn’t a working vacation, Mr. Bennett. It’s a team-building workshop that requires all of your attention and concentration.”

      He sighed impatiently. “Ms. Judd, I am the CEO of Bennett Industries. I have responsibilities. It would be not only foolish, but inconsiderate, for me to lose my connection with my office.”

      “Well, that may be, Mr. Bennett, but I think it would be even more foolish and inconsiderate of you to waste company money—which is what you will be doing if you don’t give your one hundred percent to the program.”

      “Excuse me?” Did she honestly think that running around playing cowboy was more important than running one of the country’s most successful manufacturing industries?

      “This whole concept is based on teamwork. You and your fellow employees are going to have to rely on each other. You’re not their CEO while you’re here, just another member of the team. And as a member of the team you need to work hard so that the others will know that they can count on you. Your attention needs to be with them, not with a bunch of suits in Chicago.”

      Austin could only stare at her in disbelief. He ran one of the most successful manufacturing companies in the country and he was being given a lecture on management by a woman wearing cowboy boots, a yellow rubber slicker and a ten-gallon hat. What had his father gotten him into?

      She peeked her nose out the door, then turned back to him and said, “I think there’s a slight lull in the rainfall. We’d better leave while we can.”

      If this was a lull, he shuddered to think what a downpour would be. By the time Austin reached the pickup he was soaked. His hair, his face, his hands—everything dripped with water, including his briefcase. The section of the Times that had acted as an umbrella was a soggy