Cowboy Blue Page 16

  Teary-eyed, Casey laughed. “Yeah. I have.”

  Funny how things worked out. Twenty-years after her only wish for Christmas had been the Cowboy Cody doll, Casey was finally going to get what she wanted. But even more because unlike Cody, Bonner was very real.

  Casey somehow managed to hail one of the few available taxicabs—years of being a New Yorker gave her an advantage over the tourists in that area. Though the holiday gridlock had traffic moving so slowly, she probably could have walked faster.

  By the time she was back on her block, she was agitated and keenly feeling the time crunch. She had to throw a few things in a bag and get to the airport.

  She was feeling so rushed, it wasn’t until she paid the cab and had started up the stairs outside her building that she saw Bonner sitting on the top step. His coat was buttoned up and pulled close to this throat, his hat tipped low over his face. It was a strange and wonderful sight.

  “Bonner?” She sprinted up the remainder of the steps. He was here, but for how long?

  “Hey.” He stood. “I couldn’t leave.”

  “Why not? Was your flight canceled?” She reached out and grabbed his hands, cold from waiting outside for her.

  “No.” He kissed her and she nearly stopped caring about the answer to her question. Finally, he pulled back. “I called the ranch and the boys seemed all right without me for a little longer, so I called Dean. I asked him to change my return flight and to send me a car and driver at the airport. I figure if I’m going to be the president of Maverick Western, I could take advantage of the perks every once in a while.”

  Still shocked, she couldn’t help but smile. “I’m really glad you did.”

  “Me too.” He tilted his head toward the door. “Can we go inside?”

  “Of course.”

  He glanced at the sky. “There’s a storm coming. There’ll be snow before morning.”

  She could barely breathe but she managed to answer, “That would be nice, but it never snows here in the city for Christmas.”

  Bonner shrugged. “Feels like snow.”

  Casey was shaking so badly, with excitement or adrenaline or just from being near Bonner, she could barely get the key in the door.

  Finally, she had them inside, upstairs, and in her nice, warm apartment.

  Once inside, with the door shut, Bonner peeled off his coat. He tossed it onto a chair and pulled her close. “I couldn’t seem to leave you.”

  “I was coming home to pack a bag and try to get a flight to be with you in Colorado. I couldn’t stand the thought of being away from you either. Especially not at Christmas. Or ever.” She needed him to know that.

  Bonner shook his head. “We make quite a pair, don’t we? City girl. Country boy. We can’t live together, but we don’t want to live apart.”

  “We’ll make it work. You’ll be in New York monthly visiting headquarters. I’ll fly to you in Colorado whenever I can. At least once a month. Maybe more.” She had plenty of frequent flier miles.

  “I guess. It’s not exactly the ideal situation.”

  “No, it’s not.” Casey wanted to fall asleep in his arms each night, and wake to him making love to her each morning, not just a few times a month.

  “Casey, I don’t know much about this corporate stuff, but I have a question. Why are the corporate offices in New York and the warehousing in New Jersey when the company was founded in Colorado?”

  Keeping hold of his hand, she led them to the sofa and took a seat. “Well, I guess when they made the decision it made sense. When Maverick Western began importing products and materials for production, it made sense to put the offices and the warehouses near the shipping facilities in Jersey.”

  From his seat next to her, Bonner shook his head. “Why are we importing materials? Why aren’t we using things from right here in the U.S.?”

  “I don’t know. That decision was made years ago.”

  He scowled. “Probably the few years Jake’s son, Junior, worked for the company right after college. Before he left and went to a different company.”

  “No wonder Jake left control to you.”

  “I guess.” He shrugged. “You know, Mrs. Jones said something to me the night of Jake’s wake. She said to look to the past to make decisions for the future. Why can’t we go back to the way things were originally when John Maverick founded the company? Even if we do have to ship things farther to get them to and from Colorado, it would be Americans we’re putting to work doing the trucking. That’s a good thing. No?”

  “Yes, it is a good thing. But accounting would have to crunch the numbers. Even after the initial cost of the move, it might cost the company all of its profits to have the facilities in Colorado.”

  Bonner shook his head. “I haven’t been here long but I’ve noticed one thing. Things cost ten times as much here in New York as they do back home.”

  Casey considered that. “You might be right. The cost of having production and warehousing in the mid-West might be considerably less. All those years ago when they made the decision to move to Jersey things were probably much cheaper there than they are now. But closing the Maverick facilities wouldn’t be a popular move. There’ll be backlash from laying off all the East Coast employees if you close them.”

  “We could make the transition slow and even after it’s done, we could still maintain a smaller distribution and shipping center here on the East Coast. Maybe even open it up once a year to the public, as like an outlet center to get rid of overstocks and any old stuff to make room for new products. Folks like that kind of thing, don’t they?”

  “Yes, they do.” She smiled. “You have a better head for this than you give yourself credit for.”

  “No.” He shook his head. “I feel so far out of my world I can’t even tell you.”

  “Kind of like how I felt on a horse, or in the outhouse?”

  He let out a short laugh. “Yeah, kind of like that, except you only had me watching, and I was already on your side. I’ve hundreds of employees and a few million customers worldwide watching me. I’m sure quite a few of them are just waiting for me to fail.”

  “Nobody’s waiting for you to fail.” Casey gave his hand a squeeze.

  Bonner cocked up a brow. “My dear Maverick cousins are.”

  “Then it will be extra satisfying to rub it in their faces when you succeed.”

  Bonner laughed. “Now, now, that attitude’s not exactly in keeping with cowboy code is it?”

  “No, but it is in keeping with the New York code. You’re in my world for now, and even though I might not be so great at riding a horse, I am excellent at swimming with the sharks. I’ve been preparing for a challenge like this my whole life. If you decide this move is what you want, I can get you and Maverick Western through this transition and we’ll come out on top. Trust me.”

  “I wonder if Jake knew. If that’s why he hired you when he did.” His face took on an expression of sadness.

  “Knew what?”

  “That he didn’t have much time. His doctor had been warning him his health wasn’t good for a while. And the lawyer told me the will naming me had been drawn up in October, right about the time he hired you. It’s like he suspected he didn’t have long. He’d known that I’d need help.” His blue gaze captured hers. “That I’d need you.”

  Her heart warmed. “Maybe he did know. We won’t let him down, Bonner. Trust me on this.”

  “I do.” His sincerity had her eyes misting with tears.

  Casey deflected the overwhelming emotions with work. “My head’s already spinning with plans for the new marketing campaign. Taking the company back to grass roots. Moving the facilities back to Colorado where it all began. A focus on products made with American materials by American hands. Jake was an imposing character, but you… Bonner with you as the face of the company, every woman will want you and every man will want to be you. And since they can’t, they’ll do the next best thing—buy Maverick products.”

  “Now w
ait a minute.” A cocky grin bowed his lips. “Who says all those women can never have me?”

  “They’ll have to get through me first.” Casey narrowed her eyes at the idea.

  He stood and pulled her up off the cushion and wrapped his arms around her.

  “But you’ll be in New York and I’ll be in Colorado…” Still grinning, he let the sentence trail off suggestively.

  “Or I could be in Colorado. Even if the executive offices remain in New York, with the focus of the corporation moving to Colorado, it makes sense the head of marketing would too.”

  It was so clear to her now. She loved the city, but she loved Bonner far more. And all the good parts of New York would be here at her disposal whenever she wanted. All she had to do was book a plane ticket.

  “You’d do that? Move out west?” There was no more joking. His tone was deadly serious.

  “In a heartbeat. If you, as the new corporate president, invited me.” She let the suggestion dangle.

  “As the new corporate president, I’d never force you to move for your job. But as just me, the guy who can’t get you out of his head, who may never sleep again unless you’re next to him, I’d like nothing more than for you to move to the ranch and never leave.”

  Her happiness threatened to bubble over. “Well, I might have to leave sometime, for meetings back here.”

  “That’s fine, because I could come with you.”

  “Yes. You could.”

  Traveling together. Enjoying the ranch while she was there with Bonner. Showing him around the city while they were here. It sounded like heaven.

  Bonner cradled her face in his palms and stared into her eyes. “I’m so in love with you.”

  Tears formed in Casey’s eyes. “I’m in love with you, too.”

  He smiled before lowering his mouth to hers. The kiss seemed even sweeter because Bonner loved her.

  She had to know something before she could let herself completely enjoy Bonner. “When do you fly back?

  “I had Dean book it for December twenty-seventh. I wanted to be with you for Christmas.”

  “I’m really glad about that.”

  Jody had been right. It looked as if Cassie would finally get her cowboy for Christmas.

  She glanced out the window and what she saw made her look twice. “Bonner.”

  “Hm?” He was more occupied with kissing her neck than anything else.

  “Look outside.” Amazed, she watched as the biggest, fattest flakes of snow she’d ever seen drifted past her window.

  He pulled back and glanced at the window. “Told ya it felt like snow.”

  A cowboy and a white Christmas.

  As Bonner pulled her closer and nuzzled her neck, Casey smiled. She must have been a very good girl this year.

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  A top 10 New York Times bestseller, Cat Johnson writes the USA Today bestselling Hot SEALs series. Known for her creative marketing, Cat has sponsored bull riding cowboys, promoted romance using bologna and owns a collection of cowboy boots and camouflage for book signings.

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