Read Online The Cowboy and the Princess by Myrna Mackenzie - Free Book Online Page A

really questions, and Owen wanted to groan. Not that he hadn’t prepared himself for the inevitable curiosity.
    Out of the corner of his eye he could see dismay on Delfyne’s face. “Elegant?” she said. Owen could practically see the wheelsturning behind those pretty eyes. I can’t let her know I’m a princess was what Delfyne was probably thinking.
    Molly looked perplexed. “I was talking about your shoes.”
    Delfyne leaned back and looked down to the pretty little bits of beige on her feet. He could almost feel her dismay that she had been betrayed by a pair of shoes that he was pretty sure Delfyne thought of as plain and unrevealing. Probably a lot of other people would have thought the same thing. But Molly? She noticed things and she knew things.
    “My…shoes?” Delfyne asked, and he would bet that she was stalling for time.
    Molly looked at Owen with suspicion, as if he had started dating an unworthy woman or at least one who didn’t understand the English language. “Angel, this is Montana, not Antarctica. I may dress plain for work but I know my shoes. Those are Manolos. That spells elegance in my book.”
    Suddenly Delfyne looked up and laughed, a trace of impishness in her expression. “I see. Yes, I got these from someone who has a lot of money to spend but not much use for exotic clothes right now.”
    That elicited a smile from Molly. “Lucky you.”
    “I think so. I’m Delfyne, by the way.”
    “Unusual name. Pretty. Owen, I didn’t know you had a guest. In fact, I don’t remember you ever having a woman guest. You’re always hosting cattlemen and stockbrokers, and they’ve all been male.”
    Great. The tone of Molly’s voice sent her message loud and clear. She thought he and Delfyne were romantically linked and she would make it her business to discover all of the details.
    “Oh, I’m not the usual kind of guest,” Delfyne said suddenly. “I’ve been helping Lydia out.”
    “You’re helping Lydia? Lydia, who more or less raised Owenalong with her own three kids, ran a house and worked full-time while working part-time for the Second Chance? Lydia, who has probably not taken more than one day a week off and one vacation week a year since her husband died five years ago when she started running Owen’s household full-time?”
    Delfyne gave Owen a critical look. “One week a year? Owen, it’s very important to treat those who work for you with respect and empathy. One week is not possibly enough.”
    Owen felt a small headache forming between his eyes. He wondered if Delfyne knew how regal she sounded and looked when she got that snooty, pretty, sexy, disapproving tilt to her head and that unbending velvet tone to her voice.
    He forced a small smile. “Ladies, I’ve tried to get Lydia to take more time off. Believe me.”
    “Oh. You have? That’s wonderful.” Delfyne looked as if he had just given her a gift. “In that case, please forget I lectured you. You’re a good employer.”
    Molly was looking more confused than ever at the employee who had lectured her employer. “So, Delfyne, you said you’re helping Lydia? Forgive me for being nosy, but…why? And how? And how did this come about? How did Owen end up hiring you? You’re definitely not from around here.”
    Uh-oh. Molly was just getting started. It wasn’t going to matter if Delfyne had royal training. She would be no match if Molly wanted answers. The woman knew how to get her way. Like it or not, he was going to have to wade into this, Owen knew.
    He cleared his throat. “Regarding Lydia, let’s just say that someone brought it to my attention that it’s important to live a little. It’s probably good for Lydia to have a spare moment or two,” he said, trying to skirt an actual lie and ignoring half of Molly’s questions. He hated dishonest people.
    “So…you thought Lydia needed help and you hiredDelfyne here.” Molly shook her head as she studied Delfyne head to toe.
    “Oh, I’m not hired,”