Read Online The Rancher's Christmas Princess by Christine Rimmer - Free Book Online

absolutely that the boy was his,
he felt energized. Focused. He didn’t have a wife, but he did have a child. “I
want him. He’s mine and I will learn to take care of him.”
    She reached out as if to touch his arm again, then thought
better of it. She pulled her hand back, slid it between her knees with its mate,
hunching her shoulders a little, hoarding her body heat. “Please, Preston.
Consider. Ben’s already lost the one constant in his life up till now, his
mother. He counts on me, and on Charlotte. It could be terribly damaging for him
if we were to just...disappear. He will need time, to get to know you and your
father, to come to love you, to transfer his trust to you. Plus, even though
your house is solid and comfortable and you’re clearly willing to take on the
care of a small child, it won’t hurt you to have a little help at the
start.”
    A little help at the start...
    He supposed she had a point.
    His head was spinning and his life felt strangely cracked
wide-open all of a sudden. He had a son. Belle would be staying with him. Her
companion, Charlotte, too. And the damn
bodyguard.
    He touched his lip. Still swollen. He could do without the
bodyguard. But he understood that Marcus went where Belle went. Plus, well, he
knew she was right. His son needed time to become accustomed to his new life, to
his father and grandfather, who would care for him now.
    “How long will you be staying?” he asked.
    She was shivering. She wrapped her arms around herself, rubbed
them to warm herself a little. “I don’t know. I thought we could play it by ear,
see how it goes. A month, I would guess, in any case.” Her fine, aristocratic
nose was bright red. Her lips—those lips he had tasted only last night—were just
a little bit blue. Her breath plumed in the icy air. “Until the New Year?”
    He rose, tipped his head in the direction of the sidewalk.
“Come on. You’re freezing. Let’s get back.”
    She looked up at him through those amazing golden eyes, but she
didn’t stand. “Just tell me. Are you willing?”
    Are you willing? The question
seemed to echo in his head.
    Okay, he was still pretty ticked off at Anne Benton. She’d had
his baby and never said a damn word about it to him. But Anne was gone forever.
And as for Belle, well, he had to give her credit. She was a hell of a woman, a
woman who was only trying to do the right thing.
    The hard fact was, he had no idea how to take care of a kid.
But he wanted the boy. Absolutely. More than he wanted to draw his next
breath.
    The world, for him, so bleak and without potential since Lucy
dumped him, was suddenly full of strange and terrifying promise.
    “I’m willing,” he told her, and reached down his hand. “We’ll
do it your way.”

Chapter Five
    P res got his first lesson in child care
that day. He learned how to properly attach a car seat into the backseat of his
quad cab. The seat went in facing the rear.
    He and Belle got into a little wrangle about that. Because,
come on, why shouldn’t the kid face front and get a decent view of what was
going on?
    She patiently explained that it was safest for a child to ride
rear-facing until the age of two. “Their vulnerable heads and necks are much
better protected that way in the event of a crash.”
    “I’m not going to crash,” he informed her.
    She folded her arms across her middle. “Spoken like a man.” And
then she won out by reminding him that he had promised to be guided by her.
“Plus, it’s only six more months, then he’ll be facing front. The time will fly
by. Believe me.”
    That stopped him. Six months. By then, Belle would be long
gone. Ben would be calling him Daddy. His world was changing in a very big way.
His life would never be the same.
    “All right.” He studied the installation pictures on the side
of the car seat. “I’m on it.” It wasn’t that hard. He had it hooked in and
properly secured in no time.
    She checked his work. “Very good.” She signaled