Roman's Choice (Saddles & Second Chances Book 1) by Rhonda Lee Carver Page B

it. “While I was in Vegas I got hitched.”
    There was a long ten-second silence until Urban burst into laughter. “Good one, bro. You almost had me there for a second.”
    “And me,” Hugh chimed in.
    “Who the hell is she?” Weston said, causing the other men to pipe down.
    Roman rubbed his chin. “Her name is Pippa Wilder and that’s whose vehicle you saw this morning,” he said to Urban.
    “Holy shit! Are you kidding me?” Penn grumbled. “That’s the woman from the rodeo.”
    “Damn, bro. Why’d you go and do a thing like that?” Hugh sighed.
    Shrugging, Roman dropped his hands to the table with a thump. “I don’t want an inquisition, you hear?”
    “When do we get to meet the bride?” Weston asked.
    “I’d like to give her a few days to get the feeling for the place before she comes into contact with you heathens who might scare her away.” And give me some time to get to know her myself first.
    “Understandable, but you can’t keep her hidden long, Ro. We’re your brothers and we have the right to give her the popular Jericho welcome into the family.” Penn elbowed Urban in the ribs.
    “Yeah, that can wait. Now, let’s turn things over from my personal life to business.” Better to leave it sweet and simple. “You should all love to hear that we’re up ten percent in earnings.” He reached in, grabbed the stack of papers and passed one copy to each of them.
    After they scanned the specs, they nodded agreement.
    “Sorry to barge in, fellows,” Susie popped her head in the open doorway. “But I have a woman on the phone by the name of Harley Tate who wishes to speak with Penn, immediately. She doesn’t sound too happy either.”
    “Hey, isn’t that the girlfriend of our client, Marshal Reed?” Weston asked.
    “What the hell does she want?” Penn narrowed his gaze.
    “Marshal probably showed her the pictures you took. No one likes to be caught cheating.” Urban whistled and shook his head. “Well, at least she didn’t show up with a broom ready to knock your head off your shoulders like the last woman who was caught with her panties down. This one has the decency to call.”
    “Tell her I’m in a meeting,” Penn said.
    “Sure will, but you should know that she said if you don’t call her back, she’ll come here.” Susie’s flip flops clicked loudly all of the way down the hall.
    “I thought we were going to mandate that she wear different shoes to work. That’s worse than snapping gum and fingernails down a chalkboard,” Penn grumbled.
    “We’ve always said this is a casual working environment,” Weston added.
    “Not a stressful environment,” Penn added.
    “Come on, bro. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” Roman laughed. “She’s a damn good receptionist. Maybe we should concern ourselves more with the issue of this Tate woman. Sounds like this could be a problem.”
    “Did you do something that pissed her off? Something outside of the usual snapping shots of her with her tongue down her lover’s throat.”
    Penn shook his head. “You know I could sneak into a church and not be seen. And it’s no one’s fault but her own that she was caught red-handed.”
    “Call her and remedy the situation ASAP. By the way, keep in mind we have two new ranchers starting today. I’ll be busy showing them the ropes for the next few days.” Weston lifted his booted feet onto the corner of the table. “Any more thoughts on buying another two hundred head of cattle?”
    “Depends on how much it’ll set us back,” Hugh said.
    “Roman, you’re the man who can answer that.”
    He stared at the numbers. “We’re in a good place. I say we do it now.”
    Weston dropped his size twelves to the floor with a loud thwap . “Just what I wanted to hear. Everyone understand what’s on the to-do list?” He looked at each of them.
    With no questions or further business, they departed the conference room.
    Roman was glad his marriage details went better than expected.