Page 7 of My Billionaire Cowboy Protector

She pulled the rest of the apple out and fed it to the horse in bite-sized chunks. Diablo took the snacks daintily.

“Alright boy, you have a good night. I’ll see you in the morning,” she said.

Diablo walked with her a bit but shied away at the men lined up along the fence.

“Do you mind if I walk with you?” Lane asked.

“Sure.”

“I must say that I am very impressed with how you work with Diablo. I was sure that I was just going to have to turn him loose in some pasture and let him live out his years.

“Anthony suggested dog food.”

“Yes, well, Anthony is a butt sometimes,” Lane said.

“Where did you learn how to work with horses like that?” he asked.

“I’ve been around horses my whole life. My grandfather raised horses on a ranch south of Pueblo. I spent every summer with him. He taught me how to work with all different kinds of horses, from the very skittish and untrained to those who have been trained to do different jobs. Carl and I had horses on our ranch, too.”

He grinned and said, “That explains a lot.”

“Would you like to come in for some tea?” she asked.

Lane hesitated for a brief second and then said, “Sure,” even though he isn’t a tea drinker.

“Would you prefer coffee,” she asked.

“Tea is fine.”

He watches her as she puts the cups in the microwave.

She has a really nice butt,he thinks.Stop, Lane. You are not here to assess butts.

“Your mother is Alice McCray who owns theTasty Nibbles Dinerin town.”

“Yep.”

“She is an amazing cook. Can you cook like her?”

Taylor laughed loudly. “I set off fire alarms if I try to boil an egg. I can work with cattle, run almost any kind of machinery, and build fences, but I can’t go near a stove. The appliance actually hisses at me and throws things to keep me away from it.”

Lane laughed at the imagery. “That bad, huh?”

“Worse. I can follow a recipe to the letter, and it will still end up tasting like something you might find on the bottom of your shoe,” Taylor said. “I usually do okay with microwaved stuff though, like the frozen microwave dinners and heating up water for tea. I can also turn on the coffee pot.”

“Those are important skills,” Lane said.

He was surprised at how relaxed he felt sitting at the kitchen table drinking orange-flavored tea sweetened with honey. It almost made him feel domestic – almost, but not quite. Lane also enjoyed hanging out with Taylor and loved her sense of humor.

“What about you? Can you cook?” she asked.

“I can put weenies on a stick and put them in a campfire. I can rustle up some decent hamburgers, scrambled eggs, and bacon in a pan over a fire. That’s about it. I think that Franny would beat me up if I stepped foot into her kitchen with the idea of cooking something.”

“She’s a sweetheart,” Taylor said. “She wouldn’t hurt you.”

“You just don’t know. More than once when I was a kid, she took after me with a wooden spoon or a spatula. Once she even took off her shoe and paddled my behind.”

“Did you deserve it?” Taylor laughed.

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