Page 100 of On His Ranch

One by one her tables ate, paid their tabs, and left. It was over two hours later when Wendy told her to take her break. Chase was right where she’d left him, on his third cup of coffee.

It was kind of funny—before Chase, she hadn’t known how much of a brat she truly was. She had to be, it was the only explanation for why she fixed herself a plate of food and sat at the counter, right in front of him. She busied herself with salting her hash browns and squirting the perfect puddle of ketchup on her plate, pretending she didn’t know he was watching.

She felt her heart do all sort of gymnastic maneuvers in her chest when he took the seat at the bar next to her.

“Whatcha got there?”

“Hash browns with ham and cheese,” she replied, refusing to look at him despite the fact it was all she wanted to do. She pushed a forkful into her mouth, hoping to distract herself from the physical charge of his nearness.

“Any good?” Without waiting for her to answer, he picked up a spare fork from the silverware roll next to him and dug in.

“Hey! Those are mine!”

“You’re right,” he replied. “Ma’sarebetter.”

“You’re hopeless.” She rolled her eyes again, but blushed immediately afterward.

“I see you’ve gotten back into naughty habits,” he observed, his voice deliciously low. “No daddy has cured you of it?”

Her blush deepened and she turned her eyes back to her plate.

“I’ve missed that.”

“Missed what?” she couldn’t resist asking.

“You blushin’ so beautifully.”

She looked at him. “I’m not—”

Underneath the table, he put his hand on her knee and gave it a squeeze. “You’re not about to argue with me, are you, little girl?”

God, she’d missedthat. Not that she would give him the satisfaction of admitting it. “You’re dressed differently,” she said, observing the denim shirt in place of his usual plaid. “What’s the occasion?”

“Well, I figured if I was gonna see you, I’d better do it up right.”

She forked another bite of hash browns into her mouth, chewing so she didn’t have to answer.

“You seem to be doin’ well.”

“If you call working at a small, Podunk diner well,” she answered with a giggle, because truthfully, she loved the owner who’d given her a chance, her quirky co-workers, the colorful customers.

“Hey, it’s work. That’s something.”

“Why are you here, Chase?” she asked, surprising herself with her forthrightness.

“Does there have to be a reason?”

“There usually is.” Her knee was pulsing from the heat of his hand. “Don’t you have work to do? How’s Senior?” she asked, embarrassed she’d been so consumed with lust that it had taken her this long to ask.

“Recoverin’ well, thanks for askin’. He’s not fond of the doctor’s orders, but he’s restin’ just the same.”

“Making your and Patti’s lives hell,” she speculated, giggling at the mental picture it evoked.

“You know him well,” he agreed, his tone warm.

She ducked her head again. It would be easy—tooeasy, to go down this path again. She needed to put a stop to it quick and let him know there was no chance. “Chase—”

“Piper—” he said at the same time.

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