Page 9 of On His Ranch

“Wrong. Take a step inside with me, would you?” Even though he phrased it as a question, he was moving closer with every word and by the last, he’d grabbed hold of her upper arm. With firm fingers he pulled her along, back to the barn.

“But—”

“No buts. We’re gonna have ourselves a talk whether you like it or not.”

She didn’t like it as a matter of fact but his hold on her was firm and unyielding and it didn’t look like she had a choice.

When he stopped moving they were further into the barn, directly across from the shed she’d slept in the night before. It was no Holiday Inn, but she’d managed to get a few hours of sleep.

“See, what I haven’t been able to quite figure out here lately is why things keep disappearin’ around here.”

“Disappearing?” she repeated, her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what he was getting at. “What do you mean?”

He released her and walked around to stand in front of her, his arms crossed over his chest in what seemed to be his favorite intimidating pose. She had to give it to him, it certainly worked on her. He was smiling, his lips quirked up in a smirk, but his eyes were hard and flat.

Piper felt a shiver run through her. He didn’t answer, and the silence around them felt ominous. She was the type who felt the need to cover a silence, even it meant babbling. It was an urge she couldn’t ignore when his eyes were on her like glittering daggers. “I have no idea why anyone would want anything from a barn. I mean, seriously, what would you take? A shovel?” She giggled. “How much do those cost? Like ten dollars? Who’d take something like that?”

“As a matter of fact, I’ve had equipment vanishing from all over the farm.”

There was an eerie glow in his eyes that made her belly flip in a way that was definitely not good. His next words confirmed it.

“And then lo and behold, I caught you red-handed this morning.”

Piper’s mouth dropped open and she took a step back, moving so quickly her sneaker squeaked across the barn floor. “You can’t be serious.”

His strong, burly arms unfurled and he reached a hand out toward her. “Your backpack.”

Her hands went to the straps and tightened around them. “That’s my private property.”

“Sure. Where you hidmyprivate property.”

Her eyes widened. “You… you can’t be serious.”

The corners of his mouth quirked up again. “I don’t do jokes.”

She was about to say,what, who doesn’t joke every once in a while?But actually, where this man was concerned, she could see it.

“C’mon.” His fingers beckoned. “Hand it over.”

Stubbornness—a rare emotion for Piper—flared through her and her hands clenched around the straps so tightly they bit into her palms. She didn’t even notice the pain. “No.”

His brows shot up.

Not the answer you expected, huh? Well, good.

“I can take it from you, you know.”

“That’s stealing,” she protested.

He gave a bark of laughter. “We’ll see who the thief is here in a minute.” When she didn’t answer, he took a menacing step toward her. “Make this easier on yourself. If you fight me, it could lead somewhere you don’t want.”

She scowled. “You have no right to—”

“Noright?” he echoed. “I guess I need to remind you that you trespassed onmyproperty. But it’s like I told you—we can let the cops handle this.”

Suddenly, his words took on new meaning and Piper’s mouth gaped open. “Wait. You mean, you don’t want to call them because someone tried to shoot me, you want to call the copsonme?”

The cowboy’s expression remained as stoic as ever in the face of her indignant question.

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