Page 10 of On His Ranch

Piper could feel herself starting to get angry, which was currently overriding her fear and her awe of his perfect body. After all, a jerk was still a jerk no matter what kind of window dressing there was.

“Look, I don’t know you, and I’m not gonna rest easy until I make sure nothing is missin’.”

She snorted. “What would I have taken? An apple? I mean, seriously, do I look like I have a hay bale up my shirt?” As soon the words were out, she had to bite down on her lip to keep from taking them back. She couldn’t believe her own daring. She wasn’t the type to rush head-on into conflict, but he’d accused her of stealing and that was taking it too far! She didn’t have much, but her integrity was still intact, dammit!

“Alright, that’s enough sass out of you.”

Whathad he just said to her? Who the hell did he think he was?

Just then, she saw the other, older cowboy out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t know when he’d arrived, but it was clear he’d been watching them unobtrusively from the doorway. Under normal circumstances she would have felt embarrassed, but there was nothing normal about this day.

“I’ma leave you to it then. Chase, I’ll be up at the house should you need me. Although,” he couldn’t seem to help himself from adding, his brown eyes sparkling, “seems to me you have things well in hand here.”

Chase. So that was his name. Piper ran it through her mind again and again as she observed the man himself as he turned and watched his grandfather walk away. She could see it now—the way their strides matched. Every movement was slow, deliberate, and yet somehow powerful at the same time.

“Alright, Senior. I’ll see you when I’ve cleaned things up here.”

Hmph.Piper scowled and propped a hand on her hip, blushing and humiliated. “Clean things up? What am I, some mess you have to tend to?”

If Chase noted her irritated tone, he didn’t seem to care. “That sounds about the size of it to me.”

The heat in her cheeks flared, right along with her temper. “I didn’tdoanything!”

“Care to prove it?”

She stood her ground, glaring.

“Come on.” His voice softened ever so slightly. “If you’ve got nothing to hide, you shouldn’t be afraid to prove it.”

Piper hesitated. “You… you won’t call the cops? Not if I let you see my backpack?”

“Let’s just say I think we can work things out between us.”

She exhaled, and as she did the bulk of the tension left her body. “Okay.” The last thing she wanted was to hand over the only personal possessions she had for a stranger to rifle through, but what else could she do? She could try to make a break for it, but her chances of outrunning him were slim to none, and since she didn’t have a car at the moment, her options were down to one. Compliance wouldn’t have been her first inclination, but she was out of choices, and it seemed like she wasn’t the only one who knew it.

As she slid the backpack off her shoulders, she idly wondered if she wouldn’t be better off taking her chances with the cops.

* * *

Chase grabbed the strap of the backpack and pulled it toward him. He wasted no time in unzipping it and beginning his search.

“Okay, but please, be careful.”

He did not spare her a glance as his hand delved inside. He pulled out a crumpled denim shirt and tossed it.

“Hey! You’re going to get it dirty!”

He didn’t bother to reply as his hands moved other things aside. “I can’t see anything through all this,” he muttered to himself. He took out a couple of well-worn paperbacks. The covers were creased with use. He set them down on the stool next to him, but was too involved in his search to notice when one slid to the floor.

“Hey! Stop it!”

Chase was sorting through it when out of the corner of his eye he saw her coming toward him, hands grappling. His head jerked up and he tightened his grip on the backpack. “Just a minute now—you’ll get your things back when I’m through.”

“No!” Her face was red with fury. “Give it back!”

“Now that’s a guilty conscience if I ever heard one.”

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to pull the backpack away from him. When she was unsuccessful, she let out a screech and balled her hand into a fist, bringing it down on his arm once, twice, then a third time. When she realized how ineffectual her fists were she backed away, her fists clenched at her sides, nostrils flaring.

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