Page 19 of On His Ranch

But Chase grabbed her by the arm, his firm fingers pinning her in place. “Is that right?”

Piper couldn’t help it—the man was a human lie detector and her heart was hammering so hard in her ears that she was sure he could hear it. Her cheeks flushed hotter, and her belly twisted itself in complicated, fretful knots.

“C’mon.” He leaned in, his mouth brushing against her ear. “You better fess up, while you’ve still got the chance.”

She was quivering where she stood, not only from his nearness and the contact, but the desire to confess her sins was almost unbearable. She bit down on her tongue, ignoring the sting, desperate to keep her secrets for as long as possible.

“Chase? Where did you go off to?”

Piper found herself released immediately. Strangely, she was not entirely grateful for her newfound freedom. Her arm tingled where his fingers had been.

“Are you up to meetin’ my family? They can be a lot, but my mom’ll feed you.”

At the mention of food, Piper’s stomach rumbled loudly.Great. Like I need to be more embarrassed.“Can’t be worse than what I’ve already been forced to deal with,” she quipped, quickly stepping out of his reach and power-walking to the kitchen as fast as her legs would take her.

* * *

When Chase walked back into the kitchen, Piper had already taken a seat on the empty bench that flanked the table. Senior was reading the paper and sipping his coffee, the same as he did every morning, as though nothing about this one was any different.

His mother was standing at the refrigerator with the door open and a gallon of milk in her hand as she gaped at Piper. When he entered the room, she pounced. “Well, Chase, care to introduce me to our… um… guest?”

He knew what she was thinking and wanted to get ahead of it as quickly as possible. “Nothin’ to get excited about, Ma. Just a stray I found hidin’ in the barn,” he hurried to set her straight.

Far from looking reassured, his mother glowered at him. “Honestly, Chase, I’m sure she has aname.”

He was taken aback by the sternness in her tone, but nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

Both of them looked expectantly at the girl in question, who was now blushing, her head bent and her gaze on the table. Even Senior had peeked his head around his paper to watch.

“Hi. Um, I’m Piper,” she answered in her breathy, little-girl voice.

Piper. The word reverberated through him as it had the first time he’d heard it. It wasn’t a name you heard every day. Unique, unassuming, and yet, there was hidden strength to it, too. Yes, it suited her well.

His mother gave him a cutting glance. “Well, hello there, Piper.” She set the milk back inside the fridge and shut the door before offering an outstretched hand.

“Hi.” Piper gave it a tentative shake, shooting Chase an anxious look.

He smirked. He knew what she was thinking. She surely was wondering if he was going to mention their earlier business in the barn. Given the time, she would learn that whatever she might think of him, he was a gentleman and had no such intentions.

“Are you hungry?”

All traces of hesitancy vanished, replaced with a warm smile. “Yes, I could definitely eat.”

His mother rewarded her with an equally warm smile. “Alright, I’ll make something for us then.” She gave her son a hard glance. “You too, I suppose?”

“Yes, ma’am. If it isn’t too much trouble.”

She grunted but otherwise ignored him.

He wasn’t sure what he’d done to tick her off, but he bore it in stoic silence, content to cross his arms and lean against the wall to watch.

His mom opened the fridge again and took out the eggs and bacon. Just the sight of them set his stomach to rumbling.

“What can I do to help?” Piper inquired.

“Well, aren’t you just lovely?” She gave her son another stern glance.

Ah. So that was what was stuck up her craw. His mother had been stuck in a house outnumbered two to one for the last thirty-two years, and now that there was another female amongst them she didn’t want him to go scaring her off.

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