Page 58 of On His Ranch

“Yes, sir. I understand.”

He nodded. “Okay then. Best head on downstairs and get the coffeepot goin’ and I’ll be along in a few. Hands off, now. Little girls don’t need a lot of caffeine.”

He could hear her giggling until she was almost down the stairs, and he was glad she wasn’t there so she didn’t see him smile.

After they’d both had a quick breakfast—Chase had insisted they didn’t have time for the big showy meals Patti had been cooking—they headed outside. Piper was walking toward the barn when she realized Chase was going in the opposite direction. She quickly changed course but had to hurry to catch up to his long-legged strides.

“No milking today?”

“It’ll have to wait. There are other more pressin’ matters this mornin’. Now, listen to me, Piper: you delay us this mornin’ and not only will I put you over my knee until you bawl, you’ll be pickin’ up sticks and rocks for the rest of the day, you hear me?”

She made a face at him, but seeing his eyes narrow she quickly added, “Yes, sir!”

“Good.” But the word sounded ominous.

Her bottom tingled as she tried to keep up with the impossible pace he set. “So, where are we headed?”

“We’ve got a long day ahead of us,” was all he’d say.

Piper swallowed back a groan because Chase was nothing if not truthful. By the time the sun rose, she was pretty sure she had blisters on her hands from helping mend a fence. Then they milked the cows, sprayed weeds, and moved hay bales. By the time they finished, she was out of breath and her shoulders were sore.

“How do you do thiseveryday?”

“Oh, it’s not so bad,” he said, his attention on his hay bale while he put the stray pieces of hay back in.

“Speak for yourself,” she muttered, earning a sideways grin.

“Well, I think you’ll like what we do next.”

Piper groaned. “We’re notdone?”

Chase looked up at the sky. “Senior has a sayin’.”

Oh, I just bet he does.But she was smart enough not to voice it aloud.

“If there’s still sun in the sky, there’s still work to be done.”

“How poetic,” she said drily.

“I’ll make a ranch hand out of you yet.”

Piper ducked her head, her face flushing.Does he really want that? DoI?Truth be told, her head was still reeling from what he’d said that morning. Maybe she’d been wrong to think he’d be so moved by her little speech that it would make everything right between them. She certainly hadn’t expected him to say he needed to think about it.

Not knowing where things stood between them left her feeling nervous and shy. Chase was being nice—well, nice for Chase.He sure wasted no time threatening to spank me. Piper hid a grin as she rolled her eyes. But, according to him, there was more to being a daddy than just punishment. She wanted to know more, but he’d made it clear it would only happen on his timetable. Piper knew from experience what would happen if she pushed, and it might not endear her to him. So she’d have to wait, though clearly patience wasn’t her strong suit.

“So, what’s this job?” she asked, trying to distract herself from the anxiety and doubt clawing at her.

“Horses,” he called over his shoulder.

Piper hurried to keep up, feeling excitement for the first time.

He stopped in front of the metal horse pen and waited for her. When she finally stopped alongside him, he put his fingers in his mouth and whistled.

Much to her surprise, the five horses in the pen looked up from their grazing and trotted toward them. When she looked at Chase, she saw her own wonderment reflected in his smile. But then her hand was being nuzzled, and she turned her full attention to the friendly horse searching for treats.

“Pretty baby,” she cooed to the brown dappled mare with a long stripe of white down her nose. The horse nuzzled her hands, making Piper laugh. “Quick, give me an apple or a carrot or something.”

“You think we just give ‘em snacks for no reason?”

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