Page 54 of Claimed By the Cowboys
“You’re playing dirty,” I grumbled.
He shrugged. “We may still be getting to know each other, Piper, but I know enough to understand that you're gonna freak out when you see how much all this costs. So I'm asking you very nicely to go procure some coffee, and then we can get home.”
“And if I refuse to go?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“Then I'm simply going to stand here in the middle of this store and not move and not get back to work, and everything is going to fall behind on the ranch, and Maisie will miss lunch with us…”
I snatched the bill out of his hand. “Oh, you ass! I’ll go get your coffee,” I growled, stalking out of the store and across the street.
Yes, it was a nice thing he was doing, but that didn't stop me from feeling uneasy about it.
I wanted to pull my weight in my pack, and I wasn't sure how to do that yet.
To start with, though, I was going to make a damn good dinner.
Chapter 25
Montana
Idon’t know what came over me that first morning after the bonding, but I became fixated on the idea of a little “date” time for me and Piper after the intensity of the pack bonding session.
She had giddily accepted, agreeing that we would coordinate our schedules with the others so I could take her for a ride and a picnic lunch out on the range while Clay and the others watched Maisie.
Bright and early, I packed up my saddlebags with treats and a nice big blanket, making sure to spend plenty of time with Maisie as I drank my morning coffee and waited for Piper to get ready.
After two pop-up books, several rousing nursery rhymes—thanks to Zeke’s habit of bursting into song—and one plastic tea set tea party later, Clayton emerged from upstairs, hair oiled, teeth brushed, and buttoned into a fresh shirt and jeans.
“C’mon Maisie girl, go get your shoes and your hat, baby.” Clayton gave her curls a pat, sending her rushing off to get herself ready.
“Papa Kota and Daddy Clay said that we’re going to go to the feed store, and Daddy Zeke promised that I could look at the baby ducks,” Maisie announced matter-of-factly as she pulled her little pink velcro sneakers from their place by the door.
“Oh, did he now?” I gave Zeke a warning glare while Maisie fixated on pressing the velcro strips down securely on her shoes. We did not need to add ducks to the list of ranch expenses—even if Maisie had been asking about getting ducks for months.
“What? I only said that we’dlook.” Zeke pursed his lips innocently, not fooling anyone.
“Make sure you onlylook.” I wagged my finger at him. “Or things will be de-duck-ted from your salary to cover the expenses.” I chose my words carefully so that I could make an impression on Zeke without giving the game away to Maisie.
“Daddy Clay!” Maisie called out, her feet thumping against the hardwood floor as she ran for Clayton, undoubtedly looking to plead the case for her ducks.
“Seriously, though.” I winced a little, able to speak more freely to Zeke for the moment. “Make sure y’all are spending as conservatively as possible—things are always tight, but in the next few months, we might be looking at spending quite a bit of cash in legal fees, so...” I trailed off.
Before Zeke could protest, Piper appeared at the head of the stairs, her auburn hair tied in a long braid down her back, wearing a pair of high-waisted jeans, a gray tank top, and one of my old hunter green flannels layered over. She had a navy blue and white bandana tied over her neck to hide Clay’s bite, just in case we should run into anyone from town on our ride. We weren’t quite ready for the small-town grapevine to spread our news just yet.
“Why in the world did we agree to leave you alone with this beautiful woman for even a second?” Zeke said dramatically as he took in her naturally gorgeous state.
“Just don’t forget which of us is better looking.” Dakota winked at Piper, darting in to steal a kiss before taking off down the hall toward Clay and Maisie.
“See you later, Pipes, be good, Montana.” Zeke pointed at me accusingly until Piper slapped him on the ass, where her bite was still healing. “Yowza!” he barked, a satisfied grin spreading across his face as he blew Piper a kiss and made his exit.
Piper was initially scared of Duke, the imposing silvery gray draft horse—who would serve as our ride for the outing—but after a few moments of patting his velvety nose and running her hands over his smooth, warm flanks, she was ready to get up into the saddle.
We rode together into the Blackbird Mountain Valley, rolling green grass shimmering in the wind like swells on the sea, dusty red mountains on the horizon, and a blue sky strewn with puffy white clouds. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful, magical day.
In the lowest part of the valley, we set up a blanket for lunch, giving Duke a feed bag of oats while we sat down to enjoy our meal.
Piper tipped back the brim of the straw hat she’d borrowed from Emmy, the sun playing in little pinpricks of golden light across her face as she took a big bite out of a shiny red apple.
“Sheesh,” she crowed happily, shaking her head in bewilderment. “It is unbelievably beautiful out here.”
