Page 21 of My Cowboy Boss
“Good.” He sighs dramatically. “I do love to learn.”
I laugh and he laughs with me, then stands, reaching out his hand to help me up. “I packed a food bag. You sit and I’ll serve you.”
I arch my brows and smirk. “Serve me? Again?”
“If that’s what you want.”
I slap him on the ass. “For now, go get my food.” I watch as he strides, completely naked to retrieve the lunch he packed, and my heart feels something I haven’t felt in a really long time. Complete happiness. I wonder if it’s possible that I could somehow hold onto that.
Chapter 9
Flint
I pack up the remnant of our lunch, then pat my stomach. “Let’s walk it off.” I hold out my hand and she slides hers into it.
“I can’t believe we’re still naked,” she glances down at herself, and a blush stains her cheeks.
“There’s no one around for miles and trust me, honey. You don’ have a damn thing to be embarrassed about.”
“But if someone did see me naked—”
“I’d go apeshit, beat on my chest, and chase them off.”
Arizona laughs and pushes against my arm.
I squint in the sunlight. “We didn’t bring any sunscreen so it’s better for us to stick to the shade.” I gesture to the tree with its wide, leafy branches. “Can you climb?”
“Like a champ.” She sprints toward the tree.
I chase after her and we climb to the lowest branches. “Bark is hard on the ass,” I comment.
“I was thinking the same thing,” she says with a laugh.
I look out across the expanse of land stretching before us. “This is my favorite spot on the ranch. My folks told us we were welcome to whatever acreage we wanted and for me, it’s this place. I dream of building a house here.”
“Do you come out here a lot?”
“Not a lot because we’ve all been busy working trying to save the ranch. But when I get a spare moment, I do. I’ve always wanted a family of my own. A wife and kids. Never thought I’d survive long enough to have that.”
She puts a hand on my shoulder.
And it’s that touch, that bit of I’m-here-with-you that has me opening up about a past I try hard to avoid thinking about much less sharing.
“I was in a place called The Gentle Children’s Home.” The words are bitter across my tongue. “The people running the place used to lock me up in windowless closets that were filled with junk.”
“That’s why you like the windows open, and you get testy when things are a mess like the office paperwork.”
I nod. “Sorry I was grumpy with you about that.”
“It’s okay. I understand now,” she says softly.
I swallow hard, trying to hold back floodgates but the pain of the past is a wall of water I can’t restrain. “Every night I had to do something to earn food. That’s why one of the first things I asked Dad was what I’d have to do to get dinner.”
Arizona makes a sniffing sound.
“The last couple of weeks I was there, every day when it was time to eat, they said if I wanted a bite of food, I’d have to stand out in the cold in just my underwear and I’d have to beat Wilder.”
I remember the determined set to Wilder’s jaw when he told me to hit him. I remember how scared River was when he sneaked me a piece of sandwich bread and almost got caught.
