Her Cowboy Knight (4 page)

Cooper raised an eyebrow and fiddled with his hat. “No, Miss Gabby, that would be a first.”

He leaned against the doorjamb and his voice dropped an octave. “I won’t apologize for the spanking because I told you to stay away from that horse, and I won’t apologize for the kiss either.”

Gabby put her hand on her hip and shielded her eyes against the light behind him. “So do I get to work with horses now?”

Cooper said, “No, ma’am. You don’t.”

Gabby’s face fell, until he added, “But I’ll lift my restriction on you being around them at all. In fact, I came out here to invite you on a tour of the property, if you’d like.”

Gabby grinned and set her pitchfork against the wall. “Now that is the best offer I’ve had all week.”

Cooper started to turn, but halted midway. “Oh, and Uncle Jed says you are to move into the house. We have a spare room and all set up for you. It’s um… next to… mine.”

* * *

Despite the fact that she was given what had to be the tamest horse in the West, a chestnut mare named Mayflower, Gabby loved the trail ride. Truth be told, she had been on a horse most of her life, but mostly inside paddocks and arenas, and rarely out in nature, so to be on a horse without a specific job to do or trick to perform was kind of a novelty. She let the beauty of the ranch drift over her as she listened to Cooper describe the history or ranching operation.

Finally, he said, “Hungry? This would be a good place to stop for that picnic Angelina packed and to let the horses rest.”

As Gabby hadn’t eaten breakfast, she didn’t argue. When she went to sit down, she winced slightly, and Cooper grinned. “Still sore?”

Gabby stuck her tongue out at him, “Not nice, Mr. Harris. And it’s none of your business.”

Cooper said, “I think maybe you are becoming my business, and why is it that I’m only Mr. Harris when you’re mad at me?”

Gabby blushed slightly and changed the subject. “So what do we have for our picnic?”

Cooper let her get away with it, and they ate the fried chicken and biscuits the housekeeper had sent. Gabby had been so hungry that she didn’t say much except to rave about how good the food was. Cooper laughed, “Yeah, we lucked out when Kwan married Angelina, that’s for sure.”

Gabby asked, “How long has Kwan been your foreman?”

“Well, he’s been on the ranch since he was four, but he’s been the foreman for about five years now, since his grandfather retired. His father died in Viet Nam, but not before marrying his mother over there. It took some doing, but Uncle Jed and some others found him and brought him here to live with his grandfather, who was my father’s foreman.”

“That must have taken some doing.”

“Well, you’ll find that when Uncle Jed sets his mind to something, it usually happens.”

Gabby looked him in the eyes and said, “Your uncle got him?”

Cooper nodded and said, “Yep, I don’t know all the details, as I wasn’t born yet, but I know that it was Uncle Jed and some of his buddies… maybe even your father who went and got him because the Martinezes were so upset about losing Juan. The mother had died by then, but they pulled Kwan out and a few other servicemen’s children from an orphanage. They were all pretty badass back then.”

Gabby laughed and said, “My father is still pretty badass.”

Cooper thought about his conversation with Jed the night before and grimaced. “Come to think of it, Jed is still pretty badass, too.”

When they finished eating and packed up, Cooper showed her around the little hillside, and Gabby climbed up on a rock to see better. When she started doing a mock high-wire act on the edge, Cooper put his hand up and said, “Come on, Evel Knievel, hop down from there before you break your neck.”

Gabby said, “I’m not going to break my neck. I’m not even up that high.”

Cooper motioned with his hand. “I mean it, come on down. I’ll catch you.”

Gabby gave a carefully staged wobble then turned a perfect roundoff flip in the air, landing on her feet in front of Cooper, looking up at him with a grin. When she saw his face, however, her grin faded. His frown made her stomach drop.

Cooper said, “You just don’t listen well, do you, little girl?”

“I’m not a little girl.”

Cooper leaned down to look her in the eye and said, “You are to me. And when I tell you to do something, I mean it, not with a somersault in the middle. Do you understand?”

Gabby didn’t answer right away, so Cooper lifted her chin and said, “I expect an answer.”

Gabby nodded. “I understand.”

Cooper leaned in and kissed Gabby, at first gentle, then more demanding, his fist in her hair. Gabby held herself stiff at first, surprised, then melted into his demand. He wrapped his arms around her, and then broke away abruptly, holding her by the shoulders. “We should get back.”

Gabby nodded, trying to catch her breath. “Yeah.”

When they got back to the horses, Cooper lifted Gabby onto Mayflower’s back, not bothering to wait for her to mount on her own. Gabby turned to frown down at Cooper, who just grinned up at her, then patted her leg. “Don’t bother to thank me, short stuff. It was nothing.”

He chuckled as he headed to his own horse and swung into the saddle.

On their way back to the stable, they crested a hill that overlooked an old rundown house. Gabby pulled up beside Cooper and said, “Oh, cool, what’s that?”

Cooper said, “That was the first ranch house—belonged to my great-grandparents.”

“Can we go look around?” Gabby made a move toward the valley, but Cooper grabbed her reins.

“No, and I don’t want you fooling around that old place. It’s falling down and dangerous.”

Gabby frowned and said, “But we could just stay outside. I’d love to get some pictures.”

Cooper shook his head and sighed. “Okay, I’m going to make this simple. If I see or hear about you going near that house, I’ll paddle your little butt until you can’t sit down. Do you understand?”

Gabby turned bright red and said, “But you said you realized I wasn’t a project of Jed’s.”

Cooper grinned, leaned forward, and kissed her. “That doesn’t mean I won’t spank you if you disobey me on the big stuff. Because since I realized you aren’t Jed’s project, that made you wide open to being
my
project.”

Gabby said, “Well, if you’re going to run around whacking me, maybe I don’t want to be your project, did you ever think of that?”

Cooper gave her a cocky smile. “But that’s not the case is it, little girl?”

Gabby narrowed her eyes, spun her horse around, and headed for home. Cooper just chuckled and caught up with her.

When they got back to the ranch, Cooper said, “Oh, and I’ve got a surprise for you tonight. We’re going out. Wear something pretty.”

* * *

Gabby showered quickly and then changed three times, finally settling on a light spring-like skirt covered in flowers and simple teal t-shirt with sandals. She wore her hair down, scrunching her curls into some sort of order and applying light makeup. As she came down the steps, she was relieved to see that Cooper had taken a little time with his appearance as well, trading his worn jeans and work shirt for crisp new Levis and a fresh Ely button-down with polished boots. His hair was wet from the shower and looked like he might have even put something in it to hold it in place. He stood from the chair as he noticed her descent, and his warm smile rewarded her own efforts.

She gave a twirl at the bottom of the steps. “Will I do?”

He nodded briefly. “Yes, ma’am, you’ll do.”

He ushered her out the door to the truck, opening her door, of course, and started the engine.

“So do I get to know where we are going now?”

He glanced over. “You aren’t much for not knowing, are you?” She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow, so he continued. “A few friends of mine are having a get-together for Dave’s birthday. You remember Dave? The sheriff. You met him your first day in town… when you were covered in dust and spitting like a wildcat?”

She turned straight ahead and said, “You know, a gentleman wouldn’t bring up an incident like that.”

* * *

Gabby sat nervously as Cooper pulled into the grass in front of Dave’s house. Cooper, already learning her moods, said, “They’ll love you.”

“I’ll settle for them liking me.”

As she looked around the other guests at the BBQ, she knew right away she didn’t really fit in this place. All of the women she could see wore jeans and boots, while she felt conspicuous in her skirt and sandals. She fought the urge to tuck herself in beside Cooper out of nervous shyness as he led her around to introduce her to his friends. Despite the fact that everyone offered words of welcome, she sensed hostility from several of the women.

She found surprising allies in the sheriff and his wife Aggie, who asked her to sit beside them. Aggie patted the bench. “Cooper, why don’t you go get some drinks over at the bar. Gabby, Dave couldn’t stop talking about you the other night.”

Gabby blushed. “I’m afraid he didn’t see me at my best, really. I’m sorry about all the trouble the other day, Sheriff.”

Dave waved his hand. “Think nothing of it. Today I’m just Dave.”

Aggie patted his shoulder. “It’s his birthday we’re celebrating.”

Gabby wished the sheriff well as she spotted Cooper coming back across the lawn with their drinks. She smiled until she spotted Susan, the tall blonde with a black t-shirt and dark, painted-on blue jeans, on a path to intercept him before he could make it back to the table. He smiled and indicated their table.

As they approached the table, Cooper said, “Sorry to drop the drinks and run, but Susan reminded me that her dad wanted to have a meeting about roundup later this month while we were all together. Y’all don’t mind seeing that Gabby gets introduced around, do you? Gabby? You’ll be all right?”

Gabby nodded her head. “Sure. Business is business, right?”

Cooper dropped his hand to squeeze her shoulder, then walked away with Susan to a tent across the lawn. Gabby watched them walk away, then gather with several others around a table. Gabby noted that Susan made sure to hover near Cooper’s side at every opportunity.

“He doesn’t want her, you know.” Aggie’s voice at Gabby’s side caused her to look away from the painful sight.

Gabby shot another glance at the two heads buried together under the tent, then turned back to Aggie. “I’m sure it’s none of my affair. Excuse me, I’ll be back in a minute.”

Gabby forced herself to walk leisurely to the restroom, where she sat in a stall getting a firm hold on her emotions. She couldn’t do the jealous girlfriend routine, as Cooper was not really anything to her but her boss, discounting the episode on their ride earlier in the afternoon. She’d never fought for a man in her life, and she wasn’t about to start now. One thing she wasn’t going to do was let that woman see how much she had upset her, so she squared her shoulders and walked back out of the bathroom with a confident mask on her face.

She sat beside Aggie and chatted about all sorts of topics, never letting on that anything was out of the ordinary.

Dave seemed to have forgiven her for their initial encounter and had given her a fresh start. Eventually, the topic rolled around to Gabby’s background.

Aggie asked, “So where are you from, Gabby?”

Dave said, “Look out, Gabby, here comes the third degree.”

Aggie whacked him on the arm. “No such thing. I’m just trying to get to know her.”

Gabby grinned. “It’s okay. I’ve lived all over. My family travels with Renaissance festivals, and we move all over the country every two months or so.”

Aggie said, “Renaissance festivals?”

Gabby smiled and said, “You know, the fairs where they dress up like people from the medieval times and do skits and sell souvenirs to tourists.”

Dave said, “I’ve heard of those. What does your family do?”

“Well, it started out with my father, who is one of the jousters. Over the years, the whole family has gotten involved in one role or another. I am a squire for my father mostly, but I’ve done juggling acts and some acting,” Gabby explained.

“Show us some juggling?” Aggie urged.

Gabby looked around, suddenly shy. “I haven’t done any in a while. I’m a little rusty.”

Susan walked up then. “What’s going on?”

Dave said, “Gabby’s trying to wimp out of showing us her juggling tricks.”

Gabby knew she was stuck when Susan said, “Oh, yeah?”

She sighed. “Okay, okay. I need some objects. How about those apples.”

She launched into a simple juggling routine, adding more and more apples and oranges until they all collapsed in a big mess… right in front of Cooper.

Cooper reached down and picked up an apple. “Gabby, I’d like you to meet my uncle, Jedidiah Harris.” He took a big bite of the apple.

Jedidiah stuck out his hand. “Gabby, it’s really nice to finally meet you. If you need anything at all, be sure to let me know, okay?”

Gabby took his hand. “I will, Mr. Harris. Thank you so much for hiring me. Pay no attention, no fruits were injured in this performance or any other.”

“I’m sure all safety precautions were taken at all times.” Jed put an arm around Cooper. “And don’t let this guy give you any trouble.”

Gabby gave Cooper a look, then whispered to Jed, “I can handle him.”

Jed said, “Ya know, Miss Gabby, I think you can.” He walked away then.

Cooper took another bite of the apple in his hand, then leaned down. “You can handle me, hmm, little girl?”

Gabby shot him a look over her shoulder and said, “Yes, sir, I can.”

With that Cooper walked off, shaking his head. “We’ll see about that, Miss Gabby.”

When they got back to the table, Dave patted Gabby on the back. “Thanks for the birthday performance, Gabby. I loved it.”

Aggie said, “We have a fair coming up a few weeks from now. There’ll be a rodeo and all—lots of folks compete. I think you’d get a kick out of it. I’ll be judging pies, but Dave and Jed here will be helping with the bull riding. You just have to come. Have you ever seen a rodeo?”