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Blade cocked a brow and bent in close. “Stop thanking me for everything. If I didn’t want to help you, I wouldn’t. All right?”
“Yes, Sir.” The honorific I’d read a million times slid off my tongue before I could stop it.
Heat flared in his eyes, and a slow, knowing smile kicked up one corner of his mouth. Without a word, he straightened and strolled to the door.
“I’m gonna grab a shower. If you need anything in the night, holler. I’m a light sleeper.”
“I will. Good night, Blade.”
“Night, little one.”
ChapterNine
Grant
Saturday, July 22nd
“Whoa, what happened to your hair?” Mack gaped at Emma as he strode into the kitchen, like always, for breakfast.
She flashed him a smile and scraped her fingertips through the dark, cropped strands behind her ear. “I got it cut and colored yesterday.”
“You sure as hell did. I damn near didn’t recognize you.”
That’s exactly why she did it.
“I wanted a change.” Emma shrugged before lifting the plate of bacon from my hand and carrying it to the table. While angry scabs dotted her hands and knees, I was relieved her ankle had healed to the point she was no longer limping. “I was tired of messing with long hair.”
“Well, it looks mighty pretty.” Mack smiled, darting me a knowing glance.
Thursday morning, while Emma was still sleeping in the guest room, I had grabbed a cup of coffee and strolled to the barn. I told Mack who Emma was, and who she was pretending to be. He, too, was equally perplexed about her deception, but promised to guard her secret, keep an eye on her, and note any suspicious activity around the ranch while I tried to uncover Emma’s secrets.
“Thank you, Mack,” she preened, returning to my side at the stove. Flashing a smile, she eased the plate of pancakes from my hand. “I’ve got this. You two go ahead and dig in while it’s hot. I’ll get the coffee.”
Mack bounced a glance between me and Emma, then smirked and arched a brow as I joined him at the table. Like me, he was a Dom…blinded by her submissive nature.
“You gonna do anything about that?”
“Not yet,” I muttered.
“You should. She needs it, and so do you,” he whispered before Emma returned and filled our mugs.
No, what I needed was to find out why she was pretending to be my sister and hiding out in Richardson. Though I’d uncovered a ton of information about Emma off the internet over the past three days, I still hadn’t discovered an answer to my questions. It might have helped if I could stay focused, but I couldn’t. The sight, scent, and sounds of Emma were constant distractions. It was strange, yet soothing, to have a woman living under my roof.
Not gonna lie. The first day had been awkward as hell. But after showing Emma around the ranch and letting her choose a car to drive, she started to relax and reveal more of her personality.
She was funny, snarky, and loved to banter…with both me and Mack. Her smile lit the dark, empty places inside me. Her laughter warmed me like the sun, but hammered holes in my armor—she was still the enemy. But it was her innate need to please that turned me inside out.
“So, what do you two cowboys have planned for today?” Emma asked as we loaded our plates.
“Now that summer is bearing down on us, the fields are drying out. We have to start adding minerals to the cow’s feed before we fill the troughs,” I explained.
Though she was a city girl, through and through, Emma hung on my every word and asked dozens of questions.
“What do you have planned?” Mack asked her.
“I think I’m going to try to bake some cookies,” she replied shyly.
“Fire extinguisher is in the mud room, darlin’,” I teased.
