Page 135 of Her Boss, Her Rancher: Sunrise On The Ranch

Jared poured himself a tall glass of milk and then took a seat across from her at the workstation to watch her. It was getting to be a thing, these after-midnight meetings.

He sat quietly for a while, sipping his drink. She was fully aware of his eyes on her. “Am I disturbing your quiet?” he asked.

As in, was his presence here making her nervous? Heck yes. But she didn’t mind him being here. He was a nice diversion after that disturbing phone call from Amy.

“Actually, if I’m totally honest, I don’t mind. Sienna is always interrupting my thoughts and I love her beyond belief, but sometimes it’s nice to be able to have a conversation without being disturbed.”

“I get that. You can turn off being Mommy for a little while.”

“Something like that.”

“You know, Cooper and Lauren were impressed with you,” he said. “And Lauren’s amazed at how you keep it all together, work and baby and single parenthood.”

She kept her eyes on her task. Was she keeping it all together? She was on the run, trying to protect her baby and lying through her teeth to some very decent people about who she really was.

During dessert, she and Lauren had had a long talk about babies and pregnancy, and she’d shared with her a little about her life with Paul. But she’d had to omit so much from that conversation to keep her identity a secret.

“To tell you the truth, you impress me, too,” Jared said.

She shrugged. Normally, Jared’s compliment would have gone to her head, but tonight she was trying to keep things real. And nothing was more real than learning her father may have sent his henchmen out to find her. “I’m doing what I have to do. Sienna’s the most important thing in my life. And as you can see, I can survive on very little sleep, so I have that over other women. I have a few more hours in my day.”

“I guess so,” he said, polishing off his milk and setting the glass down with a soft thud. “Can I help with anything?”

He was a gorgeous hunk of a man—how could she not notice?—but that wasn’t why she was drawn to him. The bond of her saving his life would always be there, but more than anything she truly liked him and enjoyed talking to him. He was easy and nice and...well, she needed a friend so badly right now. “Can you cut up bacon and ham?”

“I can do that.”

He came around the granite counter and she handed him a knife. “Just call me your sous chef.”

“Do I have to?”

He laughed and it was the first time she’d seen him laugh without visible pain. It soothed her heart to witness him healing. “Yes.”

“Okay, if you say so. You’re the boss.”

“Not in the kitchen, I’m not.” Jared smiled. “You’re in charge in here. From now on, I’m gonna call you the Midnight Contessa.”

Contessa? She actually liked the sound of it. Deliberately, she hadn’t made reference to her Italian heritage to Jared, and it was just one more thing she felt guilty about. But the name had a nice ring.

“Feel free to use it as the title of your cookbook.”

She could only return half a smile tonight. He had more faith in her than she had in herself. The cookbook and her dream of opening a restaurant had been put on hold indefinitely. She couldn’t think that far into the future. She had to take one day at a time right now.

She hoped Jared didn’t notice her anxiety. It would only lead to questions that she couldn’t answer.

“Maybe someday, Jared.”

They worked together, cooking up the diced bacon and ham, lining the casserole dish with bread and then adding the rest of ingredients. When it was all assembled, she put the dish into the oven and set the timer.

“What now?” he asked.

“Now I clean up the kitchen and wait. But you don’t have to, if you’d rather try going back to sleep.”

“Not on your life. This is my first sous chef creation.”

“It’ll take at least half an hour.”

“Hey, I have an idea. Wait right here.”