Page 138 of Her Boss, Her Rancher: Sunrise On The Ranch

“That must be Pumpkin.”

“It sure is,” Jared said. “She’s sticking close to her mommy.”

Sienna took it all in, fascinated.

“It’s a big corral,” Bella said. “How many horses do you have here?”

“About a dozen. Make that thirteen,” he said, tipping his hat back on his forehead. “If I’m counting the new filly.”

“Do they all get along?”

“Seem to. But we build our corrals oval, which keeps the horses from bunching up in corners and getting too territorial. Makes everyone happy.”

“If only people were like that,” she said, thinking aloud.

Her cryptic comment brought Jared’s head up and he stared at her, his brows raised in question. She swallowed hard, condemning herself for letting down her guard.

“You all right, Bella?”

She looked into his eyes, wishing she could tell him the truth.

As much as she thought things might’ve gotten weird between them this morning, they hadn’t been at all. Jared had been as earnest and forthright as usual and she’d sort of fallen into a sweet ease with him. Slowly her qualms about the kiss they’d shared had disappeared, though it helped that she had Sienna as a buffer.

Bella was still wondering what that kiss had meant to Jared.

For her, it was a gentle release of anxiety, a grasp at something solid and real amid the lies she’d told. It was a way to relieve her fear about her father finding her. But a part of her felt as if she’d been cheating on Paul. She was not all right, but she couldn’t tell Jared that.

How had her life become so complicated?

“Sure, I’m good,” she said, nodding, doing her best to convince him.

He nodded back. A beautiful black-and-white mare strolled over to the fence and Sienna began flapping her arms. “Horsie! Horsie!”

“I see it.”

“Say hello to Jubilee, Sienna,” Jared said. “She’s just a little older than you. She’s a sweetheart, just like you. You want to pet her?”

Before Bella could stop him, Jared lifted Sienna higher and leaned over the fence. Her daredevil daughter didn’t protest at all. Jared’s hand covered Sienna’s as he carefully guided her toward the horse’s flank. “There you go, Sienna. How does that feel? You just have to treat her nice.”

“Nice,” Sienna parroted as she stroked the horse over and over.

“That’s it,” Jared said. “Maybe one day you’ll get to ride one of these sweet girls.”

“Not on your life,” Bella said, her inner mama bear coming out.

Jared slid her a sideways glance. “Don’t worry, Sienna. Your mama will change her mind.”

“I don’t think so. She’s too young.”

“I was one when I took my first ride.”

“You grew up on a ranch.”

“What difference does that make?” he asked.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t, I guess.”

“Where did Sienna grow up anyway?” he asked. “I don’t think you’ve told me.”