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Harper seemed to realize at that moment what she’d done. Her eyes went big, and she stammered. “Harper. I’m sorry. I used to work with kids all the time—”
“That little booger is my daughter.”
Harper tried to disentangle the little girl, but Tech stopped her. “She’s never warmed up to anybody that fast, except maybe Nettie.”
Harper froze and looked at Laura, who nodded. “Kids have always liked me.”
Tech looked back and forth between them. “Are you the new barn manager?”
Harper shook her head slowly.
Eli pointed at her. “No, that’s Laura. Harper is her roommate.”
Everyone glanced between the two of them before Tech spoke again. “Would you be interested in a job, too?”
“Me?” Harper squeaked.
“Yeah. I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. It’s not required. Nettie keeps Quinn most days, but sometimes it would be easier if she had someone to help her. No pressure, though. I can’t pay much—”
“But I can,” Sadie said. “Let me do some research and see what a nanny makes. We’ll make you a fair offer.”
Eli scowled at his wife, but Tech just looked relieved.
“Sadie…”
“Eli…” she said back with a hard stare.
“We’ll talk about this later.”
“There’s nothing to talk about—”
“You don’t even know if she wants the job. Don’t pressure her—” Tech said.
“I do,” Harper said loud enough to be heard over everyone.
“You do?” Laura asked in astonishment. She’d never pressured Harper to get a job. After all she’d been through as a teenager, Laura wanted to take care of her.
Something flared in Harper’s eyes, but it was gone just as fast.
“Definitely. You don’t need to pay me. Room and board is plenty.”
“That’s not fair—” Sadie started.
“I have to pay you something,” Tech said at the same time as Sadie spoke.
“What’s all the hullabaloo? Did my favorite girl terrorize you all again this morning?” said a man from behind her in the doorway.
Laura froze. That voice. She knew that voice. Deep, with just a touch of roughness. The drawl was present, but not obvious right now. She squeezed her eyes shut. This could not be fucking happening.
“Oh, hey boss. Is this the new barn manager?”
“Yup, Laura Collins, meet one of our ranch hands, Sunny.”
Laura forced herself to turn around because it would be weird not to. It would be even weirder in a minute, but there was nothing she could do about that.
Rafe stared, his mouth falling open. He blinked once, then frowned.
“What are you doinghere?”he demanded.
