She shook her head, looking far more judgy than he felt she should, considering she was the one who ate like a latchkey kid. “It hasn’t done me any harm for the last ten years of my life,” she said.
“You weren’t pregnant for the last ten years of your life,” he snapped. Then he realized what he’d said and what that revealed about his true motivations, and he snapped his mouth shut. Now she looked smug, and that was even worse than judgy, not at all because it was even cuter. Not. At. All. “Go sit down. I’ll be out in a minute.”
He served meatloaf sandwiches with sautéed vegetables and potato salad. It was half picnic and half comfort food. She smiled across the table at him. “Well, thank you for dinner tonight. And last night. And the night before that. Breakfast, too. You keep cooking for me, and you really don’t need to, you know. At this rate, you may never get rid of me. It’s too much fun living with you.”
He automatically smiled at the twinkle in her eye, caught himself, and told himself to knock it off. This was dangerous. He was getting comfortable with the domesticity, with the idea of a family. It took about five seconds for him to remind himself what a family really looked like in his experience. It wasn’t some heartwarming sitcom. It was a slow-moving nightmare. If Adam ever became his father, he would never be able to forgive himself. And the one way he could think of to avoid it without fail was to never become a father at all. All he’d had to do wasnothing, and he’d failed.
Well, he could protect them both from behind the curtain. No one needed to know he had anything to do with them. It was the right thing to do. It might not be exactly what Kyra wanted, but it was the best he could do for her. He’d feed and protect her until she hadherbaby. Then he’d support her as best he could, providing childcare and whatever else she needed. But he would never call himself a father.
The best he could do was make a good excuse for his behavior. “Well, you’re the best employee I’ve ever had, and I don’t want to lose you, so I have to incentivize you to stay.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. “Aren’t I the only employee you’ve ever had?”
He waved a hand. “Doesn’t matter. I already know I couldn’t replace you. Everyone else will try to do things their way. You’re the only hand who will do things my way.”
“I wouldn’t dare defy you.” She laughed. “You’re far too prickly.”
He glared across the table at her. “And you’re far too friendly for your own good. Keeping you on is also my way of preventing any other boss from taking advantage of you.”
“So you can take advantage of me first,” she said with a mischievous grin.
“Exactly.” He went along with it because he knew she was teasing, and he wanted to see her smile more. He’d gotten so used to her presence. The truth was, he was kind of dreading losing her for the paid leave he had every intention of giving her. Having her around made his ranch feel a little more like a home, which terrified him every bit as much as it comforted him.
CHAPTER 10
KYRA
Kyra couldn’t believe the change she was seeing in Adam. He made her breakfast every morning and dinner every night. He regularly asked her what she planned to eat for lunch, and then he would scold her if it wasn’t healthy enough. She couldn’t fathom what had gotten into him, but she wasn’t going to pretend she didn’t love it.
“Give me something to do, boss,” she insisted one morning. “Please. Sitting around the house all day is driving me crazy.”
He rubbed his chin in thought. “I guess you can feed the horses, but only if I help you.”
She couldn’t help rolling her eyes. “You know I can handle it by myself. I’ve been handling it since my first week here.”
“You shouldn’t be lifting anything heavy right now,” he said.
“Because?” she prompted.
He grimaced and, apparently, ultimately decided to lie. “Because you could hurt your back. You don’t want to hurt your back, do you? That sort of injury never really goes away, you know.”
“You sound like my grandfather,” she said with a chuckle. “Come on. Let’s go feed the horses. I promise I won’t lift anything over ten pounds.”
Going to the stables always made Kyra happy. The barn was an early big project she had taken on around the ranch. It was now a beautiful dark green with bright green trim, and it looked so welcoming on the horizon. Not only that, but she’d helped Adam fix the roof, too. Even after they’d… taken things too far, they’d both worked together and gotten that roof repaired. The horses were in a much drier, warmer environment now, and not a moment too soon, because as soon as they entered the barn, Adam pointed to one of the horses and said, “You two have something big in common.”
It took Kyra a moment to figure out what he meant. But when she walked over to pet the horse’s nose, she couldn’t help but notice. “She’s pregnant?”
“Yep,” Adam confirmed. “Very pregnant.”
Suddenly, this sleek, black horse became Kyra’s favorite. “Oh my gosh, have you been getting extra treats? Tell me the boss has been giving you extra treats. It’s unforgivable if he hasn’t.” The horse, whose name was Ellie, was not one of Adam’s, she knew. But she felt it should be spoiled all the same.
“Go ahead and give her some apple slices,” Adam said. “I brought some especially for her.”
Kyra nodded in approval. “Excellent. As it should be.” She fished around in the cooler Adam had packed and found a bag of fresh apple slices. Ellie nickered and pawed the ground in anticipation as Kyra approached with the bag. Kyra patted her on the noseagain as she fed her one apple slice after another. “You eat well, mama,” she said, “and I will, too. I promise.”
Adam chuckled from across the barn. “So that’s all it takes to get you to listen to advice, huh? I just have to be a horse.”
“I’ll listen to your advice,” Kyra said.
