Her Cowboy Knight (3 page)

“Whoa, slow down, Gabby, no need to knock yourself out.” Cooper leaned on the doorjamb of a shed Gabby was organizing.

Gabby looked up and grinned. “Oh, Mr. Harris, you scared me.”

“Cooper, please. Come on. I’d like you to meet my foreman, and it’s time for lunch.”

Gabby followed him to a gentleman who hovered over some papers in the back of a truck. The new man turned around as they walked up, removing his hat as Cooper said, “Kwan, I’d like you to meet our new hand, Gabby. She’ll be doing a few odd jobs around here. Her dad is an old friend of Jed’s. Gabby, this is Kwan Martinez, my top hand. If you have a question or problem and can’t find me, you can ask him and his word goes, okay?”

Gabby nodded and took Kwan’s offered hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Martinez.”

“It’s just Kwan, Miss Gabby. We’re not very formal around here.” He flashed her a smile, bright in his olive complexion.

“Then just call me Gabby, Kwan, and we’ll call it even.”

Just then a boy of about twelve, with straight blue-black hair, ran up. “Mom said lunch is ready, and y’all should come on and eat.”

Kwan prompted, “Mind your manners.”

Cooper said, “Michael, this is Miss Gabby. She’ll be staying with us for a few weeks.”

Michael paused briefly. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

Gabby said, “You too, Michael. If you’ll lead the way, I’m hungry as well. Can you show me where to wash up first?”

Michael pointed to the barn. “Yeah, Mom would be mad if you showed up all dirty like that. Good idea. Come on. I better show you how to work it so it doesn’t spray all over you, or you’ll be even later for dinner.”

Gabby turned on her best Ren Faire accent. “Lead on then, sir knight, for I would hate to be even a second later than absolutely necessary.”

Michael grinned. “You’re funny.”

Gabby smiled. “Thanks… I think.”

As Michael led to her dinner, Gabby stopped just a moment at the bottom of the steps to admire the house, a white ranch house with a wraparound veranda. The house had been extended and renovated several times over the years to accommodate growing families and fortunes, giving it an organic, lived-in appearance.

Michael broke into her reverie, saying, “Miss Gabby, seriously, we are all going to starve.”

“Michael.” A dark-haired woman stepped on the front porch and spoke the one word, instantly silencing the boy.

“No, it’s my fault. I was just admiring the house. My name’s Gabby.”

“Angelina… and he gets a little anxious that he will die of starvation… every day.” The woman smiled, and held the door for Gabby to enter.

Gabby said, “No, really, it’s fine. It reminds me of home. I have a brother just his age.”

The men were already sitting at the table, but they rose, and Kwan nudged Michael’s elbow at the same time, reminding him to rise when a lady entered the room. She waved them all to sit and hurried to do the same so they could all start eating.

She ate very little, instead looking around at the sideboard, and the antique dishes displayed on the wall in between old pictures of family members. She didn’t dare tell anyone that she could count on both hands the number of times she had sat at a table in a house for a meal.

* * *

That night, when Gabby lay down in the bed, she couldn’t settle in the unfamiliar cot, so she slid her shoes back on and headed out to catch some fresh air. She leaned out the split door at the end of the barn and watched the stars for a long time. On her way back to her room she saw a huge head stick out of one of the stalls in greeting. She recognized the blue roan, and moved to him. She stopped three feet from his stall, and read the tag on his door. “Blue Boy, huh?”

He nodded his head, and she chuckled low. “Well, someone got imaginative with that name, didn’t they?”

She reached out and let him smell her, then slid her hand down his neck when he nuzzled her hand. “You are a beauty, aren’t you? But you know that. I can’t be seen talking to you, though. I’ve got to go to bed, okay?”

He looked beyond her and she backed up… right into a wall that hadn’t been there before.

She yelped as she found herself lifted off her feet and tucked under an arm. She fought and kicked for the brief amount of time it took for her to be carried the short distance to her room, seeing only a blur of stalls as she passed them in her horizontal position.

Just as suddenly, she ended up on her feet in front of a very angry Cooper who towered over her, his hand under her chin demanding eye contact.

“What was the first rule I gave you?”

The full force of the adrenaline hit Gabby’s system, and she made the mistake of going on the attack. “What did you mean, grabbing me in the dark like that? You scared me half to death! You can’t just manhandle people like that.”

Cooper put his hands to his hips, his eyebrows shooting nearer his hairline at being challenged by someone more than a foot shorter. “I’m going to give you one more chance to answer me, little girl, or I’ll do a lot more than manhandle you. What was the first rule I gave you?”

Gabby put her own hands on her own hips. “I don’t respond to threats, Mr. Harris. So take your rules and shove them where the…
oh
!”

Gabby didn’t get a chance to finish her statement before Cooper grabbed her by the arm and sat down in one fluid motion, tipping her over his left knee. Her position had hardly registered before Gabby felt the first of a series of hard slaps to her behind.

“Hey! No! Oh, you just absolutely
can’t
spank me!” Gabby reached her hand back only to have Cooper pin it to her back and keep laying down swats to her bottom that had her squirming on his lap.

Cooper paused just long enough to say, “Care to talk about those rules yet, Miss Gabby?”

Gabby’s response slightly shocked him in its vulgarity. “Care to stop screwing the neighbor’s sheep yet?”

Cooper lifted her just enough to whisk her pajama bottoms down to her knees. “With a mouth like that, obviously this spanking is long overdue.”

Gabby gasped as she realized that Cooper could now see most of her bottom with only her panties for covering. Why had she chosen the skimpy lace panties today of all days? Their cream color was practically see-through, and she could only imagine what Cooper could see right now. Her bottom felt like it had to be candy apple red.

Cooper didn’t hesitate long if he did admire the view; he soon set about deepening the shade of red in her cheeks, and the reaction on uncovered flesh was immediate. Gabby howled and squirmed from the first stroke, finally reaching back again to try to protect her tender bottom.

Cooper grabbed her wrist and pinned it, pausing to ask, “What was the first rule I gave you?”

Gabby buried her eyes in the crook of her left arm and mumbled, “Not to go near the horses.”

Cooper held his hand on her bottom. “And when I come out to check on the barn, where did I find you?”

Gabby remained silent, so Cooper brought his hand down sharply ten more times, making her raise her upper body and kick her feet.

He paused again. “Where did I find you when I came out to check on the barn?”

“Near the horses.”

“Right. Near the horses. And that was naughty, wasn’t it?”

Gabby about died, but as he lifted his hand again, she hurried to say, “Yes, sir.”

He brought his hand down softly, rubbing instead of spanking. “I cannot have you around the horses, Gabby.”

He stood her between his legs then, forcing her to look him in the eye, even though she wanted to cover herself and look away. “I cannot take the chance that something will happen to you, okay?”

One tear rolled down her cheek. “But it won’t. I promise. Will you let me try?”

He sighed and brushed the tear away. “No, now you’ve disobeyed, and broken the rules. Jed and your father have you here for a reason, so just do what you are told and try to get along, okay?”

Gabby looked so forlorn at that pronouncement that Cooper leaned down and kissed her on the nose. “And no more going near the horses. I mean it. Now let’s get you in bed.”

He waited until Gabby climbed in bed, then he tucked the covers around her. “You did well today, by the way. Tomorrow is a new day, so try to get some sleep.” He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

He turned her light out on the way out. “And stay in bed this time.”

Gabby lay awake rubbing her bottom, hardly believing the last fifteen minutes had just happened. She had half a mind to just go back home and call the whole thing off. She didn’t need the money… except her da would be disappointed, and she did need her car. She could hardly say she left because some cowboy spanked her. She could hardly
believe
some cowboy had spanked her. Why did the idea make her sex clench as much as her jaw? Why did she see the cowboy every time she closed her eyes?

* * *

Cooper stalked out of the barn, his heart thumping as the reality of what he had just done struck home. Luckily, the girl wasn’t screaming bloody murder and calling the cops. He curled his hand over the heat in his palm and savored the sensation, remembering the feel of her across his lap, then readjusted himself. God, she did something to him. He had to get his head together before this ‘project’ of his Uncle Jed’s got under his skin… any further.

He climbed the steps to the house just as he heard Jed’s truck pull up. He turned and waited on the older man to collect his things and meet him. “So how was the trip?”

Jed looked up. “Productive and relaxing. Did the new hand get here? How’s she working out?”

Cooper nodded, flexing his right hand as he did. “Yeah, she showed up this morning… in the back of Dave’s police cruiser.”

“What?! What happened?”

Cooper briefly explained what he understood of the mishap and its repercussions, finishing with all he’d had Gabby doing the rest of the day and her run-in with Blue Boy. He left out the spanking, but he had the strangest sensation that Jedidiah somehow guessed some part of what had just happened.

A long silence passed between them, then Jed finally spoke. “Cooper, I think I might have done this girl a disservice by not elaborating a little more, or maybe the circumstances of her arrival went against her a bit. When I called saying that I had hired someone, I forgot that I had occasionally brought kids out here that were down on their luck and needed a job, but Gabby is certainly not in that category. She is not someone who I would have expected to show up in the back of a police car except if she thought it was a chance for a ride. She’s good with horses, but the horses are your deal, and if you’ve said she can’t work them, there is nothing I can say about that. You can be a damn fool if you want to. Now, as for tonight, whatever went between you, that’s between you, but you’ll not be mean to her with me around. She’s not here to be imprisoned or rehabilitated, so just get that out of your head. She’s a nice girl from a nice family, and I’ll hand her back to her father this weekend if you don’t want her here. “

Cooper sat there dumbfounded, as this was about the most his uncle had ever said in one stretch in his life.

Cooper stammered, “No, sir. I never said I didn’t want her here. I… look. I’m sure we can work this out. Just let me see how she does with the horses. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to her.”

Jed nodded. “Like I said, it’s my fault, just as much as yours. And it sounds like Dave didn’t help any, or Gabby herself for throwing a fit and getting into a crash, so what say we all start over tomorrow. Now I’m going to bed. Oh, and move the girl into the house, for God’s sake. I can’t believe you have her living in the barn.”

Jed stood and abruptly went to his room without another word, leaving Cooper to stare at the door, feeling about as chastened as he’d ever felt by the old man, and that was saying a good bit.

Looked like he had a lot of making up to do.

Chapter Three

The next morning, Gabby skipped breakfast and continued with her list as far from the main house as she could. She told herself that breakfast was overrated, but she knew she just wanted to avoid facing Cooper after their encounter the night before. Unfortunately, her plan didn’t work because when she turned around with a pitchfork full of debris, he leaned in the doorway with his arms crossed.

He straightened when their eyes met, and stuck his hands in his pockets. “You missed breakfast.”

Gabby turned and pitched her forkful onto the pile out the back of the shed. “I’m not really a breakfast person.”

Cooper scuffed his boot. “Well, I came to check on you, after… you know… last night.”

Gabby stopped and turned to face him, her face turning a bright shade of pink. “I’m fine.” She turned back to her work, very aware of his presence in the doorway. “Is there anything else?”

He stepped into the shed, rubbing the back of his neck. “My uncle Jed got home last night. He, um, well, he clarified a few things for me. It’s all sort of funny when you think about it in the right way.” He looked up at her, checking her reaction.

Gabby stopped, leaning on her pitchfork, waiting for him to continue.

Cooper said, “Well, see, Jed is kind of known around these parts for taking in boys who need a fresh start, kind of a last stop before they end up in the system. When he called me saying he was taking on a new hand, and that they didn’t have experience, and then you showed up in a police car…”

Gabby stiffened. “You thought I was one of these juvenile delinquents, and my age of twenty-eight didn’t clue you in that I couldn’t possibly be in that category?”

Cooper said, “Well, I didn’t look at your paperwork yesterday. I figured you were a little bit older than a teenager, of course, and I knew you were a special case, but yeah, I thought you were a daughter of a friend causing a bit of trouble or heading down a wrong path or something.”

Gabby smirked. “And do you use corporal punishment on all of your juvenile delinquents, then tuck them into bed with a kiss, Mr. Harris?”