The Ranch Contract by Dinah McLeod

Author:Dinah McLeod [McLeod, Dinah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stormy Night Publications
Published: 2019-09-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

The mess that had taken mere moments to make took hours to clean. Or perhaps that was because Mrs. Thompson—Lora was beginning to secretly think of her as the Kitchen Mistress—wasn’t satisfied with them wiping the flour from the tiles, but insisted that the floor be scrubbed. The counters were wiped down until they gleamed and Kitchen Mistress suddenly recalled that she needed the walk-in freezer cleaned, too. Vera and Lora had thrown out wilting produce without another word to one another.

And Lora had dishes to finish too before she was allowed to leave. She had no idea what they had done with Vera, though she was sure whatever punishment they’d handed out it was too lenient. Only once she was given permission, she found that she really didn’t want to. She had a vague idea of what was waiting for her when she did, and she wasn’t in a hurry to face it.

“Are you sure there’s nothing else you need me to do?”

Mrs. Thompson had given her a knowing look. “No. They’re waiting to see you in the office.”

She gulped, nodded, and turned to leave. She hung her head and walked with her eyes on the floor. Her tummy was tied in knots. She’d been stupid, she knew it, and now she was going to have to deal with the consequences. But it wasn’t fair, damn it! It wasn’t her fault!

By the time she knocked on the door some of her apprehension had been replaced with defiance. This entire mess could have been avoided if they hadn’t paired her with Vera. They knew the other woman had it out for her, and they’d still put them in the same room. Nothing that had happened was her fault. If Vera hadn’t baited her, she’d probably be out enjoying another sexy adventure on the ranch with Nate, but now, thanks to her, there was nothing sexy about what awaited her.

Lora’s righteous indignation and her dislike of the other woman swelled.

“Come in.”

She recognized that deep, authoritative voice instantly, the knots in her tummy tightening in a vise and a shiver skating over her bottom cheeks. Lora turned the knob and opened the door, taking a deep breath before she stepped inside. She’d rehearsed what she’d planned to say to defend her case, but seeing Nate sitting at a huge, impressive desk caught her off guard. It reminded her so much of being called into the principal’s office. And when her eyes flitted over the room she saw several large paddles hanging on the wall behind him. There were six in all, in varying sizes and thickness. One even had holes drilled into it. Lora’s anger dissolved instantly, giving way to panic.

“Close the door, please.”

She did as she was told immediately, hoping that she might be able to earn some form of leniency.

Nate surprised her by gesturing to the seat across from him. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

He kept putting her off her guard, making her forget what she’d planned to tell him.

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