Daddy's Virgin (A CEO Boss Romance Novel)

He nodded once. “I’m glad to hear you found a place you like, Em.” He shook his paper straight and picked up where he left off before I strolled in.

“Kasey in her room?” I asked.

He nodded.

I headed that way, walking down the hall to her closed door. I knocked and walked in a second later without waiting for her to tell me to come in. She was lying back on a stack

of pillows on her bed, tapping away at something or other on her cell phone. She never left the damned thing alone, even bringing it with her into the bathroom.

“Hey, Kase,” I said.

“Hey, Em.” She thumped the mattress next to her, and I went to sit down. She grinned over at me. “So? Did you get the job?”

“I think so. The property’s much nicer than anything I’ve seen so far. And the guy who owns it, Pete Gains, is about thirty years younger than I expected. He has ten fine-looking horses on the-”

Kasey held up her hands, the nails painted bubblegum pink, to stop my rambling. Around Daddy, I didn’t say more than was necessary, but she would draw the chattiness out of a damned mute.

“Wait. Go back to talking about this Pete guy. About how young is he?”

I shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know. Thirty maybe?”

Her green eyes got wide, the sparkle in them telling me she’d just heard something she liked. “What does he look like? Is he cute?”

I couldn’t help the smile that sprang to my lips. “He’s cute enough. I couldn’t see his hair under his cowboy hat, but he had dark stubble on his chin and bright blue eyes. He smiled a lot, too, and kept telling these jokes that weren’t even a little bit funny.” I giggled now to think about it, though I hadn’t even smiled at the time. “He seems nice, though. Like he’d be a fair boss.”

She looked even more interested now. She sat up from her nest of pillows, shiny hair bouncing over her shoulders when she it flipped back and out of the way. “Is he single?”

I scrunched my face. “I don’t see how any of that’s my concern. I was paying more attention to his ranch. He has hundreds of acres of land, Kase. And, it’s well maintained, unlike some of the other ranches I’ve seen around here. It’s just on the other side of Round Rock.”

Kasey’s face had fallen a little more with every sentence I’d said that wasn’t about Pete Gains and his tan, muscled arms, and heart-stopping smile. “I don’t give a shit about his farm. I mean, I’m happy for you if you’re excited to work there with his horses and all his land. But none of that is interesting. I want to hear more about Pete!” She clasped her hands together over her chest as she said his name and batted long eyelashes that were black and sticky with mascara.

“I told you all I know,” I said.

“You left out the most important thing!” she said, her eyebrows pressing together, her disappointment in me abundantly clear.

I lifted my own eyebrows in response.

“Is he single?” She gave me a long look, her eyes narrowing into green slits. “Don’t act like you didn’t notice whether or not he was wearing a wedding ring.”

That didn’t always tell you what you wanted to know. Daddy still wore his ring. Although, it did what he meant it to do — keep interested middle-aged women from sniffing around or getting their hopes up.

“He wasn’t wearing a ring,” I admitted.

She whooped triumphantly, a smile breaking over her face and hair flying around as she lifted her arms in a mini celebration. It had been a while since I’d dated anyone, but damn, it hadn’t been that long. She made it sound like I’d been trapped in a convent.

“Don’t get too excited. I think he has a girlfriend. She was pulling up as I was pulling out. The way he looks, it wouldn’t surprise me if he had three girlfriends — one in Round Rock and two in Austin.”

Kasey didn’t let this news deter her for a second. If anything, she looked more determined. “Girlfriends don’t mean shit. No ring means he ain’t married. Which means he’s fair game.”

I pressed my lips together to give her a withering look that didn’t do a thing to wipe the grin off her face. “That’s terrible, Kasey. Is that how you’re living your life in Austin? Chasing after other girls’ boyfriends?”

She laughed her high, sweet laugh. “I don’t have to chase after anyone. And, neither do you.” She leaned back onto her pillows again. “But, I’m just saying, having a girlfriend isn’t the same thing as having a wife. That’s just a fact.”

I shook my head, but I couldn’t help smiling at my little sister’s logic.

“The first thing you need to find out is if he’s actually single,” she said.

I thought about the woman I saw driving onto the ranch as I was driving off. She could’ve been a friend or another person applying for the job minding the horses. He could be single, after all.