The Tycoon's Tender Triumph Page 0,45

his best friend and business partner, and being okay with his friend and business partner sleeping with his daughter.

“I’d better get to work,” Sam replied about fifteen minutes into the conversation.

Jim watched as the man he considered a son walked out of his room. Sam was so torn up and twisted into knots over his pretty Chloe that he didn’t know what to do. Jim knew, but he suspected that Sam was too much of a gentleman to just toss his daughter over his shoulder and bring her to bed. Jim knew that Sam wanted to marry his Chloe so it didn’t bother him about the bed thing. It just meant he would have grandkids sooner.

Although those two were sure taking the hard road getting to those grandkids, he thought and made his way to the kitchen to get Jessy’s side of the situation. The two of them regularly collaborated on getting Sam and Chloe together and the past few weeks had been harder than expected.

Sam saddled his horse and headed in the direction one of his men had seen Chloe heading out earlier this morning. He went several miles to the west, then backtracked, trying a different route. He saw several fresh horse prints, but he wasn’t a good enough tracker to know if they were Chloe’s Pepper or another ranch hand’s trail. He kept fanning out in different directions trying to spot her, but three hours later, he gave up and returned to the stable, hoping she might have already returned. She rarely stayed out this long on a saddle and if she was riding this long, she’d have a horrible time tonight with sore muscles.

By nightfall, he was a mess. She hadn’t been back to the stable when he’d returned, nor had she returned for lunch. By mid-afternoon, he had organized a whole search party to find her, with several of the men already reporting back via cell phone that they hadn’t found her. Those were the ones Sam had sent off to check the most dangerous areas, so at least he could ease his mind that she wasn’t in one of the ravines or fallen into the river on the east side of his property.

He was running his fingers through his hair, worried sick and now even Jessy and Jim were becoming concerned. So when she walked into the house just as dinner was normally being served, Sam almost lost it.

“Where the hell have you been all day?” he roared.

Chloe turned and calmly shut the door. “I heard from the other ranch hands that you had people out searching for me. I’ve already gone around to all the men and apologized for being so thoughtless. And I’m truly sorry, Sam. I didn’t realize anyone would be out looking for me today. I’m not normally back until this point anyway so it didn’t occur to me to check in earlier in the day.”

Sam had been prepared for defiance, braced himself for her yelling right back at him. So when she calmly stated that she was wrong and apologizing for that, he wasn’t sure where to go with his anger. It was still there, completely undiffused by her apology, but he was still sick with worry.

“You should have checked in,” he said, but he pulled back on the tone, forcing himself to accept her apology even though he wanted to turn her over his knee and spank her adorable little butt.

“I know.” She turned to Jessy and Jim. “I’m really sorry. Dinner smells absolutely delicious. I’m really hungry. Would you mind if I grabbed something to eat?”

Jessy and Jim stared at Chloe, then back to Sam, wondering what might happen next between these two.

Jessy was the first to snap out of it. “Sure, darlin’. Come on this way. It’s about time you had a hot meal in that skinny belly of yours,” she mumbled as she led the way back to the kitchen.

Jim stayed and watched Sam for a moment longer before chuckling. “She’s not going to change, Sam. I can guarantee that I never figured her out. One minute, she’s worry about her algebra test, the next she’s charging full force on a mission to clothe the homeless. Trying to figure out which way she’s going to turn is part of her charm.”

Sam glared back at the man he’d looked up to for more years than he could remember. “Does it ever get easier to deal with?”

Jim laughed. “Nope. But it sure is fun to watch.” With