She smiled shyly and let go of her mom.
He held out his hand and stood. “Come on. Let’s get in line.”
Dallas smiled and mouthed thanks.
When their turn came, Cash sat down and put Piper between his legs, wrapping his hands around her tummy. He bent and kissed her cheek as he pushed off. She screamed and then shrieked with joy the rest of the way down.
Dallas jogged up to them. “Honey, that was awesome. See, it wasn’t scary.”
Cash helped Piper stand, handing her off to Dallas. The little girl sure looked cute in her bright-orange ruffled one-piece. “She’s a brave one, all right. I’m proud of you, Piper.”
As he stood, he gave a tug on Piper’s sun hat. “You can do anything you put your mind to. Remember that.”
Dallas flashed him a smile and a thumbs-up. “Where to next, Piper?”
Piper looked at Cash.
He took her hand and started walking. “What about the kiddie pool? That’s got a lot of fun stuff.”
She nodded and grinned.
He reached his arm around her mom again and couldn’t remember being this happy. When he glanced at Dallas, she was looking at him. Leaning down, he kissed her, enjoying the way her soft lips felt warm from the sun.
Kissing him back enthusiastically, she grinned as he lifted his head. “Thanks for being so good to Piper.”
“I’ll be even nicer if it gets me more of that.”
She giggled. “Piper, maybe you can practice floating on your back when we get to the pool.”
“Okay, Mama. Mr. Cash can help me.”
He was her favorite helper now, for everything. The kid was so darn adorable. “I sure can. I remember when I learned how to float on my back.” A couple with a young boy in tow walked ahead of them, and Cash realized that was what he looked like today. Glancing at Dallas and Piper, a new and curious sensation settled over him. This must be what if felt like to have a family. He smiled and squeezed Dallas close. He could get used to this.
DALLAS LEANED BACK against the edge of the pool, smiling as Cash helped Piper up the slide in the kiddie pool. She’d been too timid to climb on her own. He helped her sit down then nudged her gently down the slide. She squealed loudly then laughed as she slid down the slippery surface and plopped into the water at the bottom.
The guy was amazing with her daughter. The look of adoration on his face as he watched Piper slide melted Dallas’s heart. This handsome man, with his beautiful ranch, had a wonderful life and it showed.
Cash looked at her and grinned, and she waved to him.
He picked up Piper and walked over to Dallas. “I think we’re ready for some swimming lessons.”
The man had taut, tanned skin, and perfectly defined slabs of muscle. Rivulets of water ran down the hard ridges of his abdomen, sending tiny shivers up her tummy. Grinning at Piper, she asked, “Are you having fun, baby?”
She smiled and nodded.
Cash helped her daughter work on her back float for a few minutes then settled next to Dallas. “She’s a natural.”
Piper wandered off and started up a conversation with another girl about her age.
Sliding his arm around Dallas’s shoulder, Cash pulled her in for a quick kiss. “You and Piper make me happy.”
The honest, caring look in his eyes struck something deep inside Dallas. Her heart responded with a rush of desire, and something more—an intense longing for what he seemed to be offering. She shivered.
He drew his brows together. “Cold?”
Shaking her head, she said, “I’m having a great time today, too.” She caressed his cheek, looked into his eyes, and kissed him back, wanting him to feel how much she cared for him. Drawing away and leaning back against the edge of the pool, she chewed her lip. When she was with Cash, it felt like he was the only man for her. Why was it, then, that when she was with Ethan, he made her feel these same things? How could she ever choose just one man?
Chapter Ten
Cash stopped his hay pickup far inside his pasture up near Rule. Lowering the round bale speared on the long spike to a few inches above the ground, he got out and sliced the nylon mesh surrounding it with long, swift strokes of his knife.
Last night, Dallas was all he thought about as he lay in bed. He realized something that rocked his world—he didn’t just care for the woman—he was in love with her. And he didn’t know what to do about it. Dallas was seeing another man, for God’s sake. By her own admission, she cared for this lawyer. Then there was Piper. The little girl was starved for a man’s attention. He loved Piper, too. How in the hell did he get himself into a position like this? His heart had been broken once. Now he’d set himself up for that same scenario.
Wadding the mesh into a ball, he threw it into the cab and lowered the bale to the ground. It lay on its side, ready for the hungry cattle that would find it anytime now. Ranch tasks like this were easy—second nature for him. Taking care of his heart was much harder. Yet, knowing all this, he wouldn’t do anything differently. He wouldn’t give the woman up. His future was with Dallas and that little girl.
AFTER PICKING UP PIPER Friday afternoon, Dallas made a quick trip to the grocery store. She barely had enough time to pick up food for the weekend before getting her daughter fed, bathed, and ready to go back to her parents’ house.
Most of her items were already in her basket when she turned down the dairy aisle for milk and spotted a familiar figure. She stopped her cart so fast Piper’s head whipped back. Doug. The man had his arm slung over a woman’s shoulder in that way a cowboy had
