Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“Can I ask you a question?”
She glances over and lifts an eyebrow. “Of course.”
“Have I offended you, Duchess?”
She blinks rapidly and tucks that shiny hair behind her ear herself. “Of course not. I haven’t even been here for twenty-four hours.”
I nod slowly and lean my shoulder on the stall door where she’s checking on one of the horses.
“Did I piss you off before you quit the diner?”
“Not at all.”
I rub my thumb over my bottom lip and watch as she glides her hand over the haunches of the horse.
“Then why are you so skittish around me?”
“I’m not.”
I chuckle, but there’s no humor in it. “You’re more skittish than most of the wild animals on this property.”
She blows out a breath and turns to face me, her hands on her perfect, curvy hips.
“I’m not a friendly person, Tucker,” she finally admits. “I mostly keep to myself. I’m not super talkative, and I don’t make friends easily. I’m awkward at best.”
I stare at her, taking in her sincere, sweet face, and I realize that she actually believes that nonsense. Who put that shit in her head?
“Yeah, I don’t believe that. You were always friendly before.”
Her brows pull together and she licks her lips. “You were a stranger at my work. Someone safe to flirt with and then go on with my day. Now, you’re essentially my boss, I haven’t seen you in five years, and yeah, you’re still a stranger.”
I nod. “Okay. I have two sisters. I get it.”
If anyone made Ava or Harper uncomfortable, I’d break their fucking face.
“I won’t touch you unless you give consent,” I inform her. “Not ever. I’m not an asshole, Duchess.”
“I didn’t think that you were,” she replies softly and turns those big blue eyes up to me. “It’s nothing personal. I actually like you, and for reasons I don’t understand, I trust you. But I will always skirt around you because—”
“You don’t like to be touched.” I nod, and internally, I want to burn whatever did this to her to the ground. “I’m being professional, remember?”
Her face softens, and her bee-stung lips quirk up in a half smile that has my dick twitching.
“Professional,” she confirms. “I have a meeting with Dr. Fisher at noon in town.”
“Then we’d better get started on our day. I assume you know how to ride a horse?”
Darby bites her lip and winces. “I’m not great. I grew up on a ranch, but my father didn’t believe that women should do ranch work, so he never taught us.”
I blink at her in surprise. “You grew up on a ranch and never rode a horse?”
“That’s right.”
“Do you want to learn?”
Darby’s eyes move to Ellie, the horse she’s currently brushing, and the longing that moves over her face almost splits my heart in two. “Yeah. I do.”
“Then you’ll learn.” I point to Ellie. “She’s patient and sweet. The perfect girl to learn on. We’ll get started tomorrow. For today, we’ll muck these stalls and lay fresh bedding, and I need to go out and feed the other animals and clean water troughs.”
“I can help with that too,” she says and unzips her hoodie, takes it off, and slings it over the side of the stall. “I need the medical records you have on hand for all of the animals. I’ll go through them to schedule vaccinations and checkups. Is anyone other than the cat pregnant?”
I shake my head. “I don’t breed horses. None of mine are pregnant. All of the cows delivered last month.”
“Have you branded and vaccinated?”
“Next weekend.” I grin over at her. “My brother Easton and my dad will be out to help.”
“That’s it? How many calves do you have?”
“About three hundred.”
Her eyebrows lift. “I’ll call my brother. Holden will come help.”
“I have employees,” I remind her, and she immediately backpedals, losing the confidence she had seconds ago.
“Oh, I don’t mean to step on toes. If you don’t need Holden, I won’t—”
“Invite him,” I reply. “I like your brother. He’s a good guy and a damn good rancher. He’s welcome here.”
She sighs and bites that lip again. It seems that’s her tell for when she’s nervous. It’s adorable and makes me want to scoop her up and soothe her.
“You have a routine that you’ve done for many years, and I’m sorry for implying that you don’t know what you’re doing. I obviously don’t need Holden here.”
“You’d argue about anything, wouldn’t you?”
Darby blows out a breath and then chuckles. “Probably. Okay, what’s next?”
“You know, you’re not here as a ranch hand. You’re here as a vet. You don’t have to do all of the labor.”
“It gets me around the animals, to observe them. I don’t mind at all.”
She keeps those eyes on me, her chin high, no hesitation in her voice. She means it.
“Okay, let’s go clean troughs.”
The problem is, I like her.