He laughed and gave my shoulder a light squeeze as he passed, stopping to whisper in my ear. “Don’t be too hard on him, he’s a good guy. And if that picture on Facebook is anything to go by, you think so, too.”
Picture? “What picture?”
Rafe laughed and turned to Scott. “I’ll let Scott tell you all about it.” He grinned and walked away, joining Ty and a couple other men at a table nearby.
We stared at each other for a long time, too many emotions swirling between us for any type of communication to take place, so I turned back to my nachos and dug in.
He sat beside me, quietly, for a long moment. Finally, he said what he’d come to say. “About Clara. I don’t know her, and I don’t give a damn about her.”
Okay. It wasn’t what I’d expected, so I shrugged. “All right, but you don’t owe me an explanation.” We’d had one really excellent night together, but that was it.
He looked genuinely confused and for a second, I almost felt sorry for him. “So, that’s it? One and done?”
I barked out a laugh. “That’s rich, coming from the guy who snuck out in the middle of the night.”
“It was early morning, and I needed to get my run in and take care of Hershey.”
Okay, that was perfectly reasonable. “How was I supposed to know that? And what was I supposed to think?”
Buddy stopped in front of us with a smile. “Everything all right?”
“Yep.” The word came out a little too bright and my smile was brittle—at least, it felt that way to me. “Peachy keen.”
“Keep it that way,” he barked and walked away.
Scott sighed when Buddy left. “I wasn’t sure what to say or do, and Hershey was the perfect excuse to leave. I’m sorry.”
Now that shocked the hell out of me. “Are you sure now?”
“What?”
“You barged over here all angry and possessive like you have any right, so I assume you’ve figured out what to say or do?” He didn’t look all that certain, and I had a feeling he’d only come over because the handsome fire chief was flirting with me.
Scott laughed. “I had all day to figure it out and I got nothing. Sorry.” He grabbed my beer and took a long, fortifying gulp, finishing with a satisfied smack of his lips. “I had a great time, Stevie. It was unexpected and it was incredible. But…” He trailed off, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out the rest of that sentence.
“But I work for you, and even that’s up in the air,” I finished for him. Scott was definitely a rule follower, a disciple of etiquette and good behavior. “Don’t worry, Scotty, I won’t sue you when you fire me. I know those are two separate things.”
He sucked in a breath, searching for the words to make this awkwardness better. The problem was, there were no words—sometimes things were just… what they were.
“See you in the morning.” I slapped a twenty-dollar bill on the bar to cover my beer, nachos, and tip, and slid off the stool. “I had a good time, too, Scott, but I know what this is. I know the difference between desire and compatibility. You want me but you don’t want to. Some days, I’m not even sure you really like me, but whatever. It was fun and I don’t need it to be more than that.”
Maybe a small, teensy little part of me had been hoping for more, but I gave up on clinging to hope after my mom died. And I left behind that hope with Scott when I walked out of Black Thumb.
Scott
I was just about halfway through another tense yet highly efficient day at the office. If having her around wasn’t so damn good for business and for my peace of mind, I’d get rid of her for making me second-guess myself. If she wasn’t so unfailingly polite, I might actually have a legitimate reason to get rid of her. If I really wanted to, which I didn’t.
Dammit.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out she was mad at me, but I’d gotten used to her straight-forward ways. I never had to worry about what Stevie was thinking, because she would tell me if I needed to know. Except, now, she didn’t say anything that wasn’t work related, and I didn’t know what the hell to think about that. And the worst part was that nothing I did worked. Not splurging on that stupid sugary coffee drink all the women in town seemed to lose their heads over—that had earned me a small smile and a soft-spoken thank you. A big ol’ greasy breakfast didn’t even warrant a full smile. At least the utterly gluttonous dinner of pizza and a gyro I’d brought her was met with a toothy grin. But, as of yet, nothing I did or said had cracked Stevie’s armor.
A knock sounded at the door and the woman who had been doing a pretty good imitation of someone who hadn’t seen me naked strolled in with a serious expression on her face. “What’s up, Stevie?”
She sucked in an almost silent breath that came out of her on a rush. “We have a walk-in, a pony.” At my wide-eyed expression, she continued on, unfazed. “Yes, a real pony. Apparently, Mikey Ford spotted the poor thing on his way to ‘The Dairy Farm’ for a class field trip.” She used finger quotes, because she didn’t know Tulip shorthand. Yet. “Anyway, he called Penny, who called Ry, who called in a favor, and now Betty is here. With the pony.”
That sounded like an average day in town, and I stood with a smile. “Welcome to Tulip, Stevie.”
“Hmph.” That was her only response and before I could ask what she meant by that, Stevie was gone, as if she couldn’t even stand to be in the same room with me.
A quick look at the time said I had twenty minutes before my next scheduled appointment, so I finished my cup of coffee and went to Betty and the pony in the large animal exam room. “Afternoon, Betty. What have we got here?” The pony was black all over, with black hair that would be shiny once it had been washed and cared for properly.
“My grandson called, frantic that the poor thing looked sick and all alone, so what could I do?” She shrugged, a content smile on her face. Though Mike wasn’t hers biologically, Betty spoiled him rotten as if he was her own. “Looks all right. Seen better days, but nothing he can’t come back from. Isn’t that right, boy?”
The pony was subdued and easygoing. I already knew a few places who would be happy to have him. “Any plans for what you’ll do with him once he’s got a clean bill of health?”
Betty laughed and shrugged as she crossed her arms and got comfortable in the hard plastic chair. “I figured you could tell me what my options are. And then maybe I could tell you the same.”
My shoulders fell in disappointment. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t seen this ploy coming a mile away. I stood, with one hand still on the pony, and glared at the older woman. “Where did you even find this pony?”
This time, she let out a raucous, full-throated laugh. “I just volunteered to bring him over when this opportunity presented itself. Now, do you want to listen to me or argue with me? I’m good either way.”
Like I actually had a choice. If it wasn’t Betty right now, it would be someone else at another place and another time. “Fine. Talk.” I listened to most of what Betty had to say while I looked over the pony, which didn’t take very long at all.
“Things seem like they’ve cooled off with you and Stevie.” It wasn’t a question, and I frowned.
“You’ve got faulty intel, Betty. Things were never all that hot to begin with.” They could have been—hell, they would have been, if Stevie wasn’t so damn stubborn. So determined to deny this thing between us, when I couldn’t.
“Despite that photo on the Facebook?” Both brows rose in silver arches that said you’re full of it. “If you say so. I guess now we have our answer on how a handsome doctor and former NFL player could still be single. Idiocy.” Betty shook her head and smacked her lips together. “I had higher hopes for you, Scott.”
“I haven’t done a damn thing wrong,” I insisted defiantly. If this was what it meant to be in a relationship, taking blame for something I hadn’t done, then I didn’t want any damn part of it.
“You haven’t done anything right, either, by the sounds of things.”
Betty shook her head and smiled at the pony, rubbing his matted mane. “You both look pissed off and in need of a long weekend in bed, if you know what I’m sayin’.”
“I groaned. “It’d be hard not to know what you’re saying, Betty.”
“Smart ass,” she said, and pointed me like she was chastising a child. “Look, maybe you kids do things differently today, but some things don’t change—and one of those things is that a woman likes to be wooed. She might need to be wooed differently, ‘cause I don’t think dinner and a movie or dinner and dancing will work on Stevie, but a rock concert or a tattoo convention? You can figure out something that floats her boat.” Betty made it sound simple, but she hadn’t been pressed up against the brick wall that was Stevie when she was determined to be stubborn. “If she has fun, then maybe she’ll start to think about how to float your boat.” Then she laughed to herself, so proud of her innuendo that it even tugged a reluctant smile across my face.
I groaned and dropped my face into one hand. “Betty, please.” I finished up with the pony and made arrangements to keep him housed in a free stable out back for a day or two. “We wouldn’t have worked anyway, Betty, so it’s a good thing you ladies got it all wrong. At least now we can have a good professional relationship.”
There was something about the way Betty arched her brow, or maybe it was the mischief that sparkled in the dark depths of her eyes, but her skepticism had me worried. “You think so?”
I would never show that kind of weakness, especially not to the wannabe matchmakers in town. “Absolutely.” My chest puffed out and I spoke that one word with the kind of confidence, the kind of smugness you just knew would come back to bite you in the ass sooner rather than later.
“Good for you.” With a sympathetic smile—the one polite southern women reserved for idiots and simpletons—and a pat to the shoulder, Betty left me, quite literally, holding the pony. She was out the door before I could come up with something else to say.
Stevie
I wasn’t sure how much longer I could take Scott’s torture. What the hell was wrong with the man that he couldn’t just be normal? Couldn’t just keep his distance and pretend like we never got naked and did the butt-naked boogie together? As much as my ego would love to believe that I’d rocked his world so thoroughly that he now couldn’t get enough of me, I wasn’t a complete fool. A man who couldn’t get enough of you didn’t scram out of bed before he got morning-after seconds. I was pretty sure that was an actual rule, written down somewhere and everything.
It was hard enough when he accidentally pressed in too close and I caught a whiff of his masculine scent that was an odd blend of sandalwood, leather, animals and… lemons. One whiff of that smell was usually accompanied by visions of his square jaw clenched tight when he was holding back his own pleasure until I drank my fill. Didn’t he have any idea just how hard I was working to resist him and to keep things strictly professional between us?
“Excuse me? I’m here to see Dr. Henderson.” Clara beamed a smile down at me that I was sure often got her whatever she wanted, from Broadway tickets to access to all kinds of clubs, premieres, and openings. “Does he have a free moment to see me?” She batted her eyelashes, keeping her spine straight to highlight her tiny waist and the perfectly sculpted curve of her tits. They were worth whatever they cost.
A damn professional, that’s what I am. I repeated those words to myself several times and slapped a smile on my face before hitting Clara with it. “Do you have an appointment?”
“I don’t. Unfortunately.” Clara giggled and instead of being annoyed, I was in awe. She somehow managed to make a giggle sound like a purr from a grown woman instead of a teeny-bopper. “But I’m hoping he’s willing to make time to squeeze me in.”
Someone needed to tell this chick that innuendo was best when used on the person you wanted to get naked with. Not his assistant. But since correcting her wasn’t part of my job, I flashed an even brighter smile and turned back to my computer screen and the scheduling software. “Let’s see what I can do. Now?”
“That would be ideal, but I’m flexible.” This was a woman who didn’t play around. I admired that she had no problem or shame going after exactly what she wanted. Or who. Today, Clara wore a hot pink dress that fit each and every one of her curves, showing off her cinched waist and long legs. It was proof she never said yes to carbs and exercised religiously. The woman was just about perfect and, unlike mere mortals like myself, she knew how close she came to the mark. “Very flexible.”
“Obvious, too,” Betty Kemp said, doing a terrible job of using her inside voice.
“Excellent. I’ll find the first free slot.”
“Thanks,” she said at the same time Scott’s deep voice growled.
“Free slot for what?” His deep voice tore me away from cataloguing all of Clara’s perfections while I found a fifteen-minute window for her to make her play for Scott.
“Clara needs an appointment with you for an undefined reason, and I’m searching the calendar to fit her flexibility.” I looked up at him and dared him to say one damn word. “It looks like you’re done with Betty, now could work.”
“Perfect.” Clara beamed and took two wide steps until she was at Scott’s side, one arm snaking its way around his bigger, harder one.
Caught, Scott glared at me and I knew he and I would have words later, when the office was empty. For now, I was determined to enjoy his discomfort. “I guess we can take a look now. Where’s Ivory?” Scott looked around, along with both me and Betty, and found the little yapping monster was nowhere in sight.
Clara laughed. “I figured we could do a quick consult. I’ll tell you her symptoms and you tell me if she needs to come in. If so, I’ll bring her in later.” The heat in that last word was enough to singe my eyelashes, yet Scott seemed wholly unimpressed.
“You do consults now, do you, Scotty?” The amusement in Betty’s voice was like a palpable thing in the air. “Wait until I tell the girls.” The glare he sent her had no effect, other than making her laugh even louder and with her whole body. “So long, guys. Be sure to take good care of that pony, because I’m sure Mikey will want to see him soon.” With a quick finger wave, Betty was gone, leaving the tense exchange down to three players.
Clara cleared her throat and pressed her body up against Scott’s. So, do you have time for me now?” She batted her eyelashes expertly and even I wasn’t sure how Scott hadn’t already fallen completely under her spell, especially when she did that practiced bite-down on her bottom lip. It was pure sex appeal. “It’ll only take a moment. I promise.”
Scott’s gaze landed on me, as if I held some power to extract him from the situation. His glare was heavy enough that I felt the burden of it on my shoulders before he turned to Clara. “Sorry, but now isn’t great. I just got a pony and I have to find a place to lodge him for a night or two.” A big fat lie, since there were stables and other enclosures out back just in case we needed to keep animals for observation. Before she could talk him out of it, Scott stalked away.
Weird. “You want me to put you on the books, Clara?”
She glared, like it was my fault he wasn’t catching what she was so obviously tossing out. “No. I’ll catch him around. He can’t run from me forever,” she said ominously and left.
Finally alone with my thoughts, I sat there for at least a full minute, maybe twenty of them, wondering what in the hell had just happened. Scott seemed like he wanted me to be jealous and was upset that I wasn’t, and was turning down a gorgeous sure thing who was, let’s face it, right up his alley. It didn’t make sense and trying to figure it out was giving me a headache, until I remembered none of this was my problem and I got back to work.
It was amazing just how busy a small town vet’s office was from one day to the next. It wasn’t just for things like vaccinations and birth control, which I’d expected, but people brought in cats with colds, dogs with diabetes, and birds with a possible gluten allergy. I was busier
than I ever thought I would be at the clinic, and that was just how I liked it.
Especially now.
“That wasn’t funny.” His big body cast a dark shadow across my keyboard and computer screen before his words interrupted my train of thought. “You know, just in case you thought it was.” I didn’t need to turn around or lean back to know how close he was; I could feel his nearness, his warmth. The invisible pull he seemed to have over me.
I let my gaze climb his body slowly, taking my time to look my fill of his narrow waist and straight hips, those wide, capable shoulders and his massive chest. It was hard to pull my eyes away. When my gaze landed on his face, I looked away quickly, refusing to get snared in his web.
“What wasn’t funny?” There was something about Scott that brought my inner child to the surface, and I couldn’t help but poke at him. Constantly.
“That thing you pulled with Cara.”
“Clara,” I corrected automatically. “And don’t even think about blaming that on me. I have no idea what you do with your free time, and it’s not my job to know. She wanted an appointment and my job is to book your appointments.”
He leaned down low, resting on his forearms until his face was inches from mine. “You’re a bad liar.”
I shrugged. “Maybe I am. Or maybe you’re a suspicious person? You never stopped to consider that, did you?”
He laughed and it was good laugh, rich and well used, deep and sincere. “I did, actually. But that doesn’t turn you into some world-class liar. Do you make it a habit of pushing your conquests off on other women?” His arms were folded and there was a smile on his face, but the burning intensity in his eyes said my answer mattered to him.
Conquests? I couldn’t help but laugh at that old-fashioned phrasing. “No. But I am also not in the habit of turning into a crazy woman over a man who clearly is not interested. If that’s your kink, I think Clara might be more up your alley than you realize.” The woman looked like she wouldn’t be above boiling a bunny or engaging in a little light stalking if it got her what she wanted.
Hero Boss: An Alpha Male Office Romance Page 10
