by Roma James
Diesel and Axel looked at each other.
“What?” I asked.
“Why don’t we all just go home?” Axel asked.
“What? But… the event just started. You guys can’t just all leave.”
“Why can’t we?” Diesel asked. “We’re the owners. Part of owning your own business is being able to spend your time freely, however you desire.”
“Exactly,” Axel said. “And we desire to freely spend time with our wonderful wife and two beautiful children.”
I looked back and forth at them. “You guys are sure? You really want to go home?”
“Babe, of course we really want to go home,” Ryker answered. “You really think there's any place we’d rather be than with our family?”
No, I honestly didn’t. Because they were all wonderful men who were incredibly dedicated to me and the kids. I never doubted that for a second.
“Okay, well, let’s go home, then.” I shrugged.
I, too, was looking forward to leaving this party and getting back home where it was just our family.
There was nowhere on this planet I’d rather be.
Excerpt From Her Three Rangers - A Reverse Harem Romance
Grace
I opened the kennel door and scratched behind the ears of the small terrier mix that I had treated for a snake bite earlier in the day.
“That’s a good boy, Lucky,” I murmured, smiling as the little dog’s ears perked up. “I know it’s been a rough afternoon, but you’re gonna be just fine. Such a good puppy.”
I closed my eyes and rested my hand on the dog’s head as I murmured a quick thanks to the spirits for watching over him. It had been touch and go for a couple of hours, but Lucky stayed true to his name and had pulled through, and I had to give thanks where they were due.
My nana had taught me about the great spirits—the owl, the eagle, the earth mother, and others—since before I could remember, and even though I couldn’t explain it, I knew that they had helped me every step of the way since becoming the sole veterinarian in Grey Ridge, Texas.
I took my hand away and opened my eyes to see Jenny Blaine, my vet tech, standing in the doorway looking wide-eyed and breathless.
“I think you’d better come quick, Gracie,” she said, motioning for me to follow. “We’ve got a German Shepherd in a bad way. I’ve got him in the exam room, but Gracie, he’s just—”
Her voice broke on the last word and I gave her a sympathetic look as I hurried through the door behind her. Seeing an animal in pain was never easy for anyone, but Jenny treated each of our patients as if they were one of her own pets. If there was an injured animal in a twenty mile radius, Jenny wanted—no, needed—to help make it better.
It was the reason we had been friends since high school, the reason why I trusted her to work next to me every day, and the reason why she was going to make an excellent veterinarian herself one day.
The moment I walked into the examination room, I noticed two things. One, it was crowded, and I felt four sets of eyes on me as the burly, muscular men who filled the room pinned me with hard, appraising looks.
More importantly, though, there was a beautiful German Shepherd on my exam table, lying on his side, panting heavily, his coat matted with blood.
“What happened?” I asked, not bothering to look up at the men as I reached out to calm the animal, watching as his muscles loosened with my touch.
“We let him out at a rest area off the highway a few miles up the road to get some exercise and stretch his legs.”
I looked up to see which man was speaking. He was tall, but not the tallest, big, but not the biggest. Still, the way he spoke, the way he carried himself, and the way the others crowded behind the heavily inked man let me know he was the one who called the shots in this group.
And those eyes.
Bright green and piercing in contrast with his dark brown hair, they would have normally taken my breath away.
My cheeks burned with heat as I looked back down at the dog. My patient. He was the only male in the room who mattered at the moment.
“And then?” I prompted, still needing to hear more details as I gingerly checked the dog’s vital signs. “Please tell me exactly what happened. Quickly.”
The man huffed out a short breath and swallowed hard. “And Rambo here was following me across the parking lot when I heard him yelp. The asshole who hit him is lucky I didn’t have time to kick his ass—”
Rambo whimpered, cutting the man off. “Okay,” I said, stroking the dog’s head gently as I nodded toward the door. “That’s all I need to know. I need to take some X-rays and get him prepped for surgery.”
“But you’re gonna take care of him, Doc… right?” Another one of the guys spoke up. This one was the tallest, cockiest-looking one of the bunch. There was only concern in his voice, though. If he really was as cocky as he looked, he wasn’t showing it now. “Rambo’s gonna be okay, right? I don’t wanna walk out of this room until I hear you say he is.”
I felt for him—for all of them, honestly. It was obvious to me that they all cared about Rambo, that they all needed some reassurance that he was going to make it through the next few hours. I would have loved nothing more than to give them that reassurance.
Until I found out the extent of his injuries, though, there was just no way I could make that promise.
“You all need to clear the room,” I said, trying to keep any hint of emotion from my voice. I needed to get Rambo taken care of, but I didn’t want to worry the men any more than necessary. I also didn’t have a lot of time for hand-holding. “I can promise you all that I’m going to do everything I can for Rambo.”
“Dr. Black is the best vet in Potter County, gentlemen,” Jenny said, doing her best to usher them out the door. “Rambo is in good hands—ask anyone this side of Amarillo.”
“Just a minute,” Hot Green Eyes said. “I need to stay here with Rambo. It’s my fault this happened. I owe him that much.”
I sighed and opened my mouth, ready to tell him in no uncertain terms to get out and let me do my job. But when I looked into those intense eyes, I could feel the anxiety and guilt rolling off him in waves.
“Everyone else has to go,” I said, waving them out the door. “Now.”
He nodded and looked back at the other guys, then jerked his head toward the door. “You heard the lady. Give her some room to work.”
To my surprise, they filed out without so much as a grumble, but not before each man looked first at Rambo and then at me.
The message was clear.
Don’t mess this up.
“Okay,” I said, once we were alone. “You can help me move Rambo back to the operating room. We’ll roll this exam table right back to it. I can X-ray him from there and then I’ll probably need to perform surgery right away.”
“And you’ll let me stay by his side for all of that?” Green Eyes sounded incredulous, and for good reason. There was no way I could let him stay for surgery, no matter how badly I might have felt for him.
“No, but I’ll give you about ten minutes alone with him between X-rays and surgery.” I paused, then gave him what I hoped would come across as a sympathetic look. “Rambo is a fighter. He’s fighting right now. I see it in his eyes, and I can see it in his spirit. He hasn’t given up yet, and I’m not about to, either… but if you’re a praying man, now would be the time.”
He gave me a grim nod and looked down at his dog. “You’re gonna make it, buddy. The doc won’t let us down. I promise.”
My heart broke a little as he kissed Rambo on the top of the head and then looked at me with determination in his eyes.
“Don’t make me a liar, Dr. Black,” he said. “This dog is everything to me.”
I didn’t answer as I unlocked the wheels on the table to roll it back to the X-ray machine.
What could I say that hadn’t already been said?
I would do my very best to keep his promise. I couldn’t even think about the al
ternative.
Later…
I slumped down into my office chair and put my head in my hands, grimacing at the strong smell of sanitizer that still clung to my skin. I’d barely had a chance to close my eyes and try to center my thoughts before I heard a faint knock on the door.
Jenny didn’t wait for me to answer. She knew the routine.
“Sorry,” she said, her voice just above a whisper as she shot me a sympathetic look. “I know you probably need a few minutes, but…”
“They’re waiting for me,” I said, sighing. “I know.”
She nodded. “The main one—I think I heard one of the guys call him Ty—has been coming up to the desk to ask if I’ve heard anything just about every five minutes.” Her brows knitted together. “I wish I could have told him I was just as anxious as he was, but all I could do was ask him to stay patient.”
Ty.
I pictured the man with the striking green eyes again. Ty. For some reason, I wouldn’t have guessed that to be his name. Ty sounded like an accountant or a real estate agent to me—and the brooding, tattooed, muscular man waiting in the other room was definitely neither of those things.
Still, the more I thought about it, the more it suited him.
Ty.
Ty with the green eyes.
“He doesn’t strike me as the patient type,” I mused, smoothing back my hair and patting the messy bun that had been much tighter just a few hours ago. “But I can’t say I blame him. It’s his dog. His life.”
Jenny nodded again, but she didn’t need to say anything else. I was already standing and walking around my desk to join her at the door.
“If you need a few more minutes, I can—”
“No,” I said, cutting her off with a weary smile. “I’m good. I don’t want to keep Ty waiting.”
“Or the rest of them…” she said, under her breath.
I paused as I closed the door behind us. “They’re still here, too?”
For some reason, that thought hadn’t crossed my mind. I’d been so focused on Rambo—then on Ty—that the other men who had been present earlier had sort of faded into the background.
“All still here and still just as intimidating as before,” she said, nibbling at her lip. “They’re a pretty rough bunch, from the looks of it.”
I snorted as we reached the short corridor that led to the reception and waiting area. “I’ve seen worse. It’ll take more than a few tattoos to intimidate me.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I stopped dead in my tracks—so suddenly that I heard Jenny gasp as she nearly ran into me from behind.
I couldn’t help it, though. Opening the door to the waiting area, I was confronted with three of the hottest men I’d ever seen. Were these even the same guys from before?
If it hadn’t been for Sexy Green Eyes—Ty—pinning me in place with his stare, I would have seriously questioned my sanity. But there was no mistaking him, and now that I had a moment to study the other men, I could remember the cocky look from the taller man.
The third man had been a complete blur, but now he stood out from the others. With his dark, moody features and full, almost pouty lips, I wasn’t sure how I had missed him earlier.
Now that there wasn’t a wounded animal in front of me to focus on, it was like seeing them all for the first time.
“Doc?” Ty asked, quirking an eyebrow as he took a step closer. “Please tell me you have good news…”
I blinked, his voice pulling me from my distracted thoughts. Right. His dog. The reason we were all here. “Rambo made it through surgery and he’s resting now,” I said, my eyes flicking from Ty to the other men in turn as I watched a wave of relief wash over all three. “His right front leg was broken in two places and he has two broken ribs. A third has a hairline fracture. He doesn’t seem to have any internal bleeding or swelling, which is honestly surprising to me, for as rough as he looked when you brought him in.”
Ty winced at my words. I could tell by the look on his face he still felt guilty over what happened, but I hoped that he at least realized it could have been much worse.
“I never should have turned away when he started crossing that parking lot,” Ty muttered. “I should have had him on his leash. I just…” He huffed out a short breath and scrubbed a hand down his face. “This is good news, though, right? I mean… no internal bleeding has to be a good thing… right?”
“That’s very good news,” I nodded, hoping to reassure him. “He’s got a long road ahead of him before he’s fully recovered, but I’m confident that he can make a full recovery.”
“Oh, thank God,” one of the other guys said, clapping Ty on the back. “I told you he’d pull through, Ty.”
“Yeah,” the man with the cocky looks agreed. “Seems like we came to the right place, after all.”
After all? Had they doubted me when they’d first arrived?
I decided it was probably best to keep that question to myself. It wasn’t like they had many alternatives in this part of the state, though there were a couple of other vets they could have taken their chances with if they’d gone many miles past Grey Ridge.
Anyway, it wouldn’t have been the first time I’d been underestimated. Sadly, it probably wouldn’t be the last.
But none of that mattered right now. I had done my job today, and Rambo was going to be okay because of the help I’d given him. As long as the spirits saw fit to work through my hands, it didn’t matter at all to me whether anyone else had faith in my abilities.
“So,” Ty began, giving me an up and down look that was impossible to miss. “I’ve gotta thank you, Doc. You, ah… know what you’re doing here.”
“I do,” I agreed. There was no point in being overly modest, after all. “And you’re welcome. I’m truly glad I could help.”
He nodded absently, then looked over my shoulder to Jenny and the door behind her. “When can I see him? I’d like to get whatever medicine we need and get back on the road as soon as possible.”
“Rambo isn’t going anywhere today, I’m afraid,” I said, shaking my head. “He isn’t even awake yet. It’ll probably just be an hour or two before you can see him, but I’d like to keep him for at least the next couple of days to make sure he’s on the mend before I release him—particularly if he’s going to be traveling with you.”
“A couple of days?” Mr. Cocky Looks interrupted. “That’s not going to—”
Ty stopped him with a raised hand and a subtle shake of his head. “If the doc says he needs a couple of days, that’s what we’re going to do.” He gave me a hard look. “But you need to understand that we’re riding out of here with my dog the moment you say it’s safe to do so. We have… business to take care of.”
I felt an involuntary shudder go through my body, both from the way those green eyes seemed to harden so quickly as well as the thought of what kind of business he might be talking about.
He wasn’t referring to a paper route, that was for sure.
“We’re not real familiar with the area,” the third, more subdued man said, grabbing everyone’s attention with his low, rumbling voice. “Do you know of a place nearby—a campground, maybe—where we might be able to park our bikes and set up a couple of tents while we wait for Rambo to get well enough to leave?”
“There’s a lot of open land around here, as I’m sure you’ve seen,” I answered. “But the nearest actual campground is about an hour away. And I don’t think they’ll let you set up a tent at the highway rest area you mentioned earlier…”
Ty grunted. “No, that’s not an option. We got enough crazy looks just from stopping to stretch our legs.” He shoved a hand back through his short hair. “I can’t be an hour away from Rambo, though. We’re going to have to come up with something else.”
I hesitated, then cast a quick look back over my shoulder at Jenny. Her eyes went wide as she must have realized what I was thinking, and she gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head.
She was right,
of course.
I shouldn’t even be considering the thought that had just crossed my mind.
But the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that it really was the only option these guys had. If I didn’t come up with something for them, they might try to take Rambo before he was ready.
And there was no way I was going to let that happen.
“There’s some land here behind the clinic,” I said, letting the words tumble out before I could stop them. “My land. And while I don’t really have room in my house for all of you, there’s plenty of acreage to spare for a few tents or whatever you need.”
I heard Jenny sigh behind me as she moved across the room to her desk. I knew she probably thought I was crazy for offering my place to a bunch of rough-looking bikers, but what choice did I have?
Besides, it wasn’t like I was letting them sleep in my house. Or my room. Or my bed.
Ty was giving me a funny look, and for a split-second I felt my heart race as I wondered if I’d accidentally said those thoughts out loud.
But no. The other two men were stony-faced, and surely Jenny would have done more than sigh if I had made any mention of my bed.
“You’d do that for us?” Ty asked, finally. “Really?”
“I’m not doing it for you,” I said, flatly. “I’m doing it for Rambo. He needs me now, and that’s all that matters.”
His expression hardened at my words, and he gave a curt nod. “You’re right. That’s what matters now. Thank you, Doc. We’ll take you up on that offer.”
And just like that, it was decided. I glanced over at Jenny, but she seemed to suddenly be very busy avoiding my gaze.
Whatever.
It was what I had to do, and now it was done.
I could only hope that I hadn’t made a big mistake. If so, I only had myself to blame.
Ty
I looked around at the empty pasture. There were definitely worse places we’d set up camp before, but I couldn’t remember a time we’d shared our space with cattle. And horses. And I was pretty sure I’d spotted an alpaca when we’d come through the gate.
