Page 11 of Pretty Little Scars

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.

I like her too fucking much.

I want to dissect her timidness, and I want to pick her brain. And Ireallywant to fucking touch her.

I won’t, because I respect boundaries. But I fucking want to.

It was a relief when she left for the rest of the afternoon, so I could meet up with Scott and ride fence, make repairs, and get back to normal so I could set thoughts of a gorgeous brunette, who’s only interested in working for me, aside for a while.

She made it clear that she’s not interested, and I’m not the kind of man who can’t take no for an answer.

Easton’s waiting for me, a pool cue already in hand, when I walk into Lucky’s Bar and join him. He passes me a beer, and we clink them in cheers.