but decided not to give Dallas the pleasure of knowing he was right. “Georgie and I agreed no promises, no expectations, the last time we were together.”
“Maybe you didn’t have any expectations, but I suspect she did. She’s always loved you, brother. I wouldn’t be surprised if she still did, although I don’t get why she would after the way you’ve treated her.”
He didn’t welcome his brother’s counsel or condemnation. “You’re a fine one to talk, Dallas. You left a trail of broken hearts all over the country.”
“Yeah, but it only took one woman to set me straight.”
“A woman you married because you wanted to keep control of the ranch.”
Dallas leaned against the porch railing. “In the beginning, that was true. But it didn’t take me long to realize Paris could put an end to my wicked ways.”
He’d thought that about Abby, too, but his ex-wife hadn’t been as sure. In the end, they realized they’d had no choice but to go their separate ways after rushing into a marriage that should never have taken place. “I’m glad for your good fortune, Dallas. But I don’t think that woman exists for me.”
Dallas’s expression turned suddenly serious. “If you open your eyes, you might just see you’ve already found her. In fact, you ran into her today.”
With that, Dallas went back inside, leaving Austin to ponder his words. True, he’d always had a thing for Georgie, but he’d chalked that up to chemistry. And she’d always been a beautiful woman, even during her tomboy phase. But he couldn’t see himself with her permanently. See himself with anyone for that matter.
He’d already wrecked one marriage and he wasn’t going to wreck another. He refused to fail again.
That said, if he and Georgie decided to mutually enjoy each other’s company down the road, he wouldn’t hate it. As long as she understood that he wasn’t in the market for a future.
When it came to Georgia May Romero—and his ever-present attraction to her—keeping his hands to himself would be easier said than done.
* * *
“How’s your first day as the Calloway vet going, Georgie girl?”
Fine...until he’d walked into the main barn dressed in chambray and denim, looking like every gullible girl’s dream. Yet when she decided to accept Dallas’s job offer, she’d known seeing Austin would be a strong possibility. In fact, that had been part of her reasoning to sign on as the resident veterinarian—to size him up, but only when it came to his life, not his looks. However, she was still a bit shaken over their encounter yesterday, and she was bent on ignoring him today.
For that reason, and many more, she continued putting away her equipment in the duffel without looking at him. “I was just vaccinating the pregnant mares.”
“At least we only have four this year, not ten like in years past.”
“True.” Georgie straightened and patted the bay’s muzzle protruding through the rail. “I remember when this one was born, and that had to be fifteen years ago. We’re both getting on up there in age, aren’t we, Rosie? They should really give you a break from the babies.”
Georgie sensed Austin moving toward her before he said, “She keeps churning out prime cattle horses, but hopefully Dallas will decide to retire her from the breeding program after this year.”
“Good, although I’m sure she’ll have no trouble foaling this year. Dallas did ask me to be here when Sunny foals since she’s a maiden mare. I told him I’d try, although horses have given birth without help for centuries. Of course, I expect to have to pull a few calves in the future.”
When he didn’t respond to her rambling, she faced him and met his grin. “Do you find some sort of warped humor in that?”
He braced his hand on the wooden frame and leaned into it, leaving little distance between them. “No. It’s just strange to see you doing your animal doctor thing.”
Boy, did he smell good, like manly soap, as if he’d just walked out of the shower. She imagined him in the shower...with her. Slick, wet bodies and roving hands and... Good grief. “Are you worried I’m not qualified?”
His come-hither expression melted into a frown. “I have no reason to believe you’re not qualified since you went to the best vet college in the country. I guess I’m just used to you riding horses, not giving them shots. It’s going to take a while to adjust to the new you.”
“I’m the same old me, Austin.” And that had never been more apparent than when she continued to react to him on a very carnal level. “Only now I have a career that I’ve talked about since we were climbing trees together.”
He reached out and tucked one side of her hair behind her ear. “Do you remember that one time we were in the tree near the pond on your property? You were twelve at the time, I believe.”
What girl didn’t remember her first kiss, even if it had been innocent and brief? “If you’re referring to that day when you tried to put me in a lip-lock, I definitely recall what happened next.”
His grin returned. “You slugged me.”
“I barely patted your cheek.”
“I almost toppled out of the tree. You didn’t know your own strength.”
He hadn’t known how much she had wanted him to kiss her, or how scared she had been to let him. “That kind of thing was not at the top of my to-do list at that time.”
“Maybe, but I found out kissing had moved to number one on the list that summer after you came back from camp.”
She felt her face flush. “I was fourteen and you were fifteen and a walking case of hormones.”
He inched a little closer. “You had hormones, too. They were in high gear that first night we made out behind the gym after the football game.”
She shivered over the recollection. “Big deal. So you managed to get to first base.”
His blue eyes seemed to darken to a color this side of midnight. “Darlin’, I got to second base.”
“Your fumbling attempts weren’t exactly newsworthy.”
Oddly, he didn’t seem at all offended. “Maybe I was a little green that first time, but I got better as time went on.”
Her mind whirled back to that evening full of out-of-control chemistry. She didn’t want to acknowledge how vulnerable she’d been that particular night, and many nights after that when they’d met in secret. How completely lost she had been for three whole years, and she hadn’t been able to tell one solitary soul. “We were so reckless and stupid and darn lucky. If my father would have ever found out I was with a Calloway boy—”
“He would’ve shot first and asked questions later. He’d probably do that now.”
Time to turn the subject in a different direction. “I’d hoped that after J.D. died, my father would’ve buried the hatchet and been more neighborly to you and the brothers.”
“Ain’t
