three men.
“You needn’t worry about Maccoy. He draws a disability check.”
Outraged, she let out a loud gasp. “You know that Maccoy is a man that wants to be productive. He wants to work!”
He gave her a wry little grin. “I’m only kidding. I called him yesterday. Maccoy is going to the ranch, along with me. He’s very happy about it, too, I might add. He’ll be living in the bunkhouse with a few of the single ranch hands, so he’ll have company at night and he can cut out the high rent he pays now.”
She looked at him through long, dark lashes. It wasn’t often that he teased or joked. Apparently, just the thought of this new job had lifted his spirits. “So he’ll still be working with us?”
Russ nodded. “That’s right. Doing the same thing he’s doing now, except he won’t have to answer the phone a jillion times a day to deal with appointments and hysterical pet owners.”
She outwardly sighed. “That’s good. I’m glad.”
“You were actually worried about him?”
Frowning now, she said, “Why wouldn’t I be concerned? I’ve worked with him all these years. I’m fond of the old man.”
“You’ve worked with me for years, too. But you hardly seem concerned for me.” Now, why the hell had he made that remark? He didn’t want Laurel’s care or attention. He just wanted her excellent work as an assistant.
She actually laughed. “Russ, I think you’re a man who’s perfectly capable of taking care of himself.”
He always had, he thought grimly. From the time he’d been a young teenager, he’d pretty much had to scrape for himself. Once his mother and father had divorced, his father, Curt, had left for parts unknown. Nanette, his mother, God bless her soul, had done the best she could to care for herself and her young son. But about the time of Russ’s seventeenth birthday, she’d developed cancer and without the funds for proper treatment and the support of family, she’d succumbed quickly to the disease. After that, Russ had gone to live with Nanette’s brother, who’d lived in Albuquerque at the time. But Russ’s uncle had been a bachelor, who’d been far more comfortable nursing a cheap bottle of wine than dealing with a teenage boy.
As a result, Russ had learned a guy had to take care of himself. No one else was going to do it for him, much less do it the right way. Before his mother had died, Russ had promised her he would continue his quest to be a veterinarian, and once she was gone, he was even more determined to achieve the goal.
With the help of scholarships for good grades, he’d worked his way through college. Then after he’d finally earned his license to practice veterinary medicine, he’d slowly paid off all his debts and eventually purchased this clinic near the racetrack in Ruidoso. Hollister Animal Clinic had given him a more than nice living; he had earned a great living. But the workload was staggering and the money not worth the toll it was taking on him physically and mentally.
“You’re right, I can take care of myself. But I do need an assistant. What’s your decision?”
Breaking eye contact with him, she turned back to the coffeepot. “I’ll be going with you. After all these years, I know what you want and expect. Another vet would probably do everything differently and I’d have to learn all over again. And I don’t like changes,” she reasoned.
He stared at her back and wondered if anything else had persuaded her to follow him to the Chaparral. Such as the fact that she might actually enjoy working with him. But that was hardly an important factor, and he didn’t know why the idea had even entered his mind. It should be enough that she was going to continue to work for him.
“Good,” he said. “I hope you’ll be happy with your decision.”
That brought her head around, and she stared at him with skeptical amusement. “Since when has the word happy ever entered your mind? Much less your vocabulary?” she asked.
“Happy?” he repeated blankly. “That’s nothing new for me. I’m a basically happy man. And I want everybody else to be happy, too.”
Disbelief twisted her plush lips, and for a brief moment he wondered if she’d ever kissed a man. Kissed him with real passion. He’d never heard her talk about dating or having a boyfriend. But that didn’t mean she stayed home and alone every night of her life. The only things they discussed were work and weather and sometimes politics. But since that last topic usually caused an eruption of fireworks, he tried to avoid it.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” she muttered. “You, happy? I’ve never seen it.”
He didn’t know how the back-and-forth of their conversation had taken on a personal tone. Or why his thoughts kept turning to intimate questions about his assistant. Whatever the reason, it was high time to put an end to it.
Rising to his full height, he brushed past her and quickly went about filling a heavy mug with coffee. “I’ll be driving out to the Chaparral tomorrow evening. You might want to go along and see the house where you’ll be living,” he suggested. “I’m sure you’ll want to see what furniture you’ll need to make the place comfortable.”
“A house! I’ll have a house all to myself?”
Her surprise prompted him to glance at her, and the look of joyous wonder he saw on her face made him feel as though he’d finally done something right in her eyes.
“What else?”
The smile on her face went from ear to ear and displayed her perfect white teeth. It was rare to ever see such a glowing look on her face, and Russ could hardly keep from staring.
She said, “I figured I’d get a room at the back of the ranch house, or a cubbyhole in one of the nearby buildings that would only be big enough for eating and sleeping. Certainly not a house. This is incredible!”
Before he realized her intentions, she flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly. The contact of her body next to his momentarily shocked him, and all Russ could do was think about the way her breasts were smashed against his chest, and the way her soft cheek was pressed against his.
“Oh, thank you, Russ! This makes everything so much more bearable.”
“You’re welcome,” he murmured, but Russ doubted that she’d heard his reply. She’d already pulled away from him and was rushing out the door. He quickly called after her. “Where are you going?”
“To tell Maccoy about this!”
The excitement in her voice filtered back to him, and for a moment Russ stood in the middle of the tiny kitchen and smiled to himself. He hadn’t realized what having a house of her own would mean to her. Nor had he realized what having her in his arms would mean to him.
It was just a thank-you hug, Russ. A brief expression of gratitude. Forget it.
With a little effort, he might be able to forget the sweet pleasure of having her cheek pressed to his. But even if he lived to be an old man, he’d never forget the relief that had poured through him when she’d told him she would be going with him to the Chaparral.
What in heck was this change in job, this move, doing to him?
He
