dog promptly walked over, stood on his hind legs and rested his paws on the edge of the table. Stephanie put her hands beneath his hips and lifted the dog onto the stainless-steel surface.
“Well, if that isn’t the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen!” Acton exclaimed. “I normally have to manhandle him up there and hold him down while Dr. Neil takes care of business. Look at that traitor! He’s actually enjoying this!”
Stephanie took her eyes off Seymour long enough to look at his owner, then promptly wished she hadn’t. Now that he was standing only an arm’s length away from her, she was bowled over by the vivid blue of his eyes and the tanned, masculine angles of his face.
He wasn’t one of those pretty boys, she thought. No, there were too many little imperfections about the man to put him in that category. Like the unruly way his sandy blond hair curled around his ears and down the back of his neck, the faint white scar that marked one brown eyebrow, the way the bridge of his nose was a bit too sharp and the jut of his chin overly stubborn. But, dear heaven, put them all together and he had enough sex appeal to knock any woman off her feet.
After drawing in a deep breath, she suggested, “Perhaps you should try a different tactic. Like allowing him to choose to obey rather than forcing him into it.”
The eyebrow with the scar arched upward and his reaction had Stephanie wondering if any woman ever dared to question him.
“I could give him an hour to choose to jump on that table and he’d still be sitting on the floor giving me the evil eye. You’ve put some sort of spell on him. Do you practice magic tricks or something?”
Stephanie turned her attention to the dog, and after checking his vitals, she began a visual inspection of his eyes, nose, teeth and coat.
“I can assure you I haven’t put Seymour under any kind of spell. And, no—I’m not a magician. I don’t even like magic.”
“Uh, what about cowboys with unruly dogs?”
The flirtatious tone of his voice warned her not to look up, but she couldn’t stop herself. The boyish grin on his face was worse than charming—it was downright sinful.
“I don’t know any cowboys with unruly dogs,” she said stiffly.
He laughed. “You do now.”
His laughter was infectious and Stephanie had to press her lips tightly together to prevent herself from smiling back at him.
“I only met you five minutes ago. I don’t know you.”
“Well, we’ve been properly introduced. And in my case, what you see is what you get.”
She didn’t plan on getting anything from this man, except a bundle of rattled nerves. Which was so unlike her. She’d been around all sorts of good-looking men before and never experienced this kind of hot, shivery feeling. It was ridiculous.
“I see. No pretense or subterfuge with you,” she said as she lifted back one of Seymour’s ears to look inside.
“That’s right, Miss Fortune. I’m one-hundred-percent genuine.”
When Stephanie had first moved to Texas, she’d quickly learned that people put the Miss in front of a woman’s name to show respect. Especially when they were speaking to an elder. But the way Acton Donovan said “Miss Fortune” made it sound downright provocative.
“That’s nice to know,” she replied.
She finished with Seymour’s left ear and moved to the right. Across the examining table, she heard Acton release a long sigh. Whether he was tired, or impatient, or simply bored with her, she couldn’t guess.
He said, “If it’s any help, he’s constantly scratching underneath his neck and his belly.”
“What sort of food do you give Seymour? The dry chunks?”
He named a certain brand. “Fed him that ever since he was a tiny pup. That’s been four years.”
“I’ve never heard of that brand.”
“Get it at the feed-and-grain store where we buy our cattle cubes and everything else we need on the ranch.”
She vaguely recalled Monica saying the Donovans owned a ranch north of town. No doubt he was experienced in dealing with large animals like cattle and horses, she thought.
“What color is the food?”
“Excuse me? I didn’t know food needed to be color-coordinated with the animal that eats it.”
She shot him a droll look. “It’s better to be free of food coloring. Some animals are allergic, including dogs.”
“Oh. Sorry. Guess that’s why you’re the doc’s right-hand man—I mean...woman. You know a hell of a lot more than I do.”
Frowning, she turned her focus back to Seymour.
He shuffled his feet. “Sorry again. I meant to say heck. As for Seymour’s food, it’s just plain brown. You think what he eats is making him scratch?”
“If the food doesn’t have colored pieces, it’s probably fine. But I’m fairly certain he’s having an allergic reaction to something. Which could be one thing or many things.” She parted the fur on the dog’s throat. “See? He has these irritated patches of skin in several places on his throat and underbelly.”
Acton lifted his hat from his head and leaned in for a closer look at the dog, which put his face not far from the pretty vet assistant. Immediately, Seymour bared his teeth and gave Acton a warning growl.
“You damned turncoat! I’m not going to touch Miss Stephanie, so just quit your growling.”
Stephanie straightened away from him and the dog. “Is this his normal behavior?”
He looked up at her and grinned. “No. He’s just acting this way because he’s smitten with you and jealous of me. He doesn’t want me to get close to you or touch you. See, let me show you.”
He reached over and placed his hand on Stephanie’s arm, which promptly caused Seymour to erupt in a barking, teeth-gnashing fit.
She swiftly jerked away her arm and stepped back. “I really don’t have time for this sort of...demonstration. And I honestly think you ought to leave the room so I can give your dog the treatment he needs.”
Up until a few minutes ago, when Dayna had introduced the two of them, he’d never seen Stephanie Fortune. Not here in the clinic or anywhere around Rambling Rose. She didn’t exactly have a Texas drawl, nor did she have a Louisianan lilt to her voice. Which meant she’d migrated here from much farther away.
He’d heard about some rich folks by the name of Fortune moving into the huge mansion on the outskirts of town. He’d also read a few articles in the local paper about Fortune Brothers Construction building the pediatric clinic and this animal clinic, but he’d never met any of the family. Acton couldn’t
