Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
TUCKER
The sun isn’t even starting to come up yet when I step out onto the back deck, ready to head to the barn. I want to spend some time alone with the horses before Darby joins me. Some people meditate, pray, do yoga.
I spend the morning with my horses. It grounds me. Always has. When I was a boy, my father would find me sound asleep in one of the stalls of the barn with my horse. So, before I have to suck it up and be professional with Darby all day, I want some quiet time in the barn.
I can’t believe that the woman who’s starred in all my fantasies for half a decade is my new intern.
When I told Zack about it last night, he laughed his ass off. He said it’s karma for the way I stole Britney Swanson out from under his nose when we were juniors in high school.
I called bullshit on that. I couldn’t steal her when she wasn’t interested in him in the first place.
When I slide the door open, I see that my beautiful intern is already in the barn. The lights are on, and I can hear her murmuring in the back corner. As I get closer, I see she’s in an empty stall, on her knees in the hay.
“You’re such a sweetheart,” she croons, and her early-morning raspy voice has my dick immediately entering the conversation.
Christ, it’s going to be a long fucking year.
“Look at how well you did. Five tiny babies, little mama.” Her voice is soothing and soft. So different from her usual tone, it surprises me.
“What’s going on back here?” I ask quietly as I step closer. When I squat next to her, she shifts a few inches to the side, putting more space between us, just like she did yesterday.
I don’t like that.
“Someone had babies,” she says with a soft smile.
“That’s Tom,” I reply, frowning down at the black-and-white cat who currently has five little kittens suckling his—her?—teats. “I thought he was getting fat from all the mice he was catching.”
“He’s not fat,” she says with a laugh. “She was pregnant.”
“Apparently so.” I reach out and scratch the feline behind the ears. “Good job, mama. I’m still going to call you Tom.”
“I’ll spay her after the kittens are weaned,” she says softly. “She was having trouble with that last one when I got out here. She was crying. But it looks like all is well now. I need to put her in something softer. A box with some old towels or a blanket would do.”
“We can do that. Thank you.”
She looks up at me, those blue eyes shining in the soft light, and smiles again, hitting me in the solar plexus. “This is my whole job. It’s kind of awesome.”
We get to work, assembling a more comfortable spot for Tom and her family. I have some towels in the shower room, and before long, we have all the cats resettled, looking more comfortable than before.
We’re squatting side by side, watching Tom clean her babies, making biscuits in the towel, and I look over to the woman beside me.
I want to reach out and tuck her hair behind her ear. She’s so fucking beautiful, even in simple blue jeans and a T-shirt under a black zip-up hoodie. Nothing special or fancy, but I’ve never seen anything more gorgeous in my life.
Before I can reach out, Darby stands and moves away from me, sure not to touch me as she walks out of the stall.
She did the same thing yesterday. She mentioned that she’s not a toucher when I offered my hand out to shake, but I can feel in my gut that this goes beyond that.
Although she looks calm, her movements are stiff, as if she’s nervous, and I do not want this woman to be nervous around me.
We have to work together for a whole fucking year. I need to get to the bottom of this.
“Can I ask you a question?”
She glances over and lifts an eyebrow. “Of course.”
“Have I offended you, Duchess?”
She blinks rapidly and tucks that shiny hair behind her ear herself. “Of course not. I haven’t even been here for twenty-four hours.”
I nod slowly and lean my shoulder on the stall door where she’s checking on one of the horses.
“Did I piss you off before you quit the diner?”
“Not at all.”
I rub my thumb over my bottom lip and watch as she glides her hand over the haunches of the horse.
“Then why are you so skittish around me?”
“I’m not.”
I chuckle, but there’s no humor in it. “You’re more skittish than most of the wild animals on this property.”
She blows out a breath and turns to face me, her hands on her perfect, curvy hips.
“I’m not a friendly person, Tucker,” she finally admits. “I mostly keep to myself. I’m not super talkative, and I don’t make friends easily. I’m awkward at best.”
I stare at her, taking in her sincere, sweet face, and I realize that she actually believes that nonsense. Who put that shit in her head?
“Yeah, I don’t believe that. You were always friendly before.”
Her brows pull together and she licks her lips. “You were a stranger at my work. Someone safe to flirt with and then go on with my day. Now, you’re essentially my boss, I haven’t seen you in five years, and yeah, you’re still a stranger.”
I nod. “Okay. I have two sisters. I get it.”
If anyone made Ava or Harper uncomfortable, I’d break their fucking face.
“I won’t touch you unless you give consent,” I inform her. “Not ever. I’m not an asshole, Duchess.”
“I didn’t think that you were,” she replies softly and turns those big blue eyes up to me. “It’s nothing personal. I actually like you, and for reasons I don’t understand, I trust you. But I will always skirt around you because—”
“You don’t like to be touched.” I nod, and internally, I want to burn whatever did this to her to the ground. “I’m being professional, remember?”
Her face softens, and her bee-stung lips quirk up in a half smile that has my dick twitching.
“Professional,” she confirms. “I have a meeting with Dr. Fisher at noon in town.”
“Then we’d better get started on our day. I assume you know how to ride a horse?”
Darby bites her lip and winces. “I’m not great. I grew up on a ranch, but my father didn’t believe that women should do ranch work, so he never taught us.”
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 I really want 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.
“You don’t usually drink beer.” I watch as my brother saunters to the pool table, where the balls are racked and ready, and he breaks the first game.
“I’m having a shit day,” he says as he chalks the tip of his cue. “One beer won’t hurt anything.”
“What happened?”
He shrugs and leans over to sink a ball. He misses.
“Bad domestic violence call early this morning. The fucker almost killed her.” He shakes his head and sips his beer. “Then, a kid got hit by a car by the school. The driver was drunk and driving fifty miles a fucking hour in a school zone.
“Christ.”
His eyes are tired as they meet mine. “Yeah. And then there’s all the other usual shit and so much damn paperwork, I’ll likely die from boredom.”
“You love your job.”
Easton shrugs. “Most days I do. On days like today, when the woman who had her ass handed to her and was hospitalized with her injuries, and then decides she won’t press charges, I don’t love it so much.”
“Fuck, that sucks.”
“Yeah, so there was that.”
“Back at it tomorrow?