A few minutes later, she comes back out, her expression still stormy. She’s muttering under her breath, and I can’t help but smirk. Whatever’s wrong, it’s clearly not getting better. She’s so focused on her internal monologue that she doesn’t even notice me standing there until she’s almost past me.
“Everything all right?” I ask, not looking up from the engine.
She jumps, her hand flying to her chest. “Damn it, Wade! Don’t sneak up on people like that.”
I chuckle. “Didn’t sneak up on you. Been here the whole time.”
She narrows her eyes at me, clearly not amused. “It’s fine,” she says curtly, brushing past me.
I straighten up, tossing the rag onto the tractor. “Have a run-in with your dad again?”
She stops mid-stride, her shoulders stiffening. When she turns back to me, her eyes are flashing. “That’s none of your business.”
I hold up my hands. “Fair enough. Just asking. I’m not the enemy.”
She huffs, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face. She looks as though she’s going to walk away, but then she stays put, her hands on her hips.
“My dad was actually tolerable today. Especially when Caleb is around. It’s everything else.”
I raise an eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate. She doesn’t. Instead, she looks up at the night sky, letting out a long, frustrated breath.
“You wanna talk about it?” I offer.
She glances at me, her expression skeptical. “Why? So you can tell everyone in town?”
I snort. “I’m not Miss Turner. Your secrets are safe with me.”
That earns me a reluctant smile, though it’s gone almost as quickly as it appeared. She crosses her arms, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“I’m not doubting your ability to handle anything,” I reply easily as I bend back over the tractor and start fiddling with the motor again. “Maybe if you weren’t so sure the world was against you, you’d have a better time around here.”
“You know nothing about me.”
“I know enough. I’d like to know more. You’re all up in arms around me—are you this way with everyone?”
She huffs, narrowing her eyes at me. “You’ve been—”
I hold my hand up quickly to stop her. “I’m not trying to argue with you, Bishop. I…I..” I blow out a breath. “I know that it can’t be easy to come back to your hometown, especially not as an authority figure in the situation you’re in. I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like for you to step foot on this ranch, let alone your dad’s and, again, I’m sorry that I was such an ass to you.”
She stares back at me in shock before she playfully rolls her eyes.
Why does that turn me on?
“Here’s an idea,” she says slowly as she eyes me carefully. “Start with not calling me Bishop ever again.”
“It’s your last name.”
“You call guys by their last name, not women,” she hisses.
She made a comment the other day about me not knowing she’s a woman…is that what her attitude is about?
“Fair enough,” I reply. “My apologies, Sutton. I didn’t mean any harm, but I can see how that could be annoying.”
Her eyes flash as if she doesn’t fully believe the apology. She sighs before saying, “Thank you.”
“I had another steer with symptoms earlier. We’re going to have to get along in order for us to figure this out. You should take all the cooperation you can get.”
“Dr. Reed talk to you, too?”
