I’d told him some bull shit story about how I needed to stay close in case the young vet needed anything.
Judging by his smirk, Travis knew the real reason I’d sent him away. Thankfully for him, he was smart enough not to say anything.
I kept glancing out the corner of my eye to see if she’d emerged from the barn yet, not wanting to miss her before she left. Why exactly? I couldn’t be sure.
I had no business giving her any thought at all. At least not beyond the fact that she’s the vet tending to my horses.
But try as I might, no matter how hard I try to push her out of my head, that woman keeps slipping back in. I can’t stop replaying the look on her face when I snapped at her earlier.
I’d been a first-rate ass hole.
Just like my father.
Fuck. That.
Still, it gave me pause.
It wasn’t Anna’s fault that people in town were talking about the ranch. Or me. She’d just been making conversation.
The November air is cool on my neck, but I’m sweating under my shirt, muscles tight with frustration more than the exertion.
I’m just about to reach for another nail when I hear her voice behind me.
“Wyatt?”
I close my eyes for a moment and take a breath before turning around. Determined this time not to be too much of a dick.
Anna’s standing a few yards away, almost like she doesn’t trust me to get any closer. I exhale hard and force my posture to relax a little in an effort to look a little bit more approachable.
“I think she’s pretty close now,” Anna says.
“I told you I’d handle it.” My words are gruff. I silently curse myself. There’s obviously no help for it. Maybe I’m more like my father than I’d like to believe.
The thought sours my mood further.
“I know you do,” she says carefully, “but like I told you, I’m worried about her.”
“You said she looked good.”
“She does.” Anna wrinkles her nose like she’s thinking hard about something. “But I have a feeling that?—”
“I don’t work onfeelingsaround here. Just facts. And the fact is, I’ve been helping foals into this world long before you were born.”
She takes a step back.
“You done?” I ask, turning back to the fence when what I really want to do is go to her, pull her tight little body into my arms and show her that I can have a softer side, too. But it’s not a good idea. Not even a little bit.
Distance is safer.
“I guess so,” she says after a minute, but her voice catches, like she’s working hard to control it. When she doesn’t leave right away, I turn again.
“Is there something else? I’ve got work to do.”
She opens her mouth, closes it again, and then just when I think she’s going to leave, she tips her chin up, puts her hands on her hips and stares me down. “I’m just trying to do my job. You don’t have to be such an ass about it, you know?”
I freeze. “What did you just say?”
“I said, you don’t have to be such an ass and act like the whole world’s against you, Wyatt. I’m just trying to help.”
