Page 2 of Love, Lies, and Whiskey

“Always, baby.” Cowboy leaned in and kissed her.

Doc watched his brothers mooning over their women as they walked away. There was a time when Doc had thought he had what his brothers had recently found—the friendship and trust of the only woman he’d ever wanted to spend his life with.

He’d been nineteen and had just come home from his freshman year at college. He was thrilled to be back on the ranch, prospecting the club, and working with the horses, when Governor Adkin’s security team had swept through the property. The following week, the governor’s sixteen-year-old daughter had come to intern with them.

Doc’s mind reeled back to the first time he’d seen her. He was grooming a horse beside the barn when his mother’s voice had cut through his thoughts.

“Seeley, honey, are you here?”

“Be right there.” He set down the brush, and as he rounded the corner of the barn, a brown-haired beauty standing with his mother stopped him in his tracks. She was gazing out at the pasture, wearing a sleeveless sky-blue top that accentuated her curves, a frilly white skirt that showed off her long legs, and expensive Western boots. His cowboy hat shielded his eyes from the sun, but as she tucked her hair behind her ear, wispy strands blew across her face, and there was no shielding his heart from the biggest, bluest eyes he’d ever seen. They’d seemed to reach into his soul, stealing the breath right out of his lungs.

“Seeley,” his mother said, jerking him from his trance. “This is Juliette, Governor Adkin’s daughter. She’s interning with us for the summer and hopes to become a veterinary technician one day. You two will be working closely together. I thought you could show her the ropes.”

Was this some sort of test? If ever there was a girl he should stay away from, it was Juliette. The governor’s daughter? He cleared his throat in an effort to knock the fog from his brain.

Juliette lowered her eyes briefly, a knowing smile tugging at her lips.

Oh, you think this is funny, darlin’? Two can play at this game. He nodded in greeting and held out his hand. “Ready to get those hands dirty, Juliette?”

Her eyes flicked to his again, landing with the impact of a torch, spreading heat through his chest like wildfire. He was pretty sure the whole damn ranch could feel the sparks as a coy smile bloomed across her face and she shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Seeley. I don’t usually have to get my hands dirty, but now I’m looking forward to it.”

That was the moment he knew he was well and truly fucked.

He wasn’t wrong.

They’d burned so hot, it had taken less than a week to shred his control, and from that moment on, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

He closed his eyes, warding off the memory and was assaulted by another. He and Juliette were skinny-dipping in the lake one evening. As they broke the surface, she grabbed his necklace, pulling him into a kiss. He could still feel her cool, wet lips and slick, supple body against his as her voice whispered through his mind. It’s you and me forever, Seeley Whiskey. I’ll never let you go. Her words had cut straight to his heart. There didn’t seem to be a bigger way to show her what he felt than taking off the necklace he’d made with his grandfather when he was just a boy and had worn every day since and slipping it over her head, vowing, You and me forever, darlin’.

Just as the memory cut him to his core, another scene pummeled him. Tiny and Cowboy holding him back as he fought to get to Juliette, who was kicking and screaming as her father dragged her toward a black SUV. Two hulking bodyguards stood between them and Doc as her father seethed, If you ever come near my daughter again, I’ll expose you as the predator you are and shut down this damn ranch so fast you won’t know what hit you. Doc could still feel his heart being ripped from his chest as he’d shouted, Don’t do this! I love your daughter! His throat constricted as Juliette’s frantic voice pierced through the pain. I love you, Seeley! I’m sorry!

“Ho, ho, ho!” Tiny called out, his deep voice jerking Doc back to the present.

Doc gritted his teeth against how wrong he’d been for believing Juliette’s lies and risking everything to get her back in his arms only to have the dagger pushed deeper into his heart. He’d never been dumb enough to make that fucking mistake again.

He shoved that torture down deep, as he’d done a million times before, and headed for the hospital entrance, determined to give the children the greatest day of their lives.

Chapter Two

AFTER TWO HOURS of giving out presents, telling silly jokes to see kids smile, and receiving more hugs and heart-warming giggles than any guy deserves, Doc walked into the last pediatric patients’ room on the oncology floor with two presents left to give.

He nodded in greeting to two sets of parents standing dutifully by their little girls’ beds and said, “Ho, ho, ho, and a merry summer holiday to you.”

The girls giggled. They couldn’t be more than five or six years old. The dark-skinned girl turned wide, excited eyes up to him. “You don’t look like Santa.” Her voice was soft, like Sully’s, and she wore a pink cap with purple polka dots on it.

“I don’t?” Doc made a dramatic show of looking himself over, patting his stomach, and touching his scruffy chin. He gasped. “Someone stole my belly and my beard!”

The girls laughed.

“You’re funny,” the paler girl said from the other bed as she pushed her orange-framed glasses, which matched her orange cap, to the bridge of her nose.

“Thank you, but I was being serious. I had a big ol’ belly and beard when I woke up this morning.” More giggles rang out, and he turned to the first girl. “What’s your name?”

“Kyra.” She beamed.

“Kyra, did you see who stole my belly and beard?”

She giggled up a storm and pointed at the other girl. “Susie took them!”