AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ve got nothing better to do,” Shane said. “Why don’t I stick around anyway while you take a look at my bulls?”
“Suit yourself.” Reba went over to investigate the bulls in the pen.
Ever since the fiasco with Hickory Livestock using performance-enhancing drugs on their bulls, the UPRC wanted to make sure that none of the bulls that were provided to them were tampered with before the events.
As she walked next to Shane, she couldn’t help noticing that he walked with a limp. She wondered if a bull had ended his career. Reba wished she had Dolly’s gift of the gab. Dolly wouldn’t think twice about grilling him on every little detail. Reba preferred fading into the background. But she felt she owed the cowboy to be more engaging and polite. After all, he had saved her from Dr. Kilgore’s bullshit.
“So tell me about your bulls,” she said.
It was the only small talk that she felt comfortable engaging in. Animals were her favorite subject, after all. And it made talking to a great big hunk of a cowboy a little easier.
“We don’t drug them,” he said shortly.
Or not.
“I didn’t say you did,” she replied, testily.
“And yet here we are. Every time you people stick a needle into one of my animals, it’s a risk you’re going to damage them. All it takes is for the bull to move at the wrong moment.”
Fuck you. This was what happened when she tried to be personable. She should know better by now to stop engaging with people who didn’t want to believe that you were doing the right thing. Reba stopped trying, and just got down to business. Unfortunately, she was acutely aware of him standing close by, but at least it wasn’t in an uncomfortable way. He really was good-looking. Too bad he was an asshole.
Maybe asshole was too strong of a word. He had stepped up when Kilgore did his creepy stalking thing that he always did. Reba would bet cash money that he would have tried to hug her if she hadn’t kept Shane’s big body between them. She grudgingly admitted that having a large, muscled cowboy on her side had its uses.
Reba collected blood and urine samples from each of Shane’s bulls while they were still confined in their trailer. It made it easier to avoid horns and hooves if they got into a temper. When she went back to the lab, she would run the results to make sure that not only there weren’t any drugs in their system, but also to make sure that the bulls were healthy and didn’t have any transmittable diseases that could affect the other livestock.
Normally, Reba would be annoyed at having someone watch over her while she worked, but Shane was damned sexy and, even better, he any didn’t feel the need to fill out the silences with inane chatter. And while part of her hated that she was comforted by having a big, strong man standing next to her, another part of her started to relax and feel safe for the first time in a long while. Reba bet that if she rubbed her cheek on his arm, the cozy flannel would make her feel sleepy.
What the hell was wrong with her?
Reba deliberately took a few steps away from Shane before she did something stupid like cuddling up to him. Seeing Dr. Kilgore again had really thrown her for a loop. She hadn’t realized how very much afraid she still was of him. Reba had thought she had put it all behind her. It had been three years ago, for Pete’s sake. Three years since she quit. Three years since he threw the jar. Three years since he grabbed her and kissed her. Three years since no one believed her when she reported him to the veterinarian board.
Reba put a hand on her stomach and willed herself not to puke.
She had shoved Dr. Kilgore away and would have cracked him one across the face if she hadn’t been so afraid of him. Reba hated herself that she hadn’t punched his fucking lights out. She ran instead and never went back.
And for the last three years, she had kept running. At first, from rodeo to rodeo and then from any cowboy who wanted to go out for drinks. She hadn’t even gone out to a movie with a guy. Reba had kept picturing Dr. Kilgore’s slimy embrace and it had spoiled any thoughts of romance.
She had thrown herself into her job instead of dating. And now, three years later, she was more settled in her career. Sure, she still moved around a lot. But she worked for a new company that allowed her to use her skills as a vet without being crammed into an office. She really loved working for the UPRC, especially when it had allowed her to concentrate on the animals instead of customer service. It was a lonely life, but at least it was safe. Or had been safe, until Dr. Kilgore decided to show up and throw a bomb into her careful existence.
Being a workaholic and a homebody had paid off, though. She seldom thought about that gross kiss. To be fair, she seldom thought about kissing at all. And Reba realized that was a damned shame. She had liked kissing. It didn’t seem right that Dr. Kilgore took that away from her. She hated that he still had power over her.
Reba glanced over at the bull-riding pens. She should channel her inner Dolly and march over to the stands and tell Dr. Kilgore that she wouldn’t be having coffee or anything else with him ever again. And if he put his hands on her, she would deck him.
Maybe she could ask Shane Calland to stand at her back, just in case.
As Reba collected the samples that she needed, she made sure she followed the procedures to the letter. The UPRC was adamant about these new protocols after Hickory Livestock doped up a bull and made it more aggressive last season. It could have gotten LeAnn seriously injured. It had only been a matter of chance that instead of LeAnn being on the bull, it had been another bull rider. Luke “Mick” Mickelson’s leg had never been the same after his wreck.
After she finished up, she turned to Shane and said, “I appreciate your company, but I’ll be all right from here on in.”
“How do my bulls look, Doc?” he asked.
“So far so good. The office will run the drug test and we should have the results back later today, but based on what I see, there shouldn’t be a problem.” His animals looked healthy and clean. They were expensive animals, and it was good to see that Shane respected them.
He nodded and walked away without another word. She supposed other people would find that curt and abrupt, but as she watched him walk away with his slight limp, she recognized that he had just been done with the conversation. She guessed she could appreciate someone not wasting her time with small talk.
It let her get back to work that much more quickly.
Still, her gaze lingered on his strong back and Reba wondered if she should have offered to buy him a beer or something for sticking by her.
