by Jessica Lee
“Josie Ann McAllister, you are too much.” Olivia scoffed. What she wouldn’t give to feel so free and uninhibited to flirt with the opposite sex. But she’d learned at an early age to rein in her daredevil side.
“I’m flattered, Ms. McAllister,” Taylor placed his palm over his heart in a dramatic display of sincerity, “that you would even consider sacrificing some of your freedom to take on the responsibility of a canine soul just so you could spend more time with me.” His gaze shifted from Josie to Olivia, blue eyes going from wide and playful to hooded and seductive. “But you know my heart is taken.”
Josie sighed before adding, “Yeah, yeah.” She tossed up her hands in mock surrender. “I know. Livvy here has reeled you in. Hook, line, and sinker.”
The last part of Josie’s statement yanked Olivia away from Taylor’s stare. “Good Lord, Josie.” Olivia chuckled. “I haven’t reeled anyone in.” She grinned and added, “I’ve never fished a day in my life.” Taylor and Josie joined in on the laugh.
Sobering, Olivia plucked a pen from her desk drawer and flipped open the file in front of her. “So what brings you by this morning, Jos? Besides the opportunity to flirt with Taylor,” she added and aimed a wry smile in Josie’s direction.
“Oh, yeah.” Josie straightened in her seat, giving Olivia her full attention. “You’ll never guess who came in the office yesterday evening before closing, wanting to discuss the possibility of placing his property on the market with me.”
Josie ran the only real estate office in their small town, so if anyone wanted to get the word out that they were selling, she would be it.
“I have no idea.” Olivia clutched the hard plastic shell of the ballpoint in her palm. “You said ‘his,’ so I’m assuming it’s a man?”
“Let me put it this way…who do you remember that is more than six feet tall, jet black hair, hazel eyes, and the last man on earth you thought you’d ever see in Little Crow Pass again?”
A hard tremor coursed through Olivia’s system, and the pen fell from her hand to the desk with a soft thud. No… Her heart raced. How could the very thought of running into Eion Mandrake after so many years make her break out in a cold sweat?
“Judging by the look on your face, you know exactly who I’m talking about.” Josie nodded and smiled.
“Eion Mandrake?” Olivia uttered barely above a whisper.
“Who is Eion Mandrake?”
The question had Olivia glancing at Taylor, and her gut doing a somersault. But before she could answer, Josie jumped in, more than happy to fill in the details.
“Eion was Kris’s best friend all through high school. He was so damn good-looking every one of us had a crush on him, especially Olivia.” Josie didn’t give Taylor time to respond. “By the way, if you thought he was cute in high school,” she rolled her eyes, “wait till you get a look at him now. He is hot, hot, hot!” She placed a hand to her bare throat as if she needed a cool touch to bring down the temperature of her blood.
Eion was back. The revelation looped inside her skull like some crazy hamster on a wheel. He was actually here in Little Crow, planning to sell the Mandrake ranch. Wait. A moment of panic jerked her back to the present.
“Josie, you didn’t mention anything about our ranch to him, did you? Since they’re neighboring properties and all.” Olivia clutched the edge of her desk, desperate for something to ground her.
“Oh, no. Of course not.” She shook her head. “You know what we’ve discussed is confidential.”
A wave of relief swept through Olivia. Of all people, she did not want Eion to hear anything about their business. He hadn’t cared enough back then or during all these years to even pick up the phone, he certainly didn’t need to know a damn thing about them now.
“Whoa,” Taylor broke in. “You’ve talked to Josie about the ranch?” He leaned back in his chair, squaring his shoulders. “Are you and Kris at the point that you’re thinking of selling?”
Olivia shrugged, a twinge of guilt zinging across her chest for not having confided in Taylor. He knew they had been struggling since Kris’s injury but she hadn’t wanted to tell him how much. Before their dad had died, he’d never revealed to them that the ranch had been failing and had accumulated a small ocean of debt that she and Kris were now drowning under. The prospect of losing their home and land felt like a gnarled vine coiled around her trachea, getting tighter, choking her a little more each day that they got further and further behind.
Dear God, if she could only clone herself, be there for her practice, her brother, and the ranch. There just weren’t enough hours in the day to oversee it all.
“Kris and I are just weighing all of our options and we talked to Josie about what we could get out of the ranch. If it came to that. That’s all.”
“I see.” He dropped his gaze back to his desk. “So you used to like this guy, huh?” Taylor tapped out a random melody with his ballpoint on the stack of files on the desktop, his eyebrows lifted in a spill your guts and come clean statement.
“What?” That was a one-eighty. Olivia allowed her head to loll between her shoulder blades as if she didn’t give a damn, but her pulse refused to obey. Inside, she was anything but nonchalant. Her skin itched to bolt from the office and track down the man who’d plagued her dreams, her nights, for more than a decade. Just the memory of Eion Mandrake had kept her from giving herself completely to anyone, including Taylor.
Unbidden, her fingers curled into a tight fist. Taylor was such a great guy. So very patient with her. He deserved someone who was ready to give herself to him, body and soul. Olivia wanted to be that woman, but she didn’t know when or if she ever could. Dammit. Of all times for Eion to come back to Little Crow.
She plastered a smile on her face for Taylor and went on to say, “That was years ago. I was a young girl and he was an older high school boy who always hung around the house with Kris. Of course I had a crush.” She gave him a dismissive wave. “But like I said, that was a long time ago, and he left town without a word—and we haven’t seen or heard from him in more than twelve years.” Olivia reshuffled the reports on her desk, the names and words a senseless jumble of letters that, at the moment, she couldn’t decipher. “Kris didn’t get it. He was really hurt,” she blurted out. “And now with everything Kris is going through, Eion Mandrake coming anywhere near our ranch might not be our prodigal friend’s wisest move.”
Chapter Three
“Shit, shit, shit,” Eion mumbled under his breath, clutching the bleeding pup against his chest.
He kicked the door to his truck shut and hurried toward the entrance to Little Crow Veterinary Services. The mutt was so still. At the front door, he glanced down at the bundle of wiry dark brown hair. “Don’t you die on me. You hear that, you little mongrel? There will be no dying.” The pooch whimpered and twitched an ear. “Good. That’s more like it. Fight.”
Inside, the lobby chairs were empty. Eion scanned behind the raised counter that divided the waiting area and the rest of the clinic. No one. What the hell?
“Hello?” he called out. “Anybody around? I have an emergency here.”
An interior door popped open behind him. “I’m here. What’s going on?”
Air burst from Eion’s lungs and the room tilted on its axis. He widened his stance to regain his balance. More than a decade wasn’t nearly enough time to dilute the neurons in his brain that recognized that female voice. Every synapse in his nervous system fired in her presence, and only one person he knew of would have such an effect on him: the woman his wolf and soul had claimed.
Shit. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Eion’s pulse hammered out a familiar melody.
He turned.
Their gazes locked.
“Hello, Liv.” Yeah, it wasn’t brilliant or clever, but it was the best thing he could muster up. Unbidden, his gaze drifted over breasts much fuller than he remembered. His mouth watered. Lower still, he couldn’t help but notice, even behind the loose fit of her work clothes
, the rest of her had matured into a woman with curves in all the right places.
“Eion…”
The sound of her voice drew his attention back to her face. Liv blinked, and her gaze fell to the injured dog. “What happened?” She ushered them back to a treatment room.
“I was coming into town and he…” Eion stared at the bundle of blood-tinged fur resting against his shirt, “or she—I didn’t have time to look, just came out of nowhere. I swerved but I clipped him with my truck.”
“Poor little guy. Put him here, so I can get a better look.” Liv patted the stainless steel exam table. “Dr. McDaniel handles the domestic animals, but he ran out to grab us some lunch, and our vet tech is on her lunch break too.” She glanced up at Eion. “But we’ll manage if you don’t mind hanging around for a few minutes in case I need an extra pair of hands.”
“Sure.” He nodded. “I have some time.” Whatever you need, he finished the thought inside his head. Everything inside him wanted to be there with her. Dog or no dog.
Eion gently lowered the pup onto the cool metal, its bloody hindquarter glistening under the exam lights. Damn.
“First off, our patient is a boy, and I can tell by the angle of his leg that he has a pretty significant fracture.” On the other side of the table, Liv trailed her hand down the canine’s spine. Both leaned in for a better look at the wound on his upper leg, but their heads met halfway, colliding with an audible clunk.
“Ow!” Liv grabbed her forehead.
“Oh, damn.” Instinct had Eion reaching for Liv, cupping her face. “Sorry about that.” Their gazes met, and just like that, it was Y2K again—the summer sun beating down on their backs—the lake calling them for a dip. And a beautiful young girl with a mouth too inviting, stood right in front him. But this wasn’t twelve years ago, and Liv was all grown up. The pink tip of her tongue darted out and moistened the swell of her lower lip. His cock jerked.
Pulse raced.
His wolf stirred, yearning for Eion to taste what belonged to him.
“Oh. Wow!” Liv pulled back. “Déjà vu, huh?” She laughed, but it sounded strained.
“What?” He cleared his throat and gave his head a quick shake. That was too close.
“That day at the lake,” she went on to say. “The summer right before you and Kris graduated when I almost drowned.” Liv gathered some supplies from a drawer by the table. “I’d planned to help you with that old ice chest when it broke. And then…well, you know what happened next.” Keeping her attention on the injured pup, she shoved a stray lock of hair away from her face, but Eion didn’t miss the flush in her cheeks. “God, I was so embarrassed.”
The memories from that day came flooding back with perfect clarity. He could almost feel the warmth of the sun on his skin, smell the wild flowers on the breeze rushing up the hill and off the lake.
Snap!
The ice chest handle busted free from the side of the hard plastic container. “What the…” Eion spun, trying to hold onto the sliding box filled with ice and sodas. “Hang on, Liv!”
The sudden increase in weight jerked the handle on her side out of her grip.
“Watch out!” Liv cried out as the heavy chest fell off the tailgate and crashed onto the dirt road. Ice and cans of soda pop spilled out, rolling in all directions.
“Well, that’s just freaking great.” Eion groaned, staring down at the chaos around his feet.
“See,” Olivia drawled, from her spot above him in the truck bed, “now you really need my help.” She jumped down in front of him. “It was destiny.” She grinned.
Eion couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Olivia was so dramatic. “Yeah. Yeah. Whatever, Liv. Just help me get this stuff back into the ice chest, will you?”
Liv bent for the nearest can of cola and so did Eion, bringing their foreheads together with a hard thud.
“Ouch!” Liv laughed, slapping a palm to her head, and glancing up.
“Oh, man.” Eion chuckled and grasped her nape, pulling her in for closer inspection. “You okay?” Their gazes collided, and suddenly everything faded. How come he’d never realized how long and dark her eyelashes were? She tugged on her lower lip with her teeth. Had her mouth always been so full, so red?
Before he could contemplate further, Liv leaned in and planted her full soft lips on top of his. His heart skipped a beat, snapping his brain out of its zoned-out state. Eion grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back.
“Whoa! Liv…” Eion gave their surroundings a frantic scan for any of their friends or, God forbid, her older brother. “What was that?”
A deep flush filled her cheeks as she placed a pair of trembling fingertips to her mouth. “I-I…” But she turned tail and darted down the hill toward the rest of the group by the lake.
Holy freaking… He smoothed a palm over the lower half of his face. Liv had kissed him.
“Yeah. I remember,” he said, doing his best to mentally yank himself back to the present. “How could I forget a kiss from my best friend’s little sister?”
Despite the slight tremor in her hand, Liv threaded an IV catheter into the dog’s front leg and hooked him up to a bag of fluid she hung from an overhead pole. She was definitely a pro at her job.
“I was too impulsive for my own good back then.” She plucked a vial of medication from a nearby shelf and filled a syringe part way before injecting it into the IV tubing.
“Considering the fall you took afterward into the lake, I won’t disagree with you.” He chuckled. “But you were pretty adorable and that made it hard to stay angry with you for long.”
Liv glanced his way, a small smile turning up the corners of her mouth.
“You still are,” he added.
She lowered her lashes. “What happened back—” The dog stirred, cutting off whatever Liv had been about to say, and drew her back to his side. She tugged a stethoscope from her scrub top pocket and listened to the furry guy’s chest.
“He appears stable for now,” she announced a couple of minutes later. “The pain medication I gave him should help ease the little fellow while he waits for Dr. McDaniel to get back.” Liv reached over and lifted the tag dangling from his collar. “At least we’ll be able to track down his owner from this and hopefully return him home all patched up.” She moved around the table, joining Eion on the other side. “Thanks for bringing him in.”
“Of course.” Eion’s gaze roamed the still form of what he decided was probably some sort of poodle/terrier mixed breed. “I couldn’t have left him out there to die. I hit him. He was my responsibility. Please let the owners know that I’ll be happy to pay for whatever needs to be done to fix him up.”
She nodded and smiled. “We’ll do that. That’s nice of you to offer. Not everyone cares that much about an animal.”
“What can I say?” He shrugged. “I like dogs. Horses. Cattle. Though I have to admit, I doubt you’d ever find a feline in my home.”
Liv grinned. “Okay. I promise we won’t ask you to assist with the next cat that comes in with a broken leg.”
We? Right. Her and the other vet. The Dr. McDaniel she’d mentioned earlier. Probably some old guy about to retire brought her into the practice.
“So, I guess I should head out since the mutt’s doing okay.” He turned to leave.
“Wait…”
Eion glanced over his shoulder.
“Your shirt.” She pointed toward his midsection. “You’ve got blood all over you. You don’t want to go out in that.”
“Oh.” A large area of what used to be a solid white dress shirt now sported a bright red stain.
“Hang on.” She brushed past him, the sweet scent of her hair temporarily chasing away the medicinal smell in the air. He bit back a groan.
“I think I might have something you can change in to.”
After working the buttons free, Eion shrugged the shirt from his shoulders. With his back to the door, he checked on the pooch one more time. The soft tap of Liv’s approaching foot
steps told him she’d stepped back into the room.
“Here you go. This might…”
Eion spun. Liv stood there, mouth open, arm outstretched with a dark blue scrub top hanging from her hand. He grabbed the top from her fingertips. Her gaze roamed the planes of his chest, and the sharp twinge of arousal seared his nostrils. Fuck. Blood surged into his shaft, taking him to an immediate rock-hard state.
He had to get out of there or he’d end up doing something neither of them could come back from.
“Um,” Liv said, blinking. “This might work.” She pointed to the item in his hand. “It’s one of Taylor’s. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”
“Taylor?”
“Dr. McDaniel. My business partner and boyfriend.”
Well, that was one way to take care of an erection.
No. Way. In. Fucking. Hell.
All that he was—man and wolf—rejected the idea of wearing clothing that belonged to Taylor McDaniel.
Eion held up the scrub top. Stitched in white on the right side, the name Taylor McDaniel, DVM burned into his retinas. “You know…I really don’t think it’ll fit.” He handed it back over. “Thanks. I appreciate it though. But come to think of it, I’m pretty sure I can find a T-shirt stashed in my truck.”
“Oh.” She folded the shirt over her arm. “You’re probably right. I should have thought of that.” With a wave of her hand, she indicated his upper body. “You’re a bit bigger than him and…tattooed.” She pointed at his chest and biceps. “Taylor doesn’t have any of those—not that that has anything do with his shirt fitting.” A nervous chuckle bubbled out. Liv drew in a sharp inhale, dropped her gaze, and darted over to the mutt.
A growl on the verge of escaping sat in his throat. Instead, Eion swallowed hard and made for his getaway. “Good to see you, Liv.”