Page 21 of Last Chance for Her Rancher Boss

“Ah-huh.”

“Yeah,ah-huh. Swear. Not a word.”

Will rolled his eyes again. “Yeah, fine. Whatever makes you feel better, bud.”

“Thanks for the sincerity. It’s touching.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Hey, Nash!”

Lucy was making her way over from the truck, Sammy swaddled up tight in her arms, pouting but content for the moment.

“Hey, Lucy,” Nash said. “How’s things?”

“Aw, you know,” she said with a shrug, her short dark hair getting blown about by the breeze as she handed Sammy off to Will. “Same old, same old. How’s the evaluation going?”

She looked worried as she asked.

“Stroke of luck,” Will announced cheerfully, and Nash was immediately on alert. “The evaluator is a veterinarian who turned out to be an old school friend.”

Nash glared daggers at his brother while Will just smiled sweetly. Oblivious to their silent feud, Lucy’s face brightened a little.

“That’s good news,” she said. “Takes the formality of it all away, I guess. What’s his name?”

“Hername,” Nash corrected. “Meg.”

“Wow, jeez,” Lucy said, looking impressed. “Being a female livestock vet is nothing to sneeze at.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty impressive.”

“Is she?” Will said, eyes wide with mock innocence. Nash was getting ready to duct tape his mouth shut when they were interrupted.

“You guys talking about me?”

Meg had finally made an appearance, and it took all of Nash’s self-control to remain standing upright. Ever since she’d got to the ranch, she’d been wearing any combination of jeans, boots and her thick leather jacket. But here she was, walking towards them, wearing a bright yellow sundress, her boots shined up and her auburn hair loose down her back instead of rolled up into a knot on top of her head. Nash felt like he needed someone to do CPR on him, his heart needing to be reminded how to do its job.

Thank God for Lucy, who spoke first and saved him from embarrassing himself.

“Iloveyour dress,” she said as a way of greeting. “I’m Lucy, hi.”

Meg stopped mid-step and looked down at herself, as if she had no clue about how otherworldly she looked.

“I’m Meg,” she said with a small laugh. “And thanks. I saw other people here and thought I better look halfway presentable.”

“Please,” Lucy scoffed. “I probably have baby spit-up on me somewhere.”

“Same,” Will said, catching Meg’s attention. “How you doing, Meg? Been a while, huh?”

It took a moment, but then Meg realized who it was she was looking at.

“Will,” she said warmly. “Long time, no see.”

“I hear you’re a ‘big fancy vet’ now?” Will said, innocent as anything.

“A vet, anyway, I don’t know about the big and fancy part.”

“Don’t you guys earn, like, crazy money?” Lucy asked.

---