Page 21 of Nate

He opened the door, stepped out, and slammed it a little harder than necessary, then entered the house, slamming that door behind him. He flipped the lights on as he made his way to the kitchen, opened the fridge door, retrieved a beer, and then slammed that door closed, making the glass pitcher on top of it, fall to the floor and shatter.

“Son of a bitch!”

Taking a deep breath, he set the beer bottle on the bar, got the broom and dustpan from the closet and swept up the shards of glass, swearing the entire time. After dumping it into the trashcan outside the back door, he went back into the kitchen, reached for his beer, but knocked it to the floor. The bottle didn’t break, but just about all the beer spilled out.

Nate stared at it then picked it up, poured the rest down the drain, tossed the empty bottle into the recycle bin, grabbed a bunch of paper towels and wiped the beer from the floor.

“I didn’t want a damn beer anyway,” he said as he strode from the kitchen, entered his bedroom, then the bathroom. He stripped off his clothes, turned on the shower, and stepped into the stall, hoping the water would wash away her scent from his skin.

After washing, he turned off the shower, reached for a towel and rubbed it over his hair. He hung it on the shower rod, grabbed another one, dried off, and wrapped it around his waist then walked to the mirror above the sink. He swiped his hand across it to remove the steam and then shaved.

When he finished, he removed the excess cream from his face, splashed a little aftershave on, took the towel off and hung it on the bar, then he entered the bedroom, pulled on a pair of sweatpants, and headed toward the living room.

Chapter Four

Markie drove away from the ranch, then pulled onto the shoulder of the road, put the vehicle in park, and sobbed. Her body still buzzing from the sex. It was so hot, but she knew it shouldn’t have happened.

“But it did.”

She leaned her head back against the headrest as tears rolled down her cheeks. How in the world would she ever face him again? He was right. She was attracted to him, and she hated it.

This would be the last time she went to the ranch. If Tess wanted to fire her for it, so be it. There was no way she’d go back. No matter what.Yeah, that’s BS and you know it!

Taking a deep breath, she checked traffic, then pulled onto the road and drove back to the hospital. She wanted to get back to work and hopefully Nate Jefferson would get out of her head.

After parking her vehicle beside the steps to her apartment, she entered the hospital through the back door. She saw Tess walking toward her and tried to put on a happy face, but she must not have succeeded because Tess frowned at her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Something is. Did it go well at the ranch?”

Did it go well? Boy, did it ever, but it shouldn’t have.

Markie shook her head. “That cut should have been attended to yesterday after it happened. If the horse hadn’t had a tetanus shot, it could have gotten infected.”

“It happened yesterday?”

Markie could hear the anger in Tess’s voice. “Yes, Nate said he found it this morning, then said someone was supposed to have checked all the horses yesterday.” She shrugged. “I don’t know if he’s shifting the blame—” She stopped when Tess shook her head.

“No. Nate would never do that. If he had seen it yesterday, we would have been called right away. I’m sure whoever didn’t do as they were supposed to will be reprimanded. Nate loves animals, but especially horses. He’d never let an animal get injured and not care for it.”

Markie nodded. So, he had told her the truth. “I suppose you know him better than I do. We got into it and if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not be the one to go there again. For anything.”

“Come to my office,” Tess said, then walked along the hallway to her office.

Markie entered and Tess motioned for her to close the door and take a seat. Once she did, she stared at Tess, wondering if she was going to get fired.

“Markie, I cannot tell you I won’t send you there again. There are times I just can’t do it. That’s why I hired another vet. If I have surgeries to perform, or a ranch or farm has an emergency, what am I supposed to do? Stop the surgery and go?”

“No, of course, not.”

“Exactly. So, even though you don’t want to go back to the McCallister ranch, there will be times you’ll have no choice. It’s another reason I never schedule us both in surgery the same day. One of us has to be on call.” Tess raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a problem with Nate or Beau?”

Markie nibbled on her bottom

lip. She knew she couldn’t hide it from her forever.

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