Page 70 of Rough Stock

‘Stop that. You look nice.’ Izzy slapped his hand away.

‘And you look gorgeous.’ He kissed her nose. ‘Sorry, babe, but I hate neckties. I hated them at boarding school, and I hate them now.’ Craig tugged it free, undid the collar’s top button and breathed.

‘But—’

‘Sweetheart, they didn’t hire me to wear a uniform.’

Unlike Amara in her full-dress uniform. The shiny buttons on her police blazer, the long skirt, and shiny flat shoes were all polished for the occasion. All that was missing were some white gloves.

‘Hey, check me out. The Duchess bought me a shirt, see.’ Stone strutted inside, posing like a bodybuilder, flexing his muscles that stretched in the white long-sleeved shirt that made his tan deeper.

‘Crocodile wranglers are such posers,’ mumbled Craig.

‘It’s about time someone outshone you rodeo cowboys,’ teased Stone. ‘Or you’re jealous that Amara bought me a new shirt and not you.’

‘Finn wanted you to wear something without stains on it.’ Amara rolled her eyes as she brushed down her uniform for the thousandth time. Her pressed creases were impeccable.

‘You lot look like trouble.’ Finn strolled in with stockman’s hat, jeans and boots, like any normal day at the office.

‘How come you didn’t scrub up like we had to, Bossman?’

‘I told the constable clean and tidy dress.’

‘Andrew Bannon is the Federal Agriculture Commissioner, I thought something more formal was what you wanted, sir.’

‘For you, maybe.’ Finn grinned. ‘Don’t worry about Drew. I’ve known him for years. With luck, he’ll only be here to annoy us for five minutes.’ Finn checked his watch. ‘He’ll be landing now, come on.’

‘But sir, the commissioner’s schedule said he was staying for morning tea.’ Amara trotted after Finn down the hallway to the back door.

‘Come along, children, let’s go meet the big daddy.’ Stone skipped like a child after Amara.

Izzy giggled as she walked alongside Craig and out the back door of the police station that faced the tiny airport. ‘Do you think this is Stone’s first time meeting a commissioner?’

‘I think Stone has met lots of people, and he doesn’t care who they are when it comes to pomp and ceremony. I just hope this commissioner isn’t a typical politician. I’ve met way too many of them in the export stockyards to bother. You?’

‘Part of the job.’

‘But now you’re the boss. Gotta say, it’s a sexy look on you.’ Craig slid an arm over her shoulders. Even if he didn’t need to lean on her anymore to walk, he enjoyed tucking her into his side where they shared the same gait. ‘You can pick who to represent.’

‘I’ll only work for the good guys.’ The sunroom had been given a miraculous makeover, with Izzy setting it up just the way she’d always dreamed of, along with a new plant for the office, which she called Fergus.

And then when Craig showed up with his buried cowboy boot full of cash and told her to spend it on the house as a house-warming present, she truly settled into their home the way they’d always dreamed.

‘Just say the word, when you’re ready to start lawyering. Lydia and Brodie at the stockyards will happily spread the word.’

‘Can we wait another couple of weeks? We get our bees in a few days, and I want to help you build that firepit you wanted. But you never said where to put those new outdoor chairs.’

He grinned. ‘Those new chairs are for that firepit, so we can sit outside and watch the stars together every night, side by side.’

Her shy smile made it all worth it.

Then that brain of hers clicked in as the best property manager and partner this stockman could ever want. ‘Did we charge too much for quarantine fees for Wraith and the rest of Ginny’s stock?’

‘We could have charged more. Ginny told me the going rate for agistment fees she pays down south when she’s doing rodeos. She said she’ll email the contracts she gets for those places for you to look at.’

‘Good. And I’ll let you work out the rates.’

‘No. We’ll work out those rates together, Izzy. We’re partners, remember that.’ He kissed her nose, and she rewarded him with a smile. These days, they wore matching smiles a lot more than matching frowns.

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