Page 12 of White Collar Rancher

The state of his house wasn’t what she was used to. Her parents had built their house after they’d each landed jobs in Moore. It wasn’t much older than her, but it was newer than this place. And it’d been updated with the times and remodeled as desired.

Mom had even hired a housekeeper—after Priya left for school. Until then, she’d done the bulk of the cleaning. Devya was the artist. Not expected to hold up her end of the chores, she’d been allowed to be flighty and unreliable.

A beat of jealousy hit her. She busied herself with checking the wrap that went around Justin’s back. He bent and gently bounced on the balls of his feet as she did.

She wasn’t envious of Devya.

She hadn’t been. Until she’d started fearing for her job this morning. If she were let go before her probation was done, would she be able to get another job? Would her parents give her financial support like they did her sister?

Before she knew it, she was stroking her hands along the back of Justin’s shoulders, smoothing over the fabric, including some places where there was no baby wrap.

She snatched her hands back. “Sorry. I got lost in my head.”

He peered over his shoulder. The move had the unfortunate effect of showing off his strong jaw and long, straight nose. Was it getting hot in here as well? “For a minute there, I wondered if you were going to charge me for the exam,” he drawled.

Another laugh burst out of her. “Only the deductible. I’ll waive the rest.”

“Now, Doc. I keep getting indebted to you.”

She folded her arms across herself, afraid she’d touch him again. “You don’t owe me. I’m happy to help.”

Justin turned to face her. Isaiah’s long-distance stare was the one he got as he drifted off, but the wailing would start soon. “I seriously…” He shook his head and looked away. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t come every night and Brigit hadn’t taken over the ranch.”

“That was nice of her.”

He snorted, and his grin revealed even, white teeth, his incisors a bit longer than the rest. With his developing beard, he gave off the impression of a dangerous mountain man—in plaid pajama pants and a baby strapped to his chest.

Her heart rate kicked up a few notches.

“It’s getting the ranch back from her that’ll be the problem.” He wandered the living room, testing the wrap as he squatted and bent. This side of Justin was…endearing. A worse threat to her resolve not to crush on him again than his mountain-man appeal.

“She loves it?” Priya didn’t know Justin’s twin as well as she should for having gone to school with her. Hanging around Maisy had taken care of that. Priya should’ve realized the extent of the mean-girl tactics, but Maisy hadn’t appreciated her chiding and would limit her behavior when Priya was present. And when she wasn’t, Priya had tried to help by letting Brigit know what Maisy might target, like clothing out of place or messy hair, but it had only come off as catty and insulting.

If she had a time machine… At least she’d apologized for it. If she had to move away from Moore for work, she wasn’t leaving without mending fences.

She nearly giggled at the ranching reference. Perhaps she’d been around Justin too long.

She’d take her chances.

“Bridge loves ranching more than Travis and I.” Justin strolled back to her. “He’s fallen asleep. Do I dare disrupt his equilibrium and lay him down?”

“Might as well get the night started.”

He flashed her another smile before he disappeared upstairs. Collapsing in a chair, she needed a moment to recover from his quick grin.

Her type was not Justin. Sure, she would’ve been president of his fan club had he not dated Maisy when they were teens. But she still saw other people. Her prom date had been the captain of the speech and debate team. And he’d played chess like a gangster. Then there was Dalton in college. He hadn’t tolerated her dedication to studying very well, but he’d gone off to get his PhD in chemistry. Then there was Emmett.

Her whirlwind romance. She’d thought he was the one. But he’d gotten a prestigious fellowship and then outlined how she wasn’t enough for him, not professionally and not personally. She’d moved home, refusing to give up her dream of practicing by Dad’s side just because some dude with an inflated ego thought it was giving up the game before she lost.

Emmett hadn’t felt like some dude at the time.

It wouldn’t have been hard for her to move somewhere and start new. Her family wasn’t the close-knit unit she’d wanted. Grandma and Grandpa Saunders were tied to their business and had missed all of her graduations after high school. Dad’s parents had moved back to London after he was through school, but they were getting older and traveling was too hard. She saw them every few years.

Priya rubbed her temples. Her problem had always been wanting more from her family than they were willing to give. When Mom and Dad weren’t working, they liked to travel, and Devya was half a world away. Between grandparents who showed interest in her life but never saw her, and another set who seemed to be okay with not seeing her even though they lived a few miles away, why had she moved back?

“So far, so good.” Justin bounded down the stairs. “I can’t believe he stayed asleep after I put him down. I thought my heart was going to burst when the door clicked shut.”

“Maybe it’s a sign he’s getting over colic.”

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