Page 13 of White Collar Rancher

He paused at the foot of the stairs and glanced around, a small frown on his face, like this was the first time he’d noticed the state of his surroundings. With a shrug, he pushed a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up in different directions. Was he not used to longer hair and how it behaved? And wow, look at the flex of his bicep.

“Want some wine or something?” he asked.

Wine? Have a drink, alone, with Justin Walker? Hadn’t that been her dream for years?

Silly girl. She’d been alone with him for the last few weeks. The reason why cast a shadow over the thrill of his offer. “Wine sounds great.”

“I promise the glasses are clean. Unless you want a beer.”

“Wine to celebrate a successful tuck-in sounds better.”

There was that grin again. The man had charm a county wide.

He went into the kitchen. She adjusted the collar of her sweater and let out a frustrated huff. It didn’t matter what she looked like. Her outfit wasn’t any different than it ever was. Cable-knit sweaters, leggings, and big fluffy socks. Some nights, she felt glammed up next to Justin, but she’d never complain. Those pajama pants of his rode low on his hips.

He entered, two full wine glasses sloshing in his hands. “I feel like there’s a hint of my old self coming back. But I don’t think I’ve ever drunk wine in pj’s before.”

“Boots and blue jeans instead?”

“Not quite.” He took a long sip and closed his eyes. Long, dusty-blond lashes feathered across his cheeks. “Ah. Now that’s the stuff.”

She tasted it, putting the glass to her lips. Sweet liquid flowed over her tongue. Smooth. Rich. This was good stuff. Like what she’d find in Mom’s wine fridge. “It’s really quite good.”

He’d laid his head back and shut his eyes, holding his wine on the armrest. He cracked an eye open. “Surprised?”

“Um…”

He chuckled. “Once upon a time, Priya.” Blowing out a gusty breath, he closed his eyes again. “I wasn’t always this guy.”

“What did you used to do? Maisy only said you were some big shot.”

“Big shot?” His laugh was full of derision. “I could’ve been, but my partner used me up and spit me out.” He winced, like he hadn’t meant to say that much.

Was that his type? Manipulators? Justin seemed like a confident guy with no interest in games. What did she really know about him? She wanted to know a lot more than she did. “And then you came back to Moore?”

“Yep.” He sat up and took another drink, sucking his lips against his teeth. “Then I called Maisy. Look at me now.” He hid the bitterness well. Did his family know any of this? “You know how you can’t live without someone and you promise them the world—until they close a deal worth millions and all of a sudden, you need to move on? That was Gabrielle Hayes. It was supposed to be our company, but she maneuvered me out. She was a shark in the boardroom; I don’t know why I didn’t think she’d be the same way in her personal life.”

Or he didn’t think she’d be that way with him? “You trusted the person you loved. It shouldn’t be a defect.”

He set his wine down. “I don’t have to worry about any of that anymore.” Sprawling in the chair, he let his arms hang over the sides. “Never again. I’m done with relationships. And women altogether.”

She averted her gaze from the way his long form stretched out in front of her. Done with women, huh?

Yet she was a woman. Here, helping him. His sister was helping him. Were women only bad when he wasn’t the one in control?

She should run long and far from a guy like him. Wasn’t that what Emmett had been like? It was okay for her to sacrifice for his career, but he couldn’t be bothered with her needs. The night she’d lost her first baby, she’d worked all night with the doctor she was training under. The mom had labored for hours, then they’d done a C-section—and lost the baby. In her mentor’s words, “We saved the mother, concentrate on that.” She’d held it together until she got home and collapsed on Emmett’s shoulders.

And he’d held her. For a moment. Then he’d gently tucked her into the couch so he could go get a good night’s rest for the liver transplant he was a part of the next day. Logical. No patient should have to suffer for her breakdown. Then logical became routine, until Emmett acted like her career was inconsequential next to his. Like babies practically birthed themselves and if women had gynecological troubles, Priya could just do a hysterectomy and voilá. Problem solved.

And Dr. Bezos wondered why so many patients had sought her out when she’d started. She suspected he shared Emmett’s thoughts on women’s health.

But transplant medicine? To Emmett, he was God’s personal assistant, resurrecting people and giving them new life. And it still bothered her how much of a hole he’d left in her life when he’d moved away and told her she shouldn’t come with.

Some nights she dreamed of the chance to show him how she’d moved on, and especially how she wasn’t hung up on a man and catering to his every need. She snuck a glance at the rugged rancher sipping his wine in pj’s. At this point, she might have to pretend.

Chapter 6

Another two weeks went by. Isaiah was sleeping longer and his colicky times were shorter. Justin sorted through bottles. Wide neck, narrow neck, bag bottles, angled bottles, and nipples of every shape and size. None of them worked miracles, but he cleared out the ones that definitely made Isaiah gassier than others.

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