One thing I know about Terry O’Connor—the man has complicated relationship written all over him, something I’ve avoided for pretty much forever. One thing I know about Terry’s hometown, Painted Bay—it’s a long, long way from my life as a Mackenzie Country veterinarian, and dedicated, carefree bachelor. All of which should be good news.No reason to look twice at the gorgeous man currently staying at Miller Station with his daughter.
No reason to daydream about his soft lips, quirky sense of humour, sexy smile, or the way he blushes whenever he catches me staring which is far too often.
No reason to second guess my future plans or reconsider the no-strings lifestyle I’ve worked hard to perfect.
And absolutely no reason to feel disappointed that Terry is even less interested in a relationship than I am. I should be relieved.
Then why can’t I stop thinking about him and how right it feels when we’re together? Why does my heart spin at the very mention of his name? And why does the thought of moving on without Terry and his daughter in my life feel like the loneliest decision in the world?
As we approached reception, Sonja glanced up from her computer and her gaze narrowed in response to whatever she saw on my face. I either totally sucked at the whole poker-face thing or she’d caught me checking out Terry’s . . . assets.
Either way, she immediately gave the guy an appreciative once over before returning her attention to me like all her questions had been answered. An impish smirk pulled at the corners of her mouth and her eyes gleamed wickedly. “Having a good morning, Boss?”
Hidden from Terry’s view, I bugged eyes at her—not-so-subtle code for Shut. The. Fuck. Up. “Fine, thank you, Sonja.”
Her smirk widened at the obvious warning. The twenty-five-year-old daughter of a sheep station family, Sonja was no shy wallflower. She’d fought hard to find her voice amidst six brothers and a slew of male shepherds and contractors and could hold her own in any argument. She suffered zero bullshit, was as cheeky as they came, and Matt and I couldn’t have run the place without her. Having said that, there was nothing the woman enjoyed more than to put me on the spot. Matt tripped onto her radar on occasion, but it was mostly me she seemed to relish tormenting.
No idea why.
“I thought you’d be long gone,” she said, casting another glance Terry’s way. “But I can see that you’ve been . . . distracted.”
I skewered her with yet another cautionary glare, but she simply smiled.
Terry, on the other hand, looked positively mortified. “Oh god. I’m so sorry if I held you up. It was all my fault.” He directed the last part toward my soon-to-be-dearly-departed office manager.
Sonja leaped to reassure Terry. “Oh no. Not at all. Our Spencer can be a little chatterbox when you get him going.” She shot me a sunny smile, which I ignored in favour of shuffling papers on the desk.
I was gonna kill her. Slowly.
But Terry continued to apologise and in doing so dug the hole deeper and deeper under my feet. “When Spencer said it was your policy to make sure every animal that stayed here had a name, and that I could choose one, I thought it was a really sweet idea. But since I suck at that stuff, it took me a bit to come up with Miller which then sprouted a whole other conversation—” He shot me a look. “—and I totally lost track of time.”
Oh god. Heat blew up my throat and set fire to my cheeks.
Sonja blinked and turned her needle-sharp gaze slowly back on me. “Oh, our policy, huh?” She was clearly struggling not to laugh, and I began cataloguing the fly spots on the ceiling. “Yes, Spencer is sweet like that. He’s always coming up with warm fuzzy ideas for the clinic.”
I barely contained an eye-roll as I withered under her you-are-going-to-regret-this-forever smirk. “Ignore her,” I told Terry who was looking between us like he knew he was missing something. “Sonja likes to give me a hard time.” I walked behind the counter and accidentally on purpose stood on her foot.
She yipped and slapped me on the bicep. “Ow. You did that on purpose.”
“I have no idea what you mean.” I tapped her computer screen. “Now please ring up the poor man’s bill so he can get on with his day.” I glanced up to find Terry watching our antics with a wide smile in place. “Sorry about this.”
He waved my apology aside. “No need for that.”
Sonja tallied the account while Terry retrieved a credit card from his wallet. Once she’d punched in numbers, she slid the machine toward him and glanced sideways at me. “Before I forget, some guy named Adam wants you to call him. Today. He was quite insistent.” She sounded far too bright about the fact, and my stomach dropped.
Dammit. Adam had been a recent hookup who’d decided he wanted more—a lot more. I’d tried to be polite, but he wasn’t getting the message. Sonja knew all about it, the little minx, and it didn’t take a detective to figure out why she’d chosen to mention it right then. She was meddling. So while Terry was still occupied with his wallet, I bestowed a glare on my manager and said, “Fine. Leave it to me.”
She licked her lips, and added almost as an afterthought, “Is this the same guy who sent you flowers? The ones you had me throw in the bin?”
I felt Terry’s curious gaze land on me, and I was definitely killing my office manager, very, very slowly. I left her question unanswered and apologised again to Terry. “Sorry. We’re usually more professional.”
Sonja’s mouth curved up in a sly grin. “Well, I am,” she amended, winking at Terry. “Although I do admit I like to give our intrepid veterinarian a hard time. After all, someone has to pop his balloon and bring him back down to where the rest of us mere mortals scrabble in the dirt. It’s the charitable thing to do. He’s far too charming for his own good.”
Terry snorted. “Believe me, this banter is all reassuringly familiar. You two would fit like a glove with my friends back home.”
Sonja handed Terry his receipt and patted his hand. “Then you have my deepest sympathy.” She turned to look me up and down. “I suppose someone has to be their friends, right? Our reward will come.”
Terry barked out a laugh, which popped the dimples on either side of his mouth. Like the man needed any more appeal than he already possessed. Lord help me.
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Heart, humour and keeping it real.Jay is a 2020 Lambda Literary Award Finalist in Gay Romance and her book Off Balance was the 2021 New Zealand Romance Book of the Year.
She is a New Zealand author writing mm romance and romantic suspense, primarily set in New Zealand. She writes character driven romances with lots of humour, a good dose of reality and a splash of angst. She's travelled extensively, lived in many countries, and in a past life she was a critical care nurse, nurse educator and counsellor. Jay is owned by a huge Maine Coon cat and a gorgeous Cocker Spaniel
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Ooh, I like Sonja's set up! She sounds really feisty and gets along with her boss well! I like how he was nervous around Terry!
ReplyDeleteI like the cover, and it fits the profession of one of the characters.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading the excerpt. It sounds like a good book
ReplyDelete