Her Cowboy Boss. Arlene James

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       Chapter Two

      “Meri? Meri, the cat’s out!”

      “We’ve got him,” Meredith called, keeping her voice even. Stark had to admit, if only to himself, that he liked baiting her.

      Ann showed up an instant later, breathless, her long, bright hair billowing about her shoulders as she strode confidently down the aisle behind the stalls. “Oh, good.”

      She was an attractive woman, Ann Billings Pryor, but a mite too in-your-face for Stark’s taste, not that Ann’s little sister didn’t have spunk, too. She’d given him what-for since he’d picked up her injured cat off the road out there next to the house the day of her brother’s wedding.

      At Ann’s heels trotted the spotted Australian shepherd, Digger. While Ann and Dean’s son, Donovan, was in kindergarten half days, the dog seemed to have attached itself to Ann. Tiger instantly took exception to the dog, bowing his back and hissing.

      “Now, now,” Stark crooned, soothing the cat.

      “I was looking for you,” Ann explained to her sister. “I just cracked the door to your room, and the thing darted out. Dean was coming in the house behind me, and the next thing I knew, it was out the front door.”

      “Really, Ann,” Meredith admonished. “How many times do I have to tell you...and with the dog beside you, no less.”

      What a prissy little thing she was—prissy, pretty, intelligent and entertaining, an unwelcome combination as far as Stark was concerned. He had no interest in developing a connection with any woman. Still, he felt an odd compulsion to mend fences if he could.

      “Let’s see if we can introduce these two,” Stark suggested, holding out a hand and clucking his tongue at the dog. “Come here, Digger. Come on. That’s a boy.”

      The dog trotted over, and Tiger tried to climb Stark’s chest using his back claws. When a cat was declawed, only its defensive front claws were removed. Without those, they had only their tiny teeth and speed for protection. Stark held fast to the feline, talking softly. The dog sniffed and snuffled, while the cat hissed and bared its teeth without making much impression.

      “Our cats never act like that around Digger,” Ann complained. “Of course, most of them are still kittens.” She immediately clapped a hand over her mouth.

      “I already spilled the beans on that,” Stark admitted with a sheepish grin, while Meredith glared at her sister and the dog trotted off to check out the horses, which were shuffling around their stalls in hopes of being let out soon.

      Ann stiffened her spine and squared her shoulders, folding her arms. “Meredith,” she said sternly, “you cannot have another cat.”

      “Why not?” Meredith demanded. “Because I’m the crazy cat lady?”

      Stark sighed as Ann glared daggers at him. “One or two spoiled cats do not make a crazy cat lady,” he said calmly. In point of fact, Meredith Billings was the furthest thing from a crazy cat lady he’d ever seen. And there was that smile at last.

      He almost wished he hadn’t seen it. She was really quite amazingly lovely without it. With it, she took away his breath. Her teeth blazed white in her oval face, her plump pink lips forming a perfect bow, while her cheeks plumped into creamy apples and her blue eyes sparkled.

      Which was more than enough reason to keep his distance.

      The timer on his phone tootled, as if reinforcing that fact. Putting his feet on the floor, he rose in one smooth movement, thrust the cat into its owner’s arms and shouldered past the two sisters to the horse.

      “I’ll just remove the IV bag before I go,” he said, “and be back as soon as I can.”

      “I’ll be glad to help,” Meredith began.

      He gave her instructions as he worked. Nothing much could be done, but someone needed to keep an eye on the animal to make sure it didn’t take a turn for the worse before Stark could get back to set up another IV bag and administer more medication. Meredith watched as he removed the connections, leaving the catheter in the jugular.

      “I’ll make sure Rex knows, and I’ll be out here every moment that Dad doesn’t need me.”

      “Dean and I will be here as much as possible, too,” Ann promised.

      Stark wrapped a bandage loosely around the catheter. “If his breathing seems labored, call me. I’ll drop what I’m doing and come.”

      “Thank you,” Meredith whispered, looking worried.

      Stark squeezed past her and picked up his kit, intending to walk out, but for some reason he couldn’t. He turned to face them, searching for some comfort to offer.

      “Seems to be a law of nature,” he finally said, “that the crisis comes in the wee hours. I’ll be on hand.”

      “We’ll СКАЧАТЬ