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Beth sighed. Whoever this guy was, Delaney definitely sent him.
“Sorry,” she told him. “I didn’t mean to bite your head off. It’s just been a day.” Or a week…or month.
He crumpled the sign and tossed it into a nearby trash can, slid the phone back in his pocket, and held out his hand.
“Eli Murphy, your ride back to Meadow Valley…in a truck with wheels. No legs or hooves.”
Beth grabbed his hand, his rough palm warm against hers.
A muscle pulsed along the line of his jaw. A half smile played on his lips. Was she a hypocrite for thinking the guy would be really good-looking if he smiled?
Not if she didn’t say it out loud.
“Wait, you’re the veterinarian who helps Delaney with her rescue shelter?”
Eli nodded.
“So…not a rancher, then?” She nodded up at his hat. Then, because she couldn’t help herself, she let her eyes roam down the length of his long, lean, yet decidedly firm build to where a pair of dusty, square-toed cowboy boots poked out from the worn hem of his jeans.
He gave her a single shake of his head. “Not anymore,” he replied coolly.
Also not much of a talker, she guessed. What would help make this whole situation less excruciating would be if he wasn’t much to look at either. But regardless of the pain she felt with every step and the foul mood that set in every time she realized she was on her way to Meadow Valley instead of Manhattan, Beth’s vision was still intact.
She was going to give her sister hell for not only forcing this trip on her and then not being the one to pick her up but also for giving her zero warning about the tall, dark, and brooding not-a-rancher-anymore vet she sent in her place.
“Beth Spence,” she finally added, not able to take another second of silence. “Congratulations on being the second person my sister threatened on my behalf today and on escaping the consequences. I don’t know if I can say the same for the guy with the wheelchair at the gate.”
Eli winced. “Turned him down, did you?”
“Cold.” She dipped her gaze to their still clasped hands and cleared her throat.
Eli loosened his grip.
“If you’ve got something to prove to yourself or your sister, I’m happy to let you hoof it back to Meadow Valley. You’ll probably make it in a day or two, pending traffic and wildlife.”
Beth stifled a grin. Brooding with a side of biting wit, huh? “Thanks. I’ll take the ride if you promise that’s the end of your comedy show.”
Eli barked out a laugh, and dammit if she wasn’t right about what he looked like when he smiled.
He grabbed the handle of her suitcase and tugged it toward the door.
“Well then, Ms. Spence, your double-parked chariot without hooves awaits.”
Beth pulled her phone from her tote and found a message she hadn’t seen before she’d disembarked from the plane.
Delaney: Nolan spiked a fever. It’s nothing. Just an ear infection, but had to run her to the pediatrician and then pick up antibiotics. Sending my friend Eli to grab you. Warning, he’s painfully good-looking and easily spooked, so be nice.
Beth groaned.
“Touché, big sis,” she mumbled, then followed Eli through the automatic doors.
“Sorry in advance if Bethy talks your ear off,” Delaney had said when she’d called him that morning. So color Eli Murphy relieved when the woman conked out for the entire ninety-minute ride.
“I’m not good at small talk,” he’d told Delaney.
“It doesn’t have to be small talk. Just steer the conversation toward something you know, something that makes you feel more comfortable. Beth can talk about anything.”
His comfort zone was animals, so if the small talk had veered into personal territory, he’d decided to grab whatever fun animal fact popped into his brain first. Thankfully, he’d had no need to worry because by the time he pulled onto the Murphy property, his passenger was still snoring away.
