“Shepard, please. Your lawyer called and chewed me out.”
I wince. “Sorry. She was pissed on my behalf, but I didn’t know she was going to do that.”
He waves me off. “So what seems to be the issue?”
I motion him in, wondering if the house will take issue with him stepping inside. But much like with Jen last night, it seems to welcome his presence.
“I woke to find a bunch of ranch hands out back when there shouldn’t be any.” He frowns but waits for me to finish. “I called the station. A lovely woman answered, and when I told her my name, she basically told me nobody would be coming.”
“You get a name?”
“Officer Hollis,” I reply, not even feeling a little bit guilty.
“I’ll take care of it. But first, let’s see what you’re dealing with. May I?” He indicates that he wants to head out back. I nod and watch him walk down the hallway, admiring the way his ass looks in those Wranglers.
“Miss—”
My eyes shoot up, hoping he didn’t notice, but his amused grin tells me I’m not so lucky. I pretend innocence and cross my arms over my chest, remembering belatedly that I’m not wearing a padded bra, and I don’t want the girls to give me away.
His eyes drift to my chest. I swallow as he licks his lips before they return to my face. Unlike me, he has no shame or embarrassment at getting caught, and I have to wonder if this guy is slightly insane. I mean, he’s a cop for goodness sake.
“You said they’re out back. You have a list of names of the people that should be here?”
“Nobody should be here but me, Sheriff.”
“Shepard.”
“Right, Shepard.”
“You fired everyone?” he asks, sounding surprised.
“I don’t want anyone working for me who’s loyal to Dale or Porter. They all know this. They signed the required forms and accepted the severance package Jen offered them.”
“While I understand all of that, I’ve gotta ask, how are you going to keep this place running without staff?”
“As I’m not sure I’m keeping Corvis Wing as a cattle ranch or not yet, it’s a moot point.”
His eyebrows disappear into his hairline as he whistles. “You sure like to do things the hard way, don’t you?”
I snort out a laugh. “You have no idea.”
“I don’t know, I think I’m beginning to,” he says softly with zero judgment in his voice. He clears his throat before turning and heading outside to the deck. I move to stand beside him as he puts his fingers in his mouth and whistles loud enough to make my ears ring. Everyone turns to look over. Most of them tense when they see the sheriff.
He beckons them over and waits until most of them crowd nearer. “Why are you all here?”
“We work here,” someone calls out.
“No. You worked here. You were given notice, had your termination forms, plus a severance package, I believe. So, I ask again, why are you here? Because as far as I’m concerned, I should be taking you all in for trespassing.”
“We don’t work for her. We work for Porter,” some cocky asshole in the front states as he crosses his arms.
“Well, as he was fired too, I don’t see that being an issue,” I say sweetly.
“Doesn’t matter. I’ve?—”
“Actually, it does. And I’d think long and hard before you go down this route because you were fine with me being the boss when you were accepting the severance package. As all of you are here, you are technically violating the terms and conditions set for you to receive the payout. Now all of you owe me money, and if you don’t get off my land in the next five minutes, I’ll get my lawyer to draw up the papers so I can sue each and every one of you.”
“You’re just making friends all over the place, huh?” Shepard drawls from beside me.
