Page 21 of The One Who Never Left: Colter

“Then there isn’t anything there?” Eli asked.

“Nope.”

“Good. Because a woman fitting her description just walked in and is headed straight for Jo and Vivi.”

Colter froze mid-breath, a jolt running through him before his gaze even found her. That familiar pull—the one that had hit him like a punch the other day at the market settled low, making him aware of every nerve ending—including everything below the belt buckle. Which bucked and twitched on its own accord.

Game face firmly intact, he turned in his chair and—Sweet mother of god.

In a simple sundress and flats, hair casually pulled back, Sutton radiated a kind of approachable grace that somehow made her impossible to forget. Then there was the way her sundress hugged her curves, especially her hips which swayed in a feminine rhythm that had half the bar hypnotized. Not that Colter could blame them. Sutton wasn’t just beautiful, there was this quiet magnetism about her inspiring a pull that made it impossible not to look.

“You’ve been holding out on us,” said Eli, sipping his 007 martini while ogling every delectable inch of Sutton.

“Holding out?” Colter set his glass down so hard his drink spilled over the rim. “She’s a single mom, way too young, not to mention too sweet. And that goes for every man in this bar.”

“You forgot hot as hell.” Eli tilted his head. "So it's the kid that's the problem."

"It's not a problem," Colter said. "It's a fact. Single moms come with history and complications and a whole other person whose needs come first. That's not a life I know how to fit into."

"Sounds like you've thought about it," Boone said.

"I haven't," Colter replied. "Which is the point."

Eli leaned back, rocking his stool against the wall, a smug grin on his face. “And here I felt bad for you, spending your days acting as a mentor to some fumbling intern when you are already stretched thin.”

“I’ve been looking for a new vet tech for months,” Colter defended, and while it was the truth, he had to admit, even though he was stretched thin, he looked forward to spending his days with Sutton. Which broke every restriction of his new diet.

Ever since he’d taken over the practice from Dr. Porter, finding someone to assist with the endless parade of animals had been a nightmare. Most young interns didn’t want to give up city life to move to a small tumbleweed-of-a-town. Also, he was the only small and large animal vet in the county, so the patient flow scared most of his past vet techs off. Not Sutton, she’d dove in.

He was coming to learn that running a clinic was one thing. Owning it was another entirely.

“You’re deployed eleven months out of the year, and she doesn’t strike me as a military wife,” Colter said.

“Who said anything about wife?”

“Leave it,” Boone said. “From what Vivi told me she’s in a vulnerable position. So she’s off limits. To both of you.”

Colter blinked. “Like I said, she’s my employee, end of story.”

Eli chuckled. “Really? Then why are you straddling the line between eye-fucking her and ignoring her?”

Colter turned his head again and, as if sensing his eyes on her. Sutton’s head slowly lifted, and their eyes locked. There was a look of surprise and then a charged pause where neither looked away. The longer they stared at each other the harder it became to remember why he’d agreed to the damn diet in the first place.

CHAPTER 9

Apparently, Girls’ Night Out in Bridlewood came with pink bikini martinis, unsolicited life advice, and Colter Callahan leaning against the bar in a black cowboy hat looking so unfairly good Sutton nearly forgot to breathe. Which was unfortunate, really, because she’d been in town less than two weeks and already the man had developed a habit of showing up everywhere she went.

Grocery store.

Clinic.

Café.

Now the bar.

At this rate he was either stalking her or the universe had a very specific sense of humor.

It took two days to convince herself to come tonight because leaving Lynlee with a sitter was both foreign and terrifying. But her neighbor, Ms. Tutty—grandmother to seven and veteran of approximately four hundred bedtime negotiations—had offered to take Lynlee for the evening, and Sutton had accepted with slight hesitation.