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Parker skimmed her gaze down the long expanse of the man’s T-shirt that stretched across broad shoulders and wide chest, flat stomach, to the glistening silver buckle at his waist. Flicking her attention back to his face, she took a guess that he was in his mid-thirties, so he knew better than to not control his pet.
Standing there in a sticky mess with coffee dripping onto her favorite pumps, she couldn’t quite decide if she wanted to unleash on him with bitter words or cry. Just let it all go with crying therapy. She hadn’t had a good sob in…so long.
He stared back at her, and luckily she had her sunglasses firmly back into place because tears filled her eyes. Her raw emotions threatened to release. She didn’t want to be there. She was forced to come and in less than five minutes she’d been attacked and humiliated by a wolf and a cowboy. The teasing quality of his grin made her skin burn.
“I’m sorry. I just rescued—”
“Isn’t it illegal to have a wolf in public?” She cut him off.
He scraped his nails over his silver-streaked whiskers. Maybe he was older than she first thought. “Wolf? He’s not—”
“You obviously can’t control the beast,” she sputtered.
The beast, as she called him, whimpered and laid down on his back as if requesting a tummy rub.
“He’s a dog, ma’am.”
She snorted. “That isnota dog! And you’re not a gentleman. There are laws against allowing pets to run free without a leash.” She didn’t know if there were such laws but there should be. “He ruined my shirt and heels.”
“Throw them in the wash,” he growled.
“The wash?” She stared up at him incredulously. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Lady, I barely know you so why would I even begin to joke with you.” He laid his palms on his hips. “Haven’t you ever heard of the saying,Don’t cry over spilled milk…or coffee?”
Obviously, screaming wouldn’t do any good but she was willing to give it a try and see where it got her.
The stress had finally broken her.
Like a tightly wound ball of yarn, she came unraveling. In a strange town, faced with an endeavor that would take a miracle to fix, and a mile long black cloud looming over her after her ex-husband informed her that he and his mistress were expecting a baby, the weight became too much. Hurt and bitter didn’t begin to describe where her emotions were at. Her ex could marry and have a baby with the Pope for all Parker cared, but why did he feel the need to tell her?
“I’m sure if Chow could apologize he would,” the cowboy said in a cool tone.
“Save it for someone who cares.” The dog continued to stare up at her with unwavering soft brown eyes that lessened the blow of what happened—a little at least. He was awfully cute, but his owner was not.
And yet, he was…
A giant of a man with toned body, piercing blue eyes, and Viking-like features. And a scar on his face, down his neck, disappearing into the neckline of his T-shirt that didn’t distract from his good looks in the slightest.
He made a deep snarl and turned slightly so she couldn’t see the scarring. She hadn’t meant to stare.
Yes, she had.
“It’s not too late to call a car,” he said. “Or walk, but you wouldn’t want to damage those things you call shoes.”
Then tears came, rolling down her cheeks and she couldn’t swipe then away fast enough. Her humiliation tripled, which only added to her tumultuous emotions.
~~~~~
Raven was infuriated. Not only had he been busting his ass helping at Bonner’s Farm, but he also had his chores, and Dean’s chores, at Ryde Hard Ranch. To top off a bad week, he’d agreed to pick up Edgar and instead ended up with a woman who had an attitude that made Bonnie’s relative probably look like an angel.
Sure, he understood some people didn’t like dogs—especially dogs that liked to cuddle when a person least expected it. He didn’t expect the lady to be happy that her shirt and shoes were ruined, but she could be a bit more grateful that Raven took a few hours out of his busy day to give her a ride to Second Chance.
Then she started crying.
What the hell?
He didn’t sign up to be anyone’s therapist, and yet, he never could bear seeing a woman cry. “What’s wrong?” he asked her.
