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His curious gaze flicked between them and hardened. “I see you’re not alone.”
“I’m Deputy Whitaker.” Shep thrust out a hand, not bothering to give his first name. They weren’t going to be pals. “Her boyfriend,” he added, giving Ashton’s well-manicured fingers a full cowboy squeeze.
He paled a little, making his tan look all the more orange. “Ashton English,” he wheezed, “reporter from New York. I spend most of my time in the field, though.”
In the field?Shep suppressed a snort. The guy looked like he’d run sniveling to his mama if he got so much as a ketchup stain on his fancy dress shirt. It boasted a ridiculous paisley print that made his eyeballs ache.
Normally Shep wasn’t a handsy guy. However, he made a point of keeping his hands on Prim the entire time they were getting settled, just to annoy the guy sitting across from them. “You smell good.” He nuzzled her temple.
“You think?” She snickered, making him wonder if he’d gone a little overboard. “It’s my new barnyard scent.”
At his upraised eyebrows, she explained, still snickering. “I had to wrestle a goat away from my last patient so I could check on his gout.”
He playfully swooped in for another sniff. “Nah, you still smell alright.” Her tales about the clinic never failed to entertain him. Each one was more outrageous than the last.
She rolled her eyes as she continued her story. “His wife kept insisting it was an emotional support pet.”
Ashton cleared his throat loudly.
Shep glanced up to find Tiva smirking beside their table with her order pad in hand. She looked as unimpressed by Pretty Boy as he was.
Instead of allowing Prim to order first, he droned in a bored voice, “I’ll take mineral water.” He looked down his nose at Tiva. “Assuming you have it on tap?”
She didn’t miss a beat. “Coming right up, sir. It’s fresh from our mountain springs and chock full of minerals.”
Shep’s upper lip curled at the realization she was probably going to serve the pompous idiot actual tap water. “Two peach teas for us.” He took great delight in ordering for Prim in an offhand voice that suggested he did it all the time.
Prim reached for his hand beneath the table.
He laced his fingers through hers and rested their joined hands on his knee.
“Well, it sounds like your job at the clinic is keeping you busy.” Ashton slung an arm over the back of his seat, making no effort to include Shep in the conversation.
“And then some.” Prim fell silent. Shep would’ve preferred her to continue her cheerful retelling of the goat story.
“So, how’s small town life?” His mouth twisted as he glanced around them, like he was weighing their surroundings and finding them wanting.
“It’s challenging, but rewarding.”
“Definitely sounds challenging. I’ve never seen a goat in a medical establishment.” The way his gaze was lazily roving over Prim made Shep want to slug him.
Get your eyes back in their sockets, joker.
“You’ve lost weight.” He nodded in approval. “Looking good, Prim.”
Shep couldn’t believe his arrogance in assuming Prim cared two spits about his opinion these days.
She paled and changed the subject. “You mentioned you had some questions about the feud.”
“I do.” He rested his elbows on the table, steepling his hands. “What do you think happened to the Hildebrand fortune?”
She gaped at him. “No idea.”
It was an interesting angle to start an interview from. Shep was curious about where he was going with it.
“I take it Bliss Hawling found nothing of value in the caskets?”
“Again, I have no idea. I haven’t seen inside the caskets, nor do I want to.” She gave a shiver of revulsion. “I did hear that they found a locket outside the casket.”
