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He shook his head. “My dad has a small farm. He grows food, mostly. I took over the veterinary clinic from the guy who used to run it for as long as I could remember. What about you?”
She fidgeted, picking at her cuticles. “Right now, I’m helping out at Slate Rock Ranch for the summer. Then I’m heading back home to work for my parents. They run a financial firm.”
His brows lifted. “Wow. That’s pretty fancy.”
Sarah shrugged. “I guess.”
James moved closer, his head ducking as if he would get a better view of her face, but it didn’t work. Instead, he hooked his finger under her chin and lifted it. “Seems to me that you don’t want to do that.”
She huffed. “No, I don’t suppose I do.”
“Then don’t.”
“It’s not that easy. It’s what my parents expect of me.” Not to mention she wouldn’t get any of the money she needed to keep Kenneth off her back.
“My parents wanted me to take over the ranch. But look at where I am now. They’re actually very proud of me after they figured out that I had to do what made me happy.”
Sarah sighed. “Somehow, I think our parents don’t view the world the same way.”
“Get your hands off her.”
She jumped, and James dropped his hand to spin toward their interruption. Her eyes widened, finding Dax and Brielle standing only a few feet away. Brielle looked shocked, and Dax looked like he could erupt into flames at any moment.
“Dax? What are you doing here?”
Dax’s gaze shifted from her to James and back. His cheek twitched and his hands tightened at his sides. He strode toward her—no, toward James, and his chest heaved with angry breaths. “What do you think you’re doing, Pratt?”
James lifted a brow. “You okay, Dax?”
“No. I’m not okay. You’re hitting on my girlfriend.”
“Dax!” Sarah reached for his arm, but he shrugged her off.
He glowered at James. “You should go back inside. There are plenty of other girls you can hit on.”
James chuckled, lifting his hands. “Nothing was going on. We were just talking.” His gaze cut to Sarah. “You going to be okay?”
Heat filled her face and she swallowed. “Yeah. I’ll be fine,” she muttered. But Dax wasn’t going to be. She gave James a short nod before watching him head back inside. Then she whirled on Dax. “What are you doing here?” she demanded again. “We told you that we were going out just the two of us.”
“Sure didn’t look like it was just the two of you,” he bit out.
Fury built within her. “Are you seriously admitting that you came here to check on me? We’renotthat serious.”
The shock on his face was similar to what she thought it might look like if she were to slap him. His face drained of color and his eyes widened.
“He said that the sheriff sent him,” Brielle murmured beside Dax, causing Sarah to break the stare she shared with Dax. “I guess he’s worried about something?”
“Brielle, you should probably go back inside, too,” Dax muttered.
Sarah stiffened. Right now she most definitely didn’t want to spend any alone time with Dax. He was upset and reasonably so. She wasn’t thrilled, and now she had a feeling he was going to make her talk about what she’d just said. She cleared her throat. “No, you can stay.”
Brielle hesitated. She glanced from Dax to Sarah.
“Go.”
She shot Sarah an apologetic smile. “I’ll be inside if you want to come find me.”
The second she was gone, Sarah set her dark eyes on Dax. “Was any of that necessary?”
