away, she looked uncomfortable as hell, although her breathing remained ragged.
“I think you owe me an apology,” I stated in a dominating tone.
Her eyes flared once again, especially when I slid my hand to my belt buckle, sliding a finger back and forth across the brass.
“Hell, no. I don’t owe you anything,” she insisted.
“Oh, really?” I inched closer, keeping my eyes locked on hers. “Your choice. We know how that works out. If you don’t want to give me the respect of an apology, then I’ll handle this with additional corporal punishment.”
A line was drawn in the sand.
She shook her head, huffing under her breath before spitting out several words. “This is crazy. I am sorry, Mustang, for upsetting your sensitive nature. However, it’s been a long few weeks. Okay? Are you happy now? I’ve been working sixteen-hour days since I arrived a month ago in an attempt to find new clients, which isn’t working very well I might add. I sold pretty much everything I owned in order to be able to afford this place. While I’m grateful the previous owner was kind enough to leave me some of his equipment and the majority of the furnishings in this house, I don’t feel like it’s my place. And I have no idea why I’m telling you all this.” Her laugh was nervous.
I glanced around the small clinic, the building seeing some age. While I wasn’t good at making small talk, I knew that’s what she needed. “You can do a lot with both the clinic and the house.”
“Yeah? Do you know any good carpenters?”
“Maybe.” I couldn’t help but grin.
An awkward silence settled between us.
“We need to talk, Danni.”
She seemed even more uncomfortable than before. “What do you want to know?”
“What I want to know is why in the hell were you doing attacking the ranchers the other day? If you’re attempting to gain new clients, that ain’t the way to do it. People around here have long memories. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I wouldn’t have gotten involved if I hadn’t received a damn phone call in the freaking middle of the night much like yours. Only the request was about an injured cow. Steer. Whatever.”
“Are you certified as a large breed veterinarian?”
Nodding, she stole a glance at the sleeping dog. “I am, but very few people know that or in truth, that I even exist at this point, which is one reason the call shocked the hell out of me. I don’t know. Maybe the caller was looking for Doctor Forester. He didn’t say.”
“Okay. I don’t get it.”
She issued a growl of her own. “No, you don’t and it’s a long story.”
“Well, I got the time.”
“And I don’t trust you, Mustang. How could I? I don’t know you.”
“Funny how your body betrays you, enjoying what we’ve shared,” I snarked, regretting it the instant that I did. “Fuck.”
Danni sucked in her breath, fire in her eyes.
Tick. Tock.
“Okay,” she said quietly, a slight gleam in her eyes. “You don’t deserve the brunt of my anger, even if you can be a prick.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, you’re right about that. Understood.”
While the tension remained between us, there was a difference from before. Maybe the sassy girl was going to actually stop accusing me of atrocious crimes.
“No, you shouldn’t have to try and understand. It just doesn’t make any sense why someone would track me down out of the blue. I’ve only done a limited amount of advertising, mostly because I can’t afford it.”
“Was the previous vet was also certified to work on large animals?”
Danni thought about my question. “I think so.”
“That might be your answer.”
“No. I’m positive that’s not it.”
What the hell was the girl hiding?
“So, are you ready to tell me what’s really going on?”
She emitted a deep sigh and walked back toward the cage, hesitating before answering. “All I know is that there have been reports of a group of individuals who are attempting to defraud dozens of ranchers, including those who’ve fallen on hard times. From what I’d heard and read, this has been going on for some time.”
“Who told you that load of crap?”
“A friend of mine and is it really crap? She’s lived here her entire life. She has a pulse when it comes to Missoula, her entire family living here going back generations.”
“Uh-huh. Go on.” My tone was demanding, but I already had a bad feeling about what she was about to tell me. The last thing she needed to do was continue