didn’t know how much time passed before Stevie reappeared, but she was stunning in a light blue dress patterned with dark blue flowers. Her feet were bare and she’d plucked one of the violets from the vase into the side of her hair.
“You’re gorgeous, Stevie.”
Her lips pulled into a pleased smile even as she rolled her eyes, because my woman was terrible at taking a compliment. “Thank you, Scott.”
“My pleasure.” I handed her a champagne glass and watched as she tried not to frown at the sight of it. “Want to sit?”
She nodded and took a surreptitious sip, sighing in relief when she realized it wasn’t champagne. “Brat. You’re lucky that I love you and that you clearly have seduction planned tonight.”
“Seduction? Is that what you think this is?” She nodded, and I realized tonight might be an even bigger shock for her.
“Isn’t it?”
“I’ll never pass up a chance to get you alone and naked, but that’s not my goal tonight.” Though, hopefully it would end with Stevie wearing nothing but my ring.
“You say the sweetest things to me, Scotty Boy.” She laughed at my scowl. “It never gets old. You’re so adorable and sexy when you get mad about it.”
And that was another reason I loved this woman. “I wanted to talk to you tonight, Stevie.” She froze at my tone and leaned in at the same time my pager sounded. The damn thing had the worst timing, but I was the big animal vet on call this week which meant I had to answer. I looked up at Stevie, who knew first-hand what it meant.
“Go find out what it is. I’ll enjoy my beer—which I love, by the way.”
I smiled. “I was hoping you would,” I told her and pressed a brief kiss to her lips before going inside to find out what the call was about. Five minutes later, I had my answer.
“What’s the problem?”
I turned, ready to see a pissed-off woman, but it was just Stevie with jeans on under her dress and a hoodie wrapped around her, sneakers on her feet.
“Pregnant cow hit by a car. Badgley farm, it’s new.”
She nodded and lifted my bag, as if that was still her job. “Then let’s go save a cow. Just tell me it’s not steak under those silver domes.”
I sent a silent thanks up to Max for warning me away from steak, my preferred meat. “We should be good. Sorry about the interruption.”
“I know the deal, Scott. Besides, it was nice to see you dressed up. I forget how hot you look when you get all pretty GQ man.”
“Pretty?” I practically choked on the word. “Did you just call me pretty?”
She snorted a laugh. “Have you seen yourself tonight? Clean shaven, with your thick hair slicked back? You could be a cover model for a romance novel.” She laughed again at the clear look of outrage on my face. “That’s not to say you don’t have your rugged masculine charms, you just also have a bit of a pretty boy thing going on. Accept it. Rock it. Move on.”
“I miss working with you.” It was probably best for our relationship that we didn’t spent quite that much time together, but I still missed her and her crazy stream-of-consciousness thoughts, weird stories, and even weirder questions.
She smiled on a sigh and flashed a loving look at me. “I miss working with you, too. Especially this part.”
“But not the next part, right?”
She rolled her eyes and jumped from the car with me, biting back her obvious retort that she’d grown up on a farm in Indiana.
“I like watching you treat and save animals, but I don’t miss the smell,” she said, yet she stayed by my side for more than three hours, nursing the mom back to health so that the calf could be born healthy, if a little bit early. “See, and that’s why it’s always worth it. Always.”
I smiled up at her, happy we still had the rest of the night together even if our plans had taken a slight detour. The ranch hand and owner thanked us profusely and sent us home with a big dish of blueberry cobbler.
“You stink,” Stevie said, breaking ten minutes of easy silence.
“Yeah, well, you don’t smell like a bed of roses, either.” Her eyes flashed surprise and then lit with the laughter that shook her whole body.
“I don’t?” I shook my head. “Then I suppose we’re both in need of a shower.”