Sedona Surrender (Sedona Pack #4) - Lisa Kessler Page 0,8

with instructions to continue watching her and my cell number in case the situation didn’t resolve.

I parked my truck at the vet hospital, quickly sterilized all my equipment, and headed home for a shower and change of clothes. It didn’t seem to matter how many times I reminded myself that this wasn’t a date. I couldn’t stamp out my eagerness to see her.

I was probably just lonely. I should’ve been visiting a bar for companionship. Someone who was not my packmate’s baby sister.

I hopped in the shower and caught myself singing under the spray. It took me until I hit the chorus to remember the name of the song: “Bad Things.” I smirked as I rinsed my hair. The theme song from the True Blood TV series. Chase and I used to watch the show every week, laughing about the way the shifters were portrayed. We’d had many discussions about the ramifications of the paranormals being “out” in the world, and he used to love postulating about whether or not vampires really existed.

Fuck. I missed him. The night he’d been shot still haunted me.

I got out of the shower, toweling off as I shoved the painful memories aside. No time for that right now. I’d have plenty of opportunities to relive the nightmare of holding him in my arms while he bled out later. Dammit. I pinched the bridge of my nose, forcing the emotions into a box.

Tonight would be a nice escape. Nothing more. I went to the closet and decided on a pair of jeans and a black button-down shirt. I left it untucked and rolled up the cuffs, hoping I looked like I was meeting someone for a casual business meetup instead of a date. In front of the mirror, I ran my fingers through my wet hair, inspecting myself to see if I looked like a vet having a beer with a client.

Hell, if I knew.

I inspected my face more closely. Should I shave? Nah. The five-o’clock shadow played right along with my casual meeting. If this were a date, I’d be freshly shaved and my shirt would be tucked in. I’d have a belt on and maybe black jeans.

This was definitely not a date. Who was I trying to convince?

I put my wallet in my pocket and grabbed my phone. Time to rock and roll.

CHAPTER 4

Madison

I was counting down the seconds before I could leave the ranch. At ten minutes to five, a knock came on the doorframe to my office. I turned around to find a slender woman with silver streaks lining her dark hair at her temples. She wore black slacks and a black knit top with simple pearl earrings that matched her necklace.

The most unlikely cattle ranch owner ever.

“I’m not interrupting, am I?” Deidra Harlow toyed with the pearl pendant around her neck.

“No.” I quickly scooped up the ranch receipts I’d been entering into the spreadsheet and set them on the stacking file. “I was just wrapping up for the day.”

“Oh good.” She entered the office and took a seat in a chair across from me.

My heart sank. So much for leaving on time.

“I got away from the lab a little early, and I wanted to see how you were settling in,” Deidra said.

I perched on the edge of my executive chair with an all-business smile in place. “It’s going well. I’m learning about vet bills and feed bills—it’s all pretty interesting—and I’ve been researching the industry associations to see how we can get Serenity Farms more involved. It’s all about networking, and the visibility might help us expand to new distributors. People can’t do business with us if they don’t know we exist.”

Deidra smiled. “You have big plans already.”

“I do. Finding new ways to expand businesses and develop new connections is one of my favorite parts of marketing.” It wasn’t a lie or some kind of please-the-new-boss bullshit. I hoped Deidra recognized the difference. The truth was, I wasn’t super excited to work on a cattle ranch, but now that I’d been here for a couple of weeks, my usual hunger for solutions had grown. And now the ideas were flowing.

I felt like me again instead of new girl, new town, new job. Plus I was going to be an auntie soon. Life was changing fast, but I was still standing.

Deidra asked a few questions about budgets and projections and finally stood up. “I don’t want to keep you after hours, but I made it home early and thought you might