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She was asha he would consider this an excuse not to make a second date with her

That she had taken a phone call in the middle of dinner, and then had run off

A lot of people had trouble dating But often it was for deep reasons they had trouble identifying

Kaylee knew exactly why she had trouble dating

It was because she was in love with her best friend Bennett Dodge And he was not in love with her

She gritted her teeth

She wasn’t in love with Bennett No She wouldn’t allow that She had lustful feelings for Bennett, and she cared deeply about him But she wasn’t in love with him She refused to let it be that Not anymore

That thought carried her over the gravel drive that led to the ranch, back behind the house, just as Bennett had instructed The doors to the barn were flung open, the lights on inside, and she recognized Bennett’s truck parked right outside

She killed the engine and got out,into the barn as quickly as possible

“What’s going on?” she asked

Dave Miller was standing there, his arainst the wall Bennett had his hand on the cow’s back He turned to look at her, the overhead light in the barn see to shine a halo around his cowboy hat That chiseled face that she kneell but never failed to e capable hands drawing her attention, as well as the ht T-shirt that showed off the play of those e biceps, and the scars on his skin from various on-the-job injuries, and he had a stethoscope draped over his shoulders Soh-and-ready cowboy meshed with concerned veterinarian—was her very particular catnip

“I need to get the calf out as quickly as possible, and I need to do it at the right moment Too quickly and we’re likely to crush baby’s ribs” She had a feeling he said that part for the benefit of the nervous-looking rancher standing off to the side

Dave Miller was relatively new to town, o with fantasies of rural living A srown to a medium-sized one over the past year or so And while the older reat care of his animals, he wasn’t experienced at this