Bossing the Cowboy (Circle B Ranch #4) - Kennedy Fox Page 0,3

my equipment, then double-check I have everything I need.

Elizabeth: OMG you guys suck! I just need some extra hands.

Maize: Take Ethan.

Rowan: Or Kenzie.

Elizabeth: Meet me at the B&B in 10 minutes. Both of you!

The Circle B Bed and Breakfast is on the way to the Bruces’. I have no idea what I’ll be walking into and will probably need some help. I don’t give them a choice and hop in my truck and head that way. Most of the Bishops live somewhere on the ranch. It’s common to get married and build a house on the property since we end up working on the ranch one way or another. Though I haven’t been able to help out much in the past couple of years, that’ll eventually change. That’s always been the plan anyway.

I’m surprised Connor trusts me to help his close friends, considering I often feel like he tests me. It’s as if he’s waiting for me to fuck something up so he has a reason to get rid of me. His compliments are few and far between, and if I could learn under another vet in Eldorado, I would. However, Dr. Wallen is the only one in a fifty-mile radius, and his clients know it. That’s why he stays so busy.

I turn into the B&B and park. As soon as Rowan hops in the passenger seat, she speaks up. “You nervous or something? You’re sweating.”

“It’s hot,” I reply. It’s August and doesn’t start cooling down until early October.

“Mm-hmm.” She chuckles. “Maize coming?”

Before I can say a word, Maize walks out of the B&B, slowly taking the steps one at a time. She looks like she made a visit to hell and back as she climbs in the back seat of my truck.

“Oh my God.” Rowan laughs and turns to get a good look at her. “What the hell happened to you?”

I back out of the driveway and head to the Bruces’ ranch. Maize groans at every bump I hit, and I smirk when I look at her in my rearview mirror. She looks hungover and miserable.

“I went to the bar last night to keep Kenzie company, and well…” She sighs. “Do either of you know a Gavin?”

“No, doesn’t ring a bell,” Rowan replies. She works at the bar too and knows all the regulars.

“Thank God. I hope he was just passing through.”

“Maize…” The corner of Rowan’s lips tilts up. “What’d you do?”

“I think the question is who did you do?” I mock, making a turn onto an old country road.

We continue to pick on Maize about her sexcapades and chat the whole way to the Bruces’. She’s obviously embarrassed, but it’s okay to have a little fun every once in a while, especially when you’re young and single. In fact, I envy her. I’m far too busy and committed to school to even have a one-night stand.

Once the barn comes into view, I roll to a stop and put my truck in park. “Alright, we’re here. Think you two can manage to help me so I don’t fuck this up?”

We’ve all grown up on the ranch riding horses and raising cattle, so this comes as second nature to us. Though it’s different when I’m representing Dr. Wallen. If I hurt this calf or the heifer, or don’t do a satisfactory job, my ass and my future will be on the line. No one wants a vet who can’t do basic tasks like a complicated delivery.

“You’ve done this dozens of times. Why are you so nervous now?” Rowan asks.

“Connor made it very clear these were very close friends of his and to treat them well.”

I shrug when she pops a brow at me.

“I don’t want to disappoint him, okay?” I finally say.

“Because you love him,” Maize teases. “I wouldn’t mind having one night with him.”

“Alright, drunky, you stay in the truck,” I say.

“Oh c’mon, I’m fine! I just know you have a thing for your boss, and you’re too chicken to tell him,” she continues.

“How could you not, though? He’s ridiculously sexy!” Rowan fans her face, and I shoot her a death glare. Just because he’s good-looking doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about shoving my size eight shoe up his ass a few times.

Truthfully, good-looking is an understatement. He’s pure sex on legs with dark hair I’d like to thread my fingers through and deep blue eyes I love gazing into. When we first met, I was fourteen, and he had just graduated college, though I’m not sure he even