Rough (Wolf Ranch 1)

She smiled and waggled her eyebrows. “I forgot to tell you there’s a giant bouquet of flowers at the nurses’ station with your name on the card. From Jett Markle. Guess he’s really smitten with you.”

“Ugh.” Why wouldn’t he stop?

She snorted out a laugh. “Did you just say ugh?”

“Yes,” I moaned, then remembered to keep my voice down. I moved to the doorway, and she followed. We didn’t need to ruin a new family bonding moment detailing my unexciting dating life. “We had one date, and it wasn’t great. I don’t know why he won’t get the hint.”

“Not interested in the big shot rancher, huh? I thought you’d make a great couple.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Why?”

She laughed and shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re the cute new doctor.”

My scoff cut her off. As if. Doctor, yes. Cute, no.

“You heard me, the cute new single doctor in town, and he’s the rich new rancher. I guess that’s stupid.” She gave me a thoughtful look. “If not him, then what’s your type?”

The image of Boyd Wolf rose up in my mind, unbidden. Tousled sandy hair, sly smile, pale eyes, shoulders as wide as a doorway and abs ridged enough to climb. I couldn’t forget those clever lips of his or that tongue…

Oh gawd. My nipples got hard beneath my scrubs just remembering all the things he’d done to me yesterday, and I crossed my arms over my chest. It was crazy. No, I was crazy. I had been then, letting him open my jeans, tug them down and get me off with a speed that had to be a record. In a barn. While there was lots of space on the property, I hadn’t been all that quiet. I blushed, even now, with the possibility someone had overheard. I’d barely slept the night before thinking about it all. Reliving it. I’d even pulled out my vibrator to ease the ache, but the orgasm had been weak in comparison to what Boyd had wrung from me.

I was ruined for all other orgasms, that was for sure.

As for Boyd himself, he’d been into me. I remembered the way he touched me, kissed me, licked me. He’d been practically ravenous. For me. I doubted he was hard up for female companionship, and there were much more appealing women out there than me. I wasn’t ever going to grow the extra seven or eight inches to be a supermodel. I could train for a marathon and still have a big butt. And unless I stopped down at the plastic surgeon’s office, I wasn’t ever going to offer more than small B boobs. But I’d seen how hard he’d been through his jeans. How pleased he’d been when I’d come. How he’d licked his fingers. Licked his fingers!

“Um, I like a cowboy, in theory, just not Jett. He was overbearing, condescending and a bore.”

Becky huffed out a laugh. “Well, don’t put too fine a point on it!”

“No kidding, right? You can have a volunteer take the flowers to one of the floors and give them to a patient without any visitors or family.”

“You should come to Cody’s tonight. You work way too many hours and haven’t once joined us out for fun. How will you ever meet anyone if you only stay within these four walls? Wait, how did you meet Jett Markle, anyway?”

I rolled my eyes, gave Alana and family a glance, then looked to Becky. “Produce section at the grocery store. What’s Cody’s?” I asked.

She gave a light scoff. “See? The fact that you don’t know the best—and only—local haunt for nightlife tells me you’ve been living like a hermit. Come out with me tonight. I’ll introduce you to the nice cowboys. It’ll be fun.”

Once more, I tried to push the image of Boyd out of my mind. He wouldn’t be one of the nice cowboys she wanted to introduce me to. Maybe someone like Abe. He was handsome and nice. And that was a good thing. Why then, was I so unexcited about the prospect of meeting anyone else? Why was I no longer interested in nice? That was so stupid. I definitely had to get out, get my mind off the sexy rodeo champ and meet the man of my dreams.

I glanced at the new family again. That was what I wanted. A doting husband, a new baby, the promise a brand-new family of three had for the future.

“You definitely should go,” Alana said. I looked over in surprise to see her grinning at me. Her hair was slicked back with sweat, her cheeks flushed.

Her husband, who had his arm draped gently around his wife’s shoulders, gave her a squeeze. “That’s where we first hooked up.”

I frowned in confusion.

“Yep. At Cody’s. After my sister puked all over the dance floor.” She laughed.

I went to grab a tiny knitted hat from a drawer. “All right,” I said to Becky, surprising myself. “Let’s do it, minus the throw up. What time?”