Alex (Killarny Brothers 2)

I held up my bag and gave him a half shrug.

“You’re the new vet?” He asked, the surprise ringing clear in his voice.

“Yup, that’s me,” I said as I moved past him and into the second stable, going to check the last few mares.

His presence behind me was easy to detect. I turned back around, and he stopped short.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know, our little run-in at the hardware store was kind of brief, and it didn’t occur to me that I should tell you at the time.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You ran away.”

“I did no such thing.”

“You did,” he scoffed.

I narrowed my eyes at him and turned back around, going to locate the next mare on the list.

“When the hell did you decide you were going to be a vet? The last thing I heard from you was that you were going to go get an English degree and be a teacher.”

Something about that statement sent a wave of emotion over me. That had been my plan—ten years ago, when my plan had also been to marry Alex Killarny, live on this ranch, and stay in my hometown. What a detail for him to recall about me though.

“Alex, that was a lifetime ago. I changed my mind, and my circumstances were altered drastically. I needed to have a career that would allow me to help out my dad. I didn’t really want to be a doctor, or a lawyer and funds were a little limited, but I had always enjoyed working with Doc Halloran.”

He had to have remembered that little detail. We had spent more than one afternoon after school making out in the dark supply closet at the back of the office, something I never failed to forget as I walked past the door every day.

“I wanted to help people, and at the time I was much more interested in spending time with animals than humans, so I decided it could be a good career for me.”

I went on about my business, moving on to the next mare and Alex followed, putting whatever task he had been working on aside to help me.

“You don’t need to be doing that on your own,” he said as he reached in to help position one of the mares as I put on the elbow length glove I would use to reach up inside her and check the status of her uterus.

“I’m quite capable,” I snapped back.

“Just because you can do something on your own doesn’t mean you need to. What if you got kicked? Then I’d feel really bad.”

I dropped my hands to the side and looked at him straight on in the face.

“Listen, I’m back, and I’ve taken over the practice. I can deal with having you around and being in the same circles you’re in if you’ll just give me a little space. Just because the last time we were around each other we were in a relationship does not mean that we have to have any kind of involvement now, not even friendly.”

Alex smirked. “Oh, I bet you’d like to be my friend again.”

I could have sworn he was getting ready to throw one of his signature winks my way, but I cast my eyes t

o the side, unwilling to subject myself to his ways. I couldn’t stand that he still had that kind of effect on me. Even all these years later, all it took was one look from this man, and my panties were wet. I wanted him right then—wanted him to pick me up and push me against the wall of the stable, feel how wet my pussy was and push himself inside me. It was almost painful, the wanting, but I cleared my throat and tried to push the thoughts of him and his amazing body out of my mind. Even if I was going to have a fantasy about Alex Killarny, now was definitely not the time to let that happen.

“We have lived ten years apart from each other. Even though I’m back in town that doesn’t change anything. We weren’t speaking all that time, and there’s no reason for us to start doing that now.”

“We weren’t speaking because you wouldn’t answer your phone,” he said in a firm, but quieter tone.

I shot him a glare that could pierce through whatever kind of front he was trying to put up.

“You don’t get to make all of that my fault. You know as well as I do why we weren’t speaking and it sure as hell had nothing to do with anything I did.”

He stood up straighter and moved a step closer to me at that statement.

“And you know damn well that it had nothing to do with me, either. I can’t change a fucking thing my father did, but you chose to hold it all against me. I told you then, and I’ll tell you now—I’m sorry, but it’s not my crime. I wasn’t trying to screw your father over, and I most certainly didn’t want to do anything to harm you or your mother. For fuck’s sake, Maddy. I felt so much guilt over that, and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.”