Grumpy Cowboy (Single Dad Collection)

Though, the ice pack is long discarded, sitting haphazardly off to the side of his knee.

“Stalls are all cleaned,” I say and walk over to him and take a gander at his leg. The swelling has gone down so much that his leg no longer looks like an oversized tree trunk. “Oh, look, you actually do have a knee and an ankle,” I comment and lean down to riffle through my medical bag to grab another disposable ice pad.

“I don’t need any more fuckin’ ice,” he retorts, but I ignore him, activating the ice pack with a pop and placing it on his leg.

Rhett sighs. “You just can’t help yourself, can ya?”

“Nope,” I answer and grab four ibuprofen and a small bottle of water from my bag. “Even if I have to clean horse shit out of stalls every damn day, before I leave this ranch, that leg of yours will be fully rehabilitated.” I hold the pills and water out to him. “Now, take these.”

“I’m not takin’ any fucking drugs.”

I snort. “It’s ibuprofen. Not ecstasy.”

He stares at me, and I stare right back at him, still holding the medicine and water in front of his face.

“Don’t be a baby, Rhett. It’s just a little medicine.”

He shakes his head, snags the pills from my hand, and swallows them down without the water.

“See? That wasn’t so hard.” I smile at him and open the bottle of water for myself, drinking most of it down in three big gulps. Lord knows I could use the extra fluids after being put to work all damn day.

I swear, every muscle in my body aches from all the manual labor.

Muscles I didn’t even know I had are screaming in pain.

“So, shall we head back and eat some lunch and…” I stop myself before I tell him about my other plans. Medical-related plans. I still have no idea how I’m going to persuade this grouch to let me do some stretch work and administer deep tissue massages. I mean, convincing him to ice his leg was hard enough.

“And what?” he asks, and I shrug.

“And…uh…you know, take a load off.”

His responding sly smile makes me instantly suspicious. “There’s still work to be done.”

I stare at him. Still work to be done?

“First, the horses you just fed need exercisin’ in the pasture.”

I almost add, and cleaned up their foul-smelling shit, but I bite my tongue.

No way I’m going to let him know just how awful I really think that task was. If he knew I had to gag my way through every single stall, with the way his calculating brain works, he’d make a point to have me out here every day for the next two months doing just that.

Or worse, send me in the direction of those big cows with the horns. It was scary enough setting out alfalfa in the meadow for them to graze on.

Ew. Gross. I don’t even want to think about the kind of disgusting mess those big beasts leave behind after they finish eating.

So, I do what anyone in my position would do; I suck it up, plaster a smile on my face, and focus on giving the horses some exercise.

“Okay, then,” I state with a nod. “You stick with the ice pack, and I’ll get the horses some exercise.”

But when I turn on my heel, his sarcastic voice stops me in my tracks.

“Darlin’, you and I both know you don’t have a fuckin’ clue what you’re doin’. So, why don’t you turn back around and let me give you some instructions.”

His words are like nails on a chalkboard, scraping straight up my spine and fueling nothing but anger and irritation.

With the way he talks, you’d think I was the biggest moron on the planet.

I made it through med school, for shit’s sake. Pretty sure I can figure out how to exercise some damn horses.

“I’m a big girl, Rhett,” I toss over my shoulder, heading to the gated area where the horses are finishing eating. “I can figure it out.”

Rhett

“What in tarnation is she doin’?” Tiny questions, both hands on his hips as he stares out toward Leah, who is currently in the pasture with the horses.

I have no idea how long he’s been standing there, but I can’t deny the show that is currently occurring before us is something we’ve never seen out on this ranch.

I bite back the urge to laugh.

“She teachin’ them fuckin’ aerobics?” he asks, narrowing his eyes to get a better look. Once he comes to the realization that what he’s seeing is actually real, his jaw just about hits his damn boots.

“Well, Tiny, I told her to get the special feed horses some exercise, and that’s pretty much led us to here.”

Truthfully, once Leah refused to take any of my instructions on how to “exercise the horses,” I’ve had the pleasure of watching her run around the pasture like a maniac.