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He had me there. I dropped my hand.

“Again, I’m accidentally trespassing. I’ll just be on my way.”

I started to turn, but he grabbed my wrist just enough to stop my progress. The feeling of his strong fingers wrapped around my bare skin made me feel a little funny. I glanced down at his hand, and he immediately dropped my wrist.

“Why are you here, Dr. Southerland?” he growled.

Well, there was no sense lying about it. He’d find out about the complaint soon enough. But I still didn’t know who this man was.

“I’m sorry, I can only talk to the property owner.”

He looked up at the sky as if he was praying for patience. I had no idea why that grumpy expression made my core tingle, but damned if it didn’t.

“My name is Peter Jeffers,” he finally said. “My family owns the Double J Ranch. Now, what’s going on?”

I looked around, taking in the wide open space. The Double J Ranch was beautiful. And immaculate. From time to time Animal Services received false complaints. I had a feeling this was going to turn out to be one of those cases.

“There’s been an animal abuse complaint,” I said reluctantly.

Technically I shouldn’t be telling him this without the sheriff’s office or another Animal Services staff present. You never knew when someone was going to freak out and try to attack you for your work. It had happened before. But I wasn’t really getting a psycho vibe off of Peter Jeffers.

He swore under his breath. “It was Neal Thurston, wasn’t it?”

My eyes widened in surprise. “I’m not allowed to tell you that,” I said lamely.

I could tell by the look he was giving me that he saw the truth in my expression.

“That guy is working with Big T Development,” he told me. “They’ve been trying to buy up ranch land to build a new housing development. No one around here is interested in selling so he’s been putting on some pressure.”

That explained why we’d gotten a similar complaint about the neighboring ranch too. My boss was not going to be happy that this developer was wasting county resources trying to intimidate local residents.

“He’s going after us because my father told him to go fuck himself.” Peter paused, and I could swear he was blushing. “Pardon my French.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’ve heard that word before,” I reassured him. “I am obligated to conduct an investigation, just so you know. But if Neal Thurston is making false complaints, rest assured that I will report it to the Sheriff's Office. We take abuse complaints very seriously at Animal Services, and we don’t tolerate false reports.”

“So what? You need to look around or something?” His voice was deep and gravelly, almost like he didn’t use it very often.

I nodded. “Yes, I’ll reach out with a date for a visit. I was just doing some initial recognizance today. I’m sorry that I disturbed you.”

“How about I show you around now?”

He phrased it as a question, but it came out as an order. I couldn’t help the little shiver that tickled down my spine.

“I don’t want either of us to waste any more time on this ridiculous complaint.”

I backed away slowly just in case I was misreading him and he was really about to kill me or something.

“I really should come back later.”

Peter

I studied the County veterinarian, wondering if I was making her uncomfortable. I knew I could be gruff. But she didn’t seem uncomfortable. Cautious maybe. I made a conscious effort to soften my expression.

She was an attractive woman. Only a few inches shorter than me, she was tall and slim, but she had curvy hips and good-sized breasts. A nice rack, as my brother would have said. Her skin was a light brown, like maybe she was part Latina or Native American, with longish brown hair threaded through with golden highlights.

Her thick pink lips curved into a smile that didn’t quite reach her large brown eyes, but I noticed she was easing away from me.