Bad Boy Romance: Nick (Romantic Suspense Alpha Male Romance) (New Adult Rock Star Contemporary Short Stories) (Hard Rock Star Series Book 2) (11 page)

****

Vanessa drove away, doing her
best to avoid watching Gabe from her rearview mirror. She understood him a
little better now; he was a city boy gone country, and that was exactly what
she hoped to do. Her whole life was spent in the city, always doing something
or going somewhere. Until recently, she thought she’d enjoyed the fast life;
finding out that her ex had been sleeping with a good friend of hers was enough
to make her stop and reevaluate her circumstances.

There were more than a few
pitiful days spent crying and binge-watching cheesy romance movies. When she
wasn’t spluttering with tears, she was stuffing her face with chocolate and
potato chips. Eventually, the prospect of downing several pounds of chocolate
no longer held its desire, and she returned to work, hell-bent on making her
life more meaningful.

“My ex made a
huge
friggin’
mistake,” she snickered to herself, making a left turn out of Gabe’s driveway.
Vanessa was moving on to bigger and better things—namely, Gabe. She thought
back to the incredible feeling of her hand on his bicep; the way his ass filled
out those damn jeans; the way his eyes traced her voluptuous curves. “If that
mighty man wants to take a ride on the Vanessa train, then so be it!” she
thumped the wheel and squealed, a bright smile spreading across her face.

As she drove back to the clinic,
she thought she could handle a brief fling with him, but nothing more. She was
in no way ready for a relationship; it had to be completely casual.

The veterinary office was full,
and after helping a few of the other attendants with their cases, Vanessa
hunkered down in an office and pulled the scrap of paper she found at the
stables from her pocket. She had piled several medical books on the desk in
front of her and was trying to decipher the text on the paper. It was most
likely a label from a vial similar to the ones a vet would use. It had a
similar width, font, and although it was incomplete, the spacing of the words
indicated that it should wrap the girth of a small vial. All she could read was
“-rine,” which narrowed that down to a mere three complete textbooks of
pharmaceuticals. The medical books also pointed to her greatest suspicion,
poisoning, but she couldn’t understand where it could be coming from. Plus,
Gabe was devoted to the horses; it wouldn’t make sense. She had to run blood
tests; it would be the only way to tell for sure. She could draw the samples and
book a courier to take the vials to the lab for testing the next day. She
packed the extra supplies she needed and gathered a spare change of clothes;
she didn’t want to walk around in blood-soaked clothes if Jezzy or another
horse took unkindly to the needle.

****

Parking in front of Gabe’s
house, she became nervous about her proposition.
How’s he going to react
when I offer him a few nights of hot, unbridled sex?
she thought. Three
nights seemed long enough to get over the awkwardness, but not long enough for
him to notice the dimples on her thighs. She got out of the car, pulling the
heavy tray of medical equipment and her medical bag from the trunk, and started
to walk carefully towards the stables. Within a few steps, she knew she had
overdone it—she was going to drop it all.

Suddenly, Gabe jogged towards
her chuckling, “Need some help?”

She blushed. “If you could, that
would be great. I didn’t really think this through.”

He picked up the whole tray
easily in his arms, “Anything else?”

“No, thanks for your help. I’m
afraid I don’t have any new leads, so I’ll be taking blood tests from all your
stock—even the well ones.”

“Why’s that?”

“Just ticking boxes and
eliminating possible issues.”

He nodded and led her back to
the stables. She hoped she was wrong; she couldn’t understand why anyone would
systematically poison such beautiful creatures.

Inside, she set her things down
and starting setting up. Gabe wandered back down to the barn and called out to
Vanessa urgently, “Vanessa, come quick! I think there’s something wrong with
Jezzy.”

Vanessa put down the packs of
fresh IV needles and sped to her stall. Jezzy’s breathing was labored and
whistling, her great sides trembling as she tried to take in breaths. The horse
shook itself roughly; after a few more coughs, the horse’s breathing returned
to normal, albeit Jezzy was swaying slightly in her stance.

“I didn’t think it would come to
this, but Gabe, I have to be honest. I don’t know if there’s anything I can do
for her. I can’t give her anything in case it reacts with whatever’s in her
system.”

Gabe was shocked. “It’s that
serious?”

She nodded and let her hand rest
on Gabe’s arm. “That doesn’t mean we can’t help the others. There’s always a
chance that Jezzy’s been accidentally overexposed. I need to get started on the
blood tests now, but I need your help. After all, I’m the mean one coming at
them with a needle.”

She went back to setting up her
small station and asked him the names of the other horses so she could label
everything properly. Gabe smiled as he saw her write diligently on the tube
labels.

“What?” she looked up at him.

“You’re very thorough.”

“Of course, that’s what you get
with a
city vet
,” she smirked.

He stepped closer and his eyes
softened. “You know, you are something else. Already you’re fitting in like you
belong. Only a small town vet would care so much.” Vanessa stood up, and Gabe
continued to step into her space, forcing her to slightly tip her head back to
look up at him. He was so much bigger than her.

“It’s what any vet would do. I
want to save these horses, and I want to find the cause so it doesn’t continue
to happen,” she tried to talk as though she hadn’t noticed Gabe leaning down.
At the last possible moment, she let go and licked her lips.

His mouth came down on hers,
soft at first, as if testing to see if she would allow it. When she opened for
him, he groaned and gripped her waist toward him, lifting her off the ground.
Pulled against Gabe’s body, Vanessa’s feet hung in the air; she felt consumed
by his need. His tongue slipped into her mouth and he deepened the kiss. She
felt his hardness against her belly and flung her arms around his shoulders,
wrapping her legs around him as she pulled herself up onto his waist, gasping
as his erection rubbed against her. Gabe strode to the nearest wall and pressed
Vanessa against it, using the structure to prop her up as he slid his hands up
her shirt. His hands were rough, dry and warm--a welcome sensation against her
prickling skin.

Taking a cue from her equally
insatiable kissing, Gabe lifted her shirt to reveal her heaving breasts. His
head lunged forward, taking the silky fabric of her bra into his mouth. He
sucked, pulling her nipple into a tight point. She gasped and rubbed against
him; he was so hard
everywhere
. As much as she wanted him, she needed to
take care of her patients first. Breaking away from the kiss and feeling a
little bit dazed, she said, “Horses first, then this.” Reluctantly, Gabe let
her go, but he couldn’t wipe the wry smile from his face.

She was the flame to his fuse.
When he kissed her, he half expected Vanessa to slap him; Gabe couldn’t have
been more shocked when she ended up wrapping her body around him. She tasted
amazing, and when she rubbed up against him, he nearly came right then and
there.

He was glad Vanessa had pulled
back; the horses needed them. Now that they were both clear about their obvious
attraction, Gabe looked at Vanessa in a new light. His wildest dream had come
true. He wanted Vanessa for more than just her body; her passion and intellect
were equally as drawing as her lusty physical features were. As he dwelt on his
emotions, Gabe wasn’t sure if he liked where his feelings were leading; it
wasn’t a place he was ready to venture to yet.

“I’m so sorry,” Vanessa
whispered.

Her face was flushed—with
embarrassment or arousal, he wasn’t sure—but he couldn’t let her feel so badly
about something
he
started.

He shook his head. “No, that was
my fault. I lost myself there for a minute. I apologize.”

She nodded and seemed to relax
some. “Let’s get that blood sample.” She licked her lips and averted her eyes.
“I’d like to continue our—
conversation
—later, that is, if you’d like
to.”

Gabe’s eyebrow rose, “Uh…sure…I,
um, better get Jezzy’s headcollar.”

****

The barn’s side door banged, and
Gabe ducked his head out. “Jimmy, what are you doing here? It’s your day off.”

“Heya, boss. I figured I’d put
in a few hours today.” Jimmy was a wiry guy in his early 20s with thin blonde
hair and wind-burnt skin; a man who looked like he spent a lot of time outside.

“There isn’t much for you to do,
at least not with the horses all down.”

“Yeah, but I figured you’d have
your hands full with that new vet and all. And the other horses might need some
attention.” He was right, of course.

“Sure, that works. I’ll stay
with the vet and you can collect the others for testing.”

Jimmy shifted. “Oh, what’s he
testing for?”

“
She
is testing for
everything.”

Vanessa stepped out from behind
Gabe and held out her hand to Jimmy. “I’m Vanessa Burke, the vet.”

Jimmy gave a limp handshake and
stepped away from her, making Gabe’s hackles rise.

“Yeah, well, it’s nice to meet
you. I’d better go take care of those horses now,” he said as he spun on his
heel and left the barn.

Gabe shook his head. “I don’t
know what’s with him today. He’s not usually that rude and he certainly doesn’t
often come in on his days off.” He shifted and smiled. “I have an idea, and
hear me out before you rip into me.”

Vanessa narrowed her eyes but
nodded.

“Why don’t you stay here while
you’re testing the horses? That way, if something happens to one of them,
you’ll be close by. I have a guest room.”

She nibbled her lip. “I could
stay in the stables with the horses. I like the idea of being close to them,
but I need to check with Hank; he might need me on another case.”

He waved a hand. “Go and check,
I don’t mind.” He liked the idea of having her in his home, but most of all, he
hoped she’d be in his bed.

“Okay, if you’re sure. Give me a
minute.” Vanessa went back to her medical bag, fished out a phone and started
dialing.

This was going to be a win-win:
he’d get time with her, and hopefully she’d be able to help the horses, too. He
didn’t like thinking about losing any of them; he spent more time with his
horses than he did with humans.

Vanessa came back smiling. “My
boss actually thinks it’s a good idea if I’m on site. He also said, ‘Be sure to
tell Gabe I’m charging him extra for stealing my new vet.’ I don’t know about
that...I think he was joking, but I can’t be sure.”

Gabe chuckled; he didn’t care if
Hank wanted to charge him more. He’d be more than happy to pay the extra price
to have her close.

Staying with Gabe might not have
been the greatest idea in the world, but it made sense.

“Okay, I’ll get you set up in
the guest room and be right out to help. Do you need anything else?”

“Thank you, I…don’t think so,”
she replied, although a few things came to mind that made her blush. Yes, she
wanted him, and by the look in his eyes, he wanted her too. Gabe strode off to
the house, leaving Vanessa smiling to herself. Never before had she been so
forward. This was totally out of her comfort zone, but it was about time she
did something more adventurous.

****

With Gabe gone, Vanessa decided
she could take Jezzy’s blood by herself. She grabbed a headcollar, lead-rope,
syringe and Jezzy’s set of labeled test tubes. Opening the stall, Vanessa cooed
to the dozy mare, “It’s alright, Jezzy, I’m going to find out what’s wrong with
you, baby girl.” She gently slid the headcollar onto the horse’s head, fastened
the catch and slung the attached rope over her shoulder. Finding the vein in
the neck took some time; she prepped the syringe and slid the needle beneath
the skin, allowing the warm blood to gurgle into the sample tube. Vanessa
deftly changed tubes during the pulling so she had four substantial samples.
“Good girl, Jezzy.” Vanessa pulled out and recapped the needle, placing it with
the rest of the samples on the side of the chest-high kick-board that ran
around the edge of the stable.

Just as she turned her back, she
heard a deep groan and a scrabbling of hooves. Vanessa leapt from the noise and
spun around to see Jezzy’s chestnut body spasm and collapse. Vanessa rushed to
the horse’s side and took a hold of the rope, “Come on, girl! Get up, get up,
get up!” but the mare just trembled on the ground while twitching her legs,
trying to gain footing in the sawdust. “Gabe! Gabe, come quick!” Vanessa yanked
on the rope, but there was no use; Jezzy was in her final throes of death. With
a final quiver, Jezzy gave a deep grunt and her body stilled.

“Jezzy?” Vanessa rubbed the
mare. There was nothing; the mare couldn’t fight it anymore. Tears slid down
Vanessa’s cheeks, and she used the back of her hand to wipe them away.

Vanessa dropped the rope and
grabbed the samples. In a daze, she stepped out of the stall and floated to her
sample set-up; she hoped Jezzy’s loss would not be in vain.

Gabe must still be in the
house
, she thought; he hadn’t responded to her call. She’d hardly made it
down to the end of the stable area before she smacked into a wall of hard
muscle; Gabe grabbed her shoulders, stabilizing her.

“Whoa, are you okay?”

She looked up at him with
tear-streaked cheeks and shook her head. “She’s gone.”

Gabe froze. “Wait—
who’s
gone?”

“Jezzy. She waited until I took
the samples before she collapsed and passed away. She just couldn’t hold on any
longer.” Vanessa sobbed and wrapped her arms around Gabe’s solid middle. “I’m
so sorry I didn’t save her. I failed.”

He wrapped his arms around her
and rubbed circles on her lower back. “It’s not your fault, Vanessa. You said
you got her samples, right?”

She nodded against his chest.

“Then there’s still time to help
the others. I don’t want to hear you call yourself a failure.” He reached down
and lifted her chin, using his thumb to wipe her tears away. “At least you were
with her when she passed.” He leaned down and kissed her softly.

It was a sweet kiss tainted with
the salt of her tears. His mouth was less domineering and almost pillowy.

“You want to come inside for a
bit?”

Vanessa nodded and entwined her
fingers with his, letting him lead her into the house.