Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right [The Chisholms of Texas 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) (2 page)

When not working, Dillon’s preferred mode of transportation was a vintage Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He was a sight to behold in his leathers, and Abby longed to snuggle up behind him and hold onto his hard, muscular body as they rode carefree down the highway. Up to this point, her fantasies had remained just that—fantasies.

After nearly four months on the job, Dillon had begun to leave her in charge while he took some much-needed time off. He still took his share of weekend duty, but one weekend, when Dillon was off, a prize brood mare had gone into labor unexpectedly. Knowing how important this mare was to the breeding operation, Abby did not hesitate to call in Dillon when it looked like the mare was going to have a difficult delivery. He had shown up on his Harley with his leathers on, and Abby had fallen the rest of the way in lust with him. The man looked good in leather. What could she say?

He went to the clinic office to change his clothes—he kept a spare change of clothes in the office and had advised Abby to do the same—but let Abby take the lead in helping the mare to foal her colt. When they had to intervene and help the foal from the birth canal, he got down right beside Abby and helped her pull the new life into the world. It had felt good to work as a team with him. When Abby hugged Dillon in excitement after the foal was born, Dillon’s body stiffened and he set her away from him quickly, putting some physical distance between them much the way he kept his emotional distance from her for the past two years. Sometimes she caught him looking at her with a heated look in his eyes, but once he noticed her, the heat quickly dissolved, making her wonder whether or not she had imagined the look.

So, given her seemingly unrequited attraction for the man, she needed to put some physical and emotional distance between them before she did something really stupid—like jump his bones. Abby had spent the past two years fighting and hiding her growing feelings for Dillon Chisholm. She knew it wouldn’t have been appropriate for either of them to act on any attraction they might feel for the other while she was, for all intents and purposes, his student. Over the past two years, Dillon hadn’t shown any overt interest in Abby as a woman. Despite her daytime fantasies about the heat with which he sometimes looked at her, he treated her respectfully and professionally even while Abby had secretly lusted after the sexy vet.

Besides, she didn’t want to be attracted to Dillon. He wasn’t what she would call suitable boyfriend material. Despite his laid-back appearance, Abby knew Dillon was the dominant type. He demanded compliance in their working relationship, and that was fine with Abby. After all, he had more experience and this was his family’s ranch. However, Abby suspected that Dillon was also dominant in other aspects of his personality though he didn’t seem to be a male chauvinist or anything. He opened doors for her and treated her like a lady but he let her take the lead plenty of times in caring for the animals on the Ranch even when it was nasty, dirty work. Her father had been a dominant man and, she could now admit to herself, both physically and emotionally abusive. She had no wish to subject herself to another domineering male in her private life. Oh, she knew Dillon would never hit her, not even in anger. He just wasn’t the type. But emotional abuse could sometimes do more harm than physical abuse did. Abby’s father had only ever struck her one time, but that was enough to make her worried that he might do it again. His emotional abuse was that much more destructive after he had hit her that one time as Abby waited for him to escalate to the point of physical violence again. So, she’d just have to lust after Dillon quietly and enjoy the eye candy when she got the chance.

Right now, she needed to head into town with her clothes and other things and get the key to her new apartment from Samantha at the flower shop. Samantha said she’d be there until eleven this morning and Abby had several things to get after she moved her meager belongings into the apartment.

Keys in hand, she loaded up with her two suitcases and struggled up the stairs in the back of the building to her new home. It was a two-bedroom, one-bathroom, furnished space. The carpet had been replaced and there was a fresh coat of paint on all of the walls. The bathroom had been updated as well as the kitchen, and the place smelled brand-spanking new.

She threw her suitcases on the bed and went back down for one of the three boxes she’d left in the Mazda. After a couple more trips, all of her worldly possessions were in the apartment. She unpacked her clothing and put the items away in the dresser and walk-in closet then got started on unpacking the boxes. An hour later, she had made a mental list of what she needed from the store and was on her way to the Walmart at the edge of town to buy what she needed.

Since the Chisholms had paid her a salary during her clinical internship, as well as provided the fully furnished cabin free of charge, her savings account had increased substantially. She was able to get everything she needed without worrying too much about the cost. Finally out on her own, she needed everything. Bedding, bath towels, small appliances, and the like. She even splurged and purchased a Keurig single-serve coffeemaker.

Abby was something of a coffee snob and would enjoy being able to make a fresh cup of gourmet coffee whenever she wanted one. Having been in both Jordan and Jessie’s homes on several occasions, she had enjoyed the fresh brew they had been able to make for her at a moment’s notice. The cabin had a regular automatic coffeemaker, so she hadn’t indulged herself with the Keurig up to that point. Now, however, she saw no reason not to buy what she wanted.

Abby purchased her items then went to the grocery part of the store and picked up what she would need for several days. She would be working five days on then two off for the next few weeks and would be on call during some of her time off in case an emergency came up. Abby went back to the apartment and made several trips back to the car for her purchases. By the time she had everything washed and put away, it was time to have some supper and get ready to go to the club to meet Jessie, Jordan, and the rest of the girls.

* * * *

Dillon was just bringing his 1955 Knucklehead out from his garage when he saw Abby’s little Mazda pass the CRE compound and turn onto the highway. She must be moving into town today, he guessed. If he had his way, she would be back on the Ranch permanently within a very short period of time. He couldn’t see her clearly from this distance, but he didn’t need to. He remembered every curve of her body and strand of hair on her head.

God
, he thought.
She is so beautiful
. Dark-brown hair down to the middle of her back and dark-blue eyes. She had a curvy body, with perfect breasts and hips a man could hold onto, that would render any man’s cock as hard as a rock. He was no exception. He was in a near-constant state of arousal when she was around. At five foot six inches, she was nearly a foot shorter than his six foot three inches, but he knew she would fit against his body perfectly. He’d had the pleasure of having her sweet body pressed against his a few months ago when they brought Delilah, one of the breeding program’s most important brood mares, through a difficult labor and delivery.

After working together to pull out the struggling colt, Abby threw her arms around him and hugged him to her delectable body in her exuberance. Dillon allowed himself a brief moment to enjoy the feel of her against him and then stiffened and drew away from her, knowing he had to hide his feelings for her until the end of the internship. They were both very careful not to touch each other in anything but a professional way after that.

Now, Abby was no longer a student but a full-fledged veterinarian, and a damned good one at that. He knew she deserved the job that hinged on her performance during the clinical internship. He also knew dating an employee of the Ranch, especially one who reported directly to him, would prove to be difficult. He offered her the job anyway. She deserved it. Both of them put in hellacious hours over the past two years to bring the Veterinarian-Sciences Division of CRE out of the dark ages. She absorbed everything he had to teach her. Oh, she wasn’t a pushover by any stretch of the imagination. She spoke her mind when she didn’t agree with him with respect to the care of the animals on the Ranch and the computerized records system they had implemented. They had some very heated exchanges. She had some valid points and really good ideas but, in the end, she hadn’t argued that the decisions were his to make. He only hoped she would be as malleable in their private life. He looked forward to the sparks that would blow up between
them
when they became sexually involved.

In any event, he was not going to penalize her because he was attracted to her in a major way. They would just have to come to an understanding before they started seeing each other that, if their relationship didn’t work for some reason, they would still be able to work together in harmony. Dillon wasn’t too worried about things not working out between them. She was perfect for him. He planned to do everything in his power to make sure that Abby Barnes was his wife by this time next year.

Dillon had already discussed the issue with his oldest brother, Xander, the CEO of CRE. Although Xander was leery of the whole “dating an employee” thing, he agreed to the out clause in Abby’s contract which paid her a lump-sum settlement equal to the remainder of the contract in the event that CRE wanted to break the employment contract before the five years was up. Dillon privately agreed to personally reimburse CRE if Abby invoked that clause. When he gave her a copy of the contract to review before she signed it, Abby hadn’t even asked about the clause in the contract.

Dillon had spent a lot of time over the past two years with Abby, sharing his knowledge of the realities of being a large-animal veterinarian for a ranch as large as CRE. As a result of her quick mind and the knowledge she had gained over the past two years, she was perfectly suited to taking on the second vet position at the Ranch. A five-year contract ensured CRE got their money’s worth and gave Abby the stability he felt she was looking for.

Dillon learned a lot about Abby over the past two years. Sitting around in a barn waiting for a mare to give birth or keeping an eye on sick cows gave people a lot of time to talk. He knew about her mother’s murder when she was eleven years old and the fact that she was there when it happened. She shared the basics of her turbulent relationship with her father to his mother, Cassie. His mother, knowing how he felt about Abby, shared these facts with Dillon. She also shared that Abby’s father died when she was twenty-four years old while she was in law school of all places. Abby was alone in the world and was looking for a place to belong. Dillon knew she’d already found it.

He also knew that Abby made a habit of meeting the girls, including his sisters-in-law and his oldest sister, Jessie, at Chaps & Spurs on Friday nights for conversation, drinks, and dancing. He and his brothers also met at the club on Friday nights to shoot some pool and catch up from their busy weeks. Over the past two years, Dillon spent more time than he cared to admit watching Abby dance with other men after he finished playing pool with his brothers.

Abby was a great dancer and a beautiful woman to boot. She never ran short of dance partners that he could see. As far as he knew, and he’d made it his business to know, she had not dated during the past two years. Hell, he’d kept her too busy at the Ranch for her to be able to sustain a relationship with any man. He’d done it on purpose. That was all about to change, however, as she moved into town and settled into a more routine and sane work schedule. He intended to take advantage of those changes starting tonight.

Dillon planned on getting to know the lovely Dr. Barnes even better after his game of pool with his brothers. She would never know what hit her. Before the week was over, he and Abby would be in an exclusive relationship. Dillon’s dominant personality wouldn’t accept any other outcome. He’d already waited two agonizing years.

Right now, however, he needed to go see his mom. Although he knew his brothers, Levi, Xander, and Ryan, had gone to their father, Alex, for help in wooing their wives, Dillon knew he needed to talk to his mother about his feelings for Abby. He knew that she, a woman who had dealt with a husband who could be domineering at times, would be able to give him insight into how best to handle Abby.

Dillon and his mother were very close. Everyone in the family acknowledged how close they were. It was only natural for Dillon to go to his mother for advice. They shared an intense love for their Cherokee roots and studied their culture, incorporating as much as possible into their modern lives. There was very little they couldn’t talk about. Although he never told his mother exactly what he liked during sex, he had a feeling that she had heard rumors around town and that she knew. She never mentioned it to him, though she told him on several occasions that the women he was dating weren’t right for him. She’d been right, but Dillon didn’t exactly want to know how she had come to those conclusions.

Dillon’s intensity and need for domination during sex came as a complete surprise to him. He never saw his father or his other male relatives even hint at the need that drove him in the bedroom. At first, he thought he was a freak. He felt the need to dominate when he was having sex with a girl even in high school and college. Oh, he wasn’t the whips-and-chains kind of Dom, but he definitely liked to call the shots while having sex. He made a point of picking girlfriends who were relatively inexperienced so they wouldn’t catch on right away that he was so controlling in his sex life. He also tried really hard to tone down his domineering nature since moving back to the Ranch and dating women in town. Knowing about Abby’s father, he worked even harder during these past two years to control this need. He’d stepped back and let her find her own way as a veterinarian on the Ranch. For the most part, unless it was a safety issue, he let her handle the problems that came up as she worked on the Ranch in her own way. It hadn’t always been easy. His natural inclination was to step in and solve the problem for her but he knew that would fly like a lead balloon.