Leeza and Sherry had finished with the horses hours ago. Not only did they bathe and brush them, but they did also in fact have to clean horse shit. Sherry wasn’t really happy about that, but Leeza did most of the smelly work. Now they were each feeding calves with a bottle. Upon arriving, a very nice man named Charlie Aims instructed them on what they needed to do. She hadn’t seen Lance all day, which she was fine with and she knew Cole would be ecstatic about. Charlie went on and put Sherry to work with her stating that Lance would be fine with it, but he would check to make sure.

“They’re so cute.” Sherry grinned at the sloppy calf who was going to town on the bottle.

Leeza agreed. “Adorable.”

The day had dragged because her mind kept going to Cole, wondering what he was doing and if he was having a good day. She really enjoyed her tasks, but she missed the wolves, missed Ari. But mostly, she missed Cole, which surprised her. Maybe she didn’t want to be as independent as she thought. Not that missing someone had anything to do with her independence, but having someone to come home to, spend time with and well… dammit, her thoughts and emotions were all over the place. She needed this job.

Lunch had been catered with sandwiches, salads, chips, and drinks, which was amazing. From what she understood from Charlie, this was an everyday occurrence and something their boss supplied. She and Sherry had stayed to themselves while the others from their pack mingled, but they were all male. She and Sherry seemed to be the only females employed, at least outside on the ranch.

“So, you like working here so far?” Leeza really wanted to see if Sherry shared her thoughts.

“Other than the horse poop, I like it.” Sherry pulled the now empty bottle out of the calf’s mouth, making a loud popping sound. “What about you?”

“I mean, for the first day, it’s okay, but honestly, I’d rather be working with the wolves, but I need to make a paycheck,” Leeza replied with a long sigh.

“I don’t know.” Sherry shrugged, then looked around and whispered, “I guess we deal with wolves all the time, and I am one. It’s kinda nice to deal with different animals.”

“True.” Leeza pulled the bottle out of the still hungry calf’s mouth and laughed when it still made sucking noises. “Oh, Lord, they are cute though.”

“Smelly, but cute.” Sherry laughed.

Charlie walked into the large barn to check on them. “You all finished?”

“Well, I think they’d take another bottle or four.” Leeza grinned, patting the calf on the head. “But yeah, we’re finished.”

He looked at his watch before glancing around. “I know it’s early, but that’s all I have for you today. Mr. Cutter will be back tomorrow, so we’ll have more for you to do.” He took the empty bottle from Leeza and then Sherry. “Thank you, ladies. You’re free to go. Just make sure you keep track of your time.”

“Thanks.” Sherry blushed when he tipped his cowboy hat to her. He was an older man, but nice-looking and had that cowboy gentleman quality about him that would make any girl blush.

“Oh, sir,” Leeza called out before he could disappear.

“Charlie,” he corrected her, then waited for her to continue.

“Sorry. Charlie, is there any way we can start an hour later tomorrow? I’ve been taking care of one of the wolf-dogs, and I really don’t want to stop.” Leeza hoped it would be okay. She had been so excited about getting a job that she totally didn’t realize that in order to be at work early meant she couldn’t work with Ari, and that didn’t sit well with her.

He thought for a moment, then nodded. “Tomorrow is okay to start at eight, but make sure you talk to Mr. Cutter if you want to make it permanent. I don’t make those kinds of decisions, but since he’s not here, I’ll let him know you talked to me about it and I told you it was fine.”

“I really appreciate it. Thank you,” Leeza replied, then felt her own blush when he tipped his hat at her. Once he was gone, she looked at Sherry. “What the hell is it about a man in a cowboy hat?”

Sherry laughed, shaking her head. “I have no idea, but every time one of them tipped their hat, my face burned. Even that old man who helped us with the horse.”

Rushing to Cole’s truck, they hopped in and took off. They were only getting off half an hour early, but Leeza needed to get a shower, and bad. She glanced over to see Sherry smelling herself.

“Yeah, we stink.” Leeza laughed. “Hopefully Gemma will be generous and let us use her shower.”

“Dibs!” Sherry yelled, scaring the crap out of her and making her swerve.

“What?” Leeza righted the truck. Cole would freak if she wrecked his truck on her first time driving it.

“Dibs.” Sherry grinned. “Means I called shower first.”

“Oh, so we’re playing that way, are we?” Leeza gave her a sideways glare.

“When I smell this bad, then yes, we are,” Sherry shot back, then gazed out the window.

Throughout the day, Leeza had noticed Sherry’s mood swings. One minute she was happy and laughing, the next she was staring off with a haunted look in her eyes. She understood, but it was sad to see someone her age going through a trauma like that. She didn’t want to push Sherry to see a professional, but she was going to follow up with Gemma to see how soon Sherry could get in to see someone. She knew Sherry didn’t have insurance, because shifters really didn’t need it. Human medication didn’t work on them; they rarely got sick unless it was an infection and usually they could shift. Unfortunately, with her brother that hadn’t been the case. Sadness seeped into her heart, and she wondered if maybe she should make an appointment herself.

Pulling into the sanctuary, a sense of home washed over her, and it felt good. Leeza searched for Cole as she turned off the ignition and was disappointed when she didn’t see him. Hell, what did she expect? Him standing there, waiting for her return? Rolling her eyes, she shoved the door open with her shoulder and jumped out of the truck running into something very hard. Looking up, her stomach flipped, and her heart sped up at an alarming rate. He was waiting for her.

“Hey.” She smiled up at him, but then frowned when he took a step back instead of taking her in his strong arms. “What?”

“Honey, I really hate to say this but you… smell.” Cole scrunching up his face made her laugh.

Faking outrage, she formed her mouth into a hurt pout. “That’s all you have to say to me after not seeing me all day?” She finished that off with what she hoped looked like a devastated stare, before turning to walk away.

She yelped when he grabbed her, turned her around and took her in his arms, landing a sensual kiss on her lips. After a few seconds, she grinned against his mouth.

He pulled away, giving her a glare. “That really didn’t hurt your feelings, did it?”

“Nope.” She laughed at his expression. “I do stink of horses, horse shit, and cattle though. I can hardly stand myself. But Sherry called dibs on the shower first, so I have to wait. You’ll just have to put up with my stinky self for a while longer.”

“I’ll hurry,” Sherry called out as she headed toward Gemma’s. “And I’ll leave you some hot water.”

“I need to get some clean clothes.” Leeza headed toward her tent, her hand in his. This was nice. Really nice. She had missed him. “How was your day?”

“Good,” he replied, walking beside her. “Ari missed you.”

“Ah, I missed him too.” Leeza ducked inside her tent, hurried through her limited amount of clothes, found some clean ones and climbed back out.

“Did you miss anyone else?” Cole, who stood waiting for her, asked, his eyebrow cocked.

She pretended to think hard about it for a minute with a thoughtful frown. “No, not really.”

Seeing the disappointment quickly cross his face before disappearing made her feel bad. Real bad. “You, Cole. I missed you.” She stared up into his eyes. “So much I couldn’t stop watching the clock and the day dragged.”

A strange look crossed his face as he cupped her chin. “I couldn’t stop looking at my watch,” he admitted, then grinned. “Pathetic, aren’t we?”

“Sickening,” she agreed, then wrapped her arms around him, giving him a tight hug. “Sorry, I know I stink, but I’ve wanted to do this all day.” She felt his chuckle rumble through his chest.

“I’ll wait until later to tell you what I’ve wanted to do to you all day,” he teased, then led them toward Gemma’s. “But you better get showered. Gemma wants to have a barbecue, but I want to talk to you first.”

“Sounds serious.” Leeza frowned, hoping nothing was wrong.

“I didn’t ask… how was your day?” She noticed Cole avoided answering by asking a question as they stopped, just as Sherry cut them off, running into Gemma’s little house with another promise that she’d hurry.

Leeza hoped her smile didn’t look as fake as it felt. “Good.” Then she added, hoping to throw him off from realizing she wasn’t as happy as she’d hoped to be with her new job, “And you’ll be happy to know that Lance wasn’t even there.”

“Damn, I’m liking him more and more,” Cole replied with a sarcastic snort.

Leeza rolled her eyes at him, but then glanced toward the enclosures. Her eyes found Ari’s, who lay under his new shelter that had been built today. Sadness crept into her heart. She had wanted to help build his shelter. Maybe she should have thought this job thing through a little better, but she needed money. She couldn’t keep showering at Gemma’s and living out of a tent. She needed a car, clothes, food and—

“Hey, what is it?” Cole’s voice broke into her thoughts as he turned her face toward his.

Before she could answer, Sherry hurried outside. “Next!” She smiled at Leeza as she passed.

“That was fast.” Leeza pulled away from Cole’s touch, not ready to talk about her feelings. Instead, she gave him a small smile and hurried to the door. “I’ll be right back,” she said, without looking at him.