Dr. Samantha Owens
Carly Skinner barely looked strong enough to lift a piece of paper, much less handle horses and cows. But Sam knew strength was easily disguised. And she figured Skinner’s small hands might come in handy when it came time for birthing. Animals, like human children, sometimes didn’t want to come into the world headfirst, and needed turning in the womb. It was a delicate process, and not one for arms like tree trunks.
No, her size wasn’t the problem. The problem was, Xander and Carly clearly had some history.
When they’d been reminiscing like a couple of school kids at their first reunion, Sam was annoyed to feel her blood begin to boil, because for a moment, she felt utterly invisible.
Her internal radar was singing, and she fought hard against it. She had no claim on Xander. She especially had no claim on the years before she’d met him. She was acting like a child. She knew it, and yet something in her just wouldn’t quite let go.
When Carly had cried, “Tag,” and taken off at a jog, Sam swore she saw Xander tense, as if he was about to sprint after her but then remembered that he had an anchor that would hold him back.
Sam began to gather her things with exaggerated slowness. He grabbed his bag and said, “All right. Let’s go nail this down.”
“You feel free to go on ahead. I’ll catch up. I wouldn’t want to hold you back or anything.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? You look about ready to murder someone.”
Sam hastily rearranged her features. Great, why don’t you just announce it to the world? Grow up, Sam. You don’t own him. You’ve never even officially defined your relationship.
She was pouting. She could feel the waves of disapproval oozing off her body, and tried to pull it back in. Stop being silly, Sam.
Xander took a step back and watched her carefully. Then a grin split his face, and he started to laugh.
“You’re jealous, Owens.”
How dare he laugh, like this was all a good joke? She turned her back and picked up her bag, then started to walk past him.
“I’m not. I have no claim on you. You can talk to whomever you please.”
Xander shook his head. “Oh, my dear, darling Sam.” He grabbed her wrist and turned her around so swiftly she felt dizzy, then pulled her close and kissed her, hard, right in front of everyone in the restaurant. It went on and on, and she was vaguely aware of a few good-natured snickers, but she didn’t care, it just felt so good to be in his arms, to have all of his considerable personal sunlight pouring down on her. She was jealous, damn it. The thought of him with another woman tore her into pieces.
Damn. She cared for him even more than she thought.
When he let her loose, he had a smug smile on his face. She wanted to hit him, to smack that grin right off, but part of her smiled back. He’d just laid claim to her in public, with a bunch of witnesses. Old girlfriend aside, it was clear who he wanted to be with.
He touched the back of her neck, then rubbed the pad of his thumb in circles on the delicate skin on the inside of her wrist.
“Okay?” he asked, clearly needing to be forgiven.
“Okay,” she answered.
“I’m glad you care,” he whispered.
“I care more than you know,” she answered softly, and he kissed her again, very briefly.
“Let’s go deal with the bovine attack, so we can get on the track to finding this yahoo. Because once this case is put to rest, you and I have some things to talk about.”
*
They walked to the police station hand in hand, and Xander told her all about his relationship with the mercurial teenage Carly, who would be interested in him one day and not remember his name the next. She’d always wanted to be an actress, felt drama was her future. But she’d also been deep into science and managed to conquer acting school and a B.A. in molecular biology, then realized she missed Colorado, her life and her friends too much.
“She’s a nice girl, but way too flighty for me. I like a woman with her head on her shoulders. We went on one date, when we were sixteen, and she spent the whole night talking about Reed. She’s always been in love with him. And he’s always had it bad for her. They are perfect together.”
Sam was feeling much comforted, and they finished the quarter-mile walk from the restaurant to the station in companionable silence.
By the time they arrived Carly had already spread her unique brand of pixie dust all over the station. Every man in the place was smiling, and Carly had her back to the door, pinning up rather grotesque pictures of cows in various stages of dissection on a wall-mounted corkboard.
Xander leaned his head in close. “See? It’s not just me. She’s like this with everyone.”
“What’s the divorce rate among your cohort?” she whispered back, and he started to laugh.