Rock Star Kisses (Romance on the Ranch Book 6) by Verna Clay

she'd called to transport her to the Cortez airport,
pulled to the curb. The last thing she did after locking the front door was
tape an envelope to it. Thanks to Preston's generosity and her ability to pinch
pennies, she had just enough money to get home.

Chapter 21: What the Hell!
     
    Preston was ready to call it a day. The cat and
dog debacle that afternoon had just been a prelude to the rest of the
afternoon. Three emergencies had shown up, two of which were dogs hit by cars
and the other a calf that had gotten tied up in barbed wire. The owner of the
calf had loaded the animal, barbed wire and all, into the back of his truck and
hightailed it to the office. It had taken two hours to get the poor animal
fixed up. While Toby had worked on the two dogs, Preston had doctored the calf
and suggested to the rancher that he change over to barbless wire. Of course, the
emergencies had set the appointments behind schedule and now it was an hour
past closing.
    He walked to the front desk and was surprised to
see Tessa still there. "Hey, what are you doing here? You should have left
an hour ago."
    "I just had some charts I wanted to catch
up on."
    Preston scratched his ear. "Tessa, is something
wrong. You've seemed despondent lately. I'm not trying to pry, but I'm worried
about you."
    She glanced at him and he could see she was
holding back tears. "Oh, I'm fine." She shrugged.
    He lifted a finger. "Hold on just one
sec." He walked to the nearest examining room, picked up the rolling
stool, and returned to the front desk. Setting the stool in front of Tessa, he
plopped down onto it. "You're not fine. Do you want to talk about it? I
promise I can keep a secret. Does it have anything to do with Sean
leaving?"
    A tear dripped down her cheek and Preston said,
"I thought so. Come on, honey, tell me what's going on."
    She sniffed and swiped at the tear. "I pushed
him away. He…he wants to marry me and I pushed him away. I'm not so sure it was
the right thing to do. I feel miserable."
    Preston sucked a breath. He'd always known Sean
liked Tessa, but he hadn't realized the extent of the man's feelings.
    Softly, he said, "Do you want to marry
him?"
    She nodded.
    "Then what's stopping you?" He pulled
a tissue from the box on her desk and handed it to her.
    She blotted her eyes. "I'm stopping me.
Look at me, Preston. Do I look like the kind of girl a famous rock star would
go for?"
    Preston frowned. "What the hell? If he
loves you and you love him, what does it matter what either of you look like?
And to tell you the truth, I don't think Sean is all that. The guy rubs
me the wrong way, always has." He handed her another tissue.
    She blew her nose.
    Puffing a breath, he said, "Tessa, I'm
about to share something that everyone seems to know, except you."
    She swiped her eyes again and waited for him to
speak.
    He took a deep breath. "I've been in love
with you since I was fourteen."
    Her eyes widened.
    "And the reason Sean and I never got along
is because we both wanted you." He smiled slightly. "I can't tell you
how many times I wanted to kick his butt."
    She said in a weak voice, "I always knew
you liked me, but I never thought it was that…serious."
    "Oh, it's been serious for years. After you
married Jared, I thought my world was over, but then you came back and I tried
to get you to go out with me, but you always said no. And then Sean showed up
and you were suddenly happy. It hurt, of course, but then something happened to
rock my world."
    Tessa whispered, "Freckles?"
    Preston smiled. "Yes. The woman drives me
mad. She's so different from the women I'm used to. She's beyond outspoken, for
one thing." He laughed. "She's kind of like a female Toby. Just says
whatever's on her mind, regardless of the consequences. Anyway, the day the
puppy got lost and I rushed over to help find him, was the day everything in my
life changed. You could say everything fell into place. I realized just how crazy
in love I am with her. I was also able to view