Free Zeph Undercover by Jenny Andersen

her with a familiar hug, Zeph took an involuntary step toward them.
    “She’s known him forever,” the mayor said. “Nothing going on there, so cool your jets. You’ll get a chance to get your licks in Sunday, for which you owe me a debt of gratitude.”
    The fine hair on the back of Zeph’s neck stood up. This could be it, the break he’d been waiting for. “Yes, I do. And how can I show my gratitude?”
    “Well, son,” he said, slapping Zeph on the back, “Frank said you planned to do some investing up here. If Chaz finds you some good places to put your money, that’ll be a boost to my town.”
    Zeph allowed a polite smile to curve his mouth while triumph danced in his belly. “Sounds fine. I’ll look forward to it.” Yes, he would. He certainly would.
    He expected dinner to be an ordeal. It lived down to expectations. Allie sat at the head table between her father and a distinguished-looking man who looked like he could buy everyone in the room. From the way she chatted and laughed with him, she wasn’t uncomfortable or intimidated in the least. Way too comfortable with the whole social scene.
    He tried to concentrate on the vapid chatter of the too-eager woman sitting next to him, but memories of Allie filled his mind. All this time, he’d been thinking of her as an unsophisticated country girl...but she’d never been cowed by the fancy places he’d taken her.
    The evening finally ground to an end. Thankfully he walked back to his hotel. Tomorrow looked like a long day. How the hell could he keep his mind on business with Allie around, flirting up a storm and driving him crazy?
    ****
    Clark Hunnewill tapped on the door of the guest room Allie had stayed in. “You ready, Allie?”
    She opened the door. “One minute, Clark.” She checked the boxes of equipment that sat by the door one more time. Syringes, check. Stethoscope, check. Scalpels, needles, general first aid box. Working her way down the list, she made sure she had everything, including vaccines in their cold packs. “Ready to go.”
    Clark gestured to a man who put the boxes on a cart and wheeled them out. “You know we appreciate the house calls, Allie,” Clark said.
    She hated making house calls—stable calls, as Zeph called them—without her well-stocked truck, but coming to Sacramento for Clark and Chaz couldn’t be avoided. Their letters of recommendation had pretty much gotten her into the veterinary program at U. C. Davis, and she owed them both. “My pleasure,” she told him.
    Besides, when Chaz Mentrine asked, everyone around him bowed and said “Yes, sir!” Not that she would, but having him as a client couldn’t hurt. And he sent his helicopter to ferry her from Stone’s Crossing to Clark’s ranch to Chaz’s ranch and back home, so travel time wasn’t an issue.
    This trip, the problem would be keeping her mind on business with Zeph there every minute. With him looking at her, his gaze flat and impenetrable, except for the occasional flash of heat he couldn’t hide. With him reminding her at every turn that he suspected her father. She grimaced and followed Clark out to the empty field that served as a helipad just as Chaz’s chopper landed. She climbed in, waved goodbye to Clark, and belted herself into the copilot’s seat. “Ready to go,” she said, and they took off. They’d be at Zeph’s hotel in a few minutes, so she pulled out her phone and dialed the private number for the manager of the hotel.
    Amazing the way buckets of money greased things. “I’ll have a bell man escort Mr. Granger to the helipad, Doctor,” the manager told her. “He’ll be waiting when you land.”
    She could really get used to this. Her father claimed that power corrupted, but money wasn’t far behind. Doing anything Chaz wanted could be too easy. She shivered, feeling the brush of an unexpected and unreasonable threat.
    The chopper tilted sharply and set down on the hotel roof. Zeph did the funny-looking bent-over run and