Meg Benjamin - Venus in Blue Jeans

eBooks are not transferable.
They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writers imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520

Macon GA 31201

Venus in Blue Jeans

Copyright 2009 by Meg Benjamin

ISBN: 978-1-60504-369-2

Edited by Lindsey McGurk

Cover by Natalie Winters

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: January 2009

www.samhainpublishing.com

Venus in Blue Jeans

Meg Benjamin

Dedication

To all my guysBill, Josh, and Ben.

Chapter One

Cal Toleffson saw the love of his life for the first time at 5:47 p.m. in the Dew Drop Inn, downtown Konigsburg, Texas.

He wasnt exactly dressed for the event.

Hed spent the forty-five minutes preceding Happy Hour tending to a sick goat. Tending to was the polite way of describing it. The goat was large, sturdy and attractive from a goats point of view. From a humans point of view, even a vet like Cal, it smelled like, well, a goat. And so did he, after about ten minutes in the goats company.

Hed cleaned up, sort of. Washed his hands and face, dropped the jeans and T-shirt hed been wearing into his clothes hamper (his housekeeper would probably be asking for a raise by the end of the month), and put on his last clean denim shirt.

His desire for a Dos Equis outweighed his need for a shower. And the Konigsburg male population wasnt too fastidious anyway. He doubted somebody like Terrell Biedermeier would even notice a little eau dgoat , given Terrells personal ripeness.

Terrell, a lump on a barstool, didnt notice. But Steve Kleinschmidt, also known as Wonder Dentist for reasons Cal wasnt clear on, moved a few inches down the bar after Cal took his seat on the stool beside him.

Trying to make a point there, Idaho?

Cal grinned. Nah, just thirsty. And its Iowa.

Idaho, Iowa, same thing. Wonder had spent most of his life in Texas, and he wasnt interested in moving. You do realize what you smell like, right, Toleffson?

Might be goat, might be sweat. Whats your opinion, Wonder? Cal rubbed a hand through his beard, scratching. Dried beard sweat was a bitch.

Wonder snorted. If I had to guess, Id say bullshit. But then Im a dentist, not a vet.

Hank Ingstrom, the bartender and owner of the Dew Drop, pushed a bottle of Spaten in Wonders general direction and made a half-hearted sweep at the bar with a grubby rag.

Dos Equis, Ingstrom. Cal leaned against the bar, ignoring the slightly sticky surface under his elbow, and scraped his boot sole against the brass rail.

Ingstrom frowned as he headed back down the bar, tucking his rag in his back pocket. Thatd better not be goat crap.

See? Cal grinned at Wonder, nodding in Ingstroms direction. Ingstrom knows his animals.

Not surprising. Ingstrom is an animal. Wonder sucked down a quick swallow of beer, wiping the foam from his upper lip with his index finger.

Cal glanced down the length of the bar. The usual series of gray, lumpish shapesKonigsburg males, all knocking back brews. He sighed. Hed never figured out why the customers who lined up along the Dew Drop bar were always male, while those at the tables were always female. Made fraternizing that much more difficult.

Not that hed had much time to fraternize lately, to say nothing of the necessary money. But fraternizing was a definite future goal, what with his currently bleak social life. He needed to start making some moves if he didnt want to end up just another barstool lump.

On the other hand, given the general gloom in the Dew Drop, it might be difficult to figure out the gender of somebody at the other end of the room, let alone make any moves.

Beside him, Wonder sat back on his stool. So you spent the afternoon with your hand up a goats ass?

Cal grimaced. Pretty much.

Ah, the glamorous life of a Hill Country vet. Wonder took another pull from his Spaten. They have goats in Idaho?

Probably. Being from Iowa, I wouldnt know. Cal rubbed a hand across the back of his itching neck, then scratched his chin again. He really should have taken a shower.

Wonder leaned his elbows on the bar, squinting into the dim depths of the Dew Drop. No tourists in here today, just locals. With my luck any tourists would all be over fifty anyway.

You mean tourists actually come in here? Cal glanced around the cluster of tables in the middle of the floor. Ive never seen one in the Dew Drop.

Boy, there is no place in Konigsburg tourists dont come into. Youll understand that once youve lived here a while. Wonder sighed, letting his chin sink toward the bar. The trick is to find some that arent on Social Security yet.

Cal figured Wonder was around thirty-five, give or take. His reddish brown hair was thinning on top, and he wore hornrims. His bright green knit shirt bunched around a slight swell of love handles. Jessica Alba was not in his future.

Ingstrom reappeared with Cals Dos Equis. You need a haircut, he grumbled. Look like a goddamn hippie.

Cal turned and squinted into the mirror behind the bar. His hair was over his collar againhis mother would have told him to get a haircut too. But then, his mother was back home in Lander, Iowa. Maybe some of the local barbers had poverty-stricken vet rates. Im going for rugged. Isnt that part of the whole cowboy mystique?

Maybe. Wonder grinned. Course with you theres a thin line between rugged and grizzly. You might want to do a little pruning.

Getting back to women Cal turned to survey the room again, checking out prospects. See anybody interesting?

Wonder shook his head. Nobody but locals. Most of the women in here own gift shops. He shuddered, his slightly concave shoulders pulling at his knit shirt. Heed my warning, boy. Never date a woman who makes a living selling angel figurines.

Nice to know. Cal went back to checking out the women at the tables, what he could see of them.

The Dew Drop had windows in the front, but the light only reached a couple of feet inside, given that Ingstrom didnt believe in wasting time on washing windows. The light fixtures had brass shades that effectively cut off at least two-thirds of their candlepower.

Cal squinted. Some of the tables were definitely occupied by women. Or bikers. Sometimes it was hard to tell. Definitely people with long hair.

Whos the brunette in the corner booth? He turned back to Wonder.

Wonder peered into the darkness. Morgan Barrett. Her father owns Cedar Creek winery. He picked up his Spaten. Nice lady. You want me to introduce you?

Cal squinted through the gloom again. Appealing face. Bright smile. Good figure, what he could see of it in the darkness. He considered Wonders offer, then sighed. No zing. Zing. Jesus, Toleffson, you are an idiot. No, thanks, he mumbled.

Wonder frowned. Jesus, Toleffson, you are an idiot. Thats the third time youve turned down one of my patented introductions. Are you gay, by any chance? Because I could change my focus here if it would help. I understand Phil Malloy just broke up with Dilly Burke.

Nope. Cal took a long pull on his Dos Equis, letting some cool brew slide down his throat. Thanks for the thought. Why this push to get me matched up with somebody anyway?