Animal Instincts (Gilded Knights Series Book 3)

by Emilia Finn

  “But you’re taken,” she continues. “And he’s mostly respectful, so now I don’t have to worry about you quitting so soon.”

  “Uh… right.” The phone rings and draws my eyes down to the switchboard with a single red flashing light. “I should—”

  “You should get that,” she teases. “Totally.”

  Nodding, part of me thinks I’m in shock. Twenty minutes ago, I was unemployed. Now, suddenly, I’m sitting back in Martha’s chair, with a semi-formal job offer, a trilling phone, and a boss who is ‘mostly respectful.’

  “Lakeside Animal Hospital,” I murmur the second I bring the phone to my ear. “This is Tabitha speaking.”

  “Hello,” an older woman’s voice drones in my ear. “I need to bring my George in to see the doctor. Can you fit me in?”

  “Uh…” Shaking away my shock, I grab the computer mouse once more and search for Beckett’s calendar.

  It’s a damn mess. Some days are double, even triple-booked, and others, he has hours and hours open with nothing to do.

  I search for his next availability, click to open the box, then I perch the phone between my ear and shoulder and begin typing. “Dr. Rosa is open on Wednesday afternoon at two. Does that work for you?”

  “That’s perfect,” the old voice confirms.

  “Great, and you’ve been here before?”

  “Of course.” She rattles off her name, her phone number, and when I completely blank, her pet’s name too.

  I type it all up, fill the calendar with all the information it asks for—not just a first name or initials, like the rest of his calendar seems to sport—then when I hang up, I’m met again with Andi’s smug grin.

  “I guess you’re all set.” She fastens Nacho’s leash around her hand and stands tall. “I don’t work here. I’ve never worked here,” she laughs. “But I have a couple of pets, so I’ve been in and out over the last couple years. If you need any help, you can hit me up. My phone number is in the system. Probably under Nacho’s name.”

  “Okay…”

  “But I have to go for now. I have my own clients to see to, and a pig who needs to go home.”

  “She’s cute.” I look down and meet the eyes of the pink-snouted pig. “I’m glad she’s feeling better.”

  “All thanks to you. Alright, I’m out.” She taps her hand on the doorframe and pushes away. “Don’t forget to pay everyone’s salaries. And make sure Rosa doesn’t walk all over you. He doesn’t mean to, but he’s one of six siblings, which means all his life, he’s had to be loud and demanding to get attention. It’s the only way he knows how.”

  “Okay.”

  “And if Carmel comes back, watch her claws. She’s one of those types.”

  “Yeah, I already met her once. I got that.”

  “Other than that, good luck, and congratulations on your new job.”

  “Thanks…” I don’t know if it’s a question or a statement. But my racing heart says nothing about this job is going to be smooth or easy. “See ya.”

  “Bye!” Andi leads Nacho away from my door and into the hall. Then through the waiting room, and out the heavy glass door.

  A moment later the phone rings, and I’m put to work.

  “Lakeside Animal Hospital. This is Tabitha speaking.”

  “I got the job,” I whisper into my phone a few hours after it first rang and Beckett’s voice came through the earpiece. Now, I’m speaking to Mark, and stuffing down a candy bar I found in my new desk drawers. I didn’t pack a lunch this morning, obviously, considering I had no clue I had the job. But the clock now teases three o’clock, and my stomach is aching in response.

  I chew while I speak. “Babe, he called me back a little before noon and offered the job.”

  “And you’ve already started?” Mark is sitting in traffic, his music on low, the cars around him providing a lulling white noise. “That was quick, Tab.”

  “Yeah, I guess he was desperate. The other woman he hired over me didn’t work out, and he’s been in surgery most of the day otherwise. He needed someone in here.”

  I manage to eat, talk on the phone, and still skim a how-to tutorial online about the payroll system Beckett uses. It seems straightforward enough; select employees, run pay, declare to the IRS, send pay slip emails. Then log in to the business bank account and transfer money.

  But for me to be able to select myself, I need to create myself in the system. So then I jump to that tutorial and continue reading.

  “I’m not working with the animals yet, but this is still exciting,” I tell Mark. “I’ll get his office straightened out so it becomes an almost auto system thing, then I’ll inch toward that operating room. He won’t even notice the intrusion.”

  Humored, Mark laughs on his end and, no doubt, shakes his head. “That’s my girl. You know what you want, and there’s no changing your mind.”

  “I spent years in college for this,” I counter. “I spent years at my old clinic, working with sick animals. This is what I want to do with my life, Mark, and short of opening my own practice in this tiny town, I have to play ball with the overly loud and confident Dr. Rosa. I’m willing to cooperate for now.”

  “Like I said,” he replies. “That’s my girl. How’s your first day been so far? Is the dude nice?”

  “I haven’t seen him except for those first few minutes when I arrived. He’s nice enough, though it’s not surprising the last assistant didn’t work out; he just tosses a computer at us and tells us to figure it out, and the last chick didn’t have more than a couple brain cells to mash together, so, ya know, this was coming.”

  “Harsh.” Chuckling, Mark’s voice turns a little louder as he drives faster. “You sound awfully judgy over there, Tab. Cranky?”

  “Ugh.” I sit back in my seat and groan. “You’re right. I’ve been so pissy ever since my interview here. I judged the applicants then because I was so sure the job was mine. Then when I didn’t get it, I got mean.”

  “Well, now you have the job.”

  “Which means I need to get off my soapbox about the former applicants.”

  Mark sniggers. “Potentially.”

  “You’re right,” I sigh. “Of course you are.”

  “Stranger things have happened. So, listen, I—”

  “Tabitha?” At Beckett’s call, my spine snaps straight and my heart races. “Can you come here a sec?”

  “I’ve gotta go!” I whisper-hiss at Mark. “The boss is calling.”

  “Okay. Have fun, babe. And I’ll see you in a couple weeks.”

  “I’ll call you tonight.” Without waiting for a response, I end our call and drop my phone into my top drawer—a drawer I’ve yet to organize.

  Popping up from my chair, I grab a pen and notepad, and race along the hall to skid to a stop outside Beckett’s examination room. “I’m here.”

  His head snaps up fast, and when our eyes meet, his look stunned. “That was quick.”

  “It’s a two-second run.” I paste on a smile and prepare my pen. “What do you need?”

  “Food.”

  My brows wing high. “You’re hungry? I can get you—”

  “Not right now.” Beckett stands over an intubated torty, but he’s done with her, successful in his surgery, and moves to the stainless-steel sink to wash his hands. “Dinner tonight.”

  “Oh… um…”

  “I just need you—”

  “I don’t mean to make this weird,” I cut in quickly. My pulse sprints and makes my blood race with it. “I made assumptions about you when we first met. I saw all those women in your waiting room, and I’m certain Carmel enjoyed the view while she was here. But I feel it right that I mention straight up that one, I have a boyfriend. But two, even if I didn’t, I’m not interested in anything but a professional relationship with you, Dr. Rosa. I don’t want dinner meetings, I don’t want ‘team building’ weekends. I don’t want us to have to attend seminars together and be forced to do the hotel room shuffle.”

  Beck
ett stops the rush of water and glances across at me.

  “I want nothing to get muddied up here. I don’t want us to have some weird, underlying chemistry. No stolen glances. No lingering looks. And especially no sneaky grabs while moving along a hallway. I just want a job,” I plead. “And eventually, I want to be in here,” I point toward the cat. “With you when you operate.”

  “Well…” Grabbing paper towels, Beckett wipes his hands and bobs his head in thought. “I appreciate how open and upfront you are on the topic. However,” he adds with a smirk, “I kinda need you to make the booking for tonight anyway. For me and someone else.”

  “For you and s—” A furious blush fills my cheeks and brings my eyes down to my feet. Oh my god. Oh my god! “Of course. Anywhere in particular?”

  Chuckling, Beckett swaggers toward me and stops so he stands three feet away, but his shoes are all I allow myself to see. “Tabitha?”

  “Uh huh?” I keep my eyes down. My pen and paper at the ready. “I’m waiting for your instructions.”

  “There’s a place in town. Pinocchio’s,” he snickers. “Good Italian food, nice atmosphere, they know me by name. Please call and have them reserve a table for two.”

  “Of course.” I hardly need to write this down, but I force myself to anyway, because that’s a million times more preferable than looking this man in the eye. “I’ll get that done right away.”

  “Thank you, Tabby.” Taunting, Beckett makes his way back to the cat on the table. “Did you get payroll figured out?”

  “Um… yes. For the most part. I can pay you and Carmel right away. I’ll get myself set up in the system before the end of the month so I can pay myself on the next round.”

  “Good work. If you don’t pay me, I won’t be able to buy dinner tonight. For you or anyone else.”

  “Oh god.” I turn away and hurry into the hall. “Forget I said anything.”

  “Stop!” Cackling, Beckett follows me into the hall. “It’s funny!”

  “It’s not funny.” I move into my new office and plop down in my still-warm chair.

  “For the rest of time,” Beckett stops by my door, “you’ll be Tabitha, the owner of the hotel room shuffle, longing glances, and sneaky grabs in the hall.”

  “I was trying to be honest!” I cry out and snatch up the phone as Beckett walks away. “I was trying to start us off with clear expectations.” I tap my computer keyboard and type in ‘Pinocchio’s’. “You’re obviously aware of the way women act around you, so I wanted it on record that that’s not what’s happening here.” When I find the number on my screen, I start dialing and wait as the call rings. “I didn’t want you to think I was another one of those women!”

  “Pinocchio’s. How can I help you?”

  “Hello?” Frantic, I cling to the voice on the other end of this line. “Hi, this is Tabitha calling from Lakeside Animal Hospital. I need to book a table for two for Dr. Rosa.”

  “Of course,” the hostess hums low on her breath. “For tonight?”

  “Yes please. He said you know his name.”

  “We do,” the woman chitters. “Is seven o’clock suitable?”

  “Ah…” Is it? I don’t know. I didn’t ask. “Sure. Seven is perfect.”

  “Done. We look forward to seeing Dr. Rosa at seven tonight.”

  “Great, thanks.”

  I tap at the keys on my computer and move to the calendar, then I type in Beckett’s newest engagement. I have no clue if the guy actually checks his calendar, but I do, and if for no one else, I’d like to keep the damn thing current so I know where he needs to be.

  Hanging up the phone, I call out, since the waiting room is empty, “I’ve booked you in for seven o’clock.”

  “Thanks.” His voice is too quiet, too close, making me startle and spin in my chair to find my boss leaning against the doorframe once more. “Seven will do just fine,” he murmurs with far too much arrogance dripping from his tone. “Can you text Gale and let her know where and when? She’s in my cell, the passcode is my birthday.” He doesn’t tell me his birthday. Instead, he’s testing me and forcing me to search for the information. “Pretend you’re me, tell her Pinocchio’s at seven. Then can you text Jana and tell her I’m busy tonight, but that I’ll call her tomorrow?”

  I lift a single brow and accept the cell he takes from his pants pocket. “I’m to also organize your dating life?”

  “You’re here to organize my life, full stop,” he counters. “Whatever that means. And Patricia is going to be okay, in case you were wondering.”

  Puzzled, I look around my small office space. “Patricia is another woman in your harem of females?”

  “No.” He wipes a broad hand over his jaw to mask his smile. “Patricia is the poor torty whose uterus had given up on her. She’s resting now, but she’ll wake in the next little bit. I’ll call her owners soon and discuss it with them.”

  “Oh…” My stomach gives a nervous jump. “Okay. You don’t want me to call them?”

  “Usually I would. But this one is unique, so I’ll take care of it myself. Her owners are assholes, and it’s gonna be tricky.”

  “By tricky, you mean they’ll be reluctant to pay for the surgery you just performed for most of a day?”

  “Bingo.” He nods over my shoulder. “I notice you’ve cleared out my waiting room.”

  “Yeah.” I glance across the top of my desk to the empty seats. “I knew you’d be busy awhile, so I rescheduled those who were waiting. I called those who were in your calendar. And there’s only been two other walk-ins. So I got them booked for tomorrow and the next day. All fixed.”

  Relieved, Beckett draws a deep breath and slumps against the doorframe. “That feels better already.”

  “What?”

  I may not want to date the guy—or, ya know, do the things other women want to do to him—but that doesn’t make him any less handsome. Or noticeable.

  Beckett Rosa… my new boss… is still as tall as my first impression had me believe. Six three, I’d say. Perhaps six four, but that may be a stretch. His hair is neat and trimmed, but not ‘trimmed yesterday’ neat. His five o’clock shadow isn’t an accident, but rather a grooming technique the guy has no doubt mastered in his last few years as an adult. His eyes are a dark shade of green one might find in a forest near dusk, and when he smiles—which is often, despite the fact we’ve barely talked without arguing—his teeth are Colgate shiny and straight.

  The guy also has muscle. Not so much that he looks like he’d win in a fight against someone angry or skilled enough to do better, but certainly enough to prove he uses his membership at a local GloboGym.

  “Having my life organized.” Beckett finally supplies an answer to my long-forgotten question.

  When I lift a brow in confusion, he adds, “Having someone take care of my calendar without needing me to micromanage them, having someone micromanage me and not need handholding to get the job done. Did you know I asked Carmel to make that same call to Pinocchio’s this morning?”

  He waits for an answer, as though I have one to give. “She said she would when I wasn’t busy and got a minute to tell her their phone number.”

  I grit my teeth and exhale. “She’s a real self-starter, I see. Never heard of Google?”

  “Obviously not.” He drops his head back against the doorframe. “And I’m not even so proud that I’ll care if you say you told me so. You’re here now, and this is where you’ll stay.”

  “Unless I become crappy at my job.”

  “At which point, you’ll be doing so to hurt me, and not because you’re actually crappy at your job.”

  Smiling, I turn back to my computer and feign busyness. “As long as you understand me.”

  “Yup. Hey, Tabby? Can I ask you a question?”

  “Um…” I look around the empty clinic, the silence but for a few quiet yips from puppies somewhere in the building. Soon, I’ll leave this desk and take myself on a tour to see my new workspace, but right this minute
, I stay glued to my chair and wait with bated breath. “Sure. What’s your question?”

  “Will you go out to dinner with me?”

  “Argh!” I spin and toss a pencil at my brand new boss’ head. “Don’t be a jerk!”

  He howls with laughter and skips away when the phones ring. “Get that, wench. Keep being the organizer of chaos. Maybe someday, I’ll make a booking for you and your fictitious boyfriend.”

  “Fictitious?” I wrench my neck in an attempt to catch sight of Beckett-the-jerk-Rosa. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Phones!”

  “Ugh!” Grunting, I spin back and snatch up the phone. “Lakeside Animal Hospital, this is Tabitha speaking.”

  Tabitha

  My new life

  At the end of my first day—later, really, because Beckett stays longer with his patients than his calendar allows; something I will factor in for future appointments—at a little past six, I push up from my desk with a groan and reach high into the sky to work through a yawn and the aches in my bones.

  For such a small town, an empty waiting room, and an unorganized calendar, Beckett Rosa really is extraordinarily busy, a one-man show… er, practice.

  At a little after five, I Googled the phone system in front of me and learned how to set it on answering machine, then when I tested the machine and heard the voice of someone that may have hailed from nineteen-seventy-three, I recorded something fresh and new. Professional, to the point, and informative, but still fresh and new.

  After setting the machine to catch any overnight calls, and informing callers of Dr. Rosa’s private number for medical emergencies, I switch my computer off, but not before syncing the calendar to my phone and logging in to the clinic’s email so I can monitor things even when I’m not here.

  I’ve paid Beckett, I paid Carmel a full month on Beckett’s request, and when she turned back up to work with fresh nails and a pep to her step at a little after four, I had the pleasure of gently letting her know that the practice was going in a new direction as far as front-house staff were concerned.

  Beckett had to save me from having my face scratched to hell and back. It’s safe to say Tits&Ass from my right is not happy with how today went for her.