***
Erika held her breath, waiting to see if he would lean in and kiss her. She tried to convince herself she was relieved when he withdrew and turned his attention back to the dog. “Well, if you’re confident this is the dog you want, we may as well tell Violet. Are you sure you don’t want me to have a look at the other two you had your eye on?”
“That’s the thing about me,” he said, looking at her over his shoulder. “Once I make up my mind about what I want, I rarely change it.”
Clearly she was the exception to that rule, since he’d once claimed he wanted her and now he seemed totally indifferent. She told herself spending time in his company without worrying about him making a play for her was relieving, but she had to admit denying her attraction to him was difficult. No matter their history, she knew she would always be drawn to him. Because of that, she knew she should suggest he make alternative arrangements for his dog, but she sensed poor Skipper still missed the beloved owner he lost. She didn’t want to deny him the opportunity to be a part of their little canine family at the clinic.
“Okay, so let’s tell Violet the good news.” She led the way out of the office and tried to step aside as he dealt with the final paperwork and payment.
Skipper looked up at her with big, dark eyes, looking so hopeful and uncertain it broke her heart. She knew getting too attached to Evan’s dog would be a mistake, but her soft spot for animals made it impossible for her not to love a dog who’d endured a tragedy that turned his life upside down. He no doubt went from wide open spaces, being loyal to an owner that loved him and relied on him for constant companionship, to the loneliness and desolation of a small room with limited human contact.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “Evan’s a good guy. He’ll take good care of you, and when he can’t be with you, I promise you’ll love it at my clinic. I have a feeling you and my Chloe are going to be the best of friends.”
Evan smiled when he caught her talking to the dog. “Are you ready to go or do you two need another minute?”
She blushed as she got to her feet. “Ready when you are.” She waved to Violet before making her way to the door. Grateful for the blast of air that cooled her flaming cheeks, she said, “Why don’t you get the dog settled first?” She watched with horror as he reached in to the trunk and grabbed the blanket.
“Is there a problem?” he asked, looking at the plush brown blanket.
“Uh no, of course not,” she said, reaching for the door handle. How could he not remember they’d made love on that blanket out by the lake two years ago on the fourth of July? She knew it was the same one because it had a beige monogram in the corner.
After getting the dog settled, he climbed in to the driver’s seat. He shot her a curious look out of the corner of his eye. “You sure you’re okay?”
Erika fastened her seatbelt and folded her arms. She knew it was silly to get upset just because he didn’t remember the last time they’d used that blanket, but she couldn’t help but feel the sting. She hadn’t forgotten a single moment of their time together, yet he seemed to be able to put it out of his mind so easily. That night was the last time she’d felt truly connected to him. It was the summer before he took over as President of Titan and their relationship began its downward spiral.
They drove a few miles and the dog seemed content to settle in to the back seat and rest. “Are you sure nothing’s botherin’ you?” he asked when they eased to a stop at a traffic light.
Biting her tongue, she held out as long as she could. “You don’t remember the last time we used that blanket, do you?”
He frowned as he pressed the button to reduce the volume on the country music station they’d been listening to. “Uh, I’m not sure what you’re talkin’ about. You wanna fill me in?”
She hooked her thumb over her shoulder as she looked out the window. “I’m talkin’ about the blanket the dog’s sleepin’ on. That’s the same blanket we took out to the lake on the 4th.”
“You don’t think I know that?”
Erika sucked in a breath. She hadn’t expected him to remember and if he did, she didn’t expect him to come clean.
“You thought I’d forget?” He shook his head. “I haven’t forgotten a damn thing, Erika.” He looked angry when he said, “There are days when I wish I could. Days when I curse the memories goin’ round and round in my head.”
She knew the feeling. “I just thought…” She shrugged.
“I know what you thought. You thought you were the only one goin’ through hell towards the end of our relationship, but trust me, you weren’t. I may have spent every wakin’ moment at the office, puttin’ out one fire after another, but there’s nowhere else I would’ve rather been than at home makin’ love to you.”
Erika’s body responded to his words instantly as her mind conjured up images of those rare stolen moments when he reached for her in the middle of night.
He pulled in to the parking lot of her clinic and put the car in park before turning to face her. “I know I shut down. I stopped talkin’ to you because I felt like I was just makin’ excuses and I hated to see the disappointment in your eyes. I felt like I was failin’ you and I didn’t know how to make things better between us. I wanted to. God, you have no idea how much I wanted to, but I didn’t know how. Walkin’ away from Titan wasn’t any more of an option than walkin’ away from you.”
She knew it was difficult for a man like Evan to admit weakness, but perhaps if he’d said those things to her back then, they could have navigated the course together instead of drifting further apart.
“There’s no point talking about this now. What’s done is done.” She reached for the door handle. “I’m pretty tired. I think I’m just gonna pick up Chloe and head home.” She glanced in the backseat. The dog was resting, but his eyes followed her movements. “Are you guys gonna be okay?”
“I think so.” Evan reached in to the back seat to pet the dog’s head. “So, it’s okay if I bring him by while I’m at work tomorrow?”
“Sure, just keep in mind that the day hours are only eight ‘til eight. If you plan to work any later than that-”
“Don’t worry, that won’t be a problem. I’ll pick him up around six.”
She frowned. “Since when do you leave the office by six?”
He winked. “I told you I’m makin’ some changes. This is one of many.”
“If you say so,” she said, stepping out of the car.
“Hey,” he said, reaching for her arm. “Thanks for comin’ with me. I think Skip and I are gonna be life-long buddies.”
Erika smiled at his genuine enthusiasm as she was reminded of the man she fell in love with. “I’m sure you will. See you tomorrow, Ev.”
“You can count on it, Doc.”
Chapter Eleven
Evan walked into the clinic at promptly eight o’clock the next morning with Skipper walking obediently on a leash at his side. He was surprised to learn the dog already seemed to be well trained, but he still intended to sign up for classes. Any opportunity to spend more time at the clinic…
“Well, good morning,” Erika said, smiling at Skipper. “How was your first night in your new home, buddy?”
“Should I be offended that you didn’t even seem to notice there was a person at the other end of this leash?”
She chuckled. “Sorry about that. You know I’m better with animals than I am with people, Spencer.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” A salacious look crossed his face as he looked her up and down.
“Stop it,” she said, looking behind her to make sure no one overheard his comment. “This is my place of business.”
He laughed in the face of her mock outrage. “You look great.” She wore slim black dress pants, a black turtleneck, and high heeled black boots.
“Thanks,” she said. “I’m not usually crazy enough to wear black to work, but I’m speaking at a Chamber of Commerce meeting this morning and I wanted to look decent.”
She cleared her throat. “I don’t have a patient for a few minutes. Why don’t I walk you over and introduce you to the girls in the day care and grooming facility?”
“Speaking of grooming,” he said, following her through the pass way between the retail store and veterinary clinic. “I should book an appointment for him. I know they do their best at the shelter, but it probably wouldn’t hurt.”
“Good idea,” she said, leading him through the store. She waved to an employee stocking shelves as she made her way to the tall counter at the back of the store. A sign advertised the grooming, day care, and boarding services they provided.
“How was your first night with Skipper?” she asked, propping her elbow on the counter as she waited for one of her employees to appear.
“It was great,” Evan said, patting the dog’s head. “I got him a nice big cushion and he slept right beside my bed.”
Erika smiled when she noticed the dog practically drooling over the packaged doggie treats on a high shelf. “Would you like a treat?” she asked, reaching in to a large glass bowl on the counter. “Do you mind?” she asked Evan.
“Of course not.”
She stood directly in front of the dog with her closed hand containing the treat just above his head. “Sit,” she instructed firmly. When he did as she asked, she said, “Good boy,” enthusiastically and offered him the treat.
“It looks like he’s already had some basic obedience training. That’s not surprising, given his age. I hope you don’t mind, but I called the shelter when I got in the car last night. I needed Skipper’s file since he was going to attend day care. We needed to make sure he was up to date on all of his shots. The shelter always takes care of that, but we also had to make sure there weren’t any behavioral issues we needed to be aware of.”
“No, I don’t mind at all. Did everything check out?”
“It did,” she said, patting the dog’s head when he started sniffing the hand that had contained the treat. “In fact, they had the dog’s medical file. The family signed a release when they surrendered the dog so his next vet would have a copy of the dog’s history.” She hesitated. “You didn’t say if you’d like me to be Skipper’s vet…”
He chuckled. “I thought that would be pretty obvious.”
There was still some lingering discomfort as they tried to define the parameters of their new relationship, but Evan was confident that would get easier with every passing day. As soon as she saw the changes he’d already implemented, she’d be forced to acknowledge that he wasn’t the same man she’d walked out on.
“In that case, why don’t you set up an appointment with my receptionist? I’d like to give him a thorough examination to make sure we haven’t overlooked anything. The vet at the shelter, Dr. Roberts, is excellent, but I know how busy he is. He doesn’t have the time or financial resources to address every little issue.”
“Whatever you think Skip needs. You’re the boss.”
Before Erika could respond, a middle aged woman wearing pink scrubs came out of the back. “Oh, I’m so sorry to keep you waiting, Dr. Carlton. Jessica called in sick and we’re a bit short staffed.”
Erika smiled. “It’s no problem, Bernice. We weren’t waiting long.” She raised her hand. “This is my…” her eyes locked with Evan’s, “friend, Evan Spencer, and his new dog, Skipper. Evan works long hours, so Skip’s going to spend his days here with us.”
Evan tried to ignore the irritation that accompanied her comment. He’d been her boyfriend, her lover. He didn’t want to be just her friend. Forcing a tight smile, he offered his hand to the woman behind the desk. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Bernice.”
“You as well, Mr. Spencer.”
“Please, call me Evan.”
“Okay, Evan.” She came around the desk and crouched down in front of Skipper, allowing him to sniff her until he tired of the exercise. “I’ve always loved Irish Setters. They’re such beautiful dogs, aren’t they?”
“That they are,” Evan said. “Do you need me to fill out some paperwork before you take Skipper?”
“Actually, we can take care of that at the end of the day, Evan,” Erika said. “Just remember, we close at eight.”
“You leave at eight as well?” he asked, turning to face her.
“Uh, I try to be out of here by six, unless there’s an emergency.”
He grinned as he bent to pet his dog. “In that case, I’ll see you at six, Doc. Have a great day.” He could feel her eyes on him as he walked through the store. For the first time in a long time, he whistled as he stepped out in to the early morning sunshine.
***
When Evan walked through the door promptly at six that evening, looking every bit as gorgeous as he had when he left, Erika had to admit she was beginning to believe he was trying to change.
“How was your day?” he asked, leaning on the counter.
She caught a hint of his familiar scent and wanted to lean in closer… to bury her face in his neck…
He laughed. “Your mind somewhere else, Doc?”
“Sorry, I was…” Just thinking about taking you back to my office and…
“How’d your meetin’ go? Productive?”
“Yeah.” She took a deep breath, hoping she appeared more composed than she felt. She knew she was doing a terrible job of hiding her attraction to him, but when he was attentive, Evan Spencer was difficult to resist. “It was good.”
“You ready to call it a day?” he asked, watching her collect her coat and purse.
“I am.”
“You wanna take the dogs across the street to the park for a bit? I want to talk to you about something.”
“Um…” She knew spending any more time with him outside of her clinic was a bad idea, but the thought of going home to an empty house and boxed dinner held even less appeal. “I need to grab a bite to eat. I haven’t had a chance to slow down all day.”
He frowned. “You skipped lunch?”
“Yeah, I guess I did.”
“Why don’t you grab the dogs? I’ll meet you at the park in ten minutes.”
“But…” Before she could protest, he was out the door. Sighing, she made her way over to the store to collect their canine companions. “Hey, Tracey,” she said, smiling at the high school girl she’d hired to cover the evening and weekend shifts.
“Hey, Dr. Carlton,” she said, setting aside the cloth she’d been using to wipe down the counter. “You here to pick up Chloe?”
“And Skipper.”
“Mr. Spencer’s a friend of yours?” She giggled as she waved a hand in front of her face. “I don’t usually go for older guys, but he is seriously hot.”
Erika could laugh at her accurate assessment because she knew Evan would never look twice at the teenager. “I can’t argue with that, but when did you see him?”
“I had a spare period this afternoon, so I came in to cover for Bernice while she went to the dentist. Mr. Spencer came in to check on Skipper and pre-pay for his daycare. He took the six month package, so it looks like he’s going to be a regular fixture around here.”
“Hmm,” Erika said, trying to pretend she wasn’t the least bit interested in Evan’s plans. “That’s nice. He works long hours, so it’ll be nice for Skipper to have some company during the day.”
“So…” Tracey said, propping her chin in her hand as she leaned her elbow on the counter, “has he got a girlfriend, or what?”
“Not anymore.” She knew it shouldn’t hurt to say that, but he had been hers for so many years, it still stung to admit he was a free agent now.
“So, are you guys, you know, hooking up?”
Had another one of her employees asked that question, Erika would have been offended, but she knew the innocence of youth motivated the question, so she let it go. “No, we’re just friends.”
�
�Awww, that’s too bad. Guys like that don’t come along every day, Doc. And if they do, they’re always married.”
Erika didn’t even want to know how the young girl had so much insight into the opposite sex. She tried to refrain from getting involved in her employees’ personal lives. “How was Skipper’s first day?” she asked, hoping Tracey would take the hint that the subject of Evan was officially off limits.
“Bernice said he had a great day. Apparently, he and Chloe have been inseparable.”
Great, her dog was falling in love. If only she could make her understand it was bound to end in heartbreak. “That’s nice. Would you mind getting them for me? I have to meet Evan across the street in a few minutes.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Erika wandered around, admiring the neatly stacked, colorful items. The retail store was her idea, and it was a huge success, nearly doubling their revenue in the first year.
“Here are the lovebirds,” Tracey said, giggling. “Look at them. How cute is that?”
Chloe reached up to nuzzle Skipper’s neck and he seemed more than willing to oblige. “Yeah, adorable.” It gave her flashbacks of the last time she’d been intimate with Skip’s master. “Have a good night, Trace.”
“You too, Doc,” she said, waving.
Evan was sitting on the park bench, smiling as he watched two Labrador puppies chase each other around the wide open space.
The puppies’ owner, a pretty brunette, said something to Evan and he threw his head back and laughed, making Erika’s gut clench. Women had always bent over backwards to get Evan’s attention. It never bothered her before because she knew he was hers, but the rules of the game had changed and she had to figure out how to adjust.
Waiting for a break in the traffic, she ran across the street, struggling to keep both dogs running at the same pace. It was a difficult feat for Chloe, because of her short legs, but she made a valiant effort.
“There you are,” Evan said, getting to his feet. He smiled as he walked toward her.
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