Page 53 of Taming Georgia

He raises a hand as if swearing an oath. “Nope. Definitely me.”

If I wasn’t so pissed, I’d laugh.

“Shut up already. It wasn’t you.” I roll my eyes. “But you know who it was, don’t you?”

He doesn’t answer.

“Boss, how about you go do your office stuff? I’ll check all the kennels,” he tells me.

“It was the new guy, wasn’t it?”

“If you don’t want him to bethat new guy who quit, let me talk to him. It’s his first day on his own. Cut him some slack,” Xavier tells me.

“New or not, he has to follow protocol, or dogs will get hurt,” I say, more than annoyed.

He places his hand on my chest. “I get it, but you need to chill. You’ve been stomping around here like a toddler who was told he couldn’t have dessert until he ate his vegetables. You don’t pay these guys millions to clean up shit. So, don’t expect them to stick around with your attitude.”

“They knew what to expect when they were hired. I’ve never pretended to be nice. I’m not Ethel.”

“Yeah, well, let’s just say you’ve been a bigger asshole than usual lately. Where is Ethel anyway? We prefer working with her.”

“She’s at a doctor’s appointment. She’ll be back later.”

“Well, we anxiously await her arrival. Until then, how about you go to the office and find a dog to rescue or make some appointments with adopters? We’ll handle everything down here.”

“Fine.” I frown. “But you tell the new guy to remember the fucking clips.”

“Aye, aye, sir.” Xavier brings his hand to his head in a salute.

“Can you stop being an idiot?” The corner of my lip turns up.

“I don’t know. Can you stop being a dick?”

“Probably not,” I answer truthfully.

“Then, I can’t stop being an idiot either.” He shrugs.

I let out a sigh. “Get back to work.”

“Sir! Yes, sir!” he chants, saluting me once more.

This time, I do laugh.

Before I’ve gone too far, Xavier says, “Oh, Wyatt?”

“Yeah?”

“You know you can call her. She’d come back.”

I stare at him, unsure of how to respond.

Moments pass, and I don’t say anything before I walk away.

“Hey, how’d it go?” I ask Ethel when she gets back from her appointment.

“Good. You know, just getting all that yearly girlie stuff done.”

“Um, I don’t know, and I don’t want to know about any of those procedures.”

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