Page 15 of Between Us

Staring down at her, offense clear across my face, I have to fight the tug on my own lips to not mimic hers. “What is that supposed to mean? I’m going to school to be a veterinarian.”

She tilts her head, giving me a long once over. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

“Uh.Yeah. It means that I’m obviously willing to do what I need to do, to get the job done.”

A slow, saccharine smile spreads across her lips. “Is that so?”

Cautiously, I nod but I feel like I’ve stepped right into the trap she placed perfectly for me.

“Well, if that’s the case, there’s something I couldreallyuse help with.”

“I should probably find Mic—”

“He’s going to be about fifteen minutes late, so just enough time for you to do this one,littlefavor for me.”

“Fine,” I answer slowly. “What is it?”

“Great, you’ve already agreed. No givebacks.” She points and squints at me.

I’m ready to run in the other direction until her expression morphs into pouty lips and innocent doe eyes that I just know mean trouble from her. But she is damn gorgeous. I think I’d follow her through the gates of Hell if she looked at me like that again.

“There’s a mess in room four. Benji the Beagle had diarrhea.Again. Poor thing just can’t stay out of Terry the Tabby’s litter box.”

“That sounds… disgusting,” I shudder. “And do you always refer to the patients by their name and breed?”

“No,” she snorts derisively. “But if Polly the Pain in My Ass comes in and you don’t use the ‘proper names’ for her ‘fur babies’ she’ll leave a one-star review on Google.”

I pick up on the nickname from the woman she was on the phone with last week and shake my head. “Are you speaking from experience?”

A soft pink paints her cheeks, but she doesn’t answer. Instead, she offers me a keychain and a smug reply, “That unlocks the supply closet.”

I grab the keys and cross my arms, looking down at her in the desk chair. “Let me get this straight. You don’t want to clean the dog crap off the floor—”

“And exam table,” she grimaces.

“Awesome. So instead of doing what your dad probably asked you to, you’re pawning it off on me?”

As soon as I’m done talking, the bell over the door rings, and we turn to see a woman walking in two large greyhounds. “Oh, would you look at that?” she notes. “Not only did youalreadyagree, but I have to help this owner.”

Turning back to her, I shake my head again and push off the desk chuckling. “You’re going to pay for that, Miller.” I walk back to the lockers and supply closet, finishing the cleanup right as Mick arrives.

He apologizes for being late again, but I cut him off before he can feel too guilty about it. He told me last week that his daughter isn’t only sick, but she’s currently going through a second round of chemo.

I understand priorities, and that’s clearly the top one.

And if I’m being honest, there’s a selfish part of me that loves getting a few minutes to talk to Blake. We’ve been too busy the last two days we worked together, and her job doesn’t bring her to the back very often.

That ten minutes we just shared will most likely have to hold me over for another week before I get more of her snarky attitude.

Chapter Seven

Blake

Tryingtousethecomputer screen as a shield, I discreetly peek over the top to watch as Mary—the woman with the two greyhounds that came in about an hour ago—leans forward and squeezes Adrian’s forearm.Again.It’s probably the third time she’s done that since I introduced them so he could walk her back.

It’s no secret around here that alotof the PTA moms from the ritzier neighborhood, Aurora Hills, are suddenly in need of a new pool boy. In the roughly six or seven shifts he’s worked, this isn’t the first time that one of them has stayed after their appointment just tochat. And I’m sure it won’t be the last.

He’s been working here for two weeks, exactly, and this is the second time I’ve watched this scenario play out. Olivia—our workplace gossip queen—told me that the other receptionists have mentioned it too.

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