Page 8 of Silver Secrets

“I don’t know, Court. Maybe he would have volunteered to give you a bath.” Sloane felt the air moving around her right before the towel hit her in the back of her head.

“Would youshhhhwith that! I mean, I know it’s obvious I’ve got a crush on the man, but that doesn’t mean he feels the same way. And Ellie doesn’t need to know her one full-time employee is drooling over her baby boy.”

“Court, anyone with working vision can see that man drools over you. Including Ellie.”

“Yeah, well, drooling is no good if he won’t act on his feelings. I’m solidly in the friend-zone and I have no idea how to get out.”

Sloane turned on the water, running her fingers under the spout to make sure the temperature wasn’t too hot for her furry buddy before switching the stream over to the handheld shower head.

“You could make the first move. Invite him to something. Oh! You’re coming to the 5K run with us, right? Maybe you could invite Elias to that.”

Courtney pulled in her bottom lip and let it rake between her teeth. “I’m definitely going. Can’t imagine not turning up to something Lily organized. But I’m not sure I have enough courage to ask. I barely put together a cohesive sentence to ask him how his work trip went.”

“Where was he again?”

“New York. Something about a new algorithm he created for the logging industry that’s helping save more trees? I smiled and tried to act like I knew what he was talking about.”

“That’s right. I forgot Ellie told me about that. You know, the race is going through the forest. You could drop back and ask him some forestry questions. Get lost in the flora and fauna all around you.”

“You are terrible, Sloane.”

She pressed her wet hand against her chest and pretended to be hurt. “I’m just trying to help a friend out.”

“Yeah, well who’s teaching you about all the flora and fauna Texas has to offer? I noticed you’ve been volunteering at a different time this week than you usually do. Is that so you can avoid seeing a certain SEAL?”

Bingo.She’d absolutely been doing her best to avoid seeing Gage since her self-defense class freak out. Not that it was working. She’d randomly seen him more that week than she would have if she’d just stuck to her normal routine. “No. I’m not avoiding Gage. In fact, I saw him at Dolly’s before I came here. I just had a few clients who needed to change their meeting times, and this new schedule works better for me.”

“So you wouldn’t be mad if Ellie switched my time with his for Tuesday?”

“She didn’t!”

“She did.”

Sloane sighed, wiping her brow with her sleeve. “No, I’m not upset. Gage is my friend, and he’s good with the animals. It’s fine.”

“If you say so.”

“I do. And I say we should get Elias to join us.”

“Get Elias to join you guys for what? If it’s dog washing duty, I’m afraid I’m going to have to pass, ladies. Not because I don’t want to help,” he added as his cheeks flamed red. Sloane noticed Courtney’s giggle as her own cheeks went red as well. “But Mom has me on skunk watch until Doc LeMott gets here.”

“If you’re on skunk duty, what are you doing in here?” Sloane asked.

“Had to grab the phone. Mom’s died and she wants a way to harass… I mean encourage… the oldest vet in the world to hurry over here.”

Both Courtney and Sloane laughed at that. Ellie could be a fierce foe to contend with, and Sloane was sure the slow-as-molasses eighty year old vet was doing his best not to have to deal with her wrath.

“So,” Elias slipped the phone into his pocket as Sloane flipped off the water, draping a towel over Darius’s body before he could start his shake-dry routine all over again. “What were you going to invite me to?”

His eyes never left Courtney’s. Yeah, he clearly wasn’t interested in her friend. Sloane coughed to cover up her snicker.

“Oh, Sloane mentioned the charity 5K that the guys at Montgomery Defense are sponsoring for the new clinic in town. They invited me to run with them. I thought… maybe… I mean if you’re even going to be here… that you could…”

“Yeah. I’d love to go. Will you text me the details?”

“Um, yeah. I can do that.”

“Great. I better get this phone out to my mom. Don’t work too hard in here, ladies.”

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