Page 58 of Holiday Unscripted
“Noted,” I deadpan, opening the door for her and waiting for her to walk out. “See? Chivalry.”
She rolls her eyes at me as she follows me to the truck. “Do you want me to open the door for you?” I ask her as she reaches for the handle.
“A gentleman would have just done it and not asked,” she throws over her shoulder, getting in the truck.
I get into the truck and start it as she rubs her hands together. “You cold?”
“It’s not as cold as it was yesterday,” she replies and I look out to see little snowflakes falling as I take off toward my clinic.
Seeing the sign for Paws & Claws, I pull into the parking lot and head to the back where I park. Two other cars are in the parking lot, one Chloe’s and the other Benny’s, who is the receptionist and vet tech intern. I get out of the truck and meet Elizabeth at the back, the snow coming down a little bit heavier now. “Wow, so this is where the magic happens?” She looks around, seeing the brown one-story building with green roof.
“You should know, the magic happens in my bedroom,” I tease, and when she snorts, I wink at her. She pushes my shoulder, and I grab her hand, walking to the brown door, pulling it open, and stepping inside. In the small space there are four pairs of boots, along with five pairs of inside shoes. I shrug off my jacket and hang it on an available hook, while I kick off my boots and slip into my work Crocs.
Elizabeth stomps her shoes and then rubs them on the carpet. “Are there slippers I could wear?” I point to my second set of Crocs as she kicks her boot off and then slides into them. Her feet look like they are being swallowed by them. I open the white door and step into what I call, command central. There are two long stainless steel tables in the middle of the room and a long counter desk in front of the tables. All around the room are counter spaces to work on and drawers under them where we store all medications and supplies we keep locked up.
“Hey,” I greet, and Chloe looks up at me, a big smile filling her face.
“Hey yourself,” she says and the smile on her face fades as she sees Elizabeth behind me. “Um.” She tries to cover up the fade and then gives me the same smile.
“Chloe,” I say to her, “this is Elizabeth. Joshua’s sister.”
“Oh,” she replies and she quickly now changes the smile back to the one she gave me when I walked in. “Hi.” She walks over to Elizabeth and extends her hand. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Elizabeth holds out her hand and smiles at her.
“So,” Chloe asks, “how is the wedding prep coming along?”
“It’s almost over,” I answer, walking over to where we keep the charts. “What do we have?” I pick up Bruno’s chart.
“Mr. Milioti said he started acting funny this morning and then started throwing up, so he brought him in. X-ray shows there is something.” Chloe comes to stand next to me. “He’s blocked right there.” She points to the scan. “Because of where it’s sitting, we can’t give him any meds.”
“I’m going to have to go in and remove them,” I state and then look to Elizabeth. “It should take me about an hour.”
“I’m good,” she assures, looking around and then going over to the six crates we have piled up with two cats in them. “Hi,” she coos to the cats and sticks her hand in. One of them swats at her. “I like you the best,” she tells the cat. “Zero fucks to give, I get it.”
I walk to my office. “Want to see my office?” I ask her and she follows me in and then shuts the door. Only when it’s closed do I push her against the door and do what I’ve been wanting to do for the last hour. I hold her chin in my hand and my lips touch hers. Her mouth opens and her tongue slides out to meet mine. Her hands grip my sides, pulling me closer to her. The hand at her chin now slides into her hair as I turn my head to the side and the kiss deepens.
“Is this why you want me to see your office?” She smiles up at me after I let go of the kiss.
“No,” I deny and then kick off my Crocs and then peel off my pants.
“I’m not having sex with you in your office with your staff members right outside this door.” She folds her arms over her chest. “Especially since Chloe is for sure in love with you.”
I stop midway to taking off my sweater. “She’s my technician,” I say softly.
“So, people don’t fall in love with people they work with?” she asks me and my eyebrows go up.
“Did you ever fall in love with someone you work or worked with?” I don’t even know why that statement bothers me, but it does.
“No”—she shakes her head—“because I know not to shit where I eat.”
I peel the sweater over my head and toss it to the side. Her eyes get heavy with lust as she gives me an up-and-down look. “You are going to have to wait,” I tell her as I put a clean pair of scrubs on, “until later.”
“I think I can contain myself.” She holds up two hands. “Do I have to change to come in the room with you?”
“You really want to come in the room with me?”
“Well, yeah.” She crosses her arms at the hem of her own sweater and pulls it up and over her head, leaving her with black leggings and a black lace bra. I lick my lips. “You’re going to have to wait”—she points at me, peeling her leggings over her hips and down her legs—“until later.”
