Page 277 of Love Bites

“Hi,” Mona said, all polish and business. “Can I help you?”

I heard a sniff, then a deep, all too familiar voice. “I need to talk to Violet.”

I closed my eyes and groaned mentally. Why him? Why now?

“She’s unavailable at the moment,” Mona said without hesitation. “Can I take a message for her?”

“Okay.” I could hear the grin in Doc’s tone. “But isn’t that Violet under her desk?”

Mona shuffled her feet. “It might look that way, but—”

“I’m coming out now, Mona.” I crawled out under the fluorescent lights and hauled my sorry ass to my feet. Doc’s grin was supersized this morning, reaching from one ear lobe to the other. I straightened my shoulders. “Don’t ask.”

His brows lifted, but he obeyed. “I need to talk to you.”

Brushing floor dust from my orange capri pants, I rolled my chair back in place and pointed at the one across from my desk. “Have a seat.”

“No.”

The sharpness in his voice stopped me mid-sit. It was my turn to do some brow lifting.

“Let’s talk outside.”

I stood, but held my ground. What was Doc’s issue with sitting inside Calamity Jane’s four walls? As I stared at him, his gaze flickered behind me toward the coffee maker.

“Why outside?” I asked.

He glanced at Mona, who’d returned to her laptop. “It’s private business.”

Liar. “All right.”

I grabbed my sunglasses and joined him under the cloudless, cerulean sky. The smell of pine trees and exhaust surrounded me. A warm breeze ruffled my collar and plastered Doc’s faded red T-shirt against his chest.

“How’s Addy?” he asked, as soon as the front door closed behind me.

“She’s well, thanks for asking.” Hands on hips, I waited for what he really had to say.

Doc glanced toward Calamity Jane’s door, then seized my arm and towed me around the far side of the building where a mostly empty parking lot was our only audience.

I was in no mood to be jerked around this morning. My back to the brick wall, I demanded, “What’s going on, Doc?”

“I was thinking about Jeff Wymonds a lot last night.”

That made me pause. I thought I was the only one who laid awake obsessing about Jeff. “Well, he is a handsome man.”

Doc opened his mouth, then closed it. His eyes drilled mine. “You think so?”

“Not really.”

His smile rounded the corners of his eyes. “Good.”

Good?Peachy, another mixed signal to spend hours analyzing. “But Natalie does.” I couldn’t resist the dig.

He shrugged. “Her tastes seem quite eclectic.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Then I remembered with a twang in my gut that he’d be paying her a house call this evening. “Although, you will after tonight.”

“Probably,” was his vague response to my little jealous poke. “Anyway, I want you to take me to Jeff’s house.”

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