Page 6 of Hogging the Hunk

Greg shook his head. “Can’t. I’m heading to Peru on another travel assignment.”

“When will you be back?”

“This one’s quick. Couple of weeks. Maybe longer, depending on how many patients we can see.”

“Oh.” It was my turn to be disappointed. Try as I might, we weren’t synching. “Call me when you’re back then?”

“Alright.” Greg rapped his knuckles on the edge of my cart and took a step back. “I’ll be in touch soon. See you around, Beckett.” His smile fading, Greg set his jaw, the same hard look returning to his blue eyes as he glanced behind me. “Milo.”

I turned my head far enough to see Milo give Greg a subtle nod. Leaving for the store entrance, I held my breath until I couldn’t see Greg’s broad shoulders and impeccable posture any longer. It took all my strength not to crumple on the floor.

“Ex-boyfriend?” Milo asked softly.

His question could have been intrusive, but there was no hiding anything from Milo, even if I wanted to. As the area’s only veterinarian, he was one of the largest cogs in the rumor mill. Not that he ever blabbed to anyone. Everyone just couldn’t help but tell him everything. Plus, anything he’d ever heard about my abrupt return to Button Blossom had been confirmed when I ushered him into a front-row seat to my awkward and humiliating exchange. It didn’t matter. Sooner or later, someone would rat out every last one of my failings.

Probably my own Granny, honestly.

A sigh accompanied my answer. “It’s complicated.”

Milo was silent. When I turned to look at him, he bobbed his head, accepting my answer without explanation. There was no pity in his piercing honey-colored eyes. Understanding, maybe?

“That’s why you’re back in Button Blossom? Because of him?”

“He said he needed a break right before we were supposed to leave for our first charitable healthcare trip. I hadn’t applied for any other jobs, so I panicked and applied for the traveling pediatrician position for this area.”

“So, you’re doing similar work on a smaller scale?”

“Sure. That’s one way of looking at it.” I’d never sighed so much in my life. The cleansing act was necessary to keep from allowing any self-defeating thoughts from taking root again, which only ever produced tears. I’d beat myself up enough over Greg and I needed time to recover before I did any more introspection. “I guess now you know my secret. You want to tell me yours so we can both commiserate in our vulnerability?”

Gripping his cart with his strong hands, uncertainty turned Milo’s eyes to the floor. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but I stopped him before he did.

Holding up a hand, I shook my head. “You know what? I take that back. You shouldn’t have to be uncomfortable because I was uncomfortable. You keep your secret, and I’ll just have to think of another one.”

A grin flitted onto Milo’s mouth. I liked how it lit up his eyes, almost like they were golden, like the sun when it first greeted our sleepy town, when he was amused. “I didn’t know it was Granny’s birthday today.”

“Technically, it’s not. It’s her half-birthday, though I actually did agree to make sure I’m home for dinner. She insists she has to celebrate every occasion she has because she doesn’t know how many birthdays and holidays she’ll have left.”

Milo chuckled. “Granny will probably outlive us all.”

“Thank you!” I threw my arms up, knocking several boxes of home pregnancy tests off the shelf. “I keep telling her the same thing.”

Milo squatted down right next to me, helping me sort the boxes into their correct slots. Our exchange died down and the companionability of it went with it. Milo’s silence wasn’t rude—he’d been a man of few words as long as I’d known him. The danger lay in his lack of speaking. It tempted me to pour out my soul, knowing he would listen. Instead, I deadbolted my lips by sucking them between my teeth and biting down. Nobody needed to be drowned in my drama.

Weakly, I smiled and raised my hand to signal I was finally extracting myself from this painful situation. “See you around, Dr. Fox.”

Grabbing me as I turned to go, Milo’s hand enveloped my wrist with a gentleness that didn’t seem possible with hands as strong as his. My eyes found his. “Beckett?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”

Chapter Three

Milo

My truck idled in the driveway while I waited for the garage door to lift. Most of the drive home was a blur since I was on autopilot. Too many things packed tightly into my brain, all squirming to find a priority place in my thoughts, apparently overtaking the need to pay attention to driving. Check on Mr. Dudley’s ewe who had a fever following a prolapsed uterus. Remind Bonita to order more 20 gauge needles. Ask Granny in a day or two if Beckett’s doing alright.

That snapped me out of my stupefied reverie. Of all the things on my never ending to-do list, Beckett wasn’t my responsibility. There was no callousness intended in that thought. Of all the things first and foremost in Beckett’s skill set was her ability to take care of herself. Though she was the baby of her family, she had always appeared collected and studious and capable, maybe even more so than her older sister, Maren. That meant whatever mess she was entrenched in with her ex wasn’t my concern. All I’d done for her was offer a pinch of friendship to bolster her reserves.

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