Ethan looked surprised, and more than a little uncomfortable, which Chloe thought was odd – surely, as such a skilled vet’s assistant, he was used to kids thanking him for helping their pets by now? “Uh, don’t mention it.”
“Bye!” Ash called as Bella, seeming fit as a fiddle, leapt down from the table, following Ash and Diana to the door.
Chloe waved, and out the corner of her eye, she saw Ethan half-waving as well, a mechanical motion that didn’t feel quite natural.
“Wow. Thanks for stepping up,” she said, once she’d heard the front door closing behind her first two customers. She turned to Ethan, forcing herself to look him right in his blue,blueeyes – and had to put in a lot of effort not to have her own eyeballs pop out of her head in a really cartoonish,awoooooga!way as she did so. “You’re hired, by the way.”
She stuck out her hand for him to shake.
He didn’t take it. He just stared at her as if she was some kind of crazy person, his eyebrows knitting together.
“Huh?” he said, and it was such a ridiculous, clueless sound when contrasted with his sharp-dressed, cool-guy image, that she couldn’t help but laugh.
Okay, maybe he wasn’t expecting to get hired on the spot, I guess?
“You’ve got the job,” she said, making sure to say the words clearly.
Chloe knew she’d have to get used to having someone so toe-curlingly sexy around all day, but given his performance just now, how could she turn him down? She couldn’t not hire him for being too hot! His calming presence around animals was invaluable.
Even if he was somehow terrible at working reception, those skills could be taught. Being able to bond with animals likethat, on the other hand, was a gift.
He opened and closed his mouth, clearly trying to choose his exact words before speaking. Chloe didn’t think anything beyondThat’s fantastic, thank you so muchwas really required, but she supposed that she should be glad that he was the kind of person to think before he spoke. Especially ifHuh?was the kind of thing that was otherwise likely to come out.
“You’ll probably want to wear something different, by the way,” she said absently. “Not that you don’t look fantastic in a suit, but I’m thinking smart casual. At the very least, you should probably lose the jacket and tie.”
And the shirt,she almost added, before catching herself just in time. The blush from earlier came back full-force, and she had half a moment to see his eyebrows shooting up his forehead before she turned away in order to hide her glowing red face.
The silence extended out until it was definitely entering ‘awkward’ territory, and in the end Chloe had to turn around to face him again, red face be damned.
Ethan was still looking at her in a way that suggested he wasnotthrilled with the job offer she’d just extended to him.
“Uh,” she said, her eyes narrowing just a little.Is he…offendedI want to hire him?She’d never hired someone before – had she somehow said or done something wrong? “Is there some kind of –”
It was a stupendous relief when her cellphone chose that moment to start buzzing, and she snatched it up out of her pocket and answered it before the first ring had even finished.
“Hello?” she said a little testily, not meaning to be rude, but more than a bit puzzled by the situation she was in.
“Hi Chloe,” the breezy voice on the other end said. “It’s Keisha from Alpine Professionals here. How are you?”
“Good, good,” Chloe said, a little too quickly. “Listen, he’s grea—”
“I’m really sorry to do this to you,” Keisha said, her tone turning apologetic. “But the receptionist I originally set up for you to interview has just called up to say that she’s accepted a permanent position closer to home, and won’t be there today after all. I’m truly sorry for this mess. I’m looking now for other qualified candidates –”
Keisha kept talking, and Chloe wentMm-hmmandYes, of coursein all the right places, but internally, she was screaming.
Ethanisn’tthe receptionist?! He’s just some guy that wandered into the building… and I forced him to look after a dog?!She held back a groan, only just stopping herself from keeling over from embarrassment.And then told him to take off his tie?! And he just went along with it?!
Whodidthat kind of thing? And why had Chloe not realized that there was something wrong? Looking back, it was pretty damn clear from the moment he entered that he wasn’t a small-town receptionist.
But the way he calmed Bella down, just like magic…
She half-listened as Keisha promised to find her a new receptionist by Monday, and Chloe murmured her thanks before hanging up the phone, still facing away from Ethan.
The silence in the room was agonizing. Clearly Ethan was waiting for her to speak first, and she couldn’t exactly say she blamed him.
Just to make things particularly painful, the Sugitas had left an old clock hanging on the wall, and each excruciatingtickechoed through the room. The fact that the clock was in the shape of a cartoon cat’s face and the eyes moved back and forth with eachtickwasnothelping the situation.
There was nothing for it. Chloe clenched her fists, and forced herself to turn around and look Ethan in the eye.
