She gave me a look. “No.”
“Hey, I just need to ask! You’re my best person around here, so I’ve got to look out for you.”
Melanie rolled her eyes but smiled. “So tell me. Who’s Mr. McHotty? He’s been working since before I got here this morning. I thought he’d be gone by now.”
I snorted a laugh. “His name is Alex. He’ll be helping out for a while.”
She tilted her head. “I don’t remember you saying you were hiring someone.”
“Well, I’m not,” I said, skillfully dodging her gaze. “Technically.”
“Vaughn.”
I cowered. Melanie may have been two years younger than me, but she’d learned long ago how to keep me in line. It was one of the reasons we worked so well together: she kept me on my toes.
“What! His pug was hit by a car and fractured her leg, but he can’t afford her medical care, so we made a deal. What was I supposed to do?”
“Send him to Mountain West,” she said simply.
I narrowed my eyes. “To Dr. Death? No way! Roxy wouldn’t have had a chance.”
“We can’t—”
“Wecan,and we are. It’s done.”
She was silent a lot longer than necessary, making me want to break out in a sweat.
“Would you stop looking at me like that! It’s going to work out. You know as well as I do that the outside could use a little TLC. So, I think it’s a fair trade.”
Finally, she huffed and walked around the desk, sinking down into the chair as soon as I vacated it. If I wasn’t already on thin ice with her, I would have laughed at the way she raised one brow in my direction.
“Don’t make a habit of this. We needmoney,Vaughn, not free landscaping.”
“I know, but we also need to look presentable enough to bring in the clients, so… win-win.”
She turned the chair to the computer, opening the billing software. “I thought Bri was going to help.”
I snorted. “I thought so too, but you know how she is.”
“Mm-hmm. Tell her hi for me, next time you talk.”
“I will. And thanks for coming back after your appointment.”
She waved a hand. “Of course. I knew you needed the help. Grace’s schedule is really weird this semester,” she said, referring to our almost-full time office assistant. Grace worked four days a week but at different times each day, which made it a little difficult to rely on her. In addition to Melanie and Grace, I also had two part-time vet technicians, James and William. They were each well into their forties with plenty of experience behind them and rotated between three clinics in the area, which actually worked to our advantage, since they helped keep all of us informed about what was going on.
“College schedules, in general are always weird,” I said.
Melanie laughed. “True.”
Now that she’d brought Alex up, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Between our routine check-ups, one emergency visit, and covering for Melanie’s doctor appointment, I hadn’t had a chance to check on him all day. When I finally peeked out the front window, I couldn’t believe the sight. Alex was standing on a ladder at the front of the awning, tearing away pieces of the old gutter, but that wasn’t what made my jaw drop to the floor. Since he wasn’t wearing a shirt, I had a full view of his impressive chest and abs, which were lightly dusted with fine blond hairs and decorated with ink along one side. I wondered how much of the thick tribal design spread to his back and shoulders. I itched to trace the design with my fingers.Or my tongue…
“McHotty indeed,” I muttered.
Before I could enjoy the view much longer, an SUV suddenly veered into the parking lot, it’s driver slamming on the brakes before throwing it into park. My heart plummeted, immediately recognizing the vehicle.
“Oh no!”
I rushed outside to greet one of my longtime clients as she climbed out of her car.
