‘I don’t know. I think he’s malfunctioning,’ Elliot whispered back and Daisy giggled.
‘So did you notice the puppy ingesting anything?’ Vivienne asked, getting back to business.
‘Uh… no. I just saw her wriggling around under a paint tarp.’
Vivienne nodded as she examined Goldie, bringing her stethoscope to the dog’s chest. ‘Do you want to hold her for me?’ she asked Caleb, who took the squirming puppy in his hands. ‘Thanks,’ Vivienne said. Their fingers tangled in thedog’s fur as they wrestled her into submission and their gazes locked. The sparks were practically visible. Even Goldie stilled.
Daisy smiled at Elliot, her eyebrows rising as though she was saying,are you seeing this?
He definitely was seeing this. His brother was staring at the small-town vet like he’d never seen anyone like her.
Interesting.
Elliot cleared his throat and Vivienne snapped out of it, quickly returning her focus to the examination. ‘I… uh… don’t hear anything too serious. You’re probably right about the dust, but if she still sounds like this in a day or two, you should bring her in for an X-ray. Just to be safe.’
‘Of course,’ Elliot said. ‘I really appreciate you making a house… er… inn call.’
Vivienne shrugged, dutifully avoiding Caleb’s eye now. ‘It was no trouble. I was in the area.’
‘Are you in the area a lot?’ Caleb asked, his brain apparently coming back online. ‘I’m here for the next few months, at least.’ He flashed her his charming smile. ‘Maybe we’ll see more of each other.’ Oh, dear God, did he just wink?
There must have been something about his shift in demeanor, the too-practiced nature of that smile, thatwink, that Vivienne didn’t like, because the moment they’d shared seemed to evaporate.
‘I’m pretty busy,’ she said, packing up her bag.
‘Right,’ Caleb said, his smile dimming. ‘Of course. Me, too.’
‘I bet you are,’ she said, slipping past him and out the door. Daisy followed her out.
‘What the hell just happened?’ Caleb asked and Elliot couldn’t help his chuckle.
‘I think she just saw right through you.’
‘What do you mean?’
Elliot shrugged. ‘She didn’t like that charming bullshit thing you do.’
‘What charming bullshit? Women love that charming bullshit!’
Elliot laughed as he walked out of the office, leaving Caleb behind. ‘Not that woman, apparently,’ he said over his shoulder and left Caleb stewing over the rejection. He didn’t have time to worry about his brother right now.
His dog was fine and now he needed to find Daisy and continue that very interesting conversation they were having earlier.
ChapterThirty-Two
Daisy was too hot to sleep. The humidity had been building all day, storm clouds gathering out the shop window, but the rain hadn’t come. Warm, sticky air blew in through the only window in her apartment. The sweaty sheets were twisted around her bare legs.
She was starfished on the bed, but the air was still, thick with anticipation.
The fact that she kept thinking about Elliot and their unfinished conversation from this morning was not helping. Every time she thought about her confession, she felt like she would combust from embarrassment but then she remembered his painedfuck, Daisyand she thought maybe it wasn’t the worst thing she could have said.
And then he confessed that he’d done the same…
And she’d never been hornier in her life. What was happening to her? Elliot had taken over her every thought. After Beltane, she’d try to deny it, to pretend it wasn’t happening, but she didn’t think she could resist the pull much longer.
Unfortunately, after the vet left, they both had to get back to work, and their words were left hanging between them.
He thought about her when he…
