Chapter 10
Zach gave Carly a wide-eyed look. “Huh. Usually, they aren’t that mad at me until after I’ve slept with them.”
“And neglected to call,” Carly added for clarity’s sake.
“Well, yeah, there’s that,” he agreed. “What did I ever do to her?”
“I think it’s more that you’re a man,” Carly said. “From what Mac has said, Jessie is not man friendly right now. You know, you could have explained that the parade of girls she sees are your employees, the ones who market your beer to the local bars and restaurants and that they frequently use your house as a stepping-off place.”
“I could have, but where would be the fun in that?”
The door to the exam room opened and Gavin came in, shutting the door softly behind him. He gave the two of them a look that was not happy.
“Anyone care to explain why my office manager looks like she’s having a meltdown?” he asked.
“She started it,” Zach said.
“She did,” Carly confirmed. “Apparently, she and Zach are neighbors and she doesn’t enjoy watching what she thinks are his extracurricular activities at night.”
“Oh.” Gavin nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. Players are not really her jam right now.”
He strode over to the sink and began to scrub his hands, pausing to whistle a hello to Ike as he went.
“How does that make sense?” Zach protested. “Even if I am a little bit of a player, I’m not that bad. I mean does she yell at you just because you’re a man?”
“No,” Gavin said. “She likes me because I’m in a committed relationship with Mac.”
Zach frowned. “How is that fair?”
Gavin shrugged as he dried his hands. “So what’s happening with my boy, Ike?”
Zach continued to scowl in the direction of the door while Carly opened up Ike’s cage so Gavin could examine him. Ike scurried away from Gavin’s big hand, but Gavin just rested it in his cage, letting him get used to his presence.
“I’m hoping he’ll get curious and come check me out,” Gavin explained.
“It’s okay, Ike,” Carly said. “He’s just going to look you over.”
Ike squawked and then rudely suggested that Gavin go away, only he didn’t say “go away” exactly. Gavin turned his head to keep from laughing and stayed right where he was.
“I see it’s more than his feathers that are colorful,” he said.
“That’s mostly why I’m here,” Carly confessed. “I am not a pet person. I really don’t want any and I can’t imagine what possessed Mrs. Genaro to leave me her menagerie. I managed to find homes for the fish and the lizard, but the dog is old, and given the bird’s vocabulary, it’s going to be really hard to find homes for them.”
Gavin nodded. “I’d offer to keep them here, but we already have an office cat who is not bird or dog friendly.”
“I’d say I’d trade for the cat,” Carly said. “But I don’t want a cat either.”
“Birds aren’t really my specialty,” Gavin said. “From what I recall there is no way to un-teach them words, but you can make sure not to react to the bad words so he isn’t encouraged by your response, good or bad, and you can attempt to teach him more words to try and edge out the bad ones.”
While they talked, curiosity finally got the better of Ike and he slid across his perch to examine Gavin’s hand. Gavin let him poke and prod his fingers with his beak until Ike seemed satisfied. Then Gavin put his hand in front of Ike’s feet, and Ike climbed onto the side of his hand and allowed Gavin to take him out of his cage.
Carly watched as Gavin and Ike got acquainted. She was surprised to find that she was nervous for Ike. She didn’t want him to get frightened when Gavin wrapped him in a towel for his examination.
Over the past few days, she had mostly been grudging about giving Ike and Saul her attention. With packing her apartment and moving back home, her mind had been at capacity. But now, she looked at the parrot as if seeing him for the first time.
Ike was a handsome fellow. He had a dark gray beak and feet, but the rest of him was spectacular. His belly was a vibrant green while his wings were darker. There were aqua colored feathers on his forehead with yellow around his eyes. Tucked into his wings and tail were stray blue and red feathers that popped against the rest of the green.
“He allowed me to towel him easily, so I suspect he’s been handled quite a bit,” Gavin said. “What’s his diet consist of?”
“Pellets and a small amount of cut up fruits and vegetables of the red, yellow, and orange kind,” Carly said. “Barry, the lawyer, gave me detailed instructions for all of the animals.”
“Have you been keeping him in his cage?” Gavin asked.
“Yes,” Carly said.
“You might want to let him out to stretch a bit,” Gavin said.
“But what if he flies away again, oh wait, that would solve some problems, wouldn’t it?” she asked.
Zach gave her an outraged look.
“Oh, stop,” she said and waved her hand at him. “I’m just joking.”
Gavin smiled at her as if he knew the thought of Ike flying off horrified her. She didn’t know how he could possibly know that when she barely admitted it to herself, but she supposed it was some sort of vet sixth sense. Just because she didn’t want to own the bird didn’t mean she wanted anything bad to happen to him.
“I’m suggesting you let him out because even a large cage won’t allow him to exercise his wings as much as he would like,” Gavin said. “You could always clip his primaries and render him flightless . . .”
“No, that’s just cruel!” Zach cried. Both Carly and Gavin looked at him and he crossed his arms over his chest in a stubborn stance. “It is.”
“If you do decide to do that, you’d need to go to an avian veterinarian for the procedure,” Gavin said.
He held Ike firmly but gently and examined him from the top of his head to the tip of his tail. When he got to the feet, he said, “He seems to be in excellent health, but I think his perch may be too wide.”
“Really? How can you tell?”
“Well, he has a worn spot on his heel,” Gavin said. “That usually means the perch is too wide. You want the perch to be a bit irregular in shape so it doesn’t cause wear on their feet.”
“You really do know your animal stuff, don’t you?” Zach asked. He looked impressed.
Gavin gave him a rueful smile. “I try.”
He continued examining Ike and then gently released him from the towel. Ike shook himself from his head to his tail feathers while clutching Gavin’s hand for support.
“You okay, Ike?” Carly asked. She wondered if he was going to swear at Gavin again.
“Okay,” Ike squawked. “Okay.”
He bobbed his head and Carly reached out to rub the back of his neck just where he liked it. He pressed his head into her fingers and she put her hand in front of Gavin’s and let Ike climb onto her hand. She held him up so they were nose to beak.
“Lookin’ good, handsome,” Carly said.
Ike pressed his head against her cheek and gave a wolf whistle. Carly laughed and Ike imitated her, which made her laugh harder. She glanced up to find both Gavin and Zach studying her.
“Looks like someone is getting attached,” Zach said.
“I am not,” Carly said. “I’m just being kind. I can be kind, you know.”
“Uh-huh,” Zach said.
“Do you want me to have Jessie get you the number to the avian vet over in Portland?” Gavin asked. “He might know more than I do about Ike’s vocabulary issues.”
“Yes, please,” Carly said. “Come on, big guy, back into your cage.”
Ike rode her hand right into his cage. When she latched the door, he said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Carly said. Sh
e turned and looked at Gavin. “So there are good manners in there, too.”
“The more you socialize him and spend time with him, the more he’ll imitate you—”
Zach burst out laughing and Carly gave him a sour look.
“What’s so funny—or not?” Gavin asked, glancing between them.
“Nothing.” Zach shook his head, clearly understanding the dark look in Carly’s eyes meant she would hurt him if he told Gavin about Ike’s newest vocal trick.
“I’ll be sure to work on the socializing,” Carly said. “Zach, cage please?”
She gestured for him to pick up the cage at the same time that the intercom in the room sounded.
“Gavin, I have a Mr. Sinclair here to see you,” Jessie said. “He doesn’t have an appointment but he said he spoke to you last night at Marty’s Pub about a rescue dog named Hot Wheels.”
Gavin’s eyebrows shot up. He looked at Carly, who looked at him in horror.
“What is he doing here?” she asked.
“We made plans for him to stop by before you two left last night,” Gavin said. “He wants me to check on Hot Wheels’s progress since I initially treated him.”
“Why didn’t you tell me James was coming here now?” she hissed.
“I forgot. Why did you come so early?”
“Or, more accurately, so often?” Zach joked.
Carly glared at him but he just smirked.
It was then that Ike decided to join the convo.
“James, oh, James!”
Gavin’s mouth formed a perfect O and his eyebrows rose up to his hairline.
“Yeah, and then there’s that,” Carly said.
The door to the exam room opened and James popped his head in. “Did you call me?”
His gaze collided with Carly’s and he raised one eyebrow as a slow grin spread across his face. Carly had a flash of memory of that same smile looking down on her while he did wicked things to her with his hands. She felt a light sweat bead up on her skin and she had to resist the urge to fan herself with her hand. Was it just her or were the pheromones filling the air thick enough to choke a donkey?
“Well, I’m just gonna . . .” Zach glanced between them, left Ike’s cage on the counter, and bolted from the room.
“Me, too,” Gavin said. He nudged James into the room, letting the door shut after him as he escaped.
Carly was immediately aware of the fact that the last time she’d seen him, James had her up against a wall. A hot flush of yeah, baby suffused her body and she had to clear her throat twice before she could talk.
“Well, this is . . .”
“A delightful surprise and the highlight of your day?” he suggested. He studied her face. “Or maybe you’re feeling more painfully embarrassed and agonizingly mortified?”
“Definitely door number two,” she said.
He crossed his arms over his chest and his gaze drifted over Carly in a way that hooked her middle and pulled like a magnet. She resisted, stepping behind Ike’s cage as if it could keep her from doing something rash, like knocking James to the ground and shredding the clothes right off his body.
When James’s eyes lit on the cage, he glanced at Carly in alarm and asked, “Ike’s all right, isn’t he?”
“He’s fine,” she said. “Perfectly healthy, you know, other than some language issues. I’m having Gavin check over both pets. Saul gets to come in tomorrow.”
“Oh, that’s good,” he said. He gave her a devilish grin that warmed her all the way to her toes. “For a second, I was afraid we might have caused him a need for emergency parrot therapy.”
Carly laughed. She couldn’t help it. She noted that James’s dark hair was more mussed than usual and his eyes were in the gray zone rather than the blue. She also noticed that his smile was the teensiest bit lopsided, rising a little higher on the right side, and she wondered how she’d missed that last night. It was charming.
“I’m pretty sure Ike has the self-esteem of a rock star,” she said. “No worries.”
They both glanced at the bird who was clanging the bell on the side of his cage again. He dropped the bell to preen the feathers under one wing as if fully aware that he had their complete attention.
“Glad to hear it.” He paused and then said, “I suppose with Bluff Point being such a small town and all, we’ll have to get used to seeing each other a lot.” When Carly didn’t respond, he added, “Or not.”
Carly didn’t say anything. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that he was here and that she was really happy to see him. Happier than she should have been after their close encounter of the naked kind. Usually, after a night with a guy, she was relieved to know she’d never see him again, and if she did run into one of them, she was never happy about it. So, this was new.
“Sunshine, you in there?” he asked.
She blinked. He was looking at her as if waiting for some sort of response.
“No, I mean, yes, I mean, you’re right,” she said. “It is a small town but I’m sure this is just a freak thing. We won’t run into each very often. In fact, probably hardly at all.”
“You think?” He sounded doubtful.
“I know,” she said.
“Are you all right, sunshine? You seem tense.”
“I am not your sunshine and I am not tense,” Carly lied. Gah! She felt as surly as Jessie when she’d corrected Zach for calling her sweetheart. It was about boundaries, damn it. She needed to get her boundaries back. “I’m just not used to this, you know, running into a guy after—”
“Sex?” he offered.
Carly felt her face heat up. She was blushing! Again! Carly never blushed. In fact, she was quite certain she hadn’t blushed in years. How did the man take a one syllable word and make it sound so delightfully dirty?
“James, oh, James!” Ike squawked.
Carly prayed for a sinkhole to swallow her whole. Sadly, the tile floor beneath her feet looked woefully solid.
The corner of James’s mouth lifted when Ike spoke and Carly supposed it was good that he thought the bird was funny as opposed to annoying because she could see how some people might see it that way. But James seemed to genuinely get a kick out of Ike.
“He does that so well,” he said.
“Hmm,” Carly grunted.
“How many words does he know?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m just trying to get a handle on the bad ones.”
“A little salty, is he?” James asked.
“Like a sailor,” Carly said. “It’s going to be hard to find him a new home if he doesn’t curb his snark.”
“If there’s anything I can do—” he began but Carly raised her hand as if to ward him off and said, “Stop.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, pursed his lips, and lifted one eyebrow higher than the other.
“Stop what?” he asked.
“Worming your way into my life,” she said. “We are two ships that passed in the night—”
“I’d say we did more than pass,” he said. He was smiling. It was adorable. Carly frowned.
“And we’re going our separate ways now,” she continued.
James Sinclair was hot, okay, hotter than hot. And, yes, he seemed very nice, and, all right, last night had been amazeballs, but there was no way she was allowing him into her life. Period.
“Separate ways, huh? How about when we run into each other at Marty’s Pub?”
“We won’t. I’ll go somewhere else.”
“The library?”
“I have an e-reader,” she said.
“Bank?”
“I do all mine online.”
“The Grind coffee shop?”
“My sister works there, I wouldn’t go there if I were you. She’d probably slip you decaf.”
; “Really? I thought she liked me, minus the whole yelling-at-me-and-door-slamming thing.”
“She did not like you,” Carly said. “And even if she did, you can’t shag sisters. It’s a rule.”
“Shag?” He looked appalled. “I would never. I meant she liked me as in she didn’t Mace me when she found me in your bed.”
Carly refused to acknowledge the ridiculous part of her that was pleased to hear this. It just proved why she never liked to see the guy after they spent the night together. Now she was conversing with him, getting to know him, being charmed by him, caring if he hooked up with her sister or not . . . this was not a part of her plan.
“All right, so this has been the most awkward ten minutes of my life that I’ll never get back. I have to go now.” She turned her back to him and picked up the cage.
“Bye bye,” Ike said. He flapped his wings as if eager to get out of the room full of tension.
“Here, let me help you,” James said. He didn’t give her much choice as he took the cage out of her arms.
Carly would have told him no, but she didn’t want to seem rude; besides, Zach was outside waiting for her so it wasn’t like she was stuck having James help her all the way back to the shop. Unless, of course, she was.
Chapter 11
“What do you mean Zach left?” she asked Jessie.
Jessie shrugged. “The door opened, and he walked through it.”
“Why?”
“How should I know?” Jessie asked. “Maybe he had somewhere else to be.”
“Did you two have another tiff?” Carly asked.
James was standing beside her, shifting the cage in his arms as it was fairly unwieldy.
“I have no idea what you mean,” Jessie said.
Carly could tell by the set of her pointy little chin that Jessie was not going to say another word. She handed over her debit card while Jessie processed her bill. When she glanced at James, he and Ike were looking at each other in a how you doin’ sort of way that she was pretty sure she should discourage. It wouldn’t do to have a man get attached to her bird, her temporary bird, she reminded herself.
Barking Up the Wrong Tree Page 10
