Puppy Love for the Veterinarian

by Amy Woods

  She looked up at Dr. Singh, who appeared almost as uneasy as she.

  “I hate to break it to you, June, but under the circumstances, the smartest thing for you to do is to spend the night here with me.”

  Chapter Four

  It took June longer than it should have to register what Dr. Singh—Ethan—had said. Mostly because, somehow, she’d gotten momentarily lost in those cinnamon eyes of his. The man was handsome in a way that could almost be described as beautiful, but his looks were also sort of unnerving at the same time, as though they had the potential power to unravel her completely.

  It occurred to her that looks like his didn’t really fit in with the men she was used to seeing in Peach Leaf, almost as though she’d woken up still inside a dream involving a movie set. Men who looked like Ethan Singh were generally employed as actors or male models...not small-town veterinarians. And they usually associated with other exceptionally attractive or powerful people, or in his case, highly educated people...people nothing like her.

  Staring at him made her think of all the ways she couldn’t quite measure up. Though she wasn’t sure where that notion had even originated from. After all, why would she need to measure up at all?

  It wasn’t like he was interested in her, at least aside from his medical duty to assist her in getting the puppies healthy. He certainly wasn’t interested in her as a woman, as well he shouldn’t be, because she was not interested in him as a man.

  Really, she was not.

  She shouldn’t be, at any rate, not after what she’d been through the past several months. No woman in her right mind would seek to get back out there after the burn she’d suffered. And even though she might not be thinking clearly, what with her only real possession stuck out in the snow enduring God only knew what horrors, which might prevent it from ever working again—and with this man staring at her with unmistakable amusement as she waited for appropriate words to arrive—she could at least be certain that she was, in fact, in her right mind.

  With that, she cleared the cobwebs from her throat and finally spoke, hoping her voice wouldn’t come out too rusty from lack of use.

  “Um, okay. I guess that makes sense.” She swiped a hand across her forehead, suddenly warm despite the weather outside and the room’s cool temperature.

  “Of course it does,” Ethan answered, his tone final as if the issue had been decided and there was nothing more to be discussed. But June thought there was plenty in need of discussion. Like, for example, the fact that she was suddenly starving.

  And not, it would seem as she found herself in danger of falling deep into those eyes again, just for food.

  The thought rushed in unbidden and was stuck there in her mind before she could stop it, meaning that the mature thing now would be to address where it had come from and what it meant. At some point. For now, feeling more ragged than she did after a double shift at work and hungrier than she could ever recall having been before, maturity was the last thing on her mind.

  “Is something wrong?” the devastatingly handsome doctor asked, his voice even sexier thanks to its thick note of concern.

  June shook her head. “No, it’s fine. Or in any case, I suppose it has to be.” She looked away from him and, not surprisingly, her mind was instantly clearer.

  She would have to be careful around those eyes from now on, especially if she was meant to endure an entire night—possibly more, if the weather didn’t clear up—with a man who looked like he’d just walked out of the latest glossy issue of GQ.

  He made her want things she shouldn’t want, things she couldn’t have.

  “What is it, then?”

  When she didn’t answer, he tilted his head like a curious puppy—like a ridiculously adorable, curious puppy.

  “Come on now, I can tell you were thinking about something.”

  Like a tickle of wind against her cheek, she sensed him staring at her, willing her to speak.

  “It’s just that, well—” a hand flew to her stomach involuntarily “—I’m starving.”

  Ethan threw his head back and laughed, the sound low and sultry and full of mischief, leaving June almost frustrated with his level of physical perfection. Couldn’t he at least have an absurd-sounding, high-pitched laugh or something? Was there nothing about this guy that wouldn’t make her want to kiss him?

  It was just her luck—she should be used to this by now—to be stuck overnight with the most distractingly attractive guy she’d ever met, right after the absolute worst breakup she’d ever endured.

  Come on, Junie, she chastised herself. That’s about enough negativity for two lifetimes, don’t you think?

  Best to push on. Besides, with the cards she’d been dealt, what choice did she have?

  “All right. What’s so darn funny?” she asked.

  “Nothing, really. It’s just that here you are looking so incredibly serious and come to find out you’re just hungry.”

  “Hilarious,” she responded, this time allowing a hint of playfulness to escape. “But seriously, I haven’t had anything to eat since lunch, which now seems like years ago. I know it might be useless to ask, but is there anything to eat around here? That is, anything we can get to without risking our lives.”

  Ethan grinned, his full lips setting in motion a series of thoughts that she wasn’t entirely certain were legal.

  “Actually, this might be one problem we can solve.”

  “Don’t tease me now. I’m this close to sneaking some of that puppy kibble from the storage room.”

  He laughed. “I wouldn’t dare. There’s a bakery a few doors down. It might be a rough trip, but I think if we stay right next to the building and, well, right next to each other, we can probably make it with only minimal danger.”

  “Stay—” June swallowed “—next to each other?”

  “Of course. For warmth.”

  June felt her cheeks heat, hoping they weren’t turning as ghastly pink as they were in the habit of doing—the eternal curse of redheads like herself. “Yes, right. Warmth. Of course.”

  It made perfect sense under the circumstances; it really did. But the mere thought of being near Ethan for the duration it might take them to reach sustenance raised her temperature enough that she was fairly certain she could comfortably walk all the way to her apartment in the wind that had begun to howl outside the clinic like a wild animal.

  Without a coat.

  * * *

  “Let’s check on the puppies, get you bundled back up and see if we can’t get some food,” Ethan said, tossing his new companion a sweet smile. “I could go for some dinner myself.”

  While that was definitely true—his stomach had been protesting against its emptiness since he’d seen his last patient, and that had been hours ago—there was another reason, equal in weight to the first, that he’d suggested leaving the office and grabbing something to eat.

  That reason was June Leavy.

  A few hours before, his life in Peach Leaf had been simple and clear, intentionally so.

  This morning, he’d woken with a relatively muddled head for the first time since leaving Colorado.

  Since he’d left her.

  Sure, he still thought about his ex a few times a day still; that was perfectly normal following the demise of a serious relationship. But aside from those few painful moments, things had actually started to look up, and he’d gotten into a comfortable groove. Wake up and go for an early run, shower and eat breakfast, arrive at the clinic before sunrise to relieve the night technician and check on the overnight patients, work through his father’s back-to-back appointments, breaking only for a quick lunch, and then go home after he’d completed evening rounds and closed up. He’d say goodbye to the staff and head home, too tired to think. Working from dark sky to dark sky suited him at this odd juncture
in his life. The routine kept him busy and, most importantly, left little time for ruminating over all he’d left behind.

  At least it had, until that evening, when June Leavy had burst through the door, literally bringing with her a blast of fresh air.

  The image made him smile. As cold as it had been when she’d walked in, June was about as different from his frosty ex as she could be—a truth he didn’t really want to examine closely.

  But as beautiful as June was, as sweet and warm as he could clearly see she was even in the limited time they’d spent together, the truth remained that her presence was simply not welcome.

  She filled the room in a way that, while extremely pleasant—intoxicating, even—made him uncomfortable. Tall, bright in color and in mood and lively, June was impossible to ignore. Sharing a cup of tea with her had been difficult enough, but offering to let her stay the night—something he’d had no choice but to do on account of the growing danger outside—was going to take an iron will.

  He didn’t want her in his clinic, didn’t want her on his mind. Being in the same room with her for the past while, as warm as she made him feel, he’d almost forgotten about the blizzard wailing away outside.

  All of which was dangerous. What he needed was space, and a clear head.

  Taking June for a bite to eat was the perfect solution. They were both hungry, and it would give him a chance to get a grip on whatever spark she’d ignited within him. Plus, he’d like to check on his father’s business neighbors—the couple who owned the German bakery next door had been there for years and were close with his dad. They were elderly, and it would be good to make sure they were holding up through the freak snowstorm.

  A blast of frigid air would do him good, and then he could figure out how to handle himself around June for the rest of the evening.

  Things came to mind. So many things.

  None of them realistic, or even appropriate for that matter.

  A guy like him was in no position to be picturing those endless legs curled up next to his on the office sofa, for example, or better yet, wrapped around his middle as he kissed the daylights out of those undoubtedly soft lips and...

  No. He couldn’t let himself go there. Not again. It was stupid enough that he’d allowed his thoughts to wander this far. It seemed any time he ventured away from work for five minutes, he landed in trouble. He didn’t want to be the sort of man who was so easily distracted by a pretty face and a pair of killer legs.

  He looked up to find the object of his musings worrying her bottom lip as she studied him.

  It wasn’t sexy, the way she did that. Not at all.

  The resultant swelling of those soft pink clouds did not affect him. Not in the least.

  Also, he needed to check the thermostat—had it gotten warmer inside the clinic?

  “So, what kind of place is it?” June asked, her cheeks slightly more flushed than they’d been when she first came in from the wind. Surely she wasn’t...she couldn’t possibly be having similar thoughts to the ones he’d been entertaining. The idea was absurd. He’d been radiating a cool demeanor and a general leave me alone, I’m busy attitude for weeks now that would put off any woman. More likely, she was just in a hurry to get out of there as much as he was.

  “I mean what kind of food do they have?”

  “Oh, well, there’s the rub,” he answered, trying not to get distracted again by those wicked lips, which had reddened to a pretty ruby shade—from the cold or from her nibbling, he no longer cared.

  And what difference did it make, anyway?

  It certainly didn’t matter that they looked good enough to feast on himself, like fresh cherries ripe for the picking.

  Dammit!

  What the hell had they been talking about again?

  “The rub?”

  Ah, yes.

  “It’s just a little German bakery, you see. So we won’t be able to get any real dinner. We’ll have to skip straight to dessert. Hopefully it’ll do until the weather lets up and you have a chance to head on your way.” A thought that disturbed him far more than he cared to acknowledge.

  Something crossed her features very briefly—a shadowy hint of darkness, perhaps—and then disappeared.

  Was it something he’d said that had so quickly stolen the light from her eyes?

  He didn’t have time to figure it out before she spoke again.

  “Oh, that’s right. How silly of me to forget. I’ve been working such weird hours the past few years that I haven’t been to Bauer’s in ages—I’d forgotten about the place until now.” Her features softened into wistfulness. “My mom used to take me there as a kid, on special occasions. They have the best pastry and...”

  She blushed again and he wished to touch the crimson apples on her cheeks. He enjoyed her rambling—quite a lot actually. But what good would it do to say so? After that night, she would be gone and he would go back to his temporary, if somewhat lonely, life.

  Still, it was nice to see her talk about something so obviously important to her; it was nice to see inside her just a little.

  “Anyway, I’m rambling, but that will be just fine. I’m so hungry I really don’t care what we eat, as long as it passes for food.”

  “And is preferably intended for human consumption,” he teased, recalling her earlier comment about kibble, and wanting to restore her brightness.

  “That would be great,” she said, beaming.

  Pleased, he gestured for her to follow him to the back room and she did so. When they stepped through the door, the puppies were curled so tightly together that he and June had to check to make sure the little ones were both accounted for. After changing out the potty pad, they watched the critters sleep for a few moments, Ethan checking their breathing before he gently touched June’s elbow, whispered that the pups would be okay with only each other as company for a short while longer and led her out to the front of the clinic.

  “I feel like I’m leaving my kids alone at home,” June said, shrugging into her coat, which he held open for her.

  “I completely understand, and sadly, I don’t think this is their first time on their own,” Ethan said, wanting to reassure her, “but we won’t be long and I promise they’ll be fine until we return.”

  What was he thinking, making a promise like that? Yes, the animals appeared relatively healthy and strong, considering their situation, and yes, he was confident in his ability to usher them back to full health, but he had no history of clairvoyance and therefore no business making guarantees regarding things he couldn’t fully control.

  What had gotten into him? Would he say anything to make this woman smile?

  Catching the worried crease between her brows as she glanced once more over her shoulder in the direction of the pups, Ethan tucked his hand beneath her elbow. “Trust me, June. They’ll be all right. Their bellies are full, they’ve had fresh water and have done their business, they’re safe inside the pen and they’re not alone.”

  The answer was yes, apparently, he would say anything.

  At his words, her expression softened, and though he didn’t want to examine why it mattered to him at all, he found himself relieved at the idea of having provided some comfort. “Also, I would not leave them if I believed them to be unsafe, okay?”

  She nodded.

  “So then, do you trust me?”

  She wasn’t quick to answer, a fact that made him like her even more. After all—though he wasn’t entirely sure any longer whether he believed time to be a reliable factor in the decision to invest trust in someone—they’d only known each other for little over an hour.

  “Yes,” she finally said. “I do trust you.”

  He smiled, more pleased than wisdom should allow.

  “Good.” He squeezed her elbow, then let go. “I figure the best thing to d
o now is grab something to go and come back here. That way, we won’t risk getting stuck at the bakery. Even though it’s only a few yards away, we could end up unable to get back, and I don’t want to leave the puppies alone for a full night.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” June agreed.

  Ethan pulled on his coat and wrapped a scarf around his neck and face before donning his hat. By the time he’d finished, June had done the same and looked adorable, a description that, despite being worlds apart from characterizing the women he was typically attracted to, seemed somehow more enticing.

  June looked like someone he could curl up and have hot chocolate with after a long day at work, someone who would be joyful when a guy walked in the door, happy to spend an evening at home with him just relaxing, doing nothing in particular.

  That was just it—the sight of her evoked home to him, something he could never ascribe to the women he’d dated before, women who preferred nights out on the town on the arm of a successful professor. It didn’t escape him that, over the past few years, being a “nerd” had become an asset, one he’d not hesitated to take full advantage of, and there had been plenty of young women, even a few former students, who had been eager to date an up-and-coming scientist who’d begun, much to his dismay, to attract media attention.

  But June was part of a different world than the one he’d become accustomed to. For reasons he couldn’t explain, she brought to mind everything he missed about living in a small town, being close to family and so much more. He’d spent a good portion of the last decade thinking only of his career, dedicating all of his time to furthering his research and, if he was honest, to impressing his department at the university.

  June made him think of other things. Things he used to want but truly thought he didn’t need any longer—things like home, and family, and someone to share it with. Someone to love.