Fall in Love Book Bundle: Small Town Romance Box Set

by Grover Swank, Denise

  “And how do you find these people?” Griffin asked, not commenting on the influence he could have on a whole new generation of animal enthusiasts.

  “We’ll be relying heavily on the animal expert already here in Autre to help us find the right people,” Charlie said, literally batting her eyes at him.

  He sighed. “Now I’ll also be training people to work at the animal park?”

  “Oh my God.” Charlie made her eyes go round and gave him a huge smile. “Thank you for volunteering, Dr. Foster. No one could do a better job.” Charlie turned to Sawyer. “Now we have a volunteer trainer, so that won’t even cost us any money.”

  “Char—” Griffin started.

  “Dr. Foster?”

  Griffin’s response, which was probably going to be a resounding no, was interrupted by Andre.

  Griffin gave Charlie a this-isn’t-over look but turned to speak with his patient’s family. She was startled by the way his entire countenance changed. His shoulders relaxed as he looked down at the boy.

  “Hey, Andre.”

  “Here you go. He’s ready.” Andre handed Brownie over to Griffin.

  And again, Charlie’s panties got a little damp as Griffin’s big hands cradled the puppy, his biceps bunching under the edge of his t-shirt sleeve, and his smile. That I’ve-got-this-you-can-totally-trust-me smile he gave the little boy made her have to shift and swallow hard.

  “We said our goodbyes for now, so I think we’re ready to go,” Michael said.

  “Can I come to visit him later?” the little boy asked Griffin. Andre looked like he was trying very hard not to cry.

  Griffin nodded. “Brownie will be out of surgery and feeling better after dinner. So when you’re done, you can come to see him. And don’t forget to bring Charlie the picture of him you’re going to draw, okay?”

  Charlie felt a flutter in her chest. He’d remembered about the drawing. And he’d called her Charlie.

  He might be shooting down most of her ideas about the petting zoo, but she still wanted to kiss him. And see how sturdy those exam tables in the back rooms were.

  “He’ll be okay for us to see him?” Michael asked.

  Griffin nodded. “I think he will.” He looked at Andre again. “I think he’ll be ready for a visit, but I might ask your dad to wait until tomorrow if Brownie is still feeling a little sick. Part of being a good puppy dad is understanding that sometimes they need us to do things we don’t want to do.”

  The little boy nodded. “I remember what you told me. Sometimes Brownie needs stuff that I can’t do or don’t want to do.”

  Griffin gave him a smile and put his hand on Andre’s head. “You’re doing such a good job, Andre.”

  Charlie actually sucked in a breath. She knew that it was an overreaction because Maddie gave her a funny look, meaning she’d heard the quick breath. What the hell was with this guy? Why did he affect her like this?

  “And some of those things we don’t want to do don’t just include picking up poop in the yard, right?” Griffin asked.

  “Right,” Andre said. “Sometimes it means not letting him eat things he wants to eat or maybe not visiting him if he is sick.”

  Griffin nodded. “Very good.”

  “Can I bring him a new toy? When I was in the hospital getting my tonsils out, my grandma brought me balloons.”

  “Dogs and balloons don’t go very well together,” Griffin said, shaking his head. “But the great thing about dogs is that you don’t have to bring them toys and balloons. He’ll just be excited to see you when you get here. You’re all he needs.”

  Andre smiled. “Yeah, you’re right.”

  Griffin turned to look at Charlie.

  Charlie knew she was looking at him like teenage girls looked at the movie stars they had crushes on. But damn. No wonder that she’d dropped her panties so easily for him in the barn. He was smart and kind and loved animals and was good with kids, and was going to fix Andre’s puppy in time for his birthday. She’d be an idiot not to want him. Actually, that all made her feel a lot better. She did have good taste in men, after all.

  “Do you mind?” he asked.

  Charlie looked around and realized he was talking to her. “Do I mind what?”

  “I need to get them an appointment tomorrow at three o’clock to pick Brownie up, and you’re in the way,” he said. “Although, that’s one of those things that my assistant should probably be doing.”

  Oh, right. Yeah, probably.

  Charlie turned to the front reception desk and saw that she had her marketing plans spread out across the desk in the way of any scheduling or appointment books. She leaned over, grabbed a sticky note off the top of the stack, grabbed a pen out of the pen holder, wrote down three o’clock p.m., added a smiley face, and handed it to Michael. “See you tomorrow.”

  He chuckled. “Thanks again, Griffin.”

  “No problem. I’ll text you later.”

  “But I’ll text you before that!” Charlie called. She’d promised photos and updates after all.

  Griffin focused on her again after the door shut behind them.

  “What if I’m busy tomorrow at three? You didn’t look at the schedule.”

  “I promise to work it out,” she told him. After she dug the schedule book out. Then she would get them set up to schedule online with a calendar that would connect to both of their phones, so they didn’t have to dig the schedule book out every time. “I’m here to make your life easier.”

  He gave her a look that clearly said, you’re full of shit. But there was maybe a, but I’d still really like to kiss you again anyway tacked onto the end of that thought. At least, she was going to tell herself there was.

  “Anything else I can do for you, Dr. Foster?”

  If that sounded like innuendo, she was absolutely unapologetic about that.

  “As a matter of fact, there is.”

  Oh… good. Though that didn’t sound enough like an innuendo for her taste.

  “What’s that?”

  “Kennel three needs to be cleaned out.”

  “Okay then.” A dirty kennel. That sounded as opposite from the work she’d been doing forty-eight hours ago as she could get. Charlie looked at everyone else with a smile. “I’m going to get to work, and you all think about what animals we should add to the petting zoo.”

  “We really are adding animals?” Sawyer asked

  Maddie, Sawyer, and Charlie all looked at Tori. Her eyes were already twinkling.

  Sawyer gave a little groan that Charlie interpreted as yes, they were adding animals to the petting zoo.

  “Hedgehogs,” Charlie said. “Hedgehogs are so cute and would be easy for kids to handle, wouldn’t they?”

  Tori’s smile was wide and bright. “I love hedgehogs.”

  Sawyer shook his head. “They’re animals. Four legs and fur, right? Of course you love them.” But the way he smiled at Tori was resigned and affectionate.

  “You’ve already looked into animals to add to the petting zoo?” Maddie asked.

  “Of course. I never come to meetings unprepared.”

  “And who is going to take care of all of these new animals?”

  She turned to face Griffin. He already knew the answer, of course, but she was glad he’d asked. The more chances for her to work with the grumpy hot veterinarian, the better.

  “Well, probably not the pregnant veterinarian who’s soon to be a mother and have all the time in the world,” she said.

  Griffin sighed. “No. Probably not.”

  Charlie shrugged, fighting a grin. He was so easy to poke. And it was so fun. “I’m sure we can find someone online. They can just use Google to figure out what to do with hedgehogs, right?”

  Griffin didn’t sigh, but he frowned this time. “I know you’re kidding, but I still feel compelled to say that is completely unacceptable.”

  It might only be for animals, but he had some softness underneath the gruff exterior. And it wasn’t so much that she would use it
against him, as it was her finding it incredibly sexy.

  “Well, we’ll have to work something else out for the hedgehogs then,” she told him. “And the rabbits.”

  “I love rabbits,” Tori said.

  Charlie grinned.

  Griffin did not. “The cute girl who’s going to be cleaning out the veterinary clinic kennels will have to help clean up after these new animals, you know.”

  Her eyebrows arched. Holy shit. Even though he was clearly annoyed with her coming in here and making changes, that was almost flirting.

  “You have a cute new girl cleaning the kennels of the veterinary clinic?” she asked.

  His eyes tracked over her from the top of her head to the toes of her tennis shoes. They came back to rest on hers. “I do. Apparently.”

  Charlie smiled at him. He didn’t smile back, but his eyes were hot as they took her in.

  After a few beats, he said, “Charlie?”

  It was the first time he called her Charlie to her face instead of Charlotte. It did a funny swooping thing to her stomach.

  “Yeah?” Was her voice a little husky? And did anyone else notice? Did she care?

  “Kennels. They’re down the hall. Numbers three and five.

  “The cute new girl is going to clean kennels, now?”

  “Yeah. It’s one of the reasons I’m really glad to have an assistant actually. Kennel three had a St. Bernard in it.”

  Oh.

  Oh.

  St. Bernards were big dogs. That was about all she knew about them, but she could surmise that they also made big… messes.

  “Is this payback for bringing hedgehogs into your life?” she asked.

  “It’s payback for bringing tourists into my life.”

  He said “tourists” the way some people would say “roadkill.”

  “So you like hedgehogs?”

  “Who wouldn’t like hedgehogs?” he asked.

  It was clear Tori wasn’t the only one who was a sucker for anything with four legs and fur. And because of that, Charlie would clean up after the St. Bernard.

  But she was definitely going to pray the dog hadn’t been here for gastrointestinal issues.

  “I better get to work then,” she said. “Because there are hedgehogs and tourists in your future, Dr. Foster.” She turned back to the others. “You guys go ahead and head out. Talk everything over. Come up with any questions or ideas that you’ve got. I’ll see y’all later at Ellie’s.”

  “You sure you’re okay here?” Maddie’s gaze went from Charlie to Griffin and back again, the corner of her mouth twitching now.

  All of this arguing and banter on top of the way they’d disappeared into the storeroom together earlier clearly made her curious about what was going on between them.

  Charlie was curious about that as well. Griffin said no to picking up where they’d left off—after being the one to suggest picking up where they’d left off. But maybe they could just start new now.

  Not that she’d be able to forget about the barn…

  She looked over at Griffin. “Yeah, I’m just fine.”

  She was also highly amused to see the look of trepidation on Griffin’s face when she said that.

  Chapter 8

  If he didn’t know better, Griffin would have thought Charlie brushed against him on purpose as she stepped around him on the way to the kennels.

  Actually, he did know better. He knew she had done her best to rub up against him on her way past. He should probably be more irritated by that. His new assistant couldn’t be brushing up against him at every opportunity. Especially when he was trying to be annoyed with her. And avoid that body at all costs.

  But why was he annoyed with her? She was going to do what he just asked her to do. It was cleaning two big dog kennels, but she hadn’t blinked an eye when he told her what the job was.

  He faced Maddie, Sawyer, and Tori as Charlie headed down the hallway behind him. All three of them were wearing knowing grins.

  He sighed.

  There was no way they could really know what was going on between him and Charlie or, more specifically, what had gone on between him and Charlie, but they were clearly picking up on something.

  “Charlie is our cousin,” Sawyer said to Griffin. “We’re just helping her out with a job. Temporarily. Probably.”

  That probably sent a shot of dammit through Griffin. He nodded. “I know who she is.”

  “They met at our wedding,” Tori said.

  Sawyer looked at Griffin with interest. “You already know her?”

  Did he know Charlie? Well, he hadn’t known her name was Charlie. But he supposed overall that was a small detail. Charlotte “Charlie” Landry being here, though, was a big deal.

  “We met,” Griffin said. “Talked outside the reception for a little while.”

  That wasn’t untrue. They had talked. He wasn’t about to tell Sawyer what other things he had done to Sawyer’s younger cousin. He wasn’t sure Sawyer really wanted to know.

  He was also going to stop thinking about things he had done to Sawyer’s younger cousin in the barn. Because that was over now.

  Charlie was back, and she was his new assistant and, more than that, she was a Landry. He could not get involved with the Landrys. Especially one who walked into his clinic and turned everything upside down in the space of about fifteen minutes.

  It wasn’t his business, exactly, but he was the vet for Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild.

  “Since when are you interested in expanding the petting zoo?” he asked Sawyer. He’d heard nothing about it.

  Sawyer shrugged. “I guess as of now.”

  “All of this really is just Charlie’s idea, and none of you had any input into it?” Griffin asked.

  “Well, we did talk about bringing her on as a marketing consultant for us,” Sawyer said. “And Charlie is… a dynamo.” He shrugged. “Charlie takes everything and makes it ten times bigger. We probably should have expected this.”

  “You should have expected it,” Maddie said. “I haven’t been around her as much since we were teens.”

  “I’m new to the Charlie Show too,” Tori said. “This is on you, Sawyer.”

  The Charlie Show.

  Griffin wasn’t sure if that should make him feel better or worse. Better, because he wasn’t the only one susceptible to her charms. Worse, because he didn’t stand a chance, and it seemed no one else could slow her down either.

  Within an hour of being here, she’d instituted a program to text updates and photos to puppy owners, implemented a jungle tour theme at the petting zoo, and brought hedgehogs into his life.

  The jungle theme wasn’t a reality at the moment, but he fully expected to see kids running around with plastic jungle hats, collecting stickers, and asking four million questions in the petting zoo within a couple of weeks.

  He did like hedgehogs though.

  “But you’re the owners, and she’s only here temporarily, right?” Griffin asked. “Surely you can pull this idea back.”

  “Why would we do that?” Tori asked. “She’s expanding the business. Exactly what we need to do. And I think this sounds fun.”

  Sure, fun. Tori had never worked in a place where animals were used to entertain people and make money. Yes, he’d worked at zoos. He’d wanted to work at zoos. He’d still be at a zoo if he hadn’t let his temper get the better of him, in fact.

  But as a vet, he cared for the animals. He helped them stay healthy or get healthy when they weren’t. He’d specifically worked to help increase the population of endangered tigers in the propagation program at the National Zoo. To work, propagation programs needed secure places where the animals could be protected. In the U.S., that meant zoos and preserves, so he hadn’t had a lot of choices. Whether he liked it or not, the current state of the planet, saving many animals from extinction, meant keeping some in captivity.

  But that was different than coming up with ways for people to ogle animals and, worse, invade enclosures and handle
animals for their own entertainment.

  Unfortunately, Maddie was nodding her agreement with Tori. Griffin sighed internally. Charlie had already won them over. Of course, this was her family, and it was possible that they would have been on board no matter what.

  He had a feeling that they hadn’t been actually looking for a marketing consultant or to expand the business. Charlie showing up here, unemployed, meant now they suddenly had a marketing consultant whether they—or he—liked it or not. And she was going all in.

  But even if they hadn’t been family, Griffin knew Charlie would have won them over easily. She had a way about her. Maybe with anyone else, her presentation would’ve taken twenty minutes to convince them versus the ten that she’d given Sawyer, Maddie, and Tori, but it was clear that these three were on board.

  And Griffin couldn’t really object. He was technically an employee of theirs. His partnership was in the vet clinic with Tori. Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild hired him and Tori to take care of their animals.

  It was a little more complicated since Tori was married to one of the partners. It wasn’t like they would’ve hired anyone else. And the petting zoo was made up mostly of her own animals.

  Still, Griffin was a partner in the Autre Animal Hospital, and if one of their clients took on more animals, then Griffin would take on the care of those animals.

  Charlotte Landry had been back in Autre for a few hours, and already she was complicating his life. Not just by being gorgeous and completely kissable and now off-limits, which was a problem all on its own, but now she was going to make his job harder.

  The goats loved attention, so it was not as difficult for him to imagine opening the little barnyard to a more interactive setup. The alpacas would be okay too. The otters performed for audiences, and he knew that they would be ecstatic to be fed fish by tourists all day long. But they would have to rotate which otters were on display so that he didn’t end up with a bunch of fat, sassy otters who would only show off for fish all day.

  However, there were plenty of animals that shouldn’t have to be subjected to that. The potbellied pig, Hermione, would not like the visitors. She was shy and easily over-stimulated. They’d need to find her another place to be during petting zoo hours.