demands, I wouldn’t have to resort to such tactics.”
I opened my mouth to respond in kind, when I remembered Bailey sitting there. I glanced back to find her watching us in fascination, her gaze ping-ponging between us. Jesus, Cam, you’re at work. Think you could keep it professional?
“Come with me,” I said crisply.
He looked a little startled at my change of tone, but he got up gamely enough. Bailey gave me a thumbs-up as we passed that was fucking impossible for Journey to miss. Sure enough, I heard him cover a laugh with a cough. I let him precede me into the examination room, doing my best not to stare at his ass. I was a professional at my place of business and… and oh, wow, he smelled so good it was ridiculous. I was tempted to hold my breath as he passed close enough to brush up against me.
I closed the door behind us, aware I was blushing. Damn Bee and that thumbs-up. “Sorry about that.”
Journey smiled. “Well-meaning friends, right?”
I chuckled, feeling my tension ratchet down a bit. “Exactly. She’s the one always trying to set me up on horrible blind dates.”
“Horrible?” He raised an eyebrow. “I only know about the boring ones.”
“Then I guess you don’t know about the one who set his menu on fire,” I said. “He leaned a little too close to the candle in the middle of the table.”
“That could happen to anyone.”
“He dropped the flaming menu on the table and the table linens caught on fire.”
His amber eyes widened. “Well… that’s still within the range of it could happen to you.”
“Then he decided to put it out with his gazpacho.”
Journey let out a charming little laugh before slapping a hand over his mouth.
I chuckled, too. “It’s funny now. It wasn’t funny when I was sitting there blinking glorified tomato soup out of my eyes.”
He laughed again. “To me, that just means you weren’t with the right person. If you were with the right person, something like that would’ve just made a funny story, not a horrible date.”
“So, you’re saying I should hold auditions where my dates throw soup in my face and see if I find it hilarious.”
“Cold soup,” he specified, “and I would pay good money to see that.”
When I realized we were just standing there smiling at each other, I internally rolled my eyes. For God’s sake, I could and would be professional, and that was all there was to it. I took his well-behaved charge off his lap and put her on the exam table.
I began going through a basic examination, something I’d probably done a thousand times. She looked to be a large percentage Shih Tzu. “What’s her name?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I just found her.”
“I know. I saw that on your intake form. I meant, what do you call her?”
“Thing One for now.”
“Thing?” I gave him a horrified look, clapping my hands gently over her ears. She tried to lick me for my efforts. “You have to give her a real name, Sutton.”
The small smile that spread across those full, plump lips flustered me. God, why did he have to be so damned attractive? If I had a checklist for a type, he’d check off every fucking box. But back to the dog.
I put my stethoscope in my ears and placed it against her chest. “I’m just going to have a little listen,” I told her. She looked up at me trustingly.
I listened to her heart for a few seconds, hearing the strong, reassuring beat in my ears. No murmur. I checked the lungs too and gave them the all-clear. I moved cautiously and deliberately during the exam, so as not to startle her, but she was friendly as could be. And ridiculously attached to Journey already, judging from the way she kept trying to keep a part of her body in contact with his. Join the club, little lady.
I put my stethoscope back around my neck and felt her belly. “She’s a little undernourished. That’s to be expected if she’s been on the streets for a while. Other than that, she seems to be pretty healthy.” She wiggled her butt a little, and I smiled down at her. “Little thing like you probably had it hard out there, all alone in the big bad world, huh sweetheart?”
I looked up from her big brown eyes into Journey’s lighter ones. He looked softly amused but didn’t comment. I flushed anyway. As usual, I forgot myself when I was