Forbidden Harmony (Harmony Falls #3) - Elizabeth Kelly Page 0,142
scarf, setting it on the long counter that held the lab equipment, before petting the old dog’s cheek and chin. He slipped the muzzle on and secured it, then examined the dog’s eyes and ears.
“Pupils look normal. Harper, step around here and hold his head while I examine him, please.”
How many times had she done this before? Too many to count. It might have been over a year since she’d last helped her father in the clinic, but she fell into the familiar routine without missing a step. She buried her fingers in the shaggy fur of the dog’s throat and scratched gently.
She was right, the dog was a shepherd cross. He was horribly thin. His hipbones and ribs were sticking out and he had lost large clumps of fur across his body. She wondered idly when he had eaten last as he made a low sigh and closed his eyes.
She watched her father’s hands, crisscrossed with large blue veins, ease their way down the dog’s body. He prodded the dog’s stomach and when the dog whined, he said, “Steady, boy. Steady.”
She rubbed the dog’s head again, picking out small burrs and twigs from his fur, murmuring soft assurances to the frightened animal. The initial warmth of the clinic had faded, and she clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering as water dripped from her hair down the back of her neck.
Nathan stood just slightly behind her and she was more aware of his body then she should have been. Man, how tall was the guy anyway?
Her father hummed softly to himself, muttering small unintelligible words to the dog as he pressed around the dog’s back hips.
The dog whimpered and tried to sit up. Harper pressed against his head and shoulders, but despite how emancipated and weak he was, the dog was starting to slip free. Before she could shout a warning to her father, she felt the hard, warm bulk of Nathan press up against her. His big hand pushed against the dog’s shoulders next to hers, his other hand bracing the dog’s head against the table.
The dog struggled for a few seconds longer before giving up the fight. With Nathan holding him down, Harper was free to pet and scratch the dog’s neck.
“Good boy. That’s a good boy,” she said when he whimpered again.
The dog settled and she was suddenly much too aware of Nathan’s body against hers, of his warm breath on the side of her neck. His chest brushed lightly against her back, but he was keeping his lower body away from hers. She should have been pleased that he wasn’t using her need for his assistance as an excuse to be a total perv. Instead, she was wishing his crotch was pressed up against her ass, wishing that grinding up against a total stranger in front of her father was a perfectly a-okay move to make.
Who’s the perv now?
She was. With a capital P. Still, his politeness wasn’t gonna stop her from asking Mr. Tall, Dark and Sexy Lips out the minute she had a chance. He would be a nice distraction from the current mess that was her life.
“Okay. You can ease up now,” her father said.
Nathan stepped away and she mourned the loss of his warmth. She cautiously stepped back from the dog, waiting to see if he would try and get up. He didn’t move, keeping his head on the blanket and his eyes closed.
“No break in the leg, but that hip’s dislocated,” her father said. “We’ll sedate him, do some x-rays and then pop the hip back in. Nathan, can you stay and help?”
“Wait, what?” Harper stared at her father. “You know this guy?”
Her father nodded as Nathan stuck his hand out. “Hi, Harper. I’m Nathan Henshaw, I work with your dad. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Harper stared mutely at him.
Mr. Tall, Dark, and Sexy Lips was Dr. Henshaw.
The asshole veterinarian who was trying to steal her father’s practice and send him into early retirement.
The man she’d never met, but already hated.
Well, shit.
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