just can’t seem to stop myself from remembering how much I needed her years ago, back when she couldn’t be bothered.”
Here was his chance. He could explain how Rose had been forced by circumstance to walk away from Mel, how difficult it’d been for her, and how she regretted that decision made by a scared eighteen-year-old.
But he didn’t want to pressure or guilt Melissa into anything. He wanted these two women he cared very much about to find happiness together, not because one had been manipulated into it, but because they both wanted it to work. “Maybe…” He lifted their joined hands and kissed her fingers. “Maybe you’ll find a middle ground, where it can work for both of you.”
“Maybe,” she said, not seeming too hopeful on that score. “But I’ve gone this long without her, it seems silly to need her help now.”
“It’s never too late.”
She looked unhappy about that, and it occurred to him maybe she wasn’t used to asking for help. He thought of how she’d grown up, how she’d probably not had anyone just for her, to love her, and that made him ache for her. “Sometimes, Mel, you only have to ask.”
She was silent for a long time. “I’m not good at asking,” she finally said.
Oh, baby, he thought, no kidding you’re not good at it. “Maybe you could practice.”
“I like my life the way it is.”
He started to open his mouth.
“Just as it is,” she said firmly.
He cocked his head and sent her an easy grin. “You sure about that? Because things can always get better.” Tugging her close, he kissed her.
She went still for a beat, then kissed him back.
Afterward her eyes were doing that sexy sleepy thing again. “Okay, point taken.” She was just breathless enough to make him feel really good. “But for right now, I’ve got to get to the clinic.”
He walked her there, and as he watched her walk inside to face her day, he found himself wondering, hoping, that Rose had another animal for him. But nothing that slobbered, bit or scratched.
CHAPTER SIX
THE NEXT DAY went well for Melissa, if she discounted her out-of-control front desk and the fact that she was beginning to doubt she could do it all.
The amount of business she did every day meant that soon, very soon, she could run in the black and maybe actually make a living for herself.
It also meant she’d need help. The thought of hiring another person and learning to trust that person was enough to make her keep putting it off.
So by the end of the day, with her desk looking like a cyclone had hit and the front room looking like…well, like animals had lived in it all day, she stood there pleasantly exhausted and wondered how long it would take to straighten up before she could go home.
She hadn’t yet locked up when the front door opened. She turned with her welcoming doctor face on, and promptly burst out laughing.
Jason stood there, tall and lean and heart-stoppingly gorgeous, holding a leash attached to a potbellied pig. “Hi,” he said with a mischievous smile. “Got time for one more patient?”
“You are kidding me.”
“Nope.” He scratched his jaw. “Miss Piggy here needs her shots.”
“You have a pig?”
“Well…” Suddenly his smile was gone. “I’m doing a friend a favor.”
“Uh-huh.” She bent and scratched between the pig’s ears, who grunted in pleasure. “Hello, Miss Piggy,” she said softly. “Let’s get you all fixed up.” She straightened to her full height, which was to Jason’s shoulder, and he reached out, stroking her cheek, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear with such tenderness, she froze.
She liked his touch. She even…craved it. Not sure how that had happened, or why she’d let it, she smiled at him a little shakily and turned to move them into a patient room.
“Wait.” He held her there. “Hold up a second, I just want to look at you.” Slowly he shook his head, his gaze filled with heat, affection and a tenderness that made her throat burn. “Mel—”
“No, wait.” His closeness suddenly scared her, not physically, never physically, but she instinctively knew this wasn’t just a passing fancy, for either of them. “Are we doing this? Because I’ve got to—”
“Yes.” He pulled her a little closer, bringing his mouth down. “We’re doing this—”
She slapped a hand to his chest to hold him off. “I meant inoculating Miss Piggy. We have to do it now because I’ve got things to do—”
“Right. You’re a busy woman