Turned on by a guy who was good with animals? Check.
Turned on by a guy who was reassuring to a scared little boy? Double-check.
She watched Griffin as he carried the puppy to the side door of the clinic. Andre and Michael followed, and it wasn’t until Tori said her name that Charlie realized she’d done a full pivot to watch Griffin disappear back into the clinic.
She swung back to face Tori. “Yeah?”
“Are you okay?” Tori was eyeing her closely.
Was she okay? That was a good question.
She was feeling a little discombobulated, as a matter of fact.
Just five days ago, she’d been in Paris, feeling pretty full of herself and good about life in general, eating croissants at a sidewalk café where she could gaze adoringly at the Eiffel Tower.
Now she was standing beside the veterinary clinic in Autre, Louisiana, about to become the assistant to the man that she had more or less had sex with in a barn two months ago and whose shirt she still wore with only panties when she was lounging around her house. Who was now her boss.
Griffin was absolutely as gorgeous and delicious as he’d been back then. And that meant the moonshine she’d shot with her cousins and the general celebratory air of the event had not been part of her attraction to Griffin.
“So Griffin takes care of the petting zoo and everything with Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild?” Charlie asked. After seeing him with the goats, it was clear he spent a lot of time with them.
Tori nodded. “Yep. I’m sticking with most of my small animal clients, but he’s taking on any new clients and the petting zoo and otters. He also handles a lot of the larger animal calls now that I’m further along.” She put a hand on her stomach. “I fully intend to practice after the baby comes, but it would be great to be more flexible and maybe more part-time.”
“Does he like working with the petting zoo?” Charlie was too interested in the guy. But it didn’t hurt to know something about her new boss, did it?
Tori smiled. “Griffin likes anything having to do with animals. It’s people he’s not as crazy about.”
That fit. Charlie didn’t know him well, but Griffin Foster wasn’t that hard to read, really. He probably shouldn’t play poker. Even the night they’d met, it had been clear that, while the goats weren’t supposed to be following him around, he was far more tolerant of them than he had been of Charlie insinuating herself into his quiet time outside the bar.
That hadn’t lasted. He’d been fine with her being in his space after a few minutes. Sure, kissing and thongs and dirty talk had a way of getting to most guys, but she truly thought he’d liked more than that about her.
Griffin didn’t strike her as “most guys.” And that was going to make her stay in Autre this time a lot more fun, she had a feeling.
“So I’ll be more Griffin’s assistant than yours?” Charlie asked.
Tori nodded. “He’s the one here most of the time. I do a lot of house calls.”
“I’d guess most small town vets don’t get a chance to work with a whole bunch of otters or even alpacas regularly,” Charlie said. “He must enjoy that.”
Was she digging for information about Griffin Foster? Absolutely.
But Tori laughed. “Oh, I’m sure our goats and alpacas and even the otters seem like a demotion to him.”
“He doesn’t like goats and alpacas and otters?” How did someone not like otters?
“He likes them. They’re just not tigers and polar bears and penguins.”
“Oh, well…” That was true. “But he didn’t really think Autre would have penguins, did he?”
“No. But he worked for zoos before coming here. I think going from tigers to goats is still a little disheartening.”
“Zoos? No way.” Okay, that was cool. A zoo veterinarian? She didn’t run into one of those every day.
“Yes, he spent time in Omaha at the Henry Doorly Zoo. He worked with all of the animals there at one time or another. Then he moved to Washington, D.C,. and was actually head of the propagation program for the tigers at the National Zoo.”
Yes, very interesting. How often did a girl meet a hot guy who was great with animals and had been a veterinarian at the zoo? Accountants, lawyers, general businessmen, even mechanics and construction workers were a dime a dozen but zoo veterinarians?
“So how did he end up here? If he thinks all of this is a demotion, why did he leave D.C.?”
That wasn’t nosy. Surely anyone who heard that Griffin had worked at zoos before and was now taking care of the goats in Autre, Louisiana, would wonder how that transition had happened.
Tori would not meet Charlie’s eyes as she answered, “He just… needed a change of pace.”
A change of pace, huh?
“And he just happened to answer your Help Wanted ad?”
“Griffin and I know each other from vet school,” Tori said with a smile. “When I found out that he…” She seemed to consider her next words, “…needed a new job—” She winced a little as if that wasn’t exactly how she meant to phrase that. “I offered him a position here as my partner. Even before I was pregnant, I was getting busier, and as we added the otters, I had more work than I can really keep up with. Griffin is a great guy and an extraordinary veterinarian, and I’m always happy to help out friends and colleagues.”
Charlie put a hand on her hip. Tori Landry was a very sweet woman. Charlie liked her a lot. Tori was also not telling Charlie the whole story about Griffin. And she was very interested.
“Why did he need a new job?” Charlie asked.
Tori actually took a step backward, shaking her head. “Um… not my story to tell.”
So there was a story.
“But what are the chances Griffin’s going to tell me the story?”
“Probably not very good,” Tori admitted. “He keeps to himself.”
Dammit, now Charlie felt like this was a challenge. She wanted his story. And she wanted him to tell her.
There was very little Charlie liked more than a challenge. Chocolate croissants. A great cappuccino. A new pair of heels. And interestingly, just over the past two months, possibly baby goats.
No, she didn’t like goats more than a challenge, but she did like baby goats more than she would have expected.
“But—” Now Tori was studying Charlie closely. “Why do you need the story?”
Because I haven’t been this interested in a guy in a really long time. Or ever.
Charlie thought quickly. Did she need to be careful here? Would Tori not let her work here if she knew what had happened between her and Griffin two months ago? If so, why would Tori care about that?
Charlie realized at that moment that she wanted this job. Here. At the vet clinic with Griffin. But Maddie had mentioned her helping Boys of the Bayou out with some marketing ideas. Charlie was certain it had been Ellie’s suggestion initially, but she appreciated that her family would give her a job. Even if it was out of pity. And temporary. She needed to come up with ten grand to pay off Alan’s stupid paint job, so she couldn’t be picky at the moment.
She could probably find a marketing job in New Orleans if she looked. But she didn’t want a job in New Orleans. This was like every other trip she’d taken to the bayou—it was a break, a vacation, a short-term getaway. A chance to have some fun, kick back, not worry about anything for a little while.