But she had plans. Goals. Dreams, even. Watching her father build his business as she’d grown up had made her want to be a part of something like that. Where a company could be more than a business. Where it could become influential and make a real difference.
Autre was just a pit stop along that road, and no matter how creative she got about activities with swamp boats and goats and otters, it wasn’t the big, meaningful work she wanted to do.
Still, in the short term, putting together a marketing plan for her family would keep her busy, and it would help them out. That would definitely make her feel good. Plus, some of her ideas could be mutually beneficial if things went her way.
And things very often went her way.
“He’s my new boss. A friend of the family. I’m nosy.” Charlie lifted a shoulder after giving three very good excuses.
Tori looked suspicious, but she nodded. “Okay.”
“But you don’t have to tell me.”
“Good,” Tori said as if that hadn’t even been a possibility. “How about we head in, and I’ll show you around?” Tori stepped to the clinic door and pulled it open. “Then Griffin really might need you in on the surgery on Brownie.”
“Great.”
Charlie followed Tori back into the clinic and took mental notes as Tori showed her around the building.
They had the storage room, four examination rooms, two surgical rooms, and the large room where they kept the dogs, cats, and other critters kenneled for their hospital stays. There were also two offices—one for Tori and one for Griffin.
Charlie lingered in the doorway to Griffin’s office, taking in as many details as she could without seeming overly interested. The room was cluttered, with stacks of folders and papers all over his desk and in piles on the floor between the desk and window. There were also magazines and books, along with a couple of t-shirts draped over one chair and a jacket on the back of another. But that was as personal as it got. There were no photos or any other personal touches. She didn’t even see a coffee cup.
The clutter with the lack of personal touches surprised her for some reason. She had no idea why. She didn’t know the guy very well.
She knew that he was an amazing kisser. She knew that she really liked having his hands in her panties—well, technically, she hadn’t had panties on when his hands had been where she really liked having them—and she loved the way he responded to blowjobs.
And that was it.
Except that he had a soft spot for animals, was good with little kids, and was funny and charming.
A funny, charming animal lover should at least have a mug that said This Probably Has Dog Hair In It.
She’d seen that mug online when she’d been scrolling for something else. She’d thought it was funny at the time, but it was weird that it came to mind now.
But yeah, she was going to get him that mug.
She liked the guy. What could she say?
“We’ll go over several of the supplies, but I just wanted to show you around for now,” Tori said. “A lot of the job is just answering the phone and assisting patients as they come in. We’re not crazy busy all the time, so Griffin will obviously handle most of the actual work, but it’s nice to have an extra pair of hands sometimes.”
“I’m game for whatever,” Charlie said. “I’m happy to help if I can.”
“Well, it’s great for me to know someone’s here with Griffin,” Tori said. “He is such a hard worker, and he’s an amazing vet, but sometimes…”
Charlie gave Tori a little grin. There were few different ways Tori could probably fill in that blank, and Charlie was curious about all of them. “But sometimes?” she prompted.
“Customer service isn’t Griffin’s strong suit.” Tori gave her a little smile that said she was trying to be diplomatic.
Charlie nodded. “Got it. So I will be handling the customer service?”
“Please.”
Charlie laughed and followed Tori through the rest of the clinic.
“Feel free to poke around, so you know where things are, but you won’t be doing anything with the animals without Griffin. The surgical suites will need to be cleaned up after procedures though. I’ll show you all of that.”
Tori turned to the left and led Charlie toward the front of the clinic. “And this is our lobby and waiting area.”
Charlie was listening. She really was. She heard something about cleaning up and that she should go in and look around. But she was definitely distracted.
She could hear Griffin’s voice coming from one of the examination rooms. The door wasn’t shut, and Griffin was inside with Andre and Michael, and Brownie.
She couldn’t hear everything they were saying, but she could hear Griffin’s low voice and soothing tone. It did funny things to her insides. He’d been charming, sexy, dirty, and funny with her. She very much liked all of those characteristics. But something about him being soothing and reassuring made her want to get closer to that room and listen in. She took a step in that direction.
“So you promise he’ll be okay in time for my birthday?” she heard Andre ask.
“I promise that if he’s not okay to come home for your birthday,” Griffin said, “you can come here and visit him, and we’ll have a little party right here. I would hate to think that your best friend in the world wouldn’t be at your birthday party.”
Charlie wanted to take her clothes off.
It was that simple. Listening to Griffin talk to the little boy about his birthday party and his best friend, the puppy, made her want him in a way that shocked her.
She was not exactly excited to be in Autre. She loved the town and being with her family, of course, but Autre was just a place for her to rest and re-set. She also wasn’t excited to be jobless. She definitely wasn’t excited to have her mother think that she had been majorly demoted and was now begging her family for charity. But if part of her time in Autre was going to be spent around Dr. Griffin Foster, things were going to be just fine.
“Charlie?” Tori asked, turning back
Charlie shook herself and looked at Tori.
“You okay?” Tori asked.
“Yeah. Sure.” Stupidly horny, but actually, suddenly delighted to be here.
Charlie grinned to herself as she followed Tori into the front of the clinic.
“Welcome home,” her cousin Sawyer said, straightening away from the counter where he’d been leaning. He was a big guy. Six-four and broad. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a Boys of the Bayou logo and faded blue jeans that she was sure had seen many a swamp boat tour. He had a jagged scar that ran down the one side of his face from an accident on the bayou, but he was still very handsome, especially with the big grin he gave Charlie as she stepped into the lobby.
“Hey, Sawyer!” Charlie rounded the corner of the tall front counter.
Her oldest cousin pulled her into a big hug. “I hear you’ve been causing trouble.”
Charlie nodded. “As always.”
“Glad some things never change.” Sawyer patted her on the head. “You didn’t have to use the right hook I taught you?”
“I would have if I’d thought it would hurt him as much as keying his Porsche did.”
Sawyer laughed, a deep rumbling sound. “That’s my girl.”