“I need to get them an appointment tomorrow at three o’clock to pick Brownie up, and you’re in the way,” he said. “Although, that’s one of those things that my assistant should probably be doing.”
Oh, right. Yeah, probably.
Charlie turned to the front reception desk and saw that she had her marketing plans spread out across the desk in the way of any scheduling or appointment books. She leaned over, grabbed a sticky note off the top of the stack, grabbed a pen out of the pen holder, wrote down three o’clock p.m., added a smiley face, and handed it to Michael. “See you tomorrow.”
He chuckled. “Thanks again, Griffin.”
“No problem. I’ll text you later.”
“But I’ll text you before that!” Charlie called. She’d promised photos and updates after all.
Griffin focused on her again after the door shut behind them.
“What if I’m busy tomorrow at three? You didn’t look at the schedule.”
“I promise to work it out,” she told him. After she dug the schedule book out. Then she would get them set up to schedule online with a calendar that would connect to both of their phones, so they didn’t have to dig the schedule book out every time. “I’m here to make your life easier.”
He gave her a look that clearly said, you’re full of shit. But there was maybe a, but I’d still really like to kiss you again anyway tacked onto the end of that thought. At least, she was going to tell herself there was.
“Anything else I can do for you, Dr. Foster?”
If that sounded like innuendo, she was absolutely unapologetic about that.
“As a matter of fact, there is.”
Oh… good. Though that didn’t sound enough like an innuendo for her taste.
“What’s that?”
“Kennel three needs to be cleaned out.”
“Okay then.” A dirty kennel. That sounded as opposite from the work she’d been doing forty-eight hours ago as she could get. Charlie looked at everyone else with a smile. “I’m going to get to work, and you all think about what animals we should add to the petting zoo.”
“We really are adding animals?” Sawyer asked
Maddie, Sawyer, and Charlie all looked at Tori. Her eyes were already twinkling.
Sawyer gave a little groan that Charlie interpreted as yes, they were adding animals to the petting zoo.
“Hedgehogs,” Charlie said. “Hedgehogs are so cute and would be easy for kids to handle, wouldn’t they?”
Tori’s smile was wide and bright. “I love hedgehogs.”
Sawyer shook his head. “They’re animals. Four legs and fur, right? Of course you love them.” But the way he smiled at Tori was resigned and affectionate.
“You’ve already looked into animals to add to the petting zoo?” Maddie asked.
“Of course. I never come to meetings unprepared.”
“And who is going to take care of all of these new animals?”
She turned to face Griffin. He already knew the answer, of course, but she was glad he’d asked. The more chances for her to work with the grumpy hot veterinarian, the better.
“Well, probably not the pregnant veterinarian who’s soon to be a mother and have all the time in the world,” she said.
Griffin sighed. “No. Probably not.”
Charlie shrugged, fighting a grin. He was so easy to poke. And it was so fun. “I’m sure we can find someone online. They can just use Google to figure out what to do with hedgehogs, right?”
Griffin didn’t sigh, but he frowned this time. “I know you’re kidding, but I still feel compelled to say that is completely unacceptable.”
It might only be for animals, but he had some softness underneath the gruff exterior. And it wasn’t so much that she would use it against him, as it was her finding it incredibly sexy.
“Well, we’ll have to work something else out for the hedgehogs then,” she told him. “And the rabbits.”
“I love rabbits,” Tori said.
Charlie grinned.
Griffin did not. “The cute girl who’s going to be cleaning out the veterinary clinic kennels will have to help clean up after these new animals, you know.”
Her eyebrows arched. Holy shit. Even though he was clearly annoyed with her coming in here and making changes, that was almost flirting.
“You have a cute new girl cleaning the kennels of the veterinary clinic?” she asked.
His eyes tracked over her from the top of her head to the toes of her tennis shoes. They came back to rest on hers. “I do. Apparently.”
Charlie smiled at him. He didn’t smile back, but his eyes were hot as they took her in.
After a few beats, he said, “Charlie?”
It was the first time he called her Charlie to her face instead of Charlotte. It did a funny swooping thing to her stomach.
“Yeah?” Was her voice a little husky? And did anyone else notice? Did she care?
“Kennels. They’re down the hall. Numbers three and five.
“The cute new girl is going to clean kennels, now?”
“Yeah. It’s one of the reasons I’m really glad to have an assistant actually. Kennel three had a St. Bernard in it.”
Oh.
Oh.
St. Bernards were big dogs. That was about all she knew about them, but she could surmise that they also made big… messes.
“Is this payback for bringing hedgehogs into your life?” she asked.
“It’s payback for bringing tourists into my life.”
He said “tourists” the way some people would say “roadkill.”
“So you like hedgehogs?”
“Who wouldn’t like hedgehogs?” he asked.
It was clear Tori wasn’t the only one who was a sucker for anything with four legs and fur. And because of that, Charlie would clean up after the St. Bernard.
But she was definitely going to pray the dog hadn’t been here for gastrointestinal issues.
“I better get to work then,” she said. “Because there are hedgehogs and tourists in your future, Dr. Foster.” She turned back to the others. “You guys go ahead and head out. Talk everything over. Come up with any questions or ideas that you’ve got. I’ll see y’all later at Ellie’s.”
“You sure you’re okay here?” Maddie’s gaze went from Charlie to Griffin and back again, the corner of her mouth twitching now.
All of this arguing and banter on top of the way they’d disappeared into the storeroom together earlier clearly made her curious about what was going on between them.
Charlie was curious about that as well. Griffin said no to picking up where they’d left off—after being the one to suggest picking up where they’d left off. But maybe they could just start new now.
Not that she’d be able to forget about the barn…
She looked over at Griffin. “Yeah, I’m just fine.”
She was also highly amused to see the look of trepidation on Griffin’s face when she said that.
8
If he didn’t know better, Griffin would have thought Charlie brushed against him on purpose as she stepped around him on the way to the kennels.
Actually, he did know better. He knew she had done her best to rub up against him on her way past. He should probably be more irritated by that. His new assistant couldn’t be brushing up against him at every opportunity. Especially when he was trying to be annoyed with her. And avoid that body at all costs.