Page 55 of Hello Doctor

She scurried off, whispering to Graham. “Don’t worry, baby, I won’t let him take you. You’re my doggy, and you’ll be my doggy forever. He’ll learn to love you.”

I fought back a smile at her words, but Fletcher snapped, “Something funny,Olivia?”

“Don’t call me that.” I scowled. “I’m not in trouble.”

“Are you sure about that?” He folded his arms across his chest, and my eyes followed his exposed forearms. I swear, rolled sleeves were like arm porn.

Eyes up here, Liv.I huffed out a breath. I hadn’t expected him to take a surprise puppy great, but I knew if we asked him on the phone, he’d say no without a second thought. And he hadn’t seen how happy that puppy made Maya all day as we drove around looking for its owners. I’d also put a post in the community Facebook group with no luck, even after several hours.

“Look, we were driving out by my parents’ house, and we saw him in a ditch. We went to every neighbor in a ten-mile radius and asked all of them about the dog. None of them were missing a puppy. I posted online and still nothing. If you were missing a puppy, don’t you think you’d be looking all over the place to see if someone found it?”

He pressed his lips together and rubbed his hands over his chin. “Someone dumped it.”

I nodded. “And you should see how sweet Maya has been to that dog all day. She even set out three bowls of water for him.”

“Three?” he asked.

“One from the sink, one from the fridge, and then one from the bottled water you keep in the garage. So he would have options.”

He raised his eyebrows.

I nodded. “She loves that dog already. Even though I told her if he belongs to someone else, she needs to give it back.”

“But if no one claims him?”

“That’s up to you.”

He scoffed, shaking his head. “I’m supposed to say no?”

“I don’t think you should,” I admitted. “I think it would be good for Maya to have something to worry about and take care of other than herself.”

“But a dog’s a lot of work.”

“And you have a nanny here full-time to take care of it. Graham can even stay in my house at night so you don’t have to worry about cleaning up accidents.”

His lips twitched. “Now I feel like I’d be saying no to Maya and you.”

I fought a smile, because at this point, he was definitely right. “You saw how cute he is, right?”

He shook his head. “Puppies are always great the first few days. What happens when Maya gets bored of him?”

“Then I’ll keep him,” I said. “I like dogs. I just wasn’t allowed to have one in company housing.”

He eyed me suspiciously, then shook his head. “There better not be any more surprise pets.”

“There won’t be,” I promised, already grinning.

“I’m serious. You keep so much as a cricket in a jar, and it’s going to the pound.”

“Heartless,” I teased.

He pinned me with a glare. “You’re on thin ice, Olivia Griffen.”

I glared at him. “Use my full name again and you will be too,boss.”

He stuck out his tongue.

The playful gesture surprised me so much I let out a laugh and hit his arm.

---