Page 50 of Hold Me Instead
The man had the nerve to smirk at her.
“This isn’t funny!”
His smile immediately dropped. “Sorry.”
She huffed, pacing the small room, then pivoted and took firm steps toward him. “Stop undermining me. I don’t care that Daniel is your dad. I don’t care that you used to be in charge of me. That was years ago. You haven’t worked here inyears.I’m not about to let you come in and change whatever the hell you want.” She heaved out deep breaths, his notebook of lists somehow waving in her hand.
He looked from it to her.
She lowered the notebook and her voice, tossing the pad in front of him. “If you have an issue with a client, come talk to me.”
“Okay. I have an issue with my client.”
She gritted her teeth. “Too late now, isn’t it?”
He clenched his beautiful jaw, their eyes locked in an even louder war that was interrupted by a rapid knock.
“Doctors?” Sheila poked her head into the room. “We have kittens.”
Charlie blinked her gaze back to Zachary, then spun around to follow Sheila to the main desk, Zachary right behind her.
“Oh my heavens, this is the cutest package I’ve ever seen,” Maura cooed, standing over a cardboard box on her desk. “We have five little sweeties here with their mama,” she said as Charlie reached her.
She peered inside, a spread of sleeping kittens nestled together and a cat that looked around two years old curved around them, watchingcarefully. One gray tabby lifted its head and squeaked, then burrowed against its neighbor.
“I called Jasmine. She’s getting things set and will come back for them,” Maura said.
Zachary let the mother cat sniff his hand, and after an approving lick, picked up a squirming black fuzz ball. He gently rubbed its head with his thumb. “Does she foster?”
“Yes,” Maura answered. “Just cleared out her last litter, in fact.”
“What do we know about these?” Charlie pulled her gaze away from the purring poof licking Zachary’s chin.
“A woman brought them by, said she found them living under her front porch a few weeks ago. She’s been trying to get them to a rescue, but so many are at capacity. Someone told her to come to us.”
The kitten squeaked and promptly fell asleep in Zachary’s hand.
“Alright, let’s bring these cuties to the back for a quick check,” Charlie said.
Sheila nodded and scooped up the box. “I’ll help out until Jasmine gets here.”
“You sure?” Charlie asked.
“You want one, don’t you?” Zachary said with a small grin.
“I already promised my wife I wouldn’t bring home another animal, even to foster,” Sheila said, her cheeks pink. “That’s how we ended up with five!” Her laughter filled the hallway as she carried the kittens to an exam room.
“I’ll lock up on my way out after Jasmine arrives,” Maura said.
“Thanks, Maura,” Charlie called, making her way toward the back.
She ignored how Zachary still carried the kitten, whispering to it the whole way.
Positioned at the exam table across from one another, they assigned codes to each cat, and Sheila created their charts, entering notes as Charlie and Zachary called out vitals and details.
Charlie ignored the way their hands brushed when they both reached into the box, the heat that shot up her arm and through her core.
Charlie ignored the grin on Zachary’s face, the little greeting he gave each new kitten as he picked it up for inspection.
