Page 20 of Key Lime Kisses
“Besides,” Shea continued, “what are the odds he's going to be atthisrestaurant?”
Five minutes later, we found out that the odds were actually quite good.
As we waited for a booth to get cleared off, I heard a gasp from Shea. Even though I had never seen the jerk alpha from brunch, I had a feeling the large guy striding toward us, away from his own table, was him. His eyes roved over both of us both of us for a moment, then he just walked on by without a word.
“Come on,” he barked to the omega trailing behind him, who eagerly followed like a happy dog.
Shea and I both looked at each other.
“I don't even think he recognized me,” Shea said, sounding almost indignant. He snorted and he shook his head. “And to think I wasted all those hours stressing about him.”
“Your table is ready. Thank you for waiting,” the waitress said.
We both thanked her and slid into our seats.
“One less thing to worry about, I guess,” I said.
“Yeah,” Shea laughed. “Now I can just enjoy the entire vacation without well, any worries.”
“Did you call out of work?” I asked remembering that I still hadn't.
“I did for today. 'll send another email later. There are perks to being a manager. What about you?”
I hesitated and then admitted, “I don't really have a schedule.”
Shea looked at me curiously. I don't know why I hadn't been honest with him about my role at the clinic. I supposed it was some weird attempt at being humble.
“Well, I uh… I kind of own it.”
“You mean the animal hospital?” Shea asked. “Youownit?!”
“Yeah,” I chuckled weakly. “I still take appointments from time to time when we're busy or on an emergency basis, but most of what I've been doing is just tedious clerical stuff, that can survive a week without me.”
“Wow,” he said, looking impressed.
The waitress returned to give us some water and see if we wanted to order. We took a minute while she checked on a nearby table, then placed our orders.
“So how did you come to own an animal clinic?” Shea asked. “Did you always want to be a vet?”
“I guess so; we always had rescue dogs and cats growing up. As far as the clinic goes, I actually worked there first. The previous owner decided to move and sell and I just… well, I guess I was in the right position to be able to move on it.”
“That’s fantastic.”
We talked about my experience with the clinic for a while and then switched to a more in depth conversation about job. I didn't voice it, but I realized that Shea's expertise might be exactly what I needed to handle my overflowing patient file situation. I wondered just how easily he could set up something like that.
Our main course arrived and we took a break from talking to enjoy some extremely large steaks. I caught myself chuckling as Shea packed his away.
“What's funny?” he asked around a mouthful of steak.
“You eat like an alpha.” Even as I said it, I hoped that it wouldn’t come across as insulting.
To my relief, he grinned and chuckled. “Only when the food and company are good.”
“I'll take that as a compliment.”
“It was one,” he said, flashing me a grin.
I went back to eating, thinking about just how nice this was. It was too bad he hadn't been my brunch companion. Now that would have been a great date.
