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“Don’t you usually have the weekend free?” Bianca asked.
“Sure. But this time it’s paid as a thank you for helping with Kane.” This has to be an apology too, right?
“Or he’s got a guilty conscience,” she remarked, following the same wavelength to a different result.
“I don’t know. I think it might be an apology for throwing me out of his office,” I said, quickly typing out my thanks.
“Men like him don’t know how to apologize or be decent.”
“I don’t know. I think you just have to see them at the right moment, y’know?” It was hard to word exactly why without sounding like I was justifying things with my crush.
“Callie.” Bianca shot me a look. “Nice people don’t hide that they’re nice.”
“Men do,” I countered. Plus, each time Marcus was around it was painfully evident what kind of tough upbringing Sawyer had. It was easy to understand that growing up with a father that angry resulted in a cold outer shell. Acts of kindness were definitely hidden.
“You’re blinded,” Bianca chuckled. “You want his dick so bad that you can’t see him properly.”
“Fuck off,” I laughed gently, nudging into her. “I’m the only one that sees him properly.”
Bianca rolled her eyes so hard that she almost overbalanced and we continued our walk together, laughing and joking.
It was refreshing to spend time in Bianca’s world, where dogs were the biggest stars. Sometimes I was envious that while I was dealing with business reports, invoices, and accounts, Bianca was here caring for dogs that either needed treatment or care while their owners were busy.
It's not that I wanted to give up my job, but it had to be nice. Then again, Bianca often spoke of how she was envious of my job security, so I penciled it down as regular job envy. I definitely wasn’t keen on having to wash all these dogs.
“Let me get these babies back into their kennels and then we can go to dinner?” Bianca suggested as we made it back to her clinic.
“Sounds good,” I smiled, moving to lean against the reception counter then I called to the vet in the back. “Hey Fred!”
“Callie!” He poked his head around the door and flashed me a smile, tilting his head to see me clearer through his crooked glasses. “Good walk?”
“The best, thanks.”
“You know, if you’re ever looking for extra work we always run out of willing dog walkers.”
“I’m sorry, Fred. I’m only here for Bianca.”
Fred’s face fell in faux disappointment. “Kids these days.” With a wink, he vanished back through the door.
“Well, isn’t that disappointing,” said a voice that pulled my heart into my stomach.
I knew that voice.
Turning around slowly as Bianca wrestled the last dog through the doors to the back of the clinic, I found myself face-to-face with Eli Talbot.
Out of all the places in the world where I could run into him, a family-run veterinary clinic didn’t even make the list.
“Eli.”
His long, narrow face pulled into a wide smile that stretched from ear to ear, and his thin, dark brows lifted to his thinning hairline.
“You remember me.”
“You’re a hard man to forget.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Take it however you like.” Disgust nestled into the base of my throat and it took all my effort to keep my face as impassive as possible. Everything about Eli, from his slimy voice to his pinned shirt and waistcoat, just screamed desperate. He wanted people to know he was rich, to know that his cufflinks and watch cost more than anyone could make in a lifetime.
