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from his lips, almost soothing, which was surprising coming from someone as tall and

muscular as him. After being with Travis for most of my adult life, I had never

experienced what it felt like to be with someone who could pick me up, shove me against

the wall, rip my dress in half¡­

¡°And this is Buddy,¡± he said, and I snapped from my thoughts. Okay, I had to be

blushing now. How on Earth was I going to get through this appointment? We hadn¡¯t

even finished the introductions and I was imagining him ripping my clothes off.

¡°What¡¯s going on, huh, Buddy?¡± I forced myself to ask in my friendly puppy voice even

though it was a struggle to act in any other way than robotic autopilot.

¡°Last night I got home from uh, work, and Buddy had well, was sick in every way

possible on the floor¡­¡±

I frowned and crouched down to the German Shepherd. He was a beautiful dog. I

could tell by how soft and shiny his coat was that Isaac treated him well. Nothing was

more attractive than good pet owners¡­

I had to get a hold of myself. ¡°Aww, poor Buddy.¡± I scratched him behind the ear and

looked up at Isaac. A funny smirk grew on his face as I sat on my knees, staring up at him,

lost in his green eyes that matched his emerald shirt. ¡°Has he been eating?¡±

¡°Not a bite since yesterday.¡±

¡°Drinking water?¡±

¡°Yeah, but it seems like he¡¯s got a hard time keeping it down.¡±

¡°Hm¡­¡± I pondered and bit my lip, moving my eyes from his to Buddy¡¯s sad brown

puppy eyes. Poor guy was definitely sick. ¡°We¡¯ll have to run some tests. It¡¯s probably

nothing serious, but we have to rule out anything else.¡±

He looked down at me still sitting at his feet and I looked up at him, still biting my lip,

and felt another wave of heat wash over me when I watched him slowly lick his lips.

Deciding I needed to be on a more equal playing level, I stood up to my feet and said, ¡°All

right, well, I¡¯ll quickly check for any bumps or lumps, then I¡¯ll bring him to our nurse for

blood work.¡± I quickly bit my lip before saying, ¡°The bloodwork will take about twenty

minutes. Umm, you can wait in the waiting room or in here¡­ it¡¯s your decision.¡±

He looked around the office until his eyes landed on another free chair and helped