Puppy Love. Kelly Moran

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      It actually had taken Brent twenty minutes to find twenty-two gauge syringes because they weren't buried in a box in the boarding room. They were on a shelf now. In a closet. With a label. Cade blew out a breath and shook his head in awe.

      Finished with a round of patients, he headed up front where Aunt Rosa was reading a romance book and Avery was typing away on the computer. “Whatcha doing now?”

      Avery didn't glance up from the screen. “Making a supply list in Excel.”

      Hell. Why was that hot? She wasn't his usual type.

      Okay, to be honest, any female with too many brain cells wasn't his type. It wasn't out of a sense of shallowness he sought that variety, but preservation. Until he found someone who made his heart beat like Heather used to do for Drake, he'd stick with superficial. No point in getting hurt or hurting someone else. But ever since Heather died, Cade tried less and less to settle down or find that person. He was aware of it, aware he was doing it, and damn if he ever questioned his actions until now. People rarely recovered from that kind of love. Why search for it?

      Perhaps it was Avery's long legs in those black leggings, or her pink sweater the same shade as her cheeks when she blushed, or her brown hair—more chestnut really in the sun—piled on top of her head and held in place with a pencil that seized his interest. He bit back a sigh. Nope. It was her brain, her humor, and her strength.

      Hot.

      Aunt Rosa glanced at him over the top of her book, a knowing smirk on her face.

      Busted.

      “A supply list?” Bully for him. His voice sounded normal. He still had no freaking clue why, but if he wasn't bumbling like a moron around Avery, he was saying moronic things. Where the hell was his swagger?

      “Mmhm.” Type. “So we don't over order things or run out. Gabby and Brent can just check off what they need and I can order from the supplier.” Type, type. “Did you know you had ten cases of cat litter? Insane.”

      He scratched his jaw. “Uh. No.”

      “Putting Zoe's stuff on here, too. Her shampoos and whatnot for grooming.” Type.

      “She's making a supply list,” Rosa beamed, waving her hand like this was an epiphany. I told you I'm all-wise. I hired her!

      Cade frowned at his aunt. She'd been the office manager, for Christ's sake. She should've been doing this.

      Flynn came up to the desk and tapped Avery's shoulder. “Have you seen my backup bag? Gabby and I need to head out to Miller's farm.”

      Avery nodded. “In the supply room, stocked for you. Your new bag should be here Monday.”

      At Cade's questioning glance, Flynn signed, “A goat chewed my other one when Gabby was busy chasing a barn cat.”

      And this was why he wasn't the house call vet.

      Flynn tapped Avery's shoulder to get her attention again. “Marry me?”

      She laughed. “Not today, but you're welcome. Shoo, now.”

      What. The. Hell.

      As if sensing Cade's thought train and derailing it, Avery said, “He asks me to marry him daily. Hourly, depending on what I've done.” Type, type. “Relax, Dr. Cade. He's joking. Besides, I don't do office romance.” Right, Flynn? she signed.

      Flynn grinned, the asshole, and strode into his office, only to emerge moments later with Gabby and his travel bag.

      Cade flipped him off behind Avery's back as he was walking out the door.

      “Saw that.” Type.

      Of course she did. All moms had eyes in the backs of their heads. And that was the other thing. She had a kid. Not that he didn't like kids. He did. Maybe even wanted a couple of his own someday. But it wasn't just one person involved when dating someone like Avery. It was two.

      And they weren't dating. Not even a little. He hadn't asked her out and, aside from that first day when her gaze had shown interest, she'd seemed immune to him.

      That hadn't happened in…ever. He found it oddly refreshing.

      With Flynn and Gabby gone, Cade glanced around. “Where's She-rah?” The cat was usually perched on top of the printer, plotting world domination.

      “Avery put her on time-out. She's in the back room.” Rosa's grin grew to oh shit size, and he figured his aunt had read all his previous thoughts. Like a Vulcan mind meld. Which was never a good thing.

      Wait. A time-out? He looked at Avery. “You put a cat on time-out?” He didn't know whether that was cute or genius.

      Avery never stopped typing, which was beginning to infuriate him. “Yes, she was scaring Thor.”

      Cade looked down, just noticing Thor's head in Avery's lap from the other side of her chair. The Great Dane looked at him as if to say, Neener, neener. “Dust bunnies scare that dog.”

      “Well, the cat needs manners. Plus, Thor and I are working on his courage. Aren't we, boy?”

      Thor barked. And not in fear. Yes, my liege.

      Unsure what to make of Avery, he scratched his jaw. She'd done more in one week on the job than Aunt Rosa had in twenty years. She was prettier to look at, too. Aunt Rosa caught him staring at Avery again, so he shook his head.

      “Do I have any more patients this afternoon?”

      “Drake has one more surgery and you have two patients—a terrier who chewed its way through a crate, thus cutting his gums, and strangely…” She trailed off and brought up her schedule. “A cat that's feeling ‘off.’”

      Cade groaned. He was so not in the mood for—

      Rosa set her book down. “It's Jeffery Harrison's cat.”

      Well, that made no sense. Jeffrey had gone to high school with Cade, did not want to date Cade, and he didn't have a cat. Why make an appointment at all?

      Rosa's brows lifted. “It's not just the pretty females worming their way in for appointments anymore. Avery's getting popular.” She tilted her head, her expression saying, whatcha gonna do about it, boy?

      So men were making fake visits to his clinic just to see his new office manager? Hell, did Jeffrey buy a damn cat just to ask her out? This wasn't a dating service. Had people never heard of a cell phone? When his temples started to throb, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

      Type, type. “Maybe Jeffrey is batting for the other team now. Or the cat really is feeling off?”

      Rosa laughed, high-fiving Avery, who never looked up from her computer.

      Screw this. Cade turned on his heels and went into his office.

      * * * *

      Avery looked over the front desk at her mom СКАЧАТЬ