Burn Out (14 page)

“What if I promise
to feed you and get you a double espresso from your favorite café down the
street? Does that sweeten the deal?”

She had to smile
at his persistence. Evan was used to getting his own way, and while she knew
rejection was good for his ego, she found herself wanting to spend time with
him. He had invaded her thoughts relentlessly since they returned from the
wedding and his claims that he was ready to make some changes in his life had
piqued her curiosity.

“Fine, but I have
to pick Chloe up first.”

“What time do you
close?”

She checked her
watch, a non-descript gold-tone watch with a leather band. Nothing like the
flashy diamond Rolex he’d given her. “The day shift leaves in about two hours,
then they start to settle the dogs in for the night.”

“That should give
us enough time. Why don’t we pick her up on the way home instead? I’d love to
see how our dogs get along.”

She rolled her
eyes at his assumption. “You can’t just walk out of the shelter with a dog,
Evan. You have to fill out paperwork, provide references, go through an
approval process.”

He grinned as he
propped an elbow on the tall counter. “Done, done, and done. I just have to
pick out the dog I want to take home tonight.”

Trying to catch
him off guard, she asked, “Do you have everything the dog might need at home?”

“I think so,” he
said, looking adorably uncertain. “But you could check out my stash. If I
forgot anything, the stores will be open for a few more hours.”

“Okay,” she said,
sighing. She propped a hand on her hip, regarding him carefully. “Are you sure
you know what you’re getting yourself into? This is a big commitment.”

“I told you, I’m
ready to make a big commitment.”

***

Evan watched with
amusement as she scarfed down the greasy burger and fries. He knew it was a
rare treat for her and she wasn’t shy about eating every last bite.

“What?” she asked,
looking self-conscious as she wiped her mouth with a paper napkin.

“When I offered to
take you out for dinner, I had something a little nicer in mind.”

She wrinkled her
nose and pulled on the top of the scrubs she wore. “I had surgery today, so I
wasn’t exactly dressed for fine dining.”

He thought she
looked adorable in her green scrubs, but he knew she wouldn’t believe him if he
told her so, so he settled for stealing one of her fries instead of responding.

She slapped his
hand while getting a fierce look in her eye. “You already finished yours. These
are mine.”

He shrugged. “It’s
not my fault you eat slow. Growin’ up in my house, anything left on your plate
was fair game.”

She smiled. “I
always tried to avoid sitting beside Ryan at those Sunday dinners.” A sad look
passed her face and she looked down at her half-eaten hamburger. “I miss those
dinners.” She cleared her throat. “In fact, I miss your family. A lot. It was
nice catching up with them at the wedding.”

It was difficult
to feign nonchalance when he said, “You’re always welcome, you know that. If
you’re not doin’ anything this Sunday, you should come.”

She took a sip of
her soft drink as she seemed to consider his request. “I’m not sure that would be
a good idea. It might give people the wrong idea about us.”

He shrugged,
pretending it didn’t matter to him either way. “We’ll tell them the truth, that
we’re friends. Nothing more.”

Erika looked up at
him, her eyes wide with uncertainty. “Is that all we are? Just friends?”

His heart raced as
he thought about all of the things he was dying to do to her. No, she would
always be so much more than his friend. “Aren’t we?”

She blushed as she
dipped her head. “We did make love just a couple of weeks ago.”

“Did we?” He tried
to hide his smile as he reached for his soft drink. “I thought we had sex.”

“You know what I
mean,” she said, scowling as she looked around to make sure no one was sitting
close enough to overhear their conversation.

“Look, I thought I
made myself clear in the Bahamas. You said you’re not interested, and I’m
willin’ to respect that. It doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, does it?”

“I don’t know,”
she said, sitting back in her seat and pushing the cardboard container towards
him. “Don’t you think it would be a little awkward?”

“I don’t know,” he
said, pretending to consider the question. “Does this feel awkward? Bein’ with
me like this?”

“Um, no, but…”

“I get it, you’re
worried about what Jeff might think.” It took all of Evan’s self-control to say
the other man’s name without malice, but he was impressed he managed to pull it
off. Maybe he was a better actor than he thought.

“No, I fired him
when we got back.”

Evan’s mouth
dropped open. When he recovered, he wanted to pump his fist in the air, but he
refrained. “Why’d you do that?”

“He was trying to
tell me how to run my business and I didn’t appreciate it. A friend who owns
another clinic in town told me he’d been researching his options for months, in
case our personal relationship didn’t evolve the way he hoped it would.”

Evan clenched the
napkin in his fist and tossed it on the plastic tray. “Does that mean he was
tryin’ to get with you just to secure his place at the clinic? What, he thought
he was gonna marry you and become a 50/50 partner just like that?”

She winced before
admitting, “I guess that was his plan.”

“I’m sorry,” he
said, squeezing her arm. “That really sucks.”

“Yeah,” she said,
easing back against the bench seat. “It does. I thought he was my friend. I
mean, he really helped me through the break-up and-”

“Can I ask you a
question about that?” Evan knew this wasn’t the time to place blame, but he’d
been dying to ask this question for a long time.

“I guess so,” she
said, looking wary.

“Did he convince
you to dump me?”

She started
tearing the edges of a paper napkin instead of looking him in the eye when she
responded. “There was nothing between Jeff and me before I broke up with you,
if that’s what you’re asking.”

“No, I know you’d
never cheat on me. I was just wonderin’ how much he figured in to your
decision.” If he was the main reason, Evan knew he’d have to go over to his
house and beat him until he begged for mercy.

“I don’t know. He
talked to me a lot about how a man who loved me would never treat me the way
you did. I guess after a while, I started believing him.” She looked up to see
the scowl on Evan’s face and reached for his hand. “I never questioned whether
you still loved me, Ev. No matter what he said.”

“I’m glad to hear
that,” he said, relishing the feel of her hand on his. “I’ve never loved anyone
the way I loved you.” He didn’t want to say it in the past tense. He wanted to
tell her he still loved her, would always love her, but he knew she wouldn’t
feel comfortable spending time with him if she knew the truth.

Sliding out of the
booth quickly, she said, “We’d better get going if we wanna make it to the
shelter before they close.”

***

Erika led Evan
into the animal shelter and it was obvious she felt at home there. He knew she
carried on her father’s tradition of collecting donations for the shelter
during the holiday season and helping the resident veterinarian whenever they
were inundated with an influx of abandoned animals in need of immediate medical
attention.

The elderly woman
behind the desk beamed at Erika. “Dr. Carlton, this is a pleasant surprise.”
She looked past her and smiled at Evan. “You should have told us she would
vouch for you. We would have approved your application in no time.”

Evan rested his
hand on Erika’s back and smiled. “I didn’t want to start name droppin’.” He
winked at the gray-haired woman and smiled. “I hate when people do that.”

Erika back-handed
him in the stomach. “This coming from the guy who knows enough celebrities to
fill this room.”

The woman, whose
name tag read Violet, smiled at their friendly banter before asking Evan,
“You’re still interested in the same three dogs you visited with yesterday?”

“Yes, ma’am. I was
hopin’ Erika could help steer me in the right direction.”

“I’ll just get you
set up in the adoption room,” she said, reaching for a set of keys hanging on a
hook below the desk. “Then I’ll bring the dogs in one at a time.”

“Sounds good,”
Evan said, leaning an elbow on the desk as Erika wandered to a bulletin board
to browse pictures of pets waiting to find their forever families.

“Coming here is so
hard for me,” she admitted, scanning the stories that accompanied the pictures.
“I just want to take every one of them home.”

Evan laughed. “I
might just have room for that in the new place I bought.”

She raised an eyebrow
as she turned to face him. “Really? Lots of acreage?”

“About forty.” He
shrugged. “I know it’s a dramatic departure from condo livin’, but I didn’t
want to be in some estate subdivision with perfectly manicured lawns on the
golf course.”

She smiled wistfully.
“I remember.”

So many times over
the years she’d pointed out fabulous properties in newspapers and online, but
he’d rewarded her with barely more than a cursory glance. Now he’d give
anything to have help making his big, empty house feel like a home. “You wanna
check it out?” he asked. “I sure could use your help gettin’ the dog settled.
We could pick up Chloe on the way, give them a chance to get acquainted.” He
smiled. “You know, since they’re gonna be spendin’ so much time together at the
doggie daycare.”

She raised an
eyebrow at that announcement. “You plan on bringing your dog to my clinic every
day?”

“Sure, assumin’
you can make room for him. I hate to think of him home all alone all day while
I’m at work.”

She smirked.
“Yeah, I’m sure you do.”

She was obviously
on to him, but he didn’t care as long as she was still smiling. “Does that mean
you’re willin’ to take him on? I know you also offer dog trainin’. I may sign
him up for some classes. What do you think?”

“It’s a great
idea,” she said, wandering around to peer in the windows lining the wall. “If
he doesn’t understand the basic commands already, you’ll want to start with
sit, stay, down, learning to come when called, and walking on a leash.”

“See,” he said,
pointing at her. “I knew I brought you along for a reason. I have so much to
learn.”

She rolled her
eyes. “You could’ve bought a book.”

“That wouldn’t be
nearly as much fun.”

She looked at him
a long time before admitting, “I hate to admit it, but I am having fun with
you. It’s been a long time since we’ve hung out like this. I kind of missed
it.”

“Does that mean
you think this friends thing could work out after all?” he asked, gesturing
between them. “You know, for the sake of the dogs.”

She laughed.
“You’re crazy. You know that, don’t you?”

It had been so
long since he’d made her laugh like that, he’d almost forgotten how much he
enjoyed hearing it
. Crazy about you
, he wanted to say. Instead he said,
“I’m told that’s one of my more endearin’ qualities.”

“If you say so.”

“We’re ready when
you are,” Violet said, holding the leash of a curious Irish Setter.

“Oh wow,” Erika
whispered. “He’s beautiful.”

“I think so, too,”
Evan said, smiling. He ushered her into the small room he’d occupied yesterday.
“I spent a good deal of time with him yesterday and I have to say, we really
hit it off.” He waited until Violet took the leash off and closed the door
behind her before he asked, “What can you tell me about this breed?”

Erika knelt down
and allowed the dog to sniff her hands before rubbing him behind the ears.
“Let’s see, they need a lot of exercise. They’re born hunters…”

“No problem.
There’s plenty of room to run and lots of wildlife around my place. I doubt
he’ll catch anything, but he’s bound to enjoy the chase.”

She looked up at
him. “That’s your favorite part too, from what I recall. Once you had me, you
weren’t too interested in keeping me.”

He knelt beside
her and began petting the dog as he tried to ignore the urge to touch her.
Being around her so much, pretending he felt nothing, would be harder than he
thought. “I’ve grown up a lot since then.”

“I almost believe
you,” she said, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. “You do seem
…
different
.”

“In a good way?”
he asked, hoping she couldn’t tell how much her answer meant to him.

“Yeah, in a good
way.” She grinned when the dog started licking her hand. “Now, about this boy.
How old is he?”