Vet's Desire (19 page)

The heat pad
made him think of Al, which in turn made him wonder what Cindy was
doing. Probably sleeping with that sleaze, Robert. After all, she’d
said she was going to have sex that fateful night of the horror
party in Hell. He could only assume that as she’d gone home with
Robert, he’d been the lucky man.

Goddamn it. The
thought of Robert with his greasy hands on Cindy’s soft skin made
him angry.

Goddamn it
again. It wasn’t his business, and she’d made that perfectly clear
to him.

Late Thursday
afternoon found him at home settling a dog on a plastic-covered
mattress layered with soft sheets. He hooked the bag of IV fluids
on a hook not far above, placed a bowl of water beside the mattress
and a second bowl containing some cooked, chopped up chicken.

The dog wagged
his tail feebly and took a few bites.

“There’s a
fellow.” Tim rubbed the big, furry head gently. “Keep improving,
that’s all your owners want. All I want, too.” When the dog looked
up at him out of liquid brown eyes, and he rubbed behind his ears.
“Eat up. I’ll take you outside later if you’re up to it.”

Pulling his
shirt off, he slung it into the laundry wash basket and came back
out into the kitchen. While pouring himself an iced coffee in front
of the open ‘fridge door, he studied the casserole dish his trusty
housekeeper had left on the second shelf. Sausage and something, by
the look of it. Rice in another bowl. Looked like Janet was trying
something new. Interesting. He warmed some up and it tasted good.
He surprised himself by eating a second plateful. He’d lost his
appetite recently but it looked like it was coming back.

He was
scrounging in the freezer for some ice cream when the doorbell
rang. Placing it on the sink, he went through the lounge and out
into the hallway to the front door. Opening it, he looked down to
see Cindy standing there returning his gaze steadily.

Man, she looked
so pretty. The low-cut blouse hugged her breasts, the little lace
edging tickling her bare skin, he’d just bet. The light linen
summer pants she wore skimmed her legs before flaring out around
the stilettos she wore on her red-nailed feet. Red pants, white
top, red stilettos and red toe nails. His gaze drifted up over
those luscious curves, following up higher to where her hair was
bundled up in some elegant, yet managing to look a little untidy,
bun of some kind on top of her head. Errant blonde strands blew in
the evening breeze. His gaze finally settled on her face. Blue eye
shadow, red lipstick, thick eyelashes, a touch of blush on her
cheeks.

She looked so
good, so fresh and so confident, that he wanted to fall to his
knees right there and rip her clothes off to see that soft skin
beneath the material.

One fine brow
arched. “Tim.”

Reining in his
baser instinct, he met her gaze coolly. Or he hoped it was coolly.
Arching one brow in return, he replied, “Cindy.” That came out nice
and level.

Her gaze
flicked behind him. “Is this a bad time?”

As in, did he
have a strumpet in his house? Little did she know no woman had ever
been in his house, except for the vet nurses who came to deliver or
pick up animals or things to do with the clinic, Janet his
housekeeper, his Aunt, and - well, that was about it. Not even
Maddy or Cherry had come into his hallowed sanctuary.

No sir, it was
a man’s house. His house. Which is why it surprised the hell out of
him when the words that fell from his mouth were, “It’s fine. Come
in.”

Standing aside,
wondering what had possessed him to say such a thing, he inhaled
deeply as she passed. Oh yeah, there was that perfume of hers,
stealing into his senses and making him - so not horny. No, never
horny. No more. Cindy was hands off. And right now, so was every
other bloody female. He was on a crash diet when it came to women.
Yeah, a sex fast.

“Go down the
hall, right into the lounge, and through into the kitchen,” he
directed, closing the door.

He told himself
he was simply being a gentleman, allowing her to precede him. He
definitely was
not
watching the roll of her ample backside
and itching to touch it. He kept his hands in his pockets because
he was off women and wasn’t interested in reaching out to cup those
luscious curves. No sirree, he was in complete control.

In the kitchen,
Cindy turned to face him. Her expression was calm.

So it should
be. She’d been shagging, he hadn’t. No bigee, he was on a
cleansing, no-women diet. Much more noble.

Jesus, he was
such a kid.

Shaking his
head inwardly, he asked, “How’s Al?”

Immediately her
expression softened. “He’s got his eyes open and is toddling
around. I’ve shifted him into a kitten pen.”

“You’ve got a
kitten pen?”

“I had two
made, one for my bedroom and one for the kitchen. Both are on
wheels so I can wheel him around the house.”

“He needs
changes of scenery?” He couldn’t resist teasing her just a
little.

It was okay, he
wasn’t breaking his off-women diet by simply teasing.

She smiled. “He
likes to know what’s going on. Al is a bit of a sticky beak.”

“Spoiled.”

“Sure.” She
didn’t deny it.

Silence fell
between them for several seconds. Cindy glanced away before taking
a deep breath and looking up at him. “I want to apologise for my
brother the other night.”

“Your
brother?”

“Marty. At the
party.”

“Marty at the
party. Nice ring to it.”

Ignoring his
blithe humour, Cindy continued to regard him steadily. “He warned
you off me.”

“Not really.”
Tim shrugged. “I believe he was warning me not to hurt you. Big
difference.”

“Okay.” She
didn’t bother to argue. “He had no right sticking his nose where it
doesn’t belong. Bad habit of his, we’re trying to break him of it
but nothing is working so far.”

“Maybe you
should smack him on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper.” Crossing
to the sink, Tim picked up the container of ice cream and made to
put it back in the freezer.

Immediately,
she took a step towards the arched doorway. “I’m sorry. You were
obviously eating and-”

“No!” He
practically leaped across the distance separating them, just
managing to stop himself from grabbing her shoulders. Clearing his
throat, he said, “I mean, I’ve actually finished eating. I just
forgot to put the ice cream away.”

“Tim, your
empty plate is in the sink. There is no ice cream bowl,” she
replied wryly.

“Okay.” He
scratched the back of his neck. “Anyway…”

She arched her
brow.

“Bugger.” He
sighed. “Take a seat.”

“I don’t know
if that’s wise.”

“Please.” He
patted one of the stools. “Share some ice cream with me.”

“Really?” She
was surprised.

“Yeah.” Turning
around again, he crossed to the cupboard and pulled down two
dessert bowls.

All the time he
was wondering what the hell he was doing. He could feel his
no-woman diet becoming a little threadbare.

No, damn it! He
was just being friendly, enjoying her company. That was all.
Besides, she probably wouldn’t stay and-

“I’d love some
ice cream.”

He didn’t know
whether to sigh with relief or groan with…well, relief. He for sure
didn’t know why he had such a silly grin on his face. Maybe the
no-woman diet was making him weak.

After spooning
ice cream into the two bowls, he replaced it in the freezer and set
the bowls on the counter, one on Cindy’s side, the second bowl on
the other side of the counter. Taking two spoons from the drawer,
he picked up a bottle of chocolate topping and took the stool
opposite her.

Silently she
took the spoon.

Tim squeezed
the chocolate topping thickly over his ice cream and handed her the
bottle without looking. She took it just as silently and squeezed a
smaller amount on her own ice cream. He looked up just in time to
see her loop a long strand of gooey topping onto her finger from
the bottle, and sticking her finger in her mouth, she sucked it
off.

Hell, that just
made his shaft sit up and take notice.

Wishing he
could smack
it
with a rolled up newspaper to make it behave,
Tim focussed on the ice cream.

“Want to talk
about it?” She broke the silence.

Oh, brother.
“I’m done talking.”

“Okay.”

So easily
dismissed. Call him a contrary old fart, but that annoyed him. He
glanced up.

She met his
gaze calmly, licking her lips from remnants of ice cream.

“What makes you
think I want to talk about anything?” He just had to ask.

He gave himself
a mental head slap. He really needed to stop hanging around with
the heart-to-heart guys, aka Mike and Rick.

“You invited me
to stay.”

“Doesn’t mean I
want to talk.”

“Okay.”

That niggled,
too. So it didn’t matter? “Maybe I just wanted some company.”

“Okay.”

A muscle in his
jaw twitched. “Maybe I wanted your company.”

“That’s
nice.”

He shoved a
bigger than usual mouthful of ice cream into his mouth and
swallowed.

Jesus, the ice
cream headache he got from that dumb stunt had both his eyes and
his teeth clenched shut.

By the time the
hellish ice bomb had vanished and he was able to open his eyes, it
was to find Cindy nodding sympathetically. However, she didn’t say
a word.

Good. Fine. He
didn’t want to talk.

They ate in
silence for a bit longer.

“So, I heard
you’re going into a bit of fostering,” he said. It was okay, he was
her vet. It was work talk. Doctor and client stuff, nothing
more.

“Yeah.” She
licked her spoon. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“You do know
there’s a chance a kitten or cat now and again may get ill and die,
depending on what has happened to them? We don’t always know until
a few days later if they’re sick, there’s an incubation time. And
you realise that you’ll get attached to the little critters, don’t
you?” That concerned him. The thought of her crying -
steer
clear! Steer clear!

“I know, but I
figure a few tears is worth it if I can save some lives and get
them a forever home.”

A forever home.
Oh God, how sweet was that?

“I guess you
have some contacts,” he continued calmly, without giving away his
thoughts.

“A lot, in
fact. I’m already putting feelers out.” Scraping up chocolate
topping on the spoon, she popped it into her mouth. “Spreading the
word.”

“Good plan.”
Tim nodded. “Got everything you need?”

“Lara has been
a lot of help. She says that you’ll…” Hesitating, Cindy dropped her
gaze.

Interest
sparked, Tim eyed her. “I what?”

“That you’ll
provide, free of charge, the health checks and worming and stuff
for the strays I get from your clinic.” She met his gaze. “If it’s
okay with you.”

Hell, yes. “My
Aunt is the boss,” he stated. “She’s a softie for animals. It’s
something she offers for people willing to foster animals from our
clinic.”

“I’m perfectly
happy to pay for it, though,” Cindy continued. “I have the money
and don’t mind paying, whatever the cost.”

He was already
shaking his head. “Veterinary clinics are a business, not a
charity, true, but we help where we can. We try to re-home cats and
kittens, even puppies and dogs, and we’ve all taken animals home to
care for at times until homes can be found. You offering to foster
as well takes a bit of the strain off us.”

At that minute
a whining sound came from the room off the laundry and excusing
himself, Tim got up and went to check on the dog. A pat, a bit of
reassurance, and he returned to the counter.

“That one of
your strays?” Cindy asked interestedly.

“Nope. A
patient.”

“I remember you
mentioning bringing them home when needed.”

“Part of the
job.”

They finished
their ice cream in companionable silence.

It felt so
natural, so homey. Dangerous territory. Tim slid a glance at Cindy.
Very dangerous territory.

Pushing the
bowl aside, she regarded him. “I’ve told my brother to butt
out.”

“No worries.”
Tim also pushed his bowl away. “He’s just concerned about you. I
understand.”

Leaning an
elbow on the table, she asked softly, “Are we still friends?”

Friends? He
stared at her. He’d never been friends with any woman he’d had sex
with - ever. And considering what had happened between him and
Cindy, he was surprised that she’d want anything to do with him
again - ever.

“I guess not.”
She slid down off the stool.

Like
lightening, he reached across and grabbed her wrist. “Wait.”

“Tim, it’s
okay.” Gently she tried to prise his fingers from around her
wrist.

“No, it’s not.”
He stopped when she looked at him out of big, serious, blue eyes
surrounded by thick eyelashes. “I mean, I want to be your friend,
but…”

“It’s the sex,
isn’t it?”

She said it so
plainly that he blinked in surprise.

“Sex spoiled
it.”

“No.”

“Then what? The
fact that I got mad at you?” She tapped his hand and he released
her.

“No.” Cursing,
he tried to explain. “Look, I don’t usually make friends with women
I’ve had sex with. I’ve always walked away.”

“And I walked
right back.” Her smile was tentative, a little - oh God, sad.

That made him
feel like a real prick. It also made him a little angry and
impatient with himself. Goddamn it, he just had to say it.

Still seated,
he growled, “Look, I’m used to being in control, all right? I’m
always in control. I control who I sleep with and where.” He swung
a hand out. “I don’t bring any woman here to sleep, this is my
place, my sanctuary. I love them and leave them, not the other way
around. That’s just the way it is.”