with heat at her fiery indignance. Yes, she still was the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. Why was his body reacting to her like this when he knew, rationally, that wanting her was the least best idea he’d had in a long time? Eventually, she drew her eyes away and sighed. ‘I can hear Meg whimpering. I have to go.’
‘And tomorrow morning?’ He tried to think about Spike and not about the prospect of seeing Beth again as soon as possible. ‘I’ve got a clinic booked from eight. My patients need peace and quiet, not a boisterous puppy distracting both me and them.’
The corner of her mouth twitched as she registered the same words she’d used against him earlier. ‘You’re not giving up, are you?’
‘No. Beth, Spike needs you.’
Both man and dog stared at her and he saw the softening in her eyes and the moment she finally relented. ‘Okay. Okay. Drop him off here first thing, before your clinic. I’m hoping Dennis will be here too so we can have that chat.’
‘Okay. Sure.’ He whispered to Spike, ‘See? She’s nice really. I’m persona non grata, but you’re not dog non grata.’
He got an ear lick for that. And an eye roll from Beth. ‘And there’ll be reinforcements to keep an eye on Button while I try to get a little bit of rest between clients. And hopefully we can reunite him with his owner.’
‘Thank you.’ Without thinking he pressed a kiss on her cheek and immediately regretted getting close enough to inhale the familiar fresh scent. ‘I mean, Spike thanks you.’ He held the dog up to her and was relieved when it gave her other cheek a lick that made her smile—a damned sight more than his kiss had done. ‘You’re a star.’
‘No, I’m a sook with a soft heart for a lost puppy. It’s just babysitting, that’s all. I’m helping Button. Not you.’ Pressing her palm to the spot where he’d kissed, she shook her head, and he could see the warring in her eyes. She hated him but there was something else there too. This was as hard for her as it was for him, but that didn’t make him feel any better. ‘That. Is. All.’
ONLY IT WASN’T ALL.
Being so close to Alex was a whole lot of everything. A whole lot more than Beth wanted. The temptation to rail at him about the way he’d so callously broken up with her was sky-high, but she wasn’t in the right headspace to hear she’d been somehow disappointing as a girlfriend, or that he’d grown bored of her, or that he’d found someone better... There were hundreds of reasons why people broke up, she was just a statistic and she’d do better than to analyse something that had happened so long ago.
So she wasn’t going to let him get to her and she certainly wasn’t going to allow thinking about him to interfere with her caring for Meg. She would ask him when the time and place were right. Or maybe she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of letting him know how much she’d cared.
So she did what she’d done for the last few years and shut down the part of her that still ached for him and didn’t allow herself to think about the press of his mouth on her skin and how, despite her anger and confusion, he made her heart race and her body tingle, and she set about saving a life.
It was a long night. Too many times Meg’s blood results had shown her to be the wrong side of critical, and Beth had fought hard to keep her patient from slipping away, but she’d held on. They both had and gradually, in the early hours, the dog’s stats started to improve.
It was still dark outside when the front door bell jangled, alerting Beth to the new day and waking her from a light and very disturbed sleep that had been punctuated by regular alarms to check on her client. She tossed the blankets aside and sprang up from the recliner chair they kept in the hospital room, checking Meg for progress. She was stable. Which was more than could be said for Beth. A combination of sleep deprivation and an endless intake of coffee to keep her alert when needed made her jittery. Not to mention the Alex factor.
‘I’ll be out in a minute!’ she called through to Reception, and quickly glanced in the mirror. ‘Ugh. You’ve definitely looked better, girlfriend.’
Her hair was a halo of tangles, and sleep lines etched deep into her cheeks. Her eyes were bloodshot and her skin blotchy. Did it matter? What mattered was that Meg’s owner was here for an update, having already called twice in the darkest hours to see how his beloved pet was.
She quickly brushed her teeth and patted water over her eyes then marched into Reception, gluing a smile to her face.
‘Sorry to keep you!’ But her already jumping heart skipped a couple of beats as she found, not Dennis, but Alex and Button waiting for her. ‘Oh. Hello, you two.’
Alex’s hair was rumpled, his eyes were as sleepy as hers and he looked even more gorgeous than yesterday, reminding her of those heady early mornings they’d shared after long, late, sexy nights when they’d visited each other at university. In one hand he held his work bag, in the other was Button. He smiled, although it was a little wary, and put the puppy onto the floor. ‘Morning, Beth. You look terrible.’
She couldn’t help laughing at his audacity. ‘Gee, thanks. You don’t look so good yourself.’
‘I had a very interrupted night. You? How’s Meg?’
‘Touch and go. Poor girl had a hell of a ride. She hated the activated charcoal, but it was essential to stop her absorbing the drug and damaging her liver and kidneys further. She was quite anaemic from the gastric bleed, so I had to give her a transfusion too, which kept us both on edge for a while as she didn’t react well to it.’ She bent to the puppy and gave him a good old tummy rub. He really was the most beautiful, happy boy and it was affirming to see something with so much vibrant life instead of Meg, who was possibly reaching the end of hers. ‘How did you two get on? Did he settle okay? Did he sleep at all? What did he eat? Look at me, I sound like a worried mother. God help my kids when I have them, I’ll be your typical helicopter parent constantly fussing over them.’
‘Right. Kids. Yes, I bet you will.’ Alex swallowed and his smile faded.
Had she said something wrong? Maybe the dog hadn’t settled or he’d had as restless a night as she’d had. It would serve him right for all the sleepless nights his abrupt break-up and subsequent silence had given her.
But then he shook his head and looked down at Button, who, despite having no lead, was sticking very close to Alex’s ankles and looking up at him as if he were some sort of superhero. ‘He chewed a hole in my favourite beanie, did his business on my work bag and wouldn’t sleep unless lying here.’ Alex pointed to his chest, and she wished he hadn’t. His shoulders were definitely broader than years ago and, covered in that thick wool coat, looked just about the perfect fit for her sleepy head. She imagined how it would feel to snake her arms into that coat and slide them around his waist...
He harrumphed. ‘The soft cage was a joke. I put him in it, but he just howled and howled until I picked him up. He won’t take no for an answer and I’m pretty sure he’s completely untrainable.’
‘Going well, then.’ She laughed, even though he didn’t. ‘You’ll be glad to get him off your hands.’
‘Er... Absolutely.’
‘Indeed.’ She wanted to repeat, Say it like you mean it, but didn’t think that was fair. Anyone would fall in love with Button and she had a feeling—just by the way Alex looked at the puppy when he thought no one was watching—that he was a little way down that path. Although he’d never admit it. ‘His owner will be worried sick by now.’
‘I called everyone again this morning. The police, the pounds, the rescue centre. No one’s reported anything overnight. I’ve made some posters.’ He pulled out some coloured pictures of Button with the word ‘FOUND’ and Alex’s mobile phone number on. ‘I’m going