Maybe I should look for a new job.
The twins, Max and Owen, rush over when they see my car pull into the driveway. Max has Rain on a leash, and the cute golden lab seems to dance with excitement when she sees me. With the three of them, it’s the happiest, warmest welcome a girl could ask for. If only it was by the one Alden brother I want to see.
“That dinner last night was the bomb,” Max says. I can’t tell the twins apart, but the guy holding Rain’s leash has like a ninety-nine percent chance of being Max.
“We should do stuff like that all the time,” Owen agrees. “It made us feel like a real, legit operation.”
“We are a legit operation,” Max says, reaching in his pocket. “Charlotte, check it out.” He pulls up something on his phone and shows it to me.
“Wow,” I say. “The…Shirtless Dog Groomer…?”
“SDG!” he says with a little fist bump in the air. “I just got my official business license for dog grooming.”
“That’s awesome,” I say. “I’m still a little confused, but congrats. That's really cool!”
“There are a lot of dog groomers in town, and I need to stand out if I want to be successful,” he explains. “So I’ve got schtick. Maybe don’t tell my parents because they just know I’m becoming a groomer, but yeah.” He holds up his phone again.
“The Shirtless Dog Groomer,” I say, glancing at his new social media account. "That's you… washing dogs… while shirtless.”
“Yes ma’am.” He taps his (currently shirt-covered) chest. “It’s called multiple streams of revenue. I learned about it in college. You don’t just make money off your main business, you also monetize online. I made a YouTube channel and got a thousand followers in just a week.”
My body does a literal cringe. Jenny just said the same thing.
“Nice,” I say, quickly recovering from annoyance.
“He’s an idiot, but part of me wants to start a page called The Shirtless Vet School Student,” Owen says with a lopsided grin.
“It’s actually kind of why I’m here,” I say, feeling uncomfortable at the thought of talking to Caleb’s younger brothers about their shirtlessness. “My boss wants me to get some social media content of you all since you’re one of our big clients right now. Would you mind if I take some videos? You can have them too, and use them for your own accounts.”
“Hell yeah,” Max says, reaching down and petting Rain’s head. “You wanna be an internet star, Rainy girl?”
Movement catches the corner of my eye, and I turn to see Caleb approaching from the kennel wearing tight-fitting jeans and a t-shirt so soaked in sweat it clings to every curve of his chest. He pulls work gloves off his hands and the moment he sees me standing here with his brothers, his eyes flash in surprise.
“Perfect timing,” Max says. “Charlotte’s here to take some thirst traps for social media.”
chapter fourteen
Caleb
“Um, no,” Charlotte says, voice higher than usual. She clears her throat. Her cheeks are pink. I will never get tired of how cute she looks when she’s flustered. “My boss sent me over to film some more videos. She loved what I did earlier and wants more.”
“Don’t give this jackass any more fuel,” I say, nodding toward my wannabe sex-symbol brother.
“This jackass is earning moe-nay,” Max says, rubbing his fingers together as if they’re filled with all this money he’s talking about. I’m pretty sure he didn’t get a degree in business management to start a social media page, but whatever makes him happy, I guess.
I roll my eyes. “I gotta get back to work. I’ve got a guy coming to meet Rex today.”
“Really?” Charlotte steps closer, bringing the smell of her perfume with her. I wish I could block off my nose the way I can avert my eyes from checking her out. But her beautiful, feminine scent enters my lungs, making my heart ache for something more.
I will never have anything more with her. I seriously need to let it go.
“Yeah,” I say, shoving my hands in my pockets. I walk back toward the kennels and she follows me. I like it, but I hate it. And I hate that I like it. “He’s an officer, too. No little kids, good size yard. He’s had a German Shepherd before, not a working dog but at least he knows how much work the breed can be.”
“What do you mean?” she asks, brows deepening.
“Not all dogs are the same. Some are lazy couch potatoes, and some are high maintenance. Rex is no couch potato, so I have to make sure he doesn’t go to someone who can’t handle him.”
“What makes Rex so high maintenance? I mean besides his aggression?” She tucks her hair behind her ears. “Sorry, am I annoying you with my questions?”
