I remember seeing a vet clinic back in town when I was on my way home from the store yesterday, so if the mother doesn’t come back soon, I could take them into town. Who knows when they last nursed? I hurry inside and empty out a decent sized box, layering some towels inside to help keep the kittens warm. Another towel will be needed to transfer the kittens so that the mother won’t smell me and possibly abandon the little ones. That is, if she even returns. The kittens welcome the warmth and snuggle the fabric closely, all the while still mewing. I look around in nearby bushes to make sure there are no others. They seem really restless, so I call it. It will be close to closing time for a vet office, so I decide I’m not willing to wait any longer and risk letting the little ones starve. I leave out another warm box and some tuna I found in a cupboard with a bowl of water for the mother if she wanders back. I tote the box carefully to thecar while scanning the yard one more time, just in case momma kitty is nearby. No such luck.
By the time I make my way into town, it’s around four. Surely, on a Thursday afternoon, the clinic will still be open. Amy’s Care Clinic looks like a pretty welcoming place, not a humane society like the ones in St. Louis by any means. With the box of kittens in tow, I open the door to see a smiling, bubbly-looking, little blonde with a bob that lands midway between her chin and shoulders. She appears to be around the same age as me.
“Welcome to Amy’s! My name is Brynleigh. How can I help you today?....Oh kittens!” she pipes out before I can get in a word. Is she always this peppy? “I just love them! They are so adorable!”Evidently so.In a way, it’s more refreshing than annoying.
“Yes, I just moved into town and came across them while moving some boxes into the garage. I looked around for the mother, but she never showed up. They seemed really restless. I wasn’t sure of what else to do—”
My train of thought flies right out the window as the sexiest man I have ever laid eyes on strolls into the room wearing a crimson polo shirt with some khaki shorts. He has clean cut, short but not too short, dark brownish-black hair, with a smile that could charm the pants off any woman that crosses his path. I have to stop myself from biting my lip because I’m staring entirely too hard at the way his shirt stretches oh so nicely across his chest and biceps.
Underneath all that is nothing but pure pleasure.No doubt about that. To my delight, he’s not wearing a wedding band either! Is he gay?Oh, I hope not.My thoughts might as well be stamped across my forehead, because his smile is aimed right my way, and it’s getting deadlier by the millisecond. I blink several times trying to focus.
“So, what have we got here?” He peers into the box. “Kittens? No mother? Let’s get them in a room and checked out, shall we?”
Speechlessly, I follow the stunning man into the exam room. The view from behind is just as good. If all the help here is this attractive, what is the doctor going to look like? As if reading my thoughts, he extends his hand toward me, shooting me another killer smile.
“I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Dr. Jacobsen.”
This is not happening.Say something, damnit!Now is not the time to get tongue-tied. Is it really so hard to spit out a name?Come on!
“Oh…um, I’m Sydney, Sydney Reed. It’s nice to meet you.”Boy is it ever. I manage a shy smile and shake his hand. His eyes are a startling crystal blue with what looks like maybe flecks of dark blue? Or maybe gray? I don’t mean to stare, but I have a feeling I’m more or less gawking.
“So, you didn’t see another cat on the premises?” The gorgeous doctor picks up the kittens one by one, examining them as I shake my head in response while managing to make the “uh uh” sound to accompany it. This is pathetic!How old are you now?Why can’t I spit out anything decent?
Finally, I find my voice. “Do they seem to be healthy?”There! That sounded normal!
“Well…they look like they haven’t fed recently by how restless they appear. I’d say they’re about six or seven weeks old, and they’re moving around pretty good. It’s a good thing you found them, Sydney. This little runt might not have made it much longer without a feeding.” He picks up the little white one with the orange spots and smiles. “You’re a cute little booger.”
My heart melts.
So, the man is beautiful, and he loves animals?! Check. Check. Oh, don’t forget, single and a vet! More mental checks off the perfect man list.
“Yes, it sure is,” I coo out while reaching to pet it after he sets the little furball back down with the others. He turns to grab a small bottle from the cupboard and begins mixing up formula to feed the kittens.
“Wanna help?” He quirks knowing brows at me, and I shake my head enthusiastically. He grabs another bottle to prepare for me to feed them as well. “I think if they’re bottle fed for a few more weeks they’ll be perfectly healthy. Are you thinking of keeping any of them? I don’t mind hanging on to the rest and putting a flyer up for adoption. I do that from time to time to help out when the shelters get full. I won’t make you pay for an adoption obviously since you found them anyway. Just make sure to schedule an appointment in the next couple of weeks when it gets a little older to get its kitten shots and an appointment to be fixed if that’s what you’d like to do.” He eyes me as I feed the runt first, a knowing smirk splaying across his pretty face.
“I would really like that, thank you. I just moved into a house off of Ridge Lane, and someone to keep me company would be great. That house is too big for just me anyway.”Complete sentences…Look at that.I give myself a mental pat on the back as I smile up at Dr. Jacobsen. “I’m going to take this one.”
“Sounds great! It looks like a girl,” he says while feeding one of the orange ones. After their bellies are full, he hands me a damp cloth to use on the runt while washing another kitten up with his cloth.
“I’ll give you a kit with a bottle and some replacement milk formula to get started. Keep the kitten warm and feed her every couple of hours until you get used to her feeding patterns.Kind of like a baby. You’ll get used to her cues. You can also mix some kitten chow with a little warm water to start weaning her off the milk. I wouldn’t expect her to want that right away. Start small though, and she’ll eventually take to it.” Another blinding smile graces his lips. Goodness, I need to get out while I can still walk and think somewhat coherently.
“How much would you like for the kit, Dr. Jacobsen?” I politely asked.
“It’s on me. Don’t worry about it. Please, call me Colin. It’s not every day I get to send a kitten home with a pretty lady. Normally, it’s just a little kid,” he says, almost looking like he could stick his foot in his mouth for calling me pretty. I can feel the blush climbing up my throat and into my cheeks.
“Well, thanks again, Colin.” I watch him put the other three kittens in a crate with a blanket and put my new friend back in the box I brought with me. He then grabs a starter kit and hands it to me, absentmindedly touching my hand for a second too long. Damnit, those hands were even perfect. Hard and a bit callused from labor while still somewhat smooth. I wonder what he’s done to get those calluses. Our eyes connect. Don’t even get me started on those eyes! It’s time to get the hell out of dodge before I hit on him.
“See you in a few weeks, Sydney. It was my pleasure.” Colin seemed to purr the last part, but that was probably all in my head as he leads me back to the waiting room and holds the front door open for me. Color me surprised when he follows me out to the car and opens my door so that I don’t have to jumble the kitten around trying to get in the car. Courteous. Another check. I smile, thank him again, and wave as I pull out of the parking lot to drive home, all the while trying to regain my composure after meeting Dr. Gorgeous. Rephrase that, he has a name. Colin.
???
Colin
Wow…I watch as Sydney pulls away, driving off toward the direction of where I live. That woman is beautiful. Undoubtedly, unbelievably sexy. She has the most stunning, sun-kissed light brown hair that seems silky enough to run my fingers through while staring into those emerald eyes that had me mesmerized in that exam room. She has a wide smile that lights up her whole face, with lips full and sensuous, just begging to be traced with my fingertips. She is lean and muscular, the good kind for a woman, which shows exquisitely in that pair of wicked shorts. When she turned and sashayed toward the door to leave, the view was enough to bring any red-blooded male to his knees. Before I even knew what I was doing, I was following her out the door to her car. I was able to at least play that off as a gentlemanly gesture of getting her car door since her hands were full, even though the thoughts crossing my mind were far from gentlemanly. If I’m right, she could very well be my new neighbor.
That would make her Mabel’s granddaughter. I miss that old broad. She sure was a little spit-fire for an old lady. I walk back into the clinic to find Brynleigh peering at me with knowing eyes.
“My, my…am I seeing this right? Because you look like someone whacked you over the head good and gave you starry eyes.” Brynleigh giggles and starts typing on her keyboard. “I haven’t seen you look at a girl like that in years! She was really pretty though. Gotta say, it looked pretty mutual. When you walked into the room, she was stunned speechless.” She looks back up at me from her computer screen and waves her hand up and down in front of me in her typical dramatic fashion. “You do tend to have that effect on the ladies with all that charm, though. Especially when you flash them those pearly whites.”
