“When was this?”
“Last night.”
This was getting us nowhere. I lifted my head, trying to yank back my own predatory nature than only came around when animals were hurt. “Why don’t we start over. Okay? I want to help this poor little baby, but I need to find out as much information as I can. Hi, I’m Dr. Grace Monroe, a local veterinarian. And you are?” I held out my hand for a shake and I’ll be damned if he didn’t peer down at me with all of his six-and-a-half-foot body remaining tense.
The man was huge, his forearms bigger than my two arms together.
He finally took a deep breath, grasping my hand as if we were old wrestling buddies, his fingers crushing mine on purpose. That didn’t bother me nearly as much as the jolt of current that rushed up the length of my arm. I’d never had this kind of chemical reaction with a man in my life.
With anyone for that matter.
“Viper Locke.” There was a slight growl when he offered his name. Was he suddenly going to break into a Hulk move, offering a terrifying roar?
“Viper?” I asked, laughing.
He didn’t.
“Okay, well, Viper. Why don’t we see if he has a microchip first. He might be lost.” When I pulled up my wand, every muscle in his body tensed.
“That won’t hurt him, will it?”
Wow. For a big, bad predator, the change in the man’s voice at least allowed me to know he had a heart. “Not at all. I’m just checking to see if he has a chip just under his skin, which would provide details about his owner, even the pup’s veterinarian. Very helpful in reuniting lost pets and their people.” I moved the wand over the dog’s neck, even going all the way down his back. “Unfortunately, he doesn’t, but you should put up a few flyers in the local grocery and pet stores just in case the pup’s owner is missing him.”
“Are you crazy? Look at him. He’s suffering. He’s starving. If I find the owner, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”
I’d heard serious outbursts in my time practicing medicine, but the heartfelt tone dragged at my heart instead of my anger. In another moment I knew I’d hate myself for, I placed my hand on Viper’s arm, squeezing to try to calm him down.
Maybe I managed to do so, but I was all worked up, my breath hitching.
“I think Sailor is in very good hands. You’re right, he’s severely malnourished and my guess is he’s not vaccinated. I’ll need to run some tests to check for things like parvo and heartworm disease. He’ll likely need his rabies shot as well as Lyme disease and a couple other typical inoculations. I’m also worried how dehydrated he is. Now, my guess is you’ve given him plenty of water, but sometimes that’s not enough and an IV is needed. So don’t worry. Okay?”
The quick, tight, and explosive emotions expressed on his face in the one paragraph I’d said highlighted how tightly wound he was. There was no trust in the man for anyone. Including or maybe especially me.
“You don’t know exactly what I’m talking about. Do you? And that’s okay. If you’ve never had an animal before, you don’t know all the requirements. I’m happy to walk you through them.”
The way his jaw was clenched I feared he was going to lash out and a small part of me couldn’t blame him after the wretched way I’d accused him.
He looked away briefly, all while refusing to take his hands off the dog. I could tell in one day’s time how attached he was to the little guy. I didn’t want to scare him with just how worried I was. I might never see him again. “How much is this going to cost?”
“I offer the checkup for free at this clinic. As far as the vaccines, I can work you up an estimate if you’d like.” The pained look on his face brought a skip to my pulse. Wow. Whoever he was, the man was hurting and maybe I was wrong; maybe he was trying to do the right thing. “I can do almost everything right now and maybe you’ve seen the sign. It’s free. I like running the clinics on Saturdays. It’s my way of giving back. You know?”
I had a feeling he wasn’t used to taking a handout from anyone. “Okay.”
“And if it’s alright with you, I own a sanctuary. Well, I’m trying to turn it into one anyway. I can do much more there, including putting him on an IV. Just precautions to make him feel better. That’s an extension of my services here today. So it won’t cost you a penny. How does that sound?”
When I scratched Sailor’s tummy, he lifted his head, dragging his long pink tongue across my face and mouth. That was the closest I’d been to a French kiss in three years.
Why was it that a very naughty, highly inappropriate image of Viper’s face mere centimeters away floated in front of my mind?
Bad girl. Very bad.
While Viper looked relieved, the expression was short lived. “I’ll pay you back.”
“You won’t need to.”
“No, I pay what I owe. Period. Understood, Dog Doctor?” His tongue slid along his bottom lip in an overtly sensual way, only that’s not what was on his mind. He was furious with everything and everyone, including being forced to deal with me.
Still, a woman could fantasize. That was allowed even if the rugged, arrogant man and his dog were technically my clients.
