“And you need a little help making that happen?” he asks, annoyance in his tone like he’s put out having to lead me from one breadcrumb to the next.
“I guess so, yeah.”
“Great.” He nods and without warning, picks up the rolling chair behind me and throws it against the wall. The impact makes a dent, the sheetrock breaking under the force.
“What the fuck?”
Holding up his index finger, he pulls out his phone and taps before putting it up to his ear.
“Deacon, it’s Sorren Mackay.” He pauses. “I’m good. Listen, we had a bit of a situation at the office and I don’t have time to take care of it.” This time my training fails me completely as I stand there with my jaw practically on the floor. “Gotta hole in the sheetrock. Yeah, come by when you’re free and take a look.”
“You’re out of your mind,” I hiss but he ignores me.
“Invoice me whatever it costs. Uh-huh, thanks.”
He disconnects and replaces the phone in his pocket. “What the hell was that?” I practically screech because Sorren is levelheaded. He’s not really thethrow a chair into the wall to help your buddy get a datekind of guy.
“I think the words you’re looking for arethank you.”
“What?! No. You damaged the lobby of ourveryreputable business and?—”
“And the guy you’re drooling over is a professional contractor and will be here sometime today to assess the damage. So, if I was you, I’d figure out what I was going to say to him so that your friend and business partner doesn’t have to cause any more property damage in here.”
“I can’t believe you did that.”
“If you can’t believe that, you’re definitely not going to believe that I’m taking the rest of the day off.”
“I swear to?—”
“You can swear all you want, but you’ll be thanking me later.”
Knocking twice on the desk, he saunters out the front door, leaving me to deal with his mess—technicallymy mess.
And now I’m going to need to figure out what I’m going to say before Deacon arrives. Because I’ll be damned if I have to listen to Sorren tell me how he did me a verydramaticfavor and I blew it.
And really, if anyone is blowing, it better be the good kind.
Fuck.
9
DEACON
Ihave no idea what to expect as I park my truck in the parking lot of Vetted Paws.
There’s no spring in my step as I climb out, the gravel familiar under my boots as I make the short walk toward the building. It feels like a lifetime since I’ve been here, and taking a steadying breath, I remind myself this is a business call.
Nota pleasure one.
Steeling myself, I pull the handle and step inside, the air conditioning blasting me as soon as I cross the threshold.
“I’ll be right with you!” a voice yells from the hallway that leads back toward the kennels. It’s hard to make out who it belongs to and that’s fine because this isstrictlya work call.
It doesn’t matter how much I want to see Tanner or that even just thinking his name has my blood pumping a little faster.
Stepping farther into the space, I eye the damage to the wall and snort out a laugh. I could be wrong, but I’m almost positive that it was intentional and not intentional like someone got mad and threw a chair.
No, I think the damage was made so they’d have a reason to call.
