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Ensley groans with delight as she takes her first bite. “Perfection.”
I cut a bite with the flat end of my fork, pleased that she likes it.
She sips her orange juice and stares out the window. “It’s too bad you don’t have a dog here. It looks like you chose this place with them in mind.”
She’s right. “I don’t think I knew what I was getting into when I opened a solo vet clinic. Most veterinarians graduate and work at one of the large clinics before striking out on their own.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“The man who owned the clinic before me was one of my mentors in vet school. We had a conversation a couple of weeks before I graduated where he told me he wanted to turn his practice over to me. He thought I should take on a second full-time vet, since it was a big load to manage, but I didn’t have anyone I trusted as a partner. So I just went at it.”
“I understand Maria is a holdover from the old office.”
“She is. That’s why she knows the ropes so well. She has vastly more experience than I do.”
“What about Vera? And Betty?”
“Betty worked for Dr.Adams, but retired with him. Mostly. She helps us in a pinch, as you saw. Vera I picked up when I took over. And Todd is pretty new. He’s been there less than a year.”
“And of course we know about your receptionist problems.”
I grunt. “You’ve been amazing at filling that space. I feel confident with you there.”
Her eyes cast downward, her fork twirling in circles on an empty part of the plate.
Maybe she doesn’t want to talk about work.
“So what should we do next?” I ask. “Since this is our third date.”
She glances up, lifting an eyebrow. My dick instantly jumps. Straight to that, then?
As much as I want to get to that, it feels sudden.
I point my fork at the window. “The woods along the edge of this complex are pretty, if you want to take a walk.”
“I remember our last walk,” she says. “In the park. To the bench.”
The reminder doesn’t make my anatomy any calmer.
Chapter 29
ENSLEY
So apparently we’re taking a stroll.
We head out of Drew’s apartment, following a sidewalk until it ends at a line of trees. The path picks up again in the woods, a narrow, winding trail of trodden dirt.
I’m glad I wore jeans.
“There’s a pond up ahead,” Drew says.
I worry about dumb things. My hair. Sweating too much, even though there’s a chill in the air. But then Drew takes my hand, and suddenly everything changes.
This is a man who takes women to bed and dumps them. He has a system. Kiss against a door. Bang and feed. Or feed and bang. Then jump ship.
But he’s showing me a pond.
He’s out of his pattern.
