Love's Taming (The Love's Series) (3 page)

The man followed quickly as though afraid she would change her mind and she shut the door behind him. Walking to the first exam room, she directed him to lay the dog on the table. Pulling back the blanket she began to assess the dog, her focus entirely on the patient in front of her.

While her attention was on the dog, the man was able to see the vet up close in the bright light of the examination room. Rubbing his hand over his beard, he couldn’t help but stare at the beauty leaning over the table. Her hair was the most unusual color. Not red. Not blond. Under the florescent lights, it glistened like copper. She was short, much shorter than his six feet, two inches. And tiny. Her small hands were moving over the large animal assessing its condition. As his dog made a snap in pain, he found himself jumping forward to protect her if needed.

Startled by the sudden movement of the stranger, she looked up quickly. Her eyes met his and for the first time, she could see his face clearly in the light. His hair and beard were dark, long, and shaggy framing a face that was both rugged and handsome all at the same time. But his eyes were what captured her attention. Unusually dark, almost black. Staring. Unblinking. At her.

Sucking her lips in again, she glanced at the door, calculating.
If he comes after me can I get to the door? Can I shut it on him if I have to? Damn, I can’t lock it from the other side.

His eyes cut over to the door following the path that hers had taken and he stepped back raising his hands. “I’m not gonna hurt you, I swear. I just wanna help my dog.”

Blushing, she mumbled an apology as she leaned back over her patient.

Shaking his head, he growled, “Don’t apologize, doc. You got a right to be cautious. Makes you smart. You’re a woman alone who just let in a stranger. But I swear, I got no other reason to be here except for him.”

Annie spared another glance at the rough man filling up all of the space in the room, then patted the dog. “I need to get x-rays to see what’s going on. I can work up a fee payment for you first.” As the words came out of her mouth, she knew he couldn’t afford to pay for a vet.
Another charity case. Jesus, I must be an idiot. I’ll never pay all my bills.

“No need, doc. I can pay.”

Unable to hide her surprise, she looked up at the man, wide-eyed.

Drawing himself up to his full height, towering over her, he cocked his eyebrow. “I can pay. Up front. In cash.”

Her mouth snapped shut as she turned back to the dog. “Fine,” she bit out.
Great. I’ve just insulted Mr. Scary.

Grasping the blanket around the dog, she started to pick him up when she was gently shouldered out of the way and the stranger scooped up his dog. “Where to?”

Quickly moving out of the room she led him to the back surgical area where she had her digital x-ray equipment. After settling the dog in position on the table, she began. The radiographs appeared on the computer screen next to the table completely capturing her attention.

“There is definitely something in the intestines,” she said leaning in closer to observe the pictures.

He watched her carefully, waiting to see if recognition would flash across her face. It didn’t. Instead, he noticed her brow furrow as she squinted in concentration.

“I don’t know what he swallowed but we have to do surgery. Those objects won’t pass the way they are.” Leaning in closer to the x-rays, she tried to figure out what they were. Shaking her head, “I just can’t tell what he ate. Do you have kids? Is it a kid toy?”

“No,” came the short reply. The voice was right behind her as he had silently moved to see the picture closely.

“Look mister. I’m trying to help but here’s the problem. Your dog has a foreign object in his intestines and he needs surgery. I can’t do it alone and my tech isn’t here. You can take him to Emergi-Vet which is a twenty-four hour service. It’s about fifteen minutes away.”

“No,” came the same short reply.

Putting her hands on her hips, looking almost straight up into his eyes, she huffed and blew her bangs up in the air. “Can you say anything without growling ‘no’?”

He looked down at her flushed, beautiful face, focusing on her large green eyes, porcelain complexion, and cupid bow mouth.
Perfection. Good. Clean. Beautiful. How long has it been since I’ve been around someone like this. Two years? Jesus, seems like fuckin’ forever.

“Well? What’s it going to be?” she said trying to read his facial expression but coming up empty.

Jarred out of his perusal of her, he blinked. “Not takin’ him anywhere else. You do the surgery.”

“Look mister, I just told you, I can’t. My vet tech is gone and I can’t do the surgery and run the anesthesia myself. You have to take him somewhere else.” Turning, she continued, “I’ll call ahead and let them know you’re coming. I know they’re more expensive, but I’ll put in a good word and see what I can do.”

Before she could take a step, her arm was caught in his grasp. Firm, but not painful. Pulled back around to face him her anger won out over her fear. “Take your hands off of me.”

He slowly let go of her arm, keeping his eyes directed onto her. “Sorry, doc. But Sarge needs surgery now and I want you to do it. I’ll help. You tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

Sarge was whimpering on the table and Annie ran back over.
What are you doing? The dog could die if you try this without Suzanne or Leon. But if the man won’t take him somewhere else he’s going to die anyway.

As though reading her thoughts he spoke, this time more softly. “Doc, I’m not here to cause trouble. I just trust you and my dog needs you. Please.”

It was the last word that came out of his mouth that caused her to reconsider. It was soft. Pleading. His need speaking.

Sighing deeply, Annie hung her head. “Mister, this is probably going to be a huge mistake. Sarge could die under my hand if we don’t do this right. But, if you’re refusing other treatment, then we can try.”

“That’s all I ask, doc. I trust you,” his voice carried across the room, this time less gravelly.

Nodding to the sink on the side, she ordered, “Go scrub in.” Looking at his open jacket which had seen better days, she added, “And ditch the jacket. Scrubs are in the cabinet over there,” she said pointing to a corner closet.

Turning away, she went over to prep Sarge and scrub-in herself.
What the hell are you doing? You don’t even know his name?
Thinking back on Leon’s words, she tried to remember the last time she did anything spontaneous. Or dangerous. Or out of the ordinary.
Well, Leon, you won’t believe this when you come in on Monday!

*     *     *

The sweat beaded
on Annie’s forehead as she struggled with the surgery while keeping an eye on the anesthesia.
This is never done. Never.
Jesus, what did I get myself into?
She had placed the IV catheter in Sarge’s front leg and with assistance managed to administer the Propofol to make him sleepy. After intubating and hooking him up to the anesthetic machine, she gave rudimentary instructions, but she was essentially doing both the job of the vet and the tech at the same time.

Earlier, when the man had walked into the brightly lit surgical room, washed clean and wearing fresh scrubs, she couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was. Tall, muscular, a strong jaw covered in a beard, but somehow it looked sexy. His eyes were so dark though. They didn’t seem to fit his face, but she found herself not wanting to be on the end of an angry glare from him.

Looking back up at the x-rays after making the midline incision she felt confident that she could get to the object, but her focus was divided. Glancing over at the man, seeing the concern for his dog on his face, she realized she did not know anything about him.

Without looking up, she asked, “So, what’s your name? I mean, if we are in this together, I should know who’s helping Sarge.”

“Stoney,” came the solitary response.

Confusion wrinkled her brow. “Stoney? What’s stoney?”

“No. My name is Stoney.”

Annie was too good of a veterinarian to look away from where her scalpel was, but the look on her face showed her surprise. “Stoney? Your name is Stoney? Or is that a nickname?”

“It’s what I’m called,” he answered truthfully.

Sparing a glance at the anesthesia machine, she noticed that his eyes had not left the machine he was monitoring and admiration for his diligence filled her. “I’m Annie. Annie Donavan.”

Her attention was back on Sarge’s surgery, so she missed the slight smile curving his lips.

He watched her in between watching the machine carefully. Copper hair pulled up and tucked in a surgical cap. Perfect complexion – pale with a hint of pink on her cheeks. Her green eyes, sharp and clear, never wavered from her task. In the past couple of years, the only women he had been around had the glassy eyes of users. But Annie Donavan…
Smart. Beautiful. Caring. Trusting. Damn!
It was the trusting part that bothered him. She was trusting him now and he’d have to betray that trust.

“So, I haven’t seen you around the neighborhood Stoney. Do you live around here?”

“I come through sometimes.”

“Do you work around here?”

“I meet some friends near here sometimes.”

“You don’t give very informative answers, do you?” she asked glancing up at him.

Stoney took his eyes off of the anesthesia machine just long enough to look at her, surprised to see her smiling at him.

“It’s okay. I mean, you don’t have to tell me anything. I’m just curious.”

Nodding, he went back to watching Sarge.

“I’m used to my techs being in here with me, so I’m used to some noise. Leon tends to prattle on and on, so sometimes I just tune him out, but my other tech is quiet so I usually have to do the talking when she is helping me. We can turn the music on if you would like.”

Stoney moved his eyes back over to her. Her voice was soft and clear, not harsh with too many years of smoking or slurred with alcohol.
I could listen to her all day.
God, I forgot what that was like.
He watched as her brow furrowed with concentration as she was bent over his dog. Her green eyes clear and shining not, dulled with drugs.

“Got it!” came the excited shout from Annie as she was removing a small object that looked like a sausage from the intestines. “This is crazy. I removed something like this a couple of weeks ago from a dog. What is that?” she wondered out loud.

Stoney watched her remove the object and then kept his eyes on her to see what she did next. Glancing quickly between the anesthetic machine and the object, he watched her actions carefully.

She laid the object in the tray next to the surgical table then turned back to concentrate on suturing the incision.

“What’d you do with what you found last week?” he asked softly.

Annie, not looking up from her work, answered, “I threw it away.”

“Is he gonna’ be okay?” Stoney asked, looking back down and running his hands over Sarge’s coat.

Smiling up at him, she answered, “Yeah. He seems to be doing great.” Sparing Stoney a glance she couldn’t help notice that his attention was on her, dark eyes piercing her. Licking her lips nervously, she looked back down at her patient.

She walked over to the anesthesia and turned it off. Stoney did not move but oddly she did not feel crowded with him standing right next to her. After a moment, she pulled out the endotracheal tube.

“He’s doing great,” she said, sighing in relief. Feeling Stoney’s heat at her back, she glanced over her shoulder then looked up as she realized how tall he actually was. His eyes met hers and the most amazing thing occurred – he smiled.

Annie stared at his mouth. Full lips, perfect white teeth. His scary persona melted away as the smile of a relieved pet owner took over.
God, he’s gorgeous.
She couldn’t help but smile back.

Stoney looked down at her as he stood as close as he could without touching her. He could smell her. Even through the surgical soap and medicinal smell of the clinic, he could smell the hint of floral shampoo. He wanted to bury his head in her hair. It had been so long since he had been around beauty.
Another time, another place and I’d be planning on…

Suddenly Sarge made a slight movement, breaking the spell between them.

Jerking back, she focused her attention on Sarge once again. “We need to get him to the kennel area for recovery,” she explained.

Stoney gently lifted Sarge in his arms and followed her to the next room. There were large kennels on the floor, with rows of smaller kennels higher. She quickly went to a cabinet and pulled down clean blankets for one of the large kennels.

“You can place him here,” she said kneeling on the floor.

He laid a still sleeping Sarge on to the floor in the kennel.

“I’ll keep the IV in for just a bit to make sure everything is all right.” Her eyes moved over to Stoney as he leaned over Sarge, speaking softly to the dog. She couldn’t help but smile again. Devotion to pets told her a lot about people. He looked up at her, holding her gaze. The room seemed to slowly shrink until there were just the two of them there. His eyes did not waver; neither did hers.