Truth be told, kittens this small needed nearly around-the-clock care, something no one in the office really had time for, but he couldn’t bring himself to say no.
He’d been more of a marshmallow once. It was what had inspired him to go to veterinary school to begin with. He’d loved animals as a kid. His family had lived in a big house a fair distance from Portland, Maine—the nearest city—and they’d had room for dogs, rabbits, fish, briefly a lizard, and whatever squirrels and chipmunks and deer and moose lived in the nearby woods. For part of his childhood, they’d had a husky mix who sometimes caught squirrels and birds, and Caleb had tried to nurse a few of those back from their injuries, and sometimes was successful. As a child, he’d cried over those ASPCA commercials with the sick and injured animals. It seemed like a natural thing to make taking care of animals his job. He sometimes thought he related better to animals than to humans.
He’d felt jaded recently. He didn’t used to be this hard. Having to put an animal to sleep might have ended his whole day a few years ago. He still did care about animals, but he guarded his heart a little more fiercely now. Some of that was experience, a lot of it was his divorce. He’d learned a hard lesson about trusting people.
Animals, at least, were not duplicitous.
Lauren kept shooting him skeptical looks, like she couldn’t believe they were getting along. Maybe her opinion of him would have been different if they’d met a year or two ago, before everything went to hell. Maybe in another life they could be friends, at least. Or more, maybe. It was probably better for her to think him heartless. He couldn’t get his heart invested—and subsequently stomped on—that way.
His stomach grumbled. He looked at his watch and realized two hours had passed since Lauren brought the kittens in. “Do you need to be somewhere else tonight? I can take care of these guys if you do.”
“No. I can stay.”
“Because if you need to get home, or to sleep, or whatever… I mean, I’m basically here until Olivia comes in to replace me in the morning, so it’s really not a problem to watch over the kittens.”
Lauren shook her head. “I won’t be able to sleep without knowing if they’ll be okay.”
In other words, they’d both be here for the long haul. “All right. We should be prepared for the worst.”
“I know. But… I just need to know how this ends. As long as he still has a shot, I’m going to worry if he’s okay, and it’s going to keep me awake.”
Caleb looked across the table at Lauren, and their gazes met. She looked tired and worried, and yet still gorgeous. Her hair and clothes were a little mussed, wrinkles pressed deeply into the shirt she was wearing, probably because she’d had it on all day. He liked the way she dressed and styled herself, clearly putting some effort in to dress nicely and put on a little makeup, but she also had a soft beauty he appreciated.
She really was quite gorgeous, and she drew him in even when he was disagreeing with her. She made him wonder if he was capable of being with someone even after everything had happened with Kara. He wasn’t ready, he knew that about himself. But Lauren made him want to try.
Still, the truth was they didn’t get along outside of this current context, and as lovely and soft and sexy as she seemed now, as sweet and kind as she seemed as she pet the kittens and fretted over them, he didn’t think he should give in to his attraction. Better to keep his distance. Right?
She reached across the table and patted his hand, and it was like being fourteen again, that little bit of electricity zipping through him, making him want things.
Caleb cleared his throat. “All right. Might as well eat if we’re going to be here all night. Does the diner on Henry Street deliver?”
Chapter 7
“Hey. Hey, Lauren. Look.”
Lauren sat up with a start. She looked around and noticed she was in the exam room of the vet clinic. She must have fallen asleep.
They’d watched those kittens for what felt like hours, and she’d split an order of fries with Caleb after he ordered delivery from the diner. The little sick kitten had hardly moved at all, but Caleb had kept checking his breathing to make sure he was still alive. But as the night had drawn on, Lauren had become increasingly convinced the little guy wouldn’t make it. The very idea devastated her, and she kept wondering if she’d done enough, if she should have insisted on more aggressive care, or if the kitten had been doomed from the outset.
Lord, she was tired. Her back hurt from the weird angle she must have twisted herself into to put her head down on the table.
She looked up and met Caleb’s gaze. He had a small smile on his face. “Look.” He pointed at the box.
The little sick kitten was up on his feet and cautiously checking out the other kittens in the box. They all sniffed each other.
“He’s okay!” she said, jumping up. She hopped around the table. “He’s okay!” Then she threw her arms around Caleb.
She hadn’t meant to. The joy of watching that little kitten standing and beginning to engage with his brothers and sisters had overwhelmed her, and she’d just reacted. But now that she had her arms around Caleb and she could feel just how strong and solid he was, well… It was hard to let go.
Was she really so hard up that rubbing the surprisingly well-muscled arms of a man who clearly disliked her seemed like a good idea?
She kept a hand on Caleb’s bicep but glanced back down at the kittens. The little one waved his little
