Then Came You Read online

  this is me, butting out.”

  He looked down at the first message and felt tension grip him. “Caitlin called?”

  “Yeah,” Jade said softly, no longer sounding amused. “From Haiti. I told her you were too busy screwing blond triplets in the back, that you’d call when you were done, but it might be awhile seeing as you were a God among men.”

  At his side, Emily sucked in a breath.

  Wyatt shook his head. “Nice going on staying out of it, Jade.”

  She winced with guilt but kept her head high. “She deserved it. And since I’ve already stuck my nose in, let me finish off by saying if you call her back, I’ll . . .” She paused. “I’ll call all the cougars in town and tell them your favorite foods, and that you need some lovin’.”

  “Do it,” Wyatt said. “And I’ll teach Parrot how to fake an orgasm, loud and proud, Meg Ryan style.”

  “You wouldn’t dare,” Jade said, eyes narrowed.

  “Try me,” he said.

  She tried to stare him down, but he’d learned how to handle strong women from the masters: Zoe and Darcy.

  Jade backed down.

  “Caitlin’s the ex-girlfriend,” Emily said into the silence, clearly asking for confirmation.

  “Ex-fiancée, who screwed him over,” Jade corrected, then she caught Wyatt’s gaze as she grimaced. “Sorry,” she said. “That one slipped out. I’m going to control myself now.”

  Yeah, right. He felt the weight of Emily’s surprise, but ignored it and Jade. Fucking Mondays. He headed back to his office with the messages. He dumped Caitlin’s into the trash and then stared down at it. “Shit,” he said, and pulled it back out.

  “You gonna call her?” This from Dell in the doorway. “Don’t tell Jade.”

  “Speaking of Jade, you need to control your woman.”

  Dell laughed. “I’m going to do you a favor and not tell her you said that.”

  Wyatt crumpled the message and tossed it back into the trash.

  “Wise decision,” Dell said.

  Wyatt nodded.

  Dell didn’t leave.

  Wyatt looked at him.

  “Want me to take the trash out for you?” he asked, no smile, utterly serious.

  “Christ.” Wyatt scrubbed his hands over his face. “Yeah.”

  Dell grabbed the entire trash can and left.

  Wyatt nodded to himself. That part of his life—while one of the best parts—was over. There would be no going back. He didn’t need to hear whatever it was Caitlin could possibly have to say. He walked down the hallway and stopped in front of exam room one to take the file from Mike. “What do we got?”

  Mike was unusually solemn. “Not good, man. It’s Rebel, with Lizzy.”

  Rebel was a big biker dude who had a pet iguana. He and Lizzy had been together for fifteen years. Lizzy rode on Rebel’s bike. They were a team, and Lizzy was the love of Rebel’s life. Problem was, Lizzy was old for an iguana, and there was nothing any of them could do to stop time for Rebel.

  Wyatt entered the room to find the biker sitting on the floor in all his leather and studs, knees up, Lizzy cradled to his chest. Wyatt set the file on the exam table, and crouched low next to the biker and iguana. “Hey.”

  Rebel nodded a greeting but didn’t take his eyes off Lizzy. “She’s sleeping.”

  Wyatt nodded.

  Lizzy wasn’t sleeping.

  Wyatt slid his back down the wall to sit at Rebel’s side.

  “You gotta do something,” the biker said, voice gruff. Dangerous.

  Wyatt met his gaze. “You know I’d do whatever it took, man. But—”

  “Fuck,” Rebel said. And burst into big, noisy, gulping sobs, dropping his head to Wyatt’s shoulder. “I know people don’t understand,” he gasped, “but Lizzy and I’ve been together for a long time.”

  “I know.”

  “I don’t wanna go back to an empty house without her . . .”

  Wyatt thought about all the lines he could utter. Time will heal all wounds. You’ll get another iguana. Don’t try to stifle the grief, let it come.

  But it was all bullshit. “It sucks,” he said.

  Rebel went still and then choked out a half laugh, half sob. “Yeah,” he said, and head still down, held out his fist.

  Wyatt bumped it with his own.

  Rebel sniffed noisily, very carefully transferred Lizzy over to Wyatt, and rose to his full six feet six inches. “Take care of her,” he said, and walked out of the room.

  * * *

  Emily looked at Wyatt still sitting on the floor of the exam room. She’d been caught up with Mike and another patient, but had come quickly when she’d heard the crying.

  Her heart had broken at the sight of the big biker, still cradling his beloved iguana, and Wyatt comforting him.

  Wyatt rose to his feet, pushed up his glasses, and very gently carried Lizzy’s body to the back room, and the special cooler there that held the deceased. Lizzy would stay there until Wyatt determined what Rebel wanted done, and then they’d follow out his wishes.

  One thing few people realized about being a vet was how much death they saw. It was a big part of their job and heart wrenching, and Emily’s eyes stung thinking about Rebel’s loss. “Does it ever get easier?” she asked softly.

  Wyatt studied her for a moment. “No,” he said quietly, voice gruff with his own emotion. “It doesn’t.”

  Eleven

  A few days later, Emily washed up for their first patient, then moved over and watched Wyatt do the same. The way he moved mesmerized her, all easy-paced economical grace, so innately male she could feel her pulse speed up just watching him.

  So she tried not to watch.

  Instead, she concentrated on the job. Their next patient made that easy. Monster was a Great Dane who’d been disturbing his people the night before with a new habit—dragging his butt on the carpet during a cocktail party the mayor had attended.

  “Apparently it’s only okay for pizza night,” Wyatt said, making Emily laugh. She had to hand it to him, he could do that, make her laugh, even when she didn’t want to.

  Monster’s owners had dropped him off so Emily and Wyatt were alone in the exam room. She’d managed to avoid this until now, which meant she had questions saved up.

  He’d been engaged? To a woman named Caitlin who still called him? Emily had tried to ask both Lilah and Jade about it, but they’d clammed up. Oddly enough, it had been Mike who gave her a glimmer of what had happened, because, as it turned out, there were no sacred secrets at Belle Haven.

  “Caitlin dumped him and he’s still working through that,” Mike had said. “Dude’s not ready.”

  Ready for what? To share his heart?

  And why did it matter to her so much?

  She watched as Wyatt tugged on the exam gloves and hoisted the huge Great Dane onto the table with ease, the movement stretching his lab coat taut over his broad shoulders.

  She felt herself shiver.

  What the hell was that? And why was everything he did so laden with sexuality? At least he wasn’t wearing a tie today. Although his T-shirt said: 50% Vet, 50% Superhero. “This has to stop,” she said, helping to hold Monster from the front while Wyatt stepped to the dog’s hind end.

  “What has to stop?”

  She hadn’t meant to speak out loud, but what the hell. “You being sexy.”

  He lifted his head and stared at her in genuine surprise. “I’m about to express this dog’s anal glands. How in the world is that sexy?”

  “I . . .” She blew out a breath and hung her head. “I can’t explain.”

  He shook his head, a smile playing at his lips as he went back to Monster. “You’ve got a problem.”

  “I know!”

  Dell popped his head in, brows raised quizzically. “Issues?”

  “No!” they both said in unison over poor Monster.

  Dell eyed them each and then vanished.

  Emily watched Wyatt work, his big, tough hands gentle a