Page 31 of Avenging Azalea (California Made Men #2)

Chapter

Twenty-Three

FAWN

Tears streamed down my face, and I grabbed Dr. Taylor’s arm. “Please don’t do this. I have an idea,” I begged.

Dr. Taylor looked in the kennel at Winston. The tip of his tail was wiggling even as he remained curled up in his bed.

“You have until the end of the day, Fawn. But that’s all the extra time I can give you. I’m sorry.”

Giving him a quick hug, I smiled. “Thank you.”

He nodded and walked out.

I’d been mulling this over for days but hadn’t gotten up the courage to ask. I’d run out of time and needed to grow a backbone. Pacing the back hall past Winston’s kennel, I pulled out my cell and called Titus.

“Hey, Fawn,” he said cheerily, and as always, my stomach flipped.

“Hey, how is your day going?”

Titus chuckled. “Good, but I suspect you want to ask me something.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to. Whenever you want to ask a favor, your voice changes. It’s sort of like when you beg Bella to move over in the night because she’s hogging the bed,” he said.

I laughed and then wondered how the hell he knew that, but I must have told him one groggy morning.

“Okay, fine, you caught me. Yes, I need to ask a favor, and please, I’m begging you to think about it before you say no.”

“Oh, I hate it when we start off our conversations like this.”

“I’ll owe you a milkshake. Two even.”

“Two milkshakes? This must be a massive favor if you’re offering that.”

I smiled stupidly at my phone, heat warming my cheeks.

“Do you remember the dog Winston I mentioned?”

“Yes, the one you’ve been taking Sheba to see every day?”

“Yes, that one. I can’t find a home that’s right for him.

He’s scheduled to be put down today, and Sheba has really taken to him and…

.” I stopped gasping in air, my chest tight with the thought that Titus would say no.

“Please, I’ll owe you as many milkshakes as you want for the rest of your life, and anything else you want, please don’t say no. ”

“Anything I want?”

I licked my lips as a shiver raced down my spine.

“Anything. At any time,” I said.

“That is a mighty big offer.” The line went silent, and I held my breath for his response. “Okay, you can bring him home, but under two conditions,” Titus said, and I squealed.

“Yes, anything, whatever you want.”

“First, it is your responsibility to teach him the house rules. I don’t have the time to work with him. Nathaniel is a tyrant,” Titus said.

“You’re in my office. I can hear you,” Nathaniel said in the background, and I laughed.

I still couldn’t believe that Titus had left Mikhailov Enterprises. I never thought I’d see the day. But he seemed content with his decision, and I preferred Nathaniel over Dimitri.

“Doesn’t make it any less true,” Titus shot back.

This tiny moment of listening to Titus and Nathaniel meant so much. I’d always wanted to feel included and not pushed to the side like some broken doll that needed protecting.

“Yes, I can teach him all the ways of the house, boundaries, and commands. Sheba has already been doing a great job. I got him to come up to me and sit with her for a treat yesterday. And he’s so gentle, you won’t have to worry about him around Cutter.”

“Excellent, that’s good to hear.”

“So, what’s the second condition?”

“That you bring home my fav from our burger place tonight. I don’t feel like cooking or eating out. Staying in with greasy food while getting to know Winston seems like a good night to me.”

If I was a ballerina, then I’d be pirouetting all over the place. Instead, I bounced on the balls of my feet and tried not to screech in his ear with excitement. “You’ve got it. I’ll get all your favs.”

“Then it’s a deal. I’ll see you later for dinner.”

“Thank you, Titus. Seriously, this means the world to me.”

The line was so quiet for a moment that I had to check to make sure the call hadn’t disconnected.

“I know,” he said after another minute. So much was said in the heavy silence, though no words were spoken. “I’ll see you later. Bye, Fawn.”

The line went dead, but my heart continued to gallop at top speed in my chest.

“Did your plan work?”

I jumped and spun around at the sound of Dr. Taylor’s voice. I smiled wide, walking toward him.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, it did. I’m taking Winston home with me,” I said.

Dr. Taylor’s eyes lit up as he gave me a sexy, lopsided grin.

“Well, I’ll be damned, that is great news. How about I take you out to dinner to celebrate?”

My smile faltered. “What?”

“You know food, that meal you eat at the end of the day,” he teased.

Dr. Taylor leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, and my brain stopped working properly.

“Oh…wow, you caught me off guard,” I said. He laughed, and I mimicked his pose, trying to compose myself.

“That was kind of the point. I figured if I did, then you wouldn’t have time to come up with an excuse to say no.

” He reached out and gently rubbed my shoulder with his thumb.

It felt like he was running his hand over my entire body.

It didn’t light me up inside like Titus did, but there was no creeped out feeling that made my skin crawl either.

“What do you say? You need to eat dinner, don’t you? ”

“So, this is like a date?”

“You can call it whatever you want. I’m considering it a moment alone to chat without it being solely about work.”

A date…I didn’t date. I’d never even been on one before, not like this. The closest I’d come to dating was with Bradley, who flirted whenever we were out as a group. He bought me some sunscreen when we were at the beach because I’d forgotten mine. Did that count?

“I can’t tonight,” I said.

“What about tomorrow or Saturday? I can’t do Sunday because I have a race.”

“Um…I’m not sure. You’re still my boss, and I really love my job. I don’t want anything to mess that up.”

“I understand,” he said with a nod. “If you change your mind, let me know.”

Dr. Taylor’s hand slid off my shoulder as he turned to walk away. Doreen announced over the PA that his next appointment was in room one. He stopped with his hand on the door and turned back.

“Oh, and Fawn? You can call me Matt.”

Matt pushed through the door and disappeared. I blinked, wondering if that really happened. He wasn’t Titus, and no one would ever take his place. But maybe…maybe if I said yes to Matt, then maybe I had a chance at a beginning that didn’t include pining over Titus every second of the day.

Steph was right. As hard as it was, I needed to find ways to move on, but a date with my boss…I wasn’t sure that was the way to go. Then again, he was really hot and had asked me out. Was I going to say yes? Damn, I really did have a thing for older guys.

First things first. Winston was going home to meet the girls, and I had to pick up dinner for my ‘not date’ with Titus.