Page 7 of Happily Evan After (Dog Tags #5)

chapter

seven

Evan

I can’t decide if I’m hallucinating or not. But I’m pretty sure that was my girl.

My girl.

Here.

Somehow, impossibly, she’s here. My girl.

And I’m just standing here like an idiot, gaping at her.

Fuck.

I jump over the counter and run through the door where she disappeared.

Dylan, the receptionist, is hot on my heels. “You can’t be back here.”

But she’s nowhere to be found, and when I open the back door, I see a car pulling out of the parking lot.

“Fuck!”

“Dude, really, you can’t be back here,” Dylan says.

I walk past him, hands held up. “Got it. I’m leaving.”

I climb into my truck and fire up the engine. Mentally, I play back what happened in the vet clinic.

What is she doing here?

Obviously, my Dimples is the vet.

Dr. Olsen.

The same woman who’s been a thorn in my side for the last twenty-four hours. With all her texting nonsense and how-to-videos. Fuck, she’s cute.

But how is it even possible that she’s the vet?

She’d asked what I was doing there. So did that mean she recognized me, but wasn’t happy to see me?

Goddamn it, she better not fucking be married. Maybe she was just surprised.

“Fuck!” I roar. I bang my hands on the steering wheel.

But then something occurs to me. If Dimples is Dr. Olsen, Saddle Creek’s small animal veterinarian, then that must mean she lives here.

Surely that’s a sign. It’s gotta mean that we’re meant to be. How could it not mean that?

Had the hottest, best night of my life with the woman, and I haven’t stopped thinking about her since. We belong together. This is proof.

I drive out to my place. Well, technically, it’s not mine; it’s my temporary dwelling.

Dane has a tiny home he built that is so cool.

Since he and Shelby built a house together, he’s not living there, so we’re currently using the downstairs space as Great Dane’s Dog Sanctuary’s main office.

But that left the loft bedroom available.

We’ve got a nice working setup outside of the tiny house, too. That’s where I find Romeo when I pull my truck up.

“Thank fuck you’re here,” I say as I get out of the vehicle.

He looks up from whatever he’s whittling. His brows raise.

“What’s going on, Kid?” he asks.

“I’m going to give you a quick history. A few months ago, I met a gorgeous woman and we spent one amazing night together. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since, but we didn’t exchange names. So there’s been no way for me to find her. Well, guess what?”

“You found her?” he asks, drolly.

“She’s the vet.”

“The one you were complaining about earlier?”

“Yes. It was bothering me that she didn’t seem to like me, considering we hadn’t met in person. So I drove over to her clinic this afternoon, and there she was.” I frown.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know if she recognized me or not. She said something about not being able to do something and then ran out the back door.”

“Sounds like she might have recognized you,” my buddy says.

“You think?” I wipe a hand down my face. “I don’t know. Regardless, doesn’t it seem like it’s a sign that we’re meant to be, that we both live in the same small town?”

“I’m not one for signs and fate and all that,” Romeo says. “But if you like this woman, then I say go for it. Ask her out. What’s the worst that could happen?”