Page 30 of Hold Me Instead (Elmwood Falls #1)

Charlie

Charlie hunched over her desk, busying herself with files for the day’s lineup. Soft footsteps carried down the hall as techs prepped for morning appointments, but the nudge of a wet nose against her hip pulled her focus.

“Maple, sweet girl, how are you?” She crimped the old pup’s soft, floppy ear and received a lick on the wrist. Greeting complete, Maple curled up next to Zachary’s desk.

Zachary ’ s desk . When had it switched to that ?

Dark gray tennis shoes came into view. Charlie’s eyes traveled up the long legs and torso to find a clean-shaven Zachary.

He pulled on his jacket, the muscles of his forearms twisting as he flipped it over his back.

She followed the motion of his hands as he adjusted the strap of his watch, his long fingers moving with swift and gentle motions.

That same hand moved up and passed through his hair, which was when she noticed him watching from the corner of his eyes.

The night before, she’d basically revealed she’d thought about him in a boyfriend sense, imagining what type of person she pictured for him. Breathing room was important to get her head on straight. It couldn’t start now, not with him calling to ask that she cover him while he helped with his dad .

Hearing his voice in the early morning, somehow deeper through the phone, was a new favorite way to start her day.

“Something wrong, Harris?”

Oh . Her mouth was actually hanging open.

She jolted to close it and her teeth clamped loudly, her brain and motions nowhere near in sync.

Here she was, gaping at the man, newly aware that strong, lean hands were a major turn-on, and they should be all over her.

Preferably while feeding her snickerdoodles.

A small laugh bubbled out as she replied, “No.” God , Charlie, that was almost a whimper ! She cleared her throat. “No. Everything is good. All good. Great, even.”

He nodded slowly. “Sure.”

“Maple reminds me of Dale the Dog.” Ah , yes . Common ground, bringing up the sweet dog. Nope , just another way to show how long you’ve known each other , Charlie . This isn ’ t safe territory at all !

Someday, she’d address why she scolded herself in the third person.

His smile was soft. “Thought the same thing when I saw her picture on the rescue’s website. Couldn’t imagine her not having a family during her golden years.”

“How long have you had her?”

“About three years. Waited a little after Dale passed. Anna was so pissed.”

“That you adopted again?”

“That I adopted a senior . She’d wanted a puppy, something about it being better for her ‘brand,’” he mumbled, then crouched to give Maple a belly rub. “She didn’t even really care for Dale when he was around.”

“That’s impossible! He was a natural heart stealer.”

“I guess you’d have to have a heart for him to steal in the first place. ”

“ Woah .” Her delivery was soft, with the impact of a punchline.

A laugh shot out of Zachary, but there was pain in his eyes when he glanced back at her. “It’s the truth. She wasn’t always that way.” He looked back at Maple. “I don’t think.”

“Well, she’s missing out.” She watched Zachary dote on Maple, and found herself gazing at him with the same adoration as the old girl. Before Zachary caught her staring awkwardly again , in the span of minutes, she quickly added, “Maple’s a very lucky girl.”

Adding the sentiment had seemed like a way to soften Anna “missing out,” but now the whole conversation felt more affectionate. Why did she keep revealing she was fond of him? God, ‘ fond ’ ? Own up !

Zachary stood, walked over to her. She tipped her head back, sucking in a breath filled with the scent of warm, crisp woods. She swallowed, an attempt to capture it while not being obvious she’d just inhaled the man—except she swallowed too much air and choked.

Turning away, she squinted tearing eyes at the window. The red and gold leaves of the park blurred like a watercolor blend. His warm hand patted her shoulder a few times.

“You okay?” Zachary asked.

She swallowed carefully and looked at him. He appeared to have no trouble with his breathing and, instead, dared to look sexy and cool in his jacket.

“ Cool ” was something she was not. “All good.”

A slow smile spread across his face. “Did you choke on air?”

“It happens sometimes!”

His laugh filled the room, its deep rumble zinging between her legs.

Oh my. So far, he’d only given her small chuckles, a tease .

She’d forgotten how full-bodied his laugh was.

It lit her up inside until she felt like she could power every marquee of Broadway.

She wanted to wrap her arms around him, feel it roll from his body to hers.

“Dr. Harris?”

Charlie peered around him, feeling privileged he was so close. She felt his gaze on her.

Jasmine stood in the doorway. “Room three is ready.”

“Great, thanks.” She cleared her hoarse voice.

Zachary’s fingers pulled back from her shoulder, pinching her fabric lightly before taking slow steps back. The material poofed against her clavicle, and she shivered, the chill heightened by the warmth his hand had left behind.

“Thanks again for covering me. I really appreciate it.” He scratched Maple’s head. “I’ll come back for you later, sweet girl.”

“Hope everything goes alright,” Charlie said.

“I like your scrubs today.” He winked, signaled Maple to stay, and left the office.

Charlie stared at the door as her heart raced after him—she felt the pulse in her throat. She looked at Maple just as the old girl turned her gaze from the door to Charlie.

“He sure keeps me on my toes,” she whispered. The dog slowly lowered her head onto the bed with a sigh. “Yeah, I know. He can do no wrong in your eyes.”

She gathered up her stuff and straightened her scrubs, which were printed with line drawings of cats and dogs in baking caps, cupcakes, and, of course, cookies.

** *

“I was really hoping I’d get Dr. Lee today.”

Charlie glared at her cousin. “I actually had someone tell me that earlier and mean it.”

She continued her inspection of the scruffy gray dog Amber had brought in. The small stray had to be around one year old, but its mange suggested it’d been on the streets for a while.

“I definitely mean it.” Amber leaned on the exam table across from Charlie and grinned. Her thick, plaid coat draped over her frame. “When can I meet him?”

“The cookout. Unfortunately.”

“Hmm.” Amber straightened and pulled her long hair up into a messy knot, tugging the longer bangs into place.

“I can’t believe you scheduled this, knowing I wasn’t supposed to be here,” Charlie muttered. She made little sounds of encouragement to the pup as she continued her exam.

“Don’t blame me, this sweet guy needed looking after.” Amber shook her head. “This actually works out, though, since you haven’t returned any of my texts. Good thing I found a stray dog so I could talk to you.”

Charlie rolled her eyes. “You’re so dramatic. I just saw you.”

“Ooo, maybe I should go into acting.”

“And sarcastic.”

“You’re only listing reasons supporting that career choice.”

The dog settled onto his belly, brown eyes drifting closed as Charlie inspected his ears.

“Oh my God, this little guy is so freakin adorable. Did he just fall asleep?” Amber leaned closer, drooping her lips in a little pout. “Is he okay?” she whispered, gently nuzzling the top of his head with a maroon-painted finger.

“He needs food and a bath. Looks pretty malnourished. We’ll run some panels on him, though. What did Cory say when you called him?”

“He’s hooking me up with a groomer since this pupperuni is in rough shape. They’ll hopefully have someone to foster him by the end of the week, though. Going through the vetting process.”

“Who’s going to watch this little guy until then?”

There was no reply. When Charlie looked at Amber, she found her cousin gazing at him, her eyes practically bursting with hearts.

“I’ll sneak him into my place.” She looked up at Charlie and held out her hands. “It’ll be fine! Only for a few days, and look—he’s so tiny and chill, no one will know.”

“Whatever you say.” Charlie went to the computer in the room and added notes to his chart. “I’ll have Sheila grab him for tests.” She hesitated. “If it doesn’t work out, call me, okay?”

Amber rolled her eyes. “It’ll be fine. We ’ ll be fine.”

“Last time—”

“Last time, I tried to sneak in a forty-pound dog that liked to bark at dust bunnies. Definitely not as stealthy.”

Amber’s heart was in the right place, but it hadn’t been the first time Charlie had needed to bail her out.

This little puppy needed a lot of attention, and hopefully, his chill demeanor would, in fact, last. “Alright, well, keep me posted? I’ll see you this weekend.

” Charlie opened the door to the hall just as Zachary approached.

“Oh! You’re back!” Charlie’s cheeks heated, the happiness in her voice as cheery as if he was holding boxes full of Dorothy’s, all for her .

How her cousin had managed it, even sensed the opportunity, she had no clue, but suddenly, Amber was next to her, keeping the door to the employee-only hallway open.

“Are you Dr. Lee?”

“Amber!” Charlie hissed.

Zachary slowed, his gaze bouncing from Amber to Charlie and back again. “Yes…”

“Knew it.”

“Wild guess. He’s the only other doctor here right now, you know that,” Charlie groused.

Her cousin ignored her completely. “Wow, you look just like your parents. Good genes.”

“Okay, seriously. That’s enough.” Charlie forced her way into the hall and tried to pull the door closed, but Amber kept her body in the way.

“I’m Amber, Charlie’s cousin.” She stuck out her hand.

“Nice to meet you.” Zachary shook her hand, then gave Charlie a look. “Taking personal meetings during the workday, Harris?”

“Yeah, sounds like me, when I barely take time for lunch.” She let out a nervous laugh, which sounded more crazed than anything. Now she was overheating.

“Why so defensive?” He replied softly, with a grin that made Charlie bite her lower lip. His eyes zeroed in on the action, and his grin grew wider.

Those laugh lines would be the end of her. Shit . He. Was. Sexy.

“Well, it’s nice to finally put a face to a name. I’ve heard a lot about you over the years, it’s been a long time comin’,” Amber said .

He raised his eyebrows. “That so?” Zachary asked Amber, his gaze fixed on Charlie.

She flapped her top to cool down. “Sheila!” she yelled, way too loudly, and spun around right into the woman. “Sorry. God, this hallway. Can you please take care of…Amber, what’s the pup’s name?”

“Charlie.”

Charlie glared at her cousin.

Amber shrugged. “Might call him Chuck. Not sure yet. He’s got this hidden feistiness about him, seems fitting.”

“I hate you,” Charlie muttered.

Zachary grinned, looking at his feet, but Amber stood proudly, smiling with ease.

“Sheila, please get Chuck the pup squared away with his tests. Then let’s get Amber out of here.” Charlie started toward her office.

“See you Sunday, Charlotte!” Amber called out, putting the final dig in as Charlie closed her office door behind her.

Knock, knock.

“Dr. Harris?” Jasmine called through the door.

“Yeah?”

“Room one is ready.”

“Thanks!” Charlie gave herself a minute, staring out the window at the long shadows in the park.

She knew what she was doing. She could manage her work life with a personal life.

Handle her feelings. Sure, this was a unique situation of the two colliding, but at the same time, it was only temporary.

Zachary wasn’t going to be in Elmwood Falls forever.

Nothing aside from innocent flirting had happened, anyway.

She was probably blowing it out of proportion .

Another knock sounded at the door, and she collected herself and whipped it open.

“Sorry, Jasmine, I’m coming.”

Zachary stood in the hall, his thumb swiping slowly over his bottom lip. His eyes ticked up to hers, those dark eyebrows luring her. “You good?”

“Great!” She hurried past him and shoved into her next appointment room.

Relationships? Yeah, she had no clue what she was doing. In order to keep her cool, she had to find it in the first place.