Page 24 of Pugs & Kisses

T he harsh fluorescent light beaming down from the metal arm that extended six feet above the exam table was giving him a headache, but Bryson did his best to ignore it and concentrate on the task at hand.

He carefully snipped at the necrotic tissue covering a hind leg wound on a mutt that had been brought to The Sanctuary by a Good Samaritan just after he and Evie arrived.

The woman said she’d found him rummaging through the garbage behind a nearby restaurant.

The light slid down the metal arm, clunking Bryson on the top of his head.

“Shit.” His hand went to his head, but he stopped just before touching it. There was only one box of gloves in the entire rescue. He didn’t want to contaminate the pair he had on. “Odessa? Can you come in here?”

The receptionist was there in a matter of seconds.

“How’s he doing?” Odessa asked, her attention on the dog.

“He’ll be just fine if I can get this light to stay in place long enough to get through the procedure,” he said. “It keeps slipping.”

“That happens. Give me a sec.” She left the room and, moments later, returned with a roll of gray duct tape.

“Seriously?” Bryson asked.

“We have to do what we have to do.” Odessa shrugged. She came around the back of the table and started sliding the light up the metal arm. “Tell me where to place it?”

Bryson shook his head. This was ridiculous. And tragic. How much could it cost to replace this thing? And get more gloves?

“Go up a few inches,” he said. “Down. Right there.”

She peeled off a long swatch of tape and wrapped it around the light and arm.

“There you go. That should last for a while.”

“How long has it been like this, Odessa?”

“You don’t want to know,” she said. She held her hands up. “We’ve had to make do since the grant money dried up. Doc has been doing what he can, but it’s been a one-man show since the mentorship program ended.”

“Why didn’t he say anything before it got to this point?” Bryson asked.

“Because he’s a stubborn old man.”

“Why didn’t you ? I mean, are you even taking a salary?”

“I don’t need a salary,” she said. “Joe’s pension takes care of my bills.”

“So you’re an unpaid volunteer at this point,” Bryson stated.

“I work here because I want to work here.” She wrapped her arms around her chest. “It keeps me out of that quiet house.”

Her softly spoken words doused what was left of his fight. What good was it to complain to Odessa? She and Doc were both doing the best they could. If he wanted to point a finger at someone, he should look in the damn mirror.

Odessa patted him on the shoulder. “I’m glad you’re back home, Bryson. This place needs you. I’m not sure if it will be enough, but it does my heart good to see you and Evie trying to save it. The same goes for Doc. He has more hope in his eyes than I’ve seen in a long time.”

Bryson swallowed and nodded. “I’m not sure if we can save it either,” he said. “But we’re going to do what we can.”

He felt like the biggest lump of shit as he watched Odessa exit the room.

What did it say about him that he’d used The Sanctuary’s mentorship program to bolster his credentials, then left without a backward glance? Doc shouldn’t have had to reach out. Bryson knew damn well he should have been here well before things got to this point.

Unfortunately, it all felt a bit “too little too late.”

Though, not if Evie had anything to say about it.

He still thought she was just on the other side of delusional for thinking they could save this place, but the determination he’d sensed in her told him that she would do it with or without his help. Maybe he was just as delusional to think he could work alongside Evie and not lose his mind.

“You’re definitely delusional,” Bryson muttered as he used gauze to dab at the healthy tissue he’d unearthed.

He’d had the hardest time going to sleep last night after their evening in Audubon Park. He’d felt like a fool climbing into that water to go after her dog, but he would do it again without hesitation if it meant he would see that smile brightening Evie’s face or hear her lyrical laugh.

There was a knock on the open door to the surgical room.

“Hey!”

A shot of adrenaline rushed into his veins at the sound of Evie’s voice. It was a reaction that he’d come to anticipate. The key was to hide his body’s reaction so that he didn’t scare her off.

“Hey, what’s up?” Bryson asked. At least his voice didn’t give him away.

“Just dropping by to see if you need help with the debridement. Those can be a little tricky.”

He caught the grin tipping up the corner of her mouth.

“I think I’ve got it,” Bryson said.

“You sure? When you spend your time performing high-risk surgeries, the simple things become complicated. I wouldn’t want you to miss a step.”

Bryson tried to hide his smile; the mirth in her voice made it impossible.

“Have you finished cleaning that Pomeranian’s teeth?” he asked, not bothering to hide his own amusement.

“What was left of them,” Evie said. She came into the room and perched against the prep table. “I ended up having to extract four. She hasn’t woken from the anesthesia yet.”

Folding her arms over her chest, Evie blew out a tired breath and said, “If I wasn’t already preparing to do whatever I could to save this place, I would be after today. The guilt over not helping out sooner is going to eat at me for a long time to come.”

“Join the club,” Bryson said.

“At least you have the excuse of not being in the state. Maple Street Animal Clinic is less than five miles away. Even if I’d taken the time to swing by once a week, I would have noticed The Sanctuary was in trouble.”

“What good does the guilt trip do for you or The Sanctuary?” Bryson asked. “You’re committed to helping fix it. Focus on that.” He nipped the last bit of dead tissue from the wound and bonded it with gauze and tape. “This should heal in a few weeks,” he said.

Evie rubbed her hands over her crossed arms, despite it being a comfortable temperature in the surgical room. “Being here in this room brings back a lot of memories.”

Bryson cocked one brow. “You sure you want to go there?”

She glanced away, then back to him. “We made more memories in this room than… you know what.”

“Funny. I can barely remember anything but ‘you know what’ while in this room,” he said.

When they’d volunteered here, he’d taken advantage of every chance he could get to taste Evie’s mouth.

But it was that one time in this very room, toward the end of the summer, when things had gone further than they’d ever taken them.

Those memories had lingered at the periphery of his brain for months after he left.

His mouth on her neck. One hand on her breast, the other inside the waistband of her scrubs. Then moving lower.

If he closed his eyes, he could still feel her hot, slick flesh constricting around his fingers. That sensation had obliterated all other memories from this place.

Bryson cleared his throat. “But I guess you’re right. There were also the endless hours of cleaning up dog poop. Who could forget about that?”

She laughed, just as he knew she would. Meanwhile, he was fighting like hell to rein in the need those erotic memories had evoked.

He still wasn’t sure how this should all play out.

He could continue to go along with pretending that all they’d shared eight years ago was a casual flirtation between friends that had gotten out of hand, but it didn’t sit right with him. It belittled what they’d truly shared.

He’d fallen in love with her that summer, and Bryson was certain she’d felt something for him.

Even more unnerving, the pretending left little space for something more to develop between them. And the more time he spent with Evie, the more he was determined to make her see that the spark was still there.

Whether or not she’d only used him as a summer fling to get over Cameron back when they’d volunteered at The Sanctuary, which is what Cameron claimed, no longer mattered. Bryson was certain his ex-lab partner was out of the picture for good this time.

He just had to remember not to push. He needed to go slow.

But that was getting harder to do by the second.

“I need to get back to the first steps in my Operation Rescue the Rescue plan,” Evie said.

She held up her cell phone. “I took a few pictures and videos of the animals and the current state of the building. I’m hoping we can harness the power of Instagram and TikTok to bring attention to it in the same way Ashanti did with Barkingham Palace.

It’s amazing what one viral video can do. ”

“Yeah, that video of those two dogs was everywhere.”

“And Ashanti used it to grow her business in ways you wouldn’t believe.

I’m heading to the daycare after I leave here,” Evie said.

“She’s been planning a canine carnival as one of the lead-up events to the grand opening of Barkingham Palace’s newest location, but now she wants to turn it into a fundraiser for The Sanctuary. ”

“No shit? That’s so cool, Ev.”

“That’s Shanti,” she said. “We’re going to brainstorm carnival ideas this afternoon.”

“You didn’t tell me you were talking strategy today,” Bryson said. “I thought we were doing this together?”

Her mouth dropped opened. “I—”

“I’m not just a pretty face.” He tapped the side of his head. “I’ve got ideas up here.”

She burst out laughing again. “I’m sorry I left you out. Would you like to join me at Barkingham Palace?”

Her smile was genuine and sweet and made him question just what in the hell he was thinking when he told this woman that he was okay with keeping their relationship friends-only. There was no way he could keep this pretend thing going.

“I just need to check in with the hospital,” Bryson said. “I’m on call today, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Perfect,” Evie answered. She hooked her thumb at the door. “I’ll take a few more pictures, then meet you in the reception area.”

He finished clearing the wound and carried the sedated dog to his crate.