Reluctant Romance (11 page)

She pushed those feelings aside. Connor was used to dating gorgeous women; what could he possibly want with her?
 

Starting down the hall she looked at her reflection in the mirror.
 
Bushy, uncontrollable hair, plain-colored eyes, freckles, and a stain on her shirt.
 
She certainly couldn’t compete with models and rich heiresses. So then why did he kiss her?

With a sigh, she bent down to pet Bailey, who had appeared at her feet.
 
She didn’t know what Connor was playing at, but she figured it would be smart to stay away. He’d be leaving town once the evaluation of Healthy-Pet was done anyway, and the last thing she needed was to get involved with someone who just saw her as a one-night-stand.
 

Better to clear her mind of any romantic thoughts involving Mr. Dunn and focus on making sure the clinic survived the Healthy-Pet buy out intact.

Chapter Eleven

Risa had changed her outfit at least ten times, which was silly since she’d be wearing her white vet coat over it anyway. Besides, what did she care how she looked?

She’d felt awkward when Connor had arrived. She sensed he had too. But now she was halfway through her spiel of showing him the inner workings of the clinic, and all thoughts of anything else had long fled her mind. She was in her element. Talking about the different rooms and functions of the clinic animated and invigorated her.

She had been explaining how they did operations on a case-by-case basis, when Connor cut in with a question.

“How do you figure out what to charge people?”
 

“Well, we do have some customers who pay the full rate, same as you would at any other clinic, but for those who can’t we mostly go on the honor system. People tell us what they can pay and that’s what we charge.” She saw him make a face at her answer.

“But then you have no way of being able to predict income?”

“Yes, that’s the thing. The clinic is sort of a loss leader for us. Sometimes it breaks even, sometimes it makes a little money, but mostly it costs us money.”

Connor nodded, his hand on his chin. She figured he was weighing the benefits against the cost of running the clinic, so she decided to cut into his thoughts with a positive spin.

“Sometimes we do get big donations from people and we use that to pay the costs, of course. But we feel the extra business we get for our pet foods because of word of mouth and loyal customers more than pays for the operations of the clinic.”

Risa’s tour brought them back out to the lobby, and she smiled, noticing that all the customers she had called in were waiting.

She turned her attention to a tiny dachshund that was wagging its whole body at her. Bending down, she stroked the little dog’s head.

“Hi, Winston.” She pulled a treat from her pocket and fed it to the dog.
 

Standing, she focused her attention on the dog’s owner. Short and rotund, Mona Alvarez had become one of their most loyal customers when Risa had saved Winston’s life about a year ago with a necessary but costly operation.
 

“Hi, Mona, how are you?”

“Oh, wonderful Dr. Kennedy. And Winston is doing great too!”

“Mona, I’d like you to meet Connor Dunn. As you know, my father is looking to sell Healthy-Pet, and Dunn International is interested in buying it." Risa turned to Connor. “Maybe you could fill him in on how the clinic has affected your life and how you help us spread the word.”

Risa stood back and watched Mona work her magic on Connor. Her bright eyes and enthusiasm for the company were hard to ignore. She could see Connor getting caught up in her story.

“Dr. Kennedy here, she saved my Winston and I’ll always be grateful to her and Healthy-Pet. I tell all my friends: you buy Healthy-Pet food and nothing else!" she said, wagging her finger to punctuate the words. “If it wasn’t for this clinic, I could never have afforded Winston's operation.” She looked down at the little dog, her eyes gleaming with tears.

Risa made her way to the next customer, Rhonda White. A small gray cat with big green eyes peered out of a canvas cat carrier that sat on the bench next to Rhonda. Risa bent down and poked a finger in at the cat.
 

“How is Birdie?” The cat, named for her talent for catching birds, purred and rubbed herself against Risa’s finger.

“She’s doing very well,” Rhonda said, nodding at Connor.

“Connor, this is Rhonda. We met when she brought Birdie in as a stray. We think Birdie had recently given birth and had a bad uterine infection. She almost didn’t make it, but luckily for her Rhonda was nice enough to bring her in when she noticed how sick she was.”

“That’s right. Dr. Kennedy is a miracle worker.”
 

Risa felt her cheeks grow warm. Laughing it off she said, “As you can see, Birdie made it through fine and has a new home to boot.”

“I’m a huge advocate for the clinic and Healthy-Pet,” Rhonda said forcefully. “I tell everyone I know what a wonderful organization it is. So I hope
your
company will keep things as they are,” she added, giving Connor a reproachful look.

Risa systematically made her way to the other three customers she had asked to come in. She studied Connor as they each told their story and highlighted their loyalty tor the Healthy-Pet brand.
 

He appeared to listen intently to each person, and Risa thought he seemed to be truly thinking about what they each said. At this point, all she could hope for was that he gave it serious thought and came to a conclusion in the clinic’s favor.

After everyone had left, Connor stood looking around the clinic, deep in thought. Risa found her mind drifting back to the kiss they had shared on Saturday and her stomach did a somersault.
 

Did Connor even remember the kiss?

Probably not. Risa realized Connor was used to kissing lots of girls-ones much prettier and way more exciting than her. She pushed all thoughts of the kiss out of her mind, determined to pretend it meant nothing to her just as it probably did to him.

She looked over to see him staring at her with a strange look on his face.
Did she feel an electricity in the air between them?
 
Probably just her imagination, she thought.

“Well, I guess that’s it,” she said, spreading her hands wide.

Connor nodded. “Thanks for showing me around and letting me meet some of your customers. It’s given me a better understanding of the clinic’s role in all of this.”

Risa’s heart lurched. She hoped he meant that in a favorable way.

He looked at his watch. “Well, if we’re done here, I have some other things to tend to.”
 

“Yes, I’ll see you out." Risa started toward the lobby, and Connor fell in step beside her.
 

In the lobby he turned to face her, and they stood staring at each other in awkward silence for a few seconds.
 

“I heard from Jim Abernake, and he’ll be in to pick up where he left off on going over the finances tomorrow morning,” Connor said.

“Okay, I’ll make sure Caitlyn is setup for him.” Risa felt a tingle of nervousness in her stomach at the thought of Jim going over the books. He would find everything in order as far as profit and loss went, but there was one little discrepancy she hoped wouldn’t surface.

Connor half-turned to leave, then hesitated. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but Risa cut in before he could say it.

“Okay, then I guess I’ll see you later,” she said brusquely.

A flicker of hurt passed over Connor’s face and he nodded.
 

“Yep, see you later.” He turned and strode out the door.

Risa felt her heart clench as she watched him walk to his car. Maybe it had been a bit callous to give him the brush-off like that. But she’d had a feeling he was going to say something about Saturday, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it.

With Jim coming in tomorrow, the evaluation was sure to be over soon and Connor Dunn would be getting out of town, and her life, for good. Better to leave things as they were than to get involved in something that might end up with her nursing another broken heart.

Chapter Twelve

Risa pulled up in front of her father’s house, her shoulders tensing when she saw the overflowing mail-box. With everything that had gone on in the past few days, she’d forgotten to pick up his mail.

“Come on, girl.” She opened her car door and waited for Bailey to jump out. She didn’t bother putting on her leash. They’d been there many times and Bailey always stayed at her side.

Walking over to the mailbox, she bent down to retrieve the mail that had spilled out, then opened the box and scooped the rest into her arms. Unlocking the house, she ran inside and dropped the mail on the kitchen table, then did a cursory check to make sure nothing was amiss.
 

She didn’t have a lot of time to spend there; she’d worked late and was starving. She was anxious to hit her favorite place for takeout and collapse on her couch. She figured Bailey must be thinking the same thing because she was waiting at the front door for her.

“Okay, we can go home now.” She opened the door for the dog, then turned around to lock it. Turning back, she expected to see Bailey waiting at the car, but the dog wasn’t there.

A jolt of panic stabbed her heart. “Bailey!”

Movement at the corner of the house caught her eye, and she looked over in time to see Bailey’s tail disappearing around the corner.
 

“Bailey, come back!” She sprinted around the corner. Bailey was at the edge of the backyard. She gave a backward glance at Risa as she trotted into the neighbor’s yard.

“Damn it!" Risa ran after her, perplexed as to the dog’s behavior. Bailey
never
ran off like this.

She followed the dog, cursing under her breath, on a winding tour through several back-yards and down a few streets, until Bailey finally pulled up to a stop at a familiar house, trotting over to sniff through the fence.

Risa stormed over to her, stopping short when she looked through the fence.

“Hey…isn’t that-?”

Then she remembered why the house was familiar. It was the Dunn’s old house, the one she’d spent many afternoons and evenings at when she was young. And the dog inside the fence was Connor’s dog, Picasso.

Confused and gasping for air after her run, she was bent over at the waist, her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath when she heard him behind her.

“Risa?
 
What are
you
doing here?”

Still bent over, she looked back at him over her shoulder. “I might ask you the same,” she said in between gasps. Then she straightened up, her cheeks burning when she realized the unflattering view he’d had.

He walked over to her, acknowledging Bailey’s exuberant greeting with one of his own.

“I’ve been wanting to get out of the rat race and settle down. When Dad said our old house was for sale, I came to see it just out of curiosity and the next thing I knew I was putting in an offer."
 

Risa could see the happiness on his face as he looked back at the house.

“I’m renting it until the sale goes through,” he added, turning his attention back to Risa.

“I was picking up my father’s mail down the street, and Bailey took off and ended up here. I wonder if she knew Picasso was here.” Risa stood on her tip-toes to peek over the fence where Bailey and Picasso had resumed sniffing each other. “I remember coming here when I was a kid. I always loved that big tree in the back.”

“It’s pretty much the same inside, a few cosmetic changes. They did a major kitchen overhaul. Wanna see?” Connor asked.

Risa’s heart skipped a beat.
 

“Sure…” Suddenly she felt uncertain.
 

Bailey and Picasso started to whine and paw at the fence.

“I guess we’d better—looks like the dogs want to say hello,” Connor said nodding his head at the fence. He started toward the house. Risa and Bailey followed.

Stepping inside was like stepping back in time. Even though there was new carpet and different wall colors, Risa could still remember the house as it was thirteen years earlier. She felt a warm glow in her belly and assured herself it was the feeling of childhood memories and not the fact that Connor was standing next to her.
 

Delicious smells drifted out of the kitchen, and Risa’s mouth started to water. Her stomach made an unladylike grumbling sound.

“Are you hungry? I’m just marinating some steaks. Maybe you and Bailey would like to stay? I have plenty extra."
 
Connor’s eyebrows lifted up. “I’d actually like to talk to you about some of my thoughts on the clinic anyway.”

Risa felt hope surge in her chest at the way he said “clinic.”
 
She hoped what he had to say was favorable.
 

“Sure, that sounds great.”

Connor led the way into the kitchen, where Bailey was already waiting at the back door to the yard. Picasso stood on the other side. Connor opened the door, and the two dogs gave each others back end a cursory sniff and then started chasing each other around the yard.

Connor laughed. “Those two sure do get along.”

Risa perched on a tall stool at the breakfast bar across from the work area where Connor was prepping food.

“This really is a great kitchen,” she said, admiring the contemporary tile backsplash and granite counters. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

Connor looked up from chopping vegetables. “Oh yeah. I was actually going to be a chef, but Dad pushed me into a corporate career instead.” He shrugged.

Risa watched him cut up various vegetables and herbs. Her stomach tightened as she admired his muscles flexing under his black T-shirt. She marveled at how quickly he got the job done. Not being a cook herself, she could barely boil water much less cut up a smorgasbord of vegetables.

Connor went to the fridge. Pulling out a container, he brought it to the stove on the kitchen island in front of Risa.