Free Prowling the Vet by Tamsin Baker Page B

Seven
     
    For
three days, Laura floated around the clinic with her mood on cloud nine.
Brandon sent her dirty, crude, super hot messages every day, while she got the
most beautiful, heartfelt messages from Tyler.
    When
her phone beeped she could never decide who she wanted a message from more. She
wouldn’t have been able to choose between them even if she had to. Just like
their mum had said that day, between them they covered every base.
    “Hey, Laura. There’s a Tyler in the waiting
room asking for you.”
    Laura
couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. He was here. What did he
want? She walked out through the doors, with eyes only for the beautiful man
standing in the center of the bright white room.
    “Hey, Tyler.”
    He
grinned and walked forward. Every part of Laura ached to reach out and touch
him. Her fingers actually tingled with longing, yet her need to be professional
in front of her staff and patients won out.
    “I
was hoping you’d have time to go out for lunch?”
    “Oh,
well...”
    She
did have a longer than normal lunch break today.
    “That
would actually work. I had a last-minute cancellation.”
    Tyler
stepped forward and Laura quietly giggled as she took a few steps back. There
were people sitting on seats and she could feel the interested eyes of her
receptionist on her. She had three patients left to see.
    “Give
me half an hour, and we can leave.” She grinned at
him, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice.
    The
next three patients were easy, thank goodness, since her brain was only half
working. Each time she entered a new room, or got a glimpse of the waiting
area, her belly heated up and an awareness prickled
along the back of her neck.
    Thirty-five
minutes later, she stuck her head into the now-empty room and grinned at him,
holding up her finger. “Just give me one minute.” She twirled and practically ran
to the staff room.
    Mary
was there getting ready for her lunch break. “Who’s the hottie ,
Doc?”
    Laura
took off her white lab jacket and grabbed her handbag.
    “Tyler.
He’s an architect.”
    She
turned around and headed toward the door, amazed at the words that had just
left her mouth. She sounded like a snob, which she wasn’t.
    “And the biggest sweetheart on
the planet.”
    Her
assistant Mary grinned at her. “Slept with him yet?”
    Laura
wiggled her fingers at the cheeky younger woman. “Bye, Mary…”
    She
pushed through the door, hearing the girly giggle behind her. She stepped back
into the waiting room and walked over to Tyler.
    “Ready?”
    Tyler
slipped his hand into hers and nodded. “Yeah. Let’s
go.”
    “So how’s your day been?”
    Laura smiled at Tyler and let herself relax a little. She'd
never been pursued by any man like this before, and his enthusiasm for her made
her settle into his advances much quicker than she probably should have. Her
natural instincts to trust him, compounded by all she’d learned from his mother,
added to the ease with which she allowed him into her life.
    “Really good. No real problems so far. How ‘bout you?”
    Tyler's eyebrows rose up a little. “Ah, good, thanks.”
    She squeezed his hand. “Any interesting projects you want to
tell me about?”
    They walked into the cafe and sat down in a corner booth.
    “Hey, Laura. The usual?”
    Laura looked up at the familiar face and beamed.
    “Yes please, Tania. Tyler, I highly recommend any of their foccacia’s or the all-day breakfast.”
    Tyler scanned the menu and soon returned it to the table.
    “The Rockin ' Big Breakfast and a
chocolate milkshake, please.”
    Tania smiled at him and moved away with a wink at Laura.
    Bloody small towns. This'd be the talk
of the district and her friends for the next month. She hadn't openly dated anyone
since moving back to town after her parents had died and she finished
University several years ago. This was going to be an epic problem if things
didn’t work out. She hated people asking personal