Sawyer
“I don’t have much experience with anything office related,” I told the receptionist at the vet’s office where I was applying. “I’m good with dogs, though.”
The woman smiled. “Well, that’s definitely a plus!”
I smiled back.
The woman’s smile was infectious.
Her name was Joanie, and she reminded me a lot of my mom.
“Joanie, I’ll need you to input this into the computer and order some meds for Diesel so Mr. Coby can take him home,” called an older man with a smile on his face.
I watched him walk into the little counter area and hand Joanie a piece of paper before turning to look at me.
He offered me his hand.
“Zack Deguzman,” he introduced himself, offering me his hand.
“Sawyer Berry. It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you,” I shook his hand.
“Are you kin to Dallas Berry?” He asked.
I froze for a second. If I said that I was related to Dallas, he would know exactly who I was, but how else could I explain how I’d heard about him?
There was no guarantee that he wouldn’t judge me like others had.
“I’m…” I hesitated, looking for a good way to phrase it. “Yes. I’m Sawyer Berry. Dallas’s sister.”
I could tell the minute he realized just who I was.
I saw the surprise in his eyes, followed by the pity.
What I didn’t see, though, was disgust.
Something I saw on quite a few people’s faces when they realized who I was and then remembered just who it was that I’d killed.
“Ah,” he said, nodding his head. “I understand. Come, walk with me to the exam room so I can see one of my favorite patients.”
I blinked in surprise.
“Really?” I asked.
Now that he knew, he didn’t act any differently, and I was really surprised.
Most people acted differently, almost as if I had an infectious disease after being released from prison.
I hurried behind Dr. Deguzman, who was walking rather quickly.
“Gosh, Dr. Deguzman, you have long legs,” I panted as we arrived at the room in the very back of the office.
His eyes sparkled as he turned to look over his shoulder at me.
“Call me Zack. And get ready for some fun,” he said, opening the door slowly.
The moment it was open wide enough, a wiggly little body slipped out, darting like a brown missile straight towards me.
I dropped down onto my knees and picked the little cutie up before he could scurry any further past.
“Gotcha,” I cooed, bringing the wiggling, wagging, excited little dog up to my face and giving him a kiss. “Aren’t you just the cutest thing I’ve ever seen?”
“That’s my dog,” a cute, little voice said softly.
I looked up into a beautiful pair of green eyes and smiled.
“This is your puppy?” I asked. “What’s his name?”
“He’s actually a she. And her name is Lou,” she said, crossing her hands across her little chest and glaring at me.
“A girl named Lou,” I nodded. “Got it.”
I handed the dog back to her, and she wrapped her thin arms around its wiggling body and started to struggle back into the room that Zack had closed once he’d realized I had caught the little bundle of energy who had managed to escape.
I opened the door for her and bent down to stop any more wayward escapees. I could hear the fun they were having beyond the door, and, sure enough, I managed to catch two more as they tried to dart out.
“Here you go, daddy,” the little girl with the beautiful blonde hair said to the most beautiful man I’d ever seen in my life.
He was literally captivating.
And very obviously taken if the gold wedding band on his hand, as well as the three kids at his feet, were anything to go by.
“Thanks, baby,” the man said, gesturing to the floor where he wanted her to put the dog.
Dr. Deguzman… Zack… was on the floor running his fingers along the scruff of the puppy at his feet. A little black dog that was just a smidge smaller than all the others.
The mother of the dogs, a gorgeous German Shepherd that reminded me of the very thing everyone thought about when they hear ‘German Shepherd,’ was on the floor in the corner of the room, watching the comings and goings with sharp eyes.
“That’s Tequila,” the man said.
I blinked and looked up at him. “What?”
“The dog. Her name is Tequila,” he rumbled again, clarifying his earlier information.
I swallowed thickly, so caught up in the two different colors of his eyes that I kind of forgot to breathe.
I nodded in understanding. “Gotcha.”
His eyes studied me closely, watching me while I interacted with the dogs.
I tried my hardest to ignore it.
Out of my peripheral vision, though, I took him in.
He was wearing what most bikers would wear, since that was what he ultimately was.
Or, at least, that’s what I figured him for from the biker’s vest he was wearing.