Just for Today...

“I know.” Rob sighed, a heavy, put-upon sound. “Okay, well maybe we’ll just have to ask Jess to pick up Suzie and organize the kennel.”

Hailey’s voice was shrill in the background. Sean was sure he heard the words told you so in there somewhere.

“Listen, mate,” Sean said, raising his voice, his hurt transforming into irritation. He might prefer a more freewheeling life than his tradition-following brother, but that didn’t mean he was incapable of being responsible when the occasion called for it.

“Would you just shut up for a second and let me talk? I was going to say, I have a meeting in Sydney but I can arrange to do it by teleconference. Why don’t you just leave it all with me? I’ll stay here and take care of things for you. I have to be back in Melbourne in two weeks for a convention anyway.”

There was a moment of silence.

Did his brother really mistrust him that much?

Sean jumped in, quick to give Rob the out he so clearly needed. “If you don’t think I can do it, that’s fine....”

“Dude, it’s not that at all.” There was a pause as Rob seemed to choose his words. “I didn’t want to ask, because I know it’s not your scene. But if you were up for it, I’d be grateful. We both would.”

Sean doubted that Hailey would be all that thrilled with Sean’s presence in the house for more than the couple of nights he’d originally been allocated, but he was prepared to take his brother at his word.

“Then just forget about it all. Get your things together and head out to the airport. It’s all cool.”

“Yeah? Seriously? Are you sure?”

“Seriously. Just go...have fun. I’ll work things out. If there are any problems, I’ll call.”

“Just a sec.” There was the muffled sound of a hand covering the phone and an indecipherable conversation. Sean just bet it was Rob convincing Hailey to go along with the plan. Then Rob returned to the call. “Thanks, mate. I owe you one. First the wedding and now this. I owe you big-time.”

“Yeah, yeah. Name your firstborn after me.”

Rob laughed. “Sure. I’ll get started on that right away.”

Sean heard Hailey’s voice in the background, asking what they were talking about.

“You’ll be waiting awhile,” he heard her yell out after Rob explained the request.

Sean smiled to himself at her vehemence. “I bloody hope so,” he said to Rob.

“We’ll need to discuss this further. It could get awkward if it’s a girl.”

“There’s always Shauna.”

Rob laughed again, and Sean found himself joining in. “Just don’t tell Mom and Dad I’m here, okay? The last thing I need is for them to discover I’m a sitting duck.”

“Deal.”

They said their farewells and Sean hung up the call and looked around the room. His suit was still lying over the chair, his shirt a crumpled pile on the floor. Under the table, near the wall, was a scrap of black lace he was just betting was Jess’s thong.

“Home,” he muttered to himself. His home for six whole weeks. His stomach tightened, but the thought wasn’t nearly as scary as it should have been.

* * *

DEALING WITH a potential outbreak of Q fever for one of her regular clients—a breeder of Cavalier King Charles spaniels—was just the kind of Monday morning Jess needed to distract herself from the weekend. Following through to notify anyone who could have been exposed, reporting it to the department of health for further investigation and then moving on with her usual roster of patients—a couple of minor injuries, the usual canine and feline parasite infestations, an infected paw on a gorgeous Irish setter—it was easy to feel as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. While animals and their anxious owners were in front of her, she was focused.

But any moment of downtime, left to her own thoughts, her stomach would slowly turn flip-flops. Her cheeks still burned when she recalled the knowing look she was sure she’d seen in the car park attendant’s eyes yesterday when he’d processed her ticket, clearly time-stamped from the night before.

Ridiculous. In this day and age, it wasn’t as if a one-night stand was particularly remarkable or even that noteworthy. It wasn’t even the first she’d ever had—although the other one had been back in university days when life had been different. Before she’d grown more cautious, more careful. Before she’d been hurt enough to know to protect herself.

And she’d been much better at handling the situation without, as Sean had put it, “freaking out.” His words from last night were, much as she’d protested them at the time, a pretty accurate summation of her reaction. She’d totally embarrassed herself in front of him.

Thank God she’d never see him again. Not that she was ashamed of what she’d done—not really. She just wished she’d managed her exit more gracefully. Without betraying how much the whole thing had meant in the scheme of her life.

The milestone it had become.

She and Mark had been divorced for more than six months now, and had been separated a year longer than that. Jess didn’t want to change things, not at all. It had taken a while, but with the benefit of hindsight she could see just how destructive her marriage had become.

It was just... Sean was the first man she’d slept with since Mark, since the disastrous failure of her marriage.

Jess wasn’t used to failing—at anything. Not at school, at work or in life. Mark should have been the perfect partner. He came from a good family, had a good job, spent his leisure time sailing and had a group of friends at the yacht club. He also had a problem with controlling his temper, a perfectionist streak a mile wider even than Jess’s own and a vastly different understanding of what the word monogamy meant than most of the world.

“Jess? I’m going to pack up if that’s okay.”

Jess’s temporary vet nurse, Andrea, interrupted her train of thoughts and stirred her back into action. “Of course. What time is it?”

“Almost six.”

“Okay, sure. If you clean up in here, I’ll go out and finish up at the front desk.”

Jess straightened her navy tunic top, embroidered with the clinic’s logo on the top left pocket, and headed out to the reception area. She straightened up the display of cat food that sat on the desk and headed for the computer. It was going to be a busy few weeks until Margie returned from her cruise. Why she’d let her two staff members take leave at the same time was a mystery explained entirely by the fact that she was a complete soft touch as a boss.

At least once Margie was back the administration side of things would be out of Jess’s hands again—that had never been her strong suit. But it was going to be a long six weeks until Hailey returned from her honeymoon. Andrea was good, but Hailey was better. Besides, Hailey was a friend. Even if her only topic of conversation for the past few weeks had been the wedding, Jess was going to miss her.

It took half an hour to close out the register and the credit card machine—mostly because Jess wasn’t entirely sure whether she was doing it right. In that time Andrea had mopped the floors and packed away the surgery ready for the morning. A little too quick for Jess’s liking, and she made a mental note to come in early and check that it had been done to her satisfaction. Jess was used to Hailey’s level of perfection; she never left so much as a stray hair behind. Right now, though, Jess just wanted to get home—she was too tired to think straight. It hadn’t been an especially busy day workwise, but the emotional workout she’d been putting herself through had taken its toll.

“See you tomorrow?” Andrea appeared in front of her, purse already over her shoulder.

Jess gave a tight smile. “See you tomorrow. Can you lock the front door behind you when you leave? I’m going out the back.”

“Sure. Bye.”

The bell over the door jangled loudly as Andrea shut the door firmly behind her. She’d certainly made a fast exit tonight. Maybe she had something important to do. Maybe she had someone important to get home to. Jess wasn’t sure if she missed that feeling or not.

She had only just left reception when a loud knock at the front door drew her back. “Is that you, Andrea?” she called out. “Did you forget something?”

She unlocked the dead bolt in the door and opened it, expecting to see Andrea’s face.

What she found instead made her trip over her own feet.

If she hadn’t been holding the door, she’d have ended up on her ass...in front of him.

Sean Paterson.