Diamond In The Ruff

“You’re back,” Christopher said with surprise when he saw Lily coming in. The moment she stepped inside, she filled the waiting area with her unconscious, natural sexiness. Before he knew it, he found himself under her spell. “Is something wrong with Jonathan?” It was the first thing that occurred to him.

And then he noticed that she was carrying a rectangular pink cardboard box. Another animal to examine? No, that couldn’t be it. There were no air holes punched into the box, which would mean, under normal circumstances, that it wasn’t some stray white mouse or rat she was bringing to him.

* * *

“You brought me another patient?” he asked a little warily.

“What?” She saw that he was eyeing the box in her hand and realized belatedly what he had to be thinking. “Oh, this isn’t anything to examine,” she told him. “At least, not the way you mean.”

He had no idea what that meant.

By now, the savory aroma wafting out of the box had reached him and he could feel his taste buds coming to attention.

“What is that?” he asked her, leaving the shelter of the reception desk and coming closer. He thought he detected the scent of cinnamon, among other things. “That aroma is nothing short of fantastic.”

Lily smiled broadly. “Thank you.”

He looked at her in confused surprise. “Is that you?” he asked, slightly bemused.

Was that some sort of new cologne, meant to arouse a man’s appetites, the noncarnal variety? He could almost feel his mouth watering.

“Only in a manner of speaking,” Lily replied with a laugh. When Christopher looked even further confused, she took pity on him and thrust the rectangular box at him. “These are for you—and your staff,” she added in case he thought she was singling him out and trying to flirt with him—although she was certain he probably had to endure the latter on a regular basis. Men as good-looking as Christopher Whitman never went unnoticed. From his thick, straight dirty-blond hair, to his tall, lean body, to his magnetic blue eyes that seemed to look right into her, the man stood out in any crowd.

“It’s just my small way of saying thank you,” she added.

“You bought these for us?” Christopher asked, taking the box from her.

“No,” Lily corrected, “I made these for you. I’m a pastry chef,” she explained quickly, in case he thought she was just someone who had slapped together the first dessert recipe she came across on the internet. She wasn’t altogether sure what prompted her, but she wanted him to know that in her own way she was a professional, too. “I work for a catering company,” she added, then thought that she was probably blurting out more details than the man wanted to hear. “Anyway, since you wouldn’t let me pay you, I wanted to do something nice for you. It’s all-natural,” she told him. “No artificial additives, no gluten, no nuts,” she added, in case he was allergic to them the way her childhood best friend had been. “It’s all perfectly safe,” she assured him.

“Well, it smells absolutely terrific.” He opened the box and the aroma seemed to literally swirl all around him. “If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I’d died and gone to heaven,” he told her.

“I’m told it tastes even better than it smells,” she said rather shyly.

“Let’s see if they’re right.” Christopher took out a pastry and slowly bit into it, as if afraid to disturb its delicate composition. His eyes widened and filled with pleasure. “Heaven has been confirmed,” he told her before giving in and taking a second bite.

And then a third.

Chapter Four (#ulink_8b8e1491-7882-5f26-ab51-56a2b3208ff2)

Despite the fact that she really was enjoying watching the veterinarian consume the pastry she’d made, Lily did feel a little awkward just standing there. Any second now, someone would either come in with a pet that needed attention, or one of the doctor’s assistants would emerge and the moment she was experiencing, watching him, would vanish.

It would be better all around if she left right now.

“Well, I just wanted to drop those off with you,” Lily said, waving a hand toward the contents of the opened pink box. With that, she began to walk out of the clinic.

Christopher’s mouth was presently occupied, involved in a love affair with the last bite of the pastry that he’d selected. Not wanting to rush the process, he also didn’t want Lily to leave just yet. He held up his hand, mutely indicating that he wanted her to stay a moment longer.

“Wait.” He managed to voice the urgent request just before he swallowed the last bite he’d taken.

Lily stopped just short of the front door. She shifted slightly as she waited for the vet to be able to speak, all the while wondering just why he would ask her to remain. Was he going to tell her that he’d changed his mind about charging her for today? Or had the man had second thoughts about his offer to meet her in the dog park on Sunday?

And why was she suddenly experiencing this feeling of dread if it was the latter?

“You really made these?” Christopher asked once he’d regained the use of his mouth.

“Yes,” she answered slowly, her eyes on his as she tried to fathom why he would think that she would make something like that up.

Unable to resist, Christopher popped the last piece into his mouth. It was gone in the blink of an eye. Gone, but definitely not forgotten.

“They’re fantastic,” he told her with feeling. Executing magnificent restraint, he forced himself to close the rectangular box. “Do you do this professionally?” he asked. “Like at a restaurant? Do you work for a restaurant?” he rephrased, realizing that his momentary bout of sheer ecstasy had temporarily robbed him of the ability to form coherent questions.

“I work for a caterer,” Lily corrected. “But someday, I’d like to open up a bakery of my own,” she added before she could think better of it. The man was only making conversation. He didn’t want her to launch into a long monologue, citing her future plans.

Christopher nodded and smiled warmly as he lifted the lid on the box just a crack again. There was a little dab of cream on one side. He scraped it off with his fingertip which in turn disappeared between his lips as he savored this last tiny bit.

He looked like a man who had reached Nirvana, Lily couldn’t help thinking. A warm, pleased feeling began to spread all through her. Lily forgot to be nervous or uncomfortable.

“You’d have standing room only,” Christopher assured her. “What do you call these?” he asked, indicating the pastries that were still in the box.

She hadn’t given the matter all that much thought. She recalled what Theresa had called them the first time she’d sampled one. “Bits of Heaven.”

Christopher’s smile deepened as he nodded his approval. He turned to face her completely as he said, “Good name.”

That was when she saw it. The tiny dot of white cream just on the inside corner of his lips. Obviously not all of the dessert had made it into his mouth. She thought of ignoring it, certain that the more he spoke, the more likely that the cream would eventually disappear one way or another.

But she didn’t want him to be embarrassed by having one of his patients’ owners point out that his appearance was less than perfect.

“Um, Dr. Whitman,” she began, completely at a loss as to how to proceed. She’d always felt out of sync pointing out someone else’s flaws or shortcomings. But this was because she’d brought in the pastries so technically the remnants of cream on his face was her fault.

“Your pastry just made love to my mouth, I think you can call me Chris,” Christopher told her, hoping to dismantle some of the barriers that this woman seemed to have constructed around herself.

“Chris,” Lily repeated as she tried to begin again.

He liked the sound of his name on Lily’s tongue. His smile reflected it. “Yes?”

“You have a little cream on your lip. Well, just below your lip,” she amended. Rather than point to the exact location on his face, she pointed to it on hers. “No, the other side,” she coached when he’d reversed sides to start with. When Christopher managed to find the spot on his second try, she nodded, relieved. “You got it.”

Amused, Christopher was about to say something to her, but he was stopped by the bell over the door. It rang, announcing the arrival of his next patient: a Himalayan cat who looked none too happy about being in a carrier, or about her forced visit to the animal hospital for that matter.

The cat’s mistress, a rather matronly-looking brunette with a sunny smile, sighed with relief as she set the carrier down on the floor next to the front desk. “Cedrick is not a happy camper today,” she said, stating the obvious. Then, before Christopher could turn to the cat’s file, the woman prompted, “Cedrick’s here for his shots.”

That was definitely her cue to leave, Lily thought. She’d stayed too long as it was. Theresa’s people were watching Jonathan, but she had a feeling that she was on borrowed time as far as that was concerned.

“Well, bye,” she called out to Christopher as she opened the door for herself.

She was surprised to hear his voice following her out of the office as he called, “Don’t forget Sunday.”

The butterflies she’d just become aware of turned into full-size Rodans in a blink of an eye.