Page 22 of The Through Duet
Dalton shot me another look as he said, “They’d probably be happy as hell that their son isn’t being targeted by another gold-digger.Nevertheless, you’re doing it again.You’re judging people that you don’t even know, Rya.Plus, Koen Wilder would have to be an exceptional asshole to introduce a woman to his parents, knowing that they’d be cruel to her.”As he washed the husky behind his ears, he added, “Quit looking for reasons to not be the jerk in this scenario, because you are, babes.”
A week later, and I could admit that I’d been doing nothing but thinking about that mess at the bar.I’d kept replaying it over and over in my head, looking for any other way that I could have handled it better.Of course, since I couldn’t go back in time, it wouldn’t have mattered, but that still hadn’t stopped me from constantly reliving that day in my mind.
Nonetheless, even if I was projecting my childhood insecurities onto this situation, that didn’t change how I felt about Koen Wilder asking me out.Yes, it was very possible that I could be wrong about him, but the risk of finding out felt just too pre-humiliating.If it’d been all a joke, I’d have no one to blame but myself for falling for it.
“Look, what does it matter now?”Dalton asked.“I mean, you said that you insulted him enough that you’ll probably never hear from him again, right?”
He wasn’t wrong.
“I suppose,” I sighed as Claire barked up at me.“It’s just...it wasn’t pretty, and I still have David to contend with.”
Dalton started rinsing Cody off as he said, “You don’t owe that man a goddamn thing, Rya.You were honest with him about what it was, and if he chose not to listen, then that’s on him.”
“Yeah, except for the fact that I like going to Liquid IV,” I pointed out.“I don’t want him ruining that for me.”
“Want me to kick his ass?”he asked seriously.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I drawled out.“A man that age is hardly any match for you.”
Dalton grinned at me.“Maybe I just want to kick his ass for making you uncomfortable.”
I let out a dramatic sigh.“Why couldn’t we have met and just fallen in love?”
“Honestly, it would have saved me a lot of trouble,” he snorted, half-serious.
“Awe, it must be hard to have women fawning over you all the time,” I pouted, making him flip me off.
The next half hour was spent finishing up with our furry customers, and while it was always good to see them clean and happy, the real satisfaction came whenever we got strays in here.There was nothing like rescuing abandoned animals, and when we could help and make them feel clean and normal again...well, that was my favorite kind of day.Children and animals didn’t get nearly enough of the love and care that they deserved.
Finished with Claire, I grabbed her chart, then headed up front.The great thing about Precious Pets was that it had two separate entrances; one for dogs, one for cats, and if you had any other kind of pet, you could use either door.However, while there were two entrances, the reception cubicle extended to both sides, so that the receptionist could go back and forth, helping anyone who walked in.
At any rate, everything was going fine until I walked out from the back to hand Erica Claire’s chart, then heard a voice that I hadn’t ever expected to hear again.In all honesty, I’d beenhopingto never hear it again because I wasn’t sure that I’d ever be able to process what had happened last week.
“Hello,” Koen greeted.“I’m here to pick up Kyle for Nixi Wilder.”
“Of course,” Erica replied cheerfully.“I’ll need you to sign for him while I call to bring him up.”
I quickly glanced around, and when I didn’t see Victoria, I could only assume that she’d gone to the restroom or something, and so that’s why Erica was on the other side of the reception area.I could also feel a bit of panic when I looked back over to see Koen staring at me, and it was clear that he hadn’t been expecting to ever see me again, either.
When Erica noticed Koen looking back my way, she turned to look over at me, and with the biggest smile on her face, she asked, “Oh, hey...Rya, can you go back and get Kyle Wilder for me?”
Now, while we weren’t exactly ‘assigned’ the specific animals, cats took a delicate touch that only a few of the employees here had.If cats weren’t used to being bathed and groomed from birth, then they could be hell if you tried to get them into the routine later in life.In fact, we had special gloves for the stray cats that came in here because cat claws were no joke.
“Uhm...sure,” I stammered, knowing that it would look suspicious as hell if I’d said no.“I also have Claire Buckley’s file here,” I added as I set the folder down on the counter.“She’s ready for pick-up.”
“Oh, great,” she said, giving me a happy thumbs up.
Turning from the embarrassing disaster that was my life, I quickly made my way towards the back, locating Kyle Wilder almost immediately.He was a beautiful, sleek, black Bombay feline, and you could tell by his coat and eyes that he was very well taken care of.Of course, with the kind of money that the Wilders had, it would stand to reason that their pets also lived well.I also hadn’t ever paid much attention to his last name because Wilder was a pretty common enough last name.
My mistake.
Luckily for our customers, Precious Pets also provided free carriers for the animals just in case they didn’t have one or had forgotten theirs at home.Most of the time, our pet parents made sure to provide one, if nothing else, to provide them with the comforting scents of home and familiarity.
So, with Kyle already nestled safely in his carrier, I grabbed him and his chart, then headed back towards the reception area, praying that I didn’t make a fool of myself.Though awkward, I didn’t need to go making it any worse than it already was.Plus, I didn’t want to cause Precious Pets to lose a customer because I didn’t know how to act when a gorgeous man asked me out.
Doing my best to be an adult, instead of using the dog section and passing Kyle to Erica through there, I acted like Koen and Kyle were any other customers and used the appropriate door to return a pet to its owner.
When I walked through the door, Koen looked surprised to see me again, but that’s probably because he’d been expecting me to hide in the back like a coward, and to be fair, I’d wanted to.
