Page 118 of Animal's Reformation
Olivia’s heart sank.I shouldn’t have said that.“I’ll see you then. Good luck with the installation.”
She tucked the phone back into her purse and slowly finished her lunch. Animal was the perfect complement to her personality, and she wanted to be a part of his life for a long time—maybe even forever. He was a biker through and through, and she highly doubted that he wanted anyone to wear his patch.But I’m notanyone—I’m his woman. For fuck’s sake, he furnished my house with shutters and shades. Who does that?Olivia crumpled up the paper hotdog carrier in her hand.I’m being silly. I know he loves me, and what the hell do I want anyway? I love living alone and being free.But when she thought about wearing his patch, a thousand tiny tingles shot through her body. Olivia stood up from the bench and threw the remnants of her lunch in the trash. She didn’t have to think about any of that now.
Glancing at the clock on one of the buildings facing the square, she smiled: only six hours to go until she could fall into his arms and kiss him. Olivia slipped her purse strap over her shoulder and strode back to the office.
The afternoon proved to be as busy as the morning, and Olivia didn’t have a chance to think about anything but insurance claims, appointments, patients, and a whole slew of other work-related things. When the clock hit five thirty, the door chime made her turn around from the filing cabinet and meet the cool stare of Marcus Thurber.What the hell ishedoing here?
“Don’t look so surprised, Olivia,” Thurber said as he leaned against the counter, picked up a pen, and signed the sheet.
“I didn’t know you had an appointment.” She looked at the screen. “I can’t seem to find your name. Who are you supposed to see?”
“I’m a walk-in.” His brown eyes bored into her.
“We don’t do walk-ins. Don’t you have a dentist you go to?”
“If I did, I wouldn’t be here.” His gaze pierced her, and her heart raced.
“Let me see if someone can squeeze you in. What’re you having problems with?”Why the hell are you here? This is too weird.
“My tooth hurts.” He smiled. “Do you like working here?”
“Yes. I’ll be right back.” Olivia leaped from the chair and dashed down the hall toward Dr. Linney’s office. There was no way she was going to ask grumpy Dr. Canty if he’d take a look at a last minute patient. She knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
When she walked in, Dr. Linney smiled.
“I’m sorry to bother you, but there’s a guy—actually he’s a teacher at my school.” She paused and took a breath. “Anyway, he wants to see a dentist because he has a toothache. I know we don’t do walk-ins, but I thought I’d ask if you or maybe Dr. Mitchell can look at him.”
“Maybe Dr. Canty can. I’ve got two patients that’ll be here soon, remember?”
“I do, but maybe after them?”
Dr. Linney shook his head. “Don’t you want to go home tonight?”
Olivia chuckled. “I do.”
“Dr. Mitchell has a late-night patient as well. Ask Dr. Canty—he may be able to help out. If not, tell your friend to buy an over-the-counter pain medication for toothaches and to make an appointment for tomorrow after five. I’ll squeeze him in.”
“I’ll go ahead and do that. Thanks.” Olivia walked out of the room and stopped in the hall, hesitating about whether to approach Dr. Canty or not. Deciding that she didn’t need his sarcasm or creepiness, she walked back to the reception area to make an appointment for Thurber for the following day.
When Olivia returned, the only one in the room was Mr. Dyer—Dr. Mitchell’s appointment. She crossed the room and opened the door then looked down the hall, but Thurber was nowhere in sight. Figuring he stepped out to use the restroom, she went back to the desk and resumed what she was doing.
After fifteen minutes Marcus Thurber still hadn’t returned, and Olivia walked over to the window overlooking the parking lot and peered out, scanning the area for the teacher’s car. It wasn’t there.That’s strange.
“When you came into the office, was anyone in here?” she asked Mr. Dyer as she gestured around the room.
“No. I was the only one.”
“How about in the hallway when you were coming to the room?”
“Nope. Why … did you lose someone?” The man chuckled.
She smiled. “I think so.”
“Maybe he changed his mind. No one likes going to the dentist.” Another chuckle.
“Good point.” Olivia turned back to the parking lot and saw a car that looked like Brady Sickles’s vehicle.What the hell? Is this too strange or what?It seemed that all of a sudden her other life was crashing into this one.Ivy. I bet the asshole’s waiting for Ivy to come out.Brady had still been calling and texting Ivy ever since she broke up with him after finding out he was married. The gym teacher also had the gall to try and approach Olivia at school so she’d relay messages to Ivy. One thing the dirtbag hadn’t done was show up at her house again. She chuckled at the memory of Animal removing Sickles from her property.
