This Julian wasn’t the same man as the one she’d known before. The changes were subtle but they were there. He was more serious, more circumspect. Granted, she’d changed as well, the medication putting her on a more even keel.
She couldn’t let herself notice his differences or care.
“Up there. On the right,” she said, pointing to the clinic she’d used for Waffles. “There’s a parking garage on the corner.”
He pulled into the garage and dealt with the attendant. He then walked around to Kendall’s side of the car, opening her door before she could maneuver with Steve.
“He’s heavy. Let me carry him up the street.”
She reluctantly handed the dog over. They made their way up the street and entered the clinic. Kendall took over holding Steve while Julian filled out paperwork. Luckily the clinic wasn’t busy, and they were quickly ushered into the examining room.
The vet, a doctor Kendall had met before, walked in to greet them. Dr. Drake did a quick, thorough exam, making Steve suffer through the indignity of having his temperature taken, his gums looked at, and his heart listened to, among other things.
The doctor ran through a list of questions with Julian. Steve hadn’t gotten into food or anything else he shouldn’t have, the only change being the food Julian had picked up for the dog at the store.
“Okay, it looks like he’s got an upset stomach. Whether it’s from the change in living arrangement because he’s sensitive or the new food, I don’t know. I’d like to give him fluids under his skin to prevent dehydration from the vomiting and diarrhea. There’ll be a lump in his back for one to two days while the fluids disperse through his body, but it’s nothing to be concerned about,” the doctor explained.
Julian watched the doctor intently, listening to every word. The vet went on to discuss the medicines he’d send him home with.
Although the vet and tech worked together, holding Steve, Julian stood in front of the dog, reassuring him, whispering to him, and smoothing a hand over his head while they inserted the needle and fluid.
Kendall’s heart squeezed hard inside her chest, emotion flowing through her. Unwanted emotion. Softening feelings for a man who’d all but destroyed her.
No, no, no!
“Kendall, did you say something?” Julian asked.
“No.” God, had she spoken out loud?
The vet pulled the plastic gloves off his hands. “Okay, you were a good boy,” he said to Steve. “Now, as for food. As he starts to feel better, you can either give him ground beef and rice or I can send you home with canned food that will be bland on his stomach.”
“Canned,” both Kendall and Julian said at the same time, because she couldn’t see Julian cooking for the dog. From what she remembered, he didn’t cook much for himself, either.
He glanced her way and grinned. “Mind meld,” he said, chuckling.
He used to say that when they’d be on the same wavelength, when they were seeing each other before. She hadn’t been surprised the tech geek was a Star Trek fan. She wasn’t comfortable their thoughts were syncing now.
The vet finished up with Steve, and once again, Kendall held him, this time while Julian paid the bill. Soon they were on their way back to his apartment, enclosed in his delicious-smelling car.
“Thank you for coming when I called,” he said, pulling out of the parking garage and into traffic on the city roads.
“You’re welcome. I was worried about Steve,” she said, petting his soft head. He lay quietly in her lap.
She glanced over in time to catch his smirk.
“I didn’t think you did it for me,” he said.
She blew out a short breath. “Julian, I don’t think now is the time—”
“You’re a captive audience here in my car, kitten. There’s no better time.”
A full-body shiver took hold at the nickname. Her temperature heated, her nipples puckered, and if she hadn’t already been aware of him from his scent and sweet behavior with Steve, she was now.
She remained silent. He had something to say, and she was going to have to listen.
“When I met you, I was a fucked up mess,” he said, taking her off guard. “We never talked about it, but I’m an addict,” he said, his grip on the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white.
“My sister told me,” she said softly. Because suddenly this conversation was serious, and if he was going to be so honest, he didn’t need her snark.