Just for Today.... Emmie Dark

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.

      Just as gorgeous as she remembered.

      Only instead of his winning smile and twinkling eyes, today his brow was creased and his mouth tight. His hair was flat and mussed—no product in it to style it into the spikes he’d worn on Saturday.

      But his harried appearance and worried expression didn’t stop her stomach from ending up somewhere near her throat.

      “What are you doing here?” she blurted, shock getting the better of her. One-night-stand-Sean was supposed to be long gone by now. Moved on to a new city and a new conquest. That was the thought that had been sustaining her each time she relived how badly she’d handled things on Saturday night. At least I never have to see him again.

      “Jess, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do. Suzie chewed a pack of headache pills.”

      Beside him, Hailey and Rob’s golden retriever woofed happily at Jess. The dog’s tail banged against the window as she tried to stuff herself inside the door, past the man blocking the way. She had to be the only dog in the world that actually wanted to go to the vet.

      Jess stepped back and opened the door wider, ignoring the leap in her pulse. “Well, then, you’d better come in.”