Chapter Seventeen
MIDWEEK HAD ARRIVED with a surge of post-wedding business for Calvary Vet. Amarie’s heroics on Ruth and Phoebe’s behalf had spread beyond Service. News of her investment partnership took on a new life. The added attention boosted the Calvary brothers’ bachelor auction bids, too. Donations poured in and the appointments slots filled as fast as Amarie opened the booking portal. Seemed folks wanted their pets examined by the Sexy Kitty Vet and his fierce assistant. He’d expanded their daily operations to include half-day Saturday clinics, and of course, more TikTok videos. They were saving Calvary Clinic, together.
Spending his day with Amarie made work easier. The nights with her under his roof, studying anatomy and textbooks, not each other, had morphed into cruel and unusual punishment. As her licensure exam date approached, Eli noticed she’d begun to second-guess her responses to questions she’d answered with ease weeks prior. Also, she’d polished her toenails twice in two hours, trading a French violet for a brighter heliotrope with pale-purple polka dots. While he’d mistaken it for vanity early on, he now understood she used self-care as a method to control anxiety.
They arrived home after six o’clock. He fed the animals and started dinner, while she sat cross-legged on his couch, her purple gel-ink pen perched over her notebook. Yep, notes by hand. Everything else, she became a computer cyborg who only spoke SEO optimization and keyword metadata, but notes needed to be old-school.
“How about RB with dinner tonight?” Eli asked, popping a grape tomato in his mouth. He scrolled through his phone’s playlist, searching for a song to set the mood. Needing Amarie to feel wanted and relaxed in his space had grown in importance. It pleased him to do little things that brought a smile to her face—keeping Pepsi on ice for needed caffeine bursts, adding a cotton-ball dispenser and nail polish remover pads to his bathroom toiletries, and of course, a steady supply of his momma’s biscuits. Just for kicks, he’d tried to replicate the recipe a few times.
“I need to study.”
“Let’s do both. What are the three smallest bones in the body and their location?”
When Amarie didn’t answer, he kicked the refrigerator door closed with his foot. “A woman who does not respond doesn’t eat.”
“I’m number crunching, duh. Mere mortal, that’s you, will have to wait.”
“Your exam doesn’t accept excuses. Neither do I. The answer, please.” He added that last bit to soften the not-so-gentle nudge.
“The malleus, incus, and the stapes. All three are located in the middle ear.” She stuck out her tongue at him. “Happy now?”
“Actually, I’m kinda turned on.”
She rolled her eyes, but then she laughed. “You are a horndog.”
“Guilty as charged.”
“Stop distracting me,” she whined. “The auction has eight hundred and twenty-two financial supporters.”
Amarie had constructed a stepladder approach to get her started each day, reproducible patterns that, once engrained, she acted upon in an automated sequence. Intelligent and innovative, she’d developed a system for analyzing their social media campaign effectiveness with efficiency.
“Thanks to your social media prowess.” He dialed the stove back to a simmer under his pots.
“Oh,” she cooed, “talk dirty to me, Dr. Sexy Kitty.”
Pulling the baking dish from the oven, he placed the hot pan on a trivet. The caramelized sugar on his apple crisp smelled almost as sweet as Amarie—nah, not even close. “Keep that up and somebody’s not getting dessert.”
“Aw, no fair. The punishment doesn’t fit my crime. Oh, let me check our insights before I upload the video of you explaining some of the hidden dangers of pet food marketed as organic.”
He’d rediscovered his passion for teaching. Providing accurate animal care advice required research. Like Amarie, he found himself back in the books, crafting evidence-based medicine in everyday language. And educating against the ever-growing body of misinformation and at times dangerous trends circulating on social media.
“When it comes to calling me out of my name—I’m the judge and jury.”
“Meh.” She shrugged. “Would you change your mind if I told you…” She scribbled something on her pad. “Eli,” she paused, “the video of you at the wedding with the basket of kittens went viral,” she screamed. “We just broke the fifteen-thousand-dollar mark.”
Eli stilled, not quite believing his hearing. “Say that again.”
“We. Have. Received. Over. Fifteen thousand dollars from online donations and auction bids.” Amarie jumped to her feet, dancing, shouting, chanting, “We’re famous!” in her pretend megaphone. “And there’s more.”
“Stop holding out on me, woman.” There was a double meaning there. Eli would broach the subject of her spending the night, every night, in his arms, after dinner.
“#KittyKibbles cat food is following our page. The vice president of branding sent a private message. They want a meeting with the president of Calvary Veterinary Clinic. I’m adding them to the list.”
“And that is better than fifteen thousand dollars, why?”
“Companies pay social media influencers—that’s you, well, Dr. Sexy Kitty Vet—to promote their product. This could be a bigger payday than we ever imagined.”
“Okay then. Let’s celebrate.” As the exam date approached, Amarie had put their one-on-one on a timer. Her nine o’clock alarm would signal her to pack up her books, hand them to him, and he, with a petrified yule log in his pants, would walk his girlfriend home in silent agony. It couldn’t happen. Not tonight. They had a future that required a new notebook, not just for the business, either. Tonight, he had a plan that would satisfy both their needs, especially the one clawing at them to answer the call of the wild, naked and horizontal.
“It’s already more than I hoped for.” Working side by side with Amarie, learning from her, had awakened a desire in him beyond the roadmap his father had left for him to follow. Eli didn’t necessarily enjoy the daily social media engagement demands, but he didn’t hate it, either. He was sharing himself in ways he’d never expected. And Service had embraced the vision, supporting him and Amarie as they worked together. She was one of them.
“People I’ve never met comment on videos like we’re best friends.” Finding the ballad playlist, he punched the play icon. Soft notes written over piano chords filled the kitchen.
“Hey, I grew up an only child with questionable social skills. Until I met Vali, my online community were my friends.”
He loved that she shared this side of herself—the vulnerable woman who had to work hard to excel, who devised plans to reach her goals, even social ones. Most of his life, he’d emulated his father, but when he looked at Amarie, he wanted to be the man she would choose to spend her life with.
“You know, I feel like you are two different people. The way you describe yourself isn’t how I see you.”
“Thank the stars, you got this awesome version of me.”
“I do, you know, thank heaven for you, Amarie.” The added publicity saw the Calvary bank balance increasing at a steady trajectory. His chest had swelled with pride when payday arrived for his Amarie, his mom, and yeah, he even paid himself a little something this week.
“Explains the shirtless cooking.” She grinned, a blatant attempt at skirting the conversation about their relationship moving to the next level.
Tomorrow they’d be in his truck headed to the testing center in Morgantown for her licensure exam. Bursts of animated conversation separated by long stretches of silence, the second clue that nerves had walked home with them. Passing the test weighed heavy on her mind, but he thought her feelings for him might be tangled in the equation. Their kiss—scratch that, their kisses—over breakfast, in the office, on the farm, heck, Hiccup had taken to smooching the kittens, had become more urgent, demanding a deeper exploration of their attraction. So, this evening he set the mood for seduction. Two logs crackled in the fireplace, the pop of kindling akin to the spark arcing between them. Autumn had reached the mountain early, bringing a blanket of orange and gold hues to the woodlands and cooler nights. The felines, intrigued by the dancing flames, used Hiccup’s hind legs to ladder up his spine, their fixed gazes following the shadows like a bouncing ball.
“What if Kitty Kibbles wants to cross-promote with us? Or host a live stream. If you do, the women will go crazy for you, Eli.”
“Will you?” He had his mind set on seeing one woman laid out naked in his bed.
“I adore you, Dr. Sexy Kitty. I venture to claim the title as your best fan,” she said, but failed to elaborate on his true question. How did she think of him, Eli Calvary?
What he knew: she liked kissing him. Touching him. But there were questions she left unanswered. “Look at how much your account has grown in three weeks. This could be the push we need to reach our goals, Eli.”
“Nope. Not going live. Besides, the TikTokers see everything I do, every single day.”
“But imagine if you talked with them. Not about animal care or the practice. Have you seen Tobias’s videos? His followers adore how he shares his feelings after the emergency callouts.”
“Good for him. The answer’s still no, but we have a bunch of reasons to celebrate. The auction, your exam in the morning, and that you finally listened to me and hit the submit button for a graduate nurse job.”
“I’m still nervous.”
He tossed chopped onions and mushrooms into the pan with the butter. When they hit the hot skillet, fragrant steam hit his nose.
“Woman, you know everything there is about patient safety and health maintenance.”
“Yum.” She inhaled. “Smells delicious over there.”
“Dinner’s almost ready.”
She closed her notebook. “I think you should offer Ruth a part-time job in the clinic.” Not the first time she’d suggested he hire her replacement.
He paused. “We run the clinic together.”
“I know. But I’m also done with the operating manual. It’ll give us more time to live stream content and interact with the followers. One more paycheck, I can get Prince out of the repair shop. I could showcase more of Noah’s work. There’s only so many shirtless poses he can share.”
He chuckled. “There’s no rush for your car. Has it been that bad riding shotgun with me?”
“No, but… you know. I’ll have to drive to my nursing job. When I get it,” she muttered, but he heard her loud and clear.
Work that didn’t involve him seeing her every day. What if she wanted to move off Calvary land? He’d encouraged her to apply for jobs in the neighboring Landing Falls. The tourists had transformed the once-quiet mountain town into rows of souvenir shops, eclectic coffee houses, and fancy eateries with menu items his college-educated vocabulary struggled to pronounce.
“Noticed you had more followers on PerkyLateBloomer, too.”
“Yeah,” she said absently. “When I added my CashApp handle, I never considered people would donate to my account.”
Seems their followers speculated that PerkyLateBloomer and #SexyKittyVet had a thing going on. They would be right. Many of his female followers had placed bids under an account created in Amarie’s name. At first, they’d laughed it off. But each week the bids for her to win grew. Folks wanted to see them together after the auction, even if she didn’t. Eli would donate to her account… if she wanted to keep him, forever.
He plated their pork chops and ladled a generous helping of mushroom and onion gravy on top before pulling the potatoes from the oven. “Spend the night with me.”
“Hmm, I thought we were talking about our final week’s campaign?”
He understood her hesitancy.
“We can do some naked studying.”
“Are you suggesting both activities together or separately?”
“Not picky. As long as you’re naked.”
“That takes the pressure off.” She smiled, but those deep brown eyes he got lost in every time she looked at him clouded with emotion.
“Does it?”
“No, I’m expected to excel at two unrelated sports, man.”
“What’s the probability of you allowing me to lead this hands-on demonstration?”
“Is this Dr. Sexy Kitty dirty talk?”
“Not dirty. Serious.”
“Eli.” She sighed. Uh, that wasn’t good. “I dream of seeing you naked. Really, I do. I mean with your big feet. My imagination, I just, whew. I have huge, with a capital H, expectations…” she trailed off. “But what about tomorrow? Remember, I’m the dopey romantic who wants the morning after to be the first day of forever, not a pill.”
“Let’s see where this leads tonight.”
“You said the same thing to the Black Bear when people asked if I was your girlfriend.”
He pulled a wine glass from the cabinet for her and a beer from the fridge for himself.
“My feelings, real. My care and concern for you, real. Me wanting to start every day with you by my side, real. The decision, the question you have to answer, is what you feel for me, and I know it’s more than money that keeps you here. Is what you feel for me real enough to take this next step with me?”
“Eli—”
He interjected, not sure he could bear the rejection before spilling his feelings like a puppy stepping in his water bowl and turning the whole thing over. This could get messy.
“I’m not the suit-and-tie kind of man”—he crossed the room handing her a glass of West Virginia’s finest Marechal Foch—“that you’re accustomed to.”
Amarie palmed his cheek with one hand, accepting the fruity wine in the other. “You’re better,” she whispered. “You’re the best man I’ve ever known, Eli Calvary. Brave, compassionate, dedicated, faithful. And the absolute best kisser I’ve had the pleasure of smooching on a regular basis.”
He leaned in for a kiss. “How about a permanent basis? Stay the night. Every night.”
“After,” she said with a smile.
He nodded, but not in agreement, before returning to the kitchen. “What? We’ll both explode in sexual frustration. We’re burning hot for each other.”
“You’ll be my treat after I finish the exam.”
“That’s your plan. Using me as an after-dinner mint?”
“Never, Eli Calvary. You are a full-course meal with an appetizer, dessert, and hot coffee. But if we’re going to mess up the best real relationship I’ve ever had, I’d rather have my exam behind me. There’s no ugly-cry exemption.”
She sank her teeth in her bottom lip, the hold punishing. The filtered water he poured splashed over the tumbler, spilling onto the stone counter.
“You think I’ll break your heart?” He took long strides to reach her and plucked her off the couch. She came up on her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck. Eli met her halfway.
“Don’t think that way, okay,” she pleaded more with those wide expressive eyes. “The way you make me feel, it’s like a windstorm wrapping all around me and just when I think it might tear me apart, I’m floating. Instead of being torn apart, I’m being reassembled, all the little pieces of me that were scattered and I thought were lost have drifted back to me on the sweetest breeze. And it’s so warm and comforting that I feel like I can’t do without it. And because of that, I’m terrified that if I mess up, this leash that has us tangled up together, this sweet current that blew you into my life, will snatch you away just as fast as you swept in. I’ll be scattered in so many directions that I’ll never find myself again.”
“You, my brave shield-maiden of endless possibilities, have never been lost. The men in your life were too blinded by their own roadblocks to appreciate all of you. When you look at me, you make me wanna soar, to reach for stars that I never saw before you pointed them out to me. I’m more sure of myself than I’ve ever been with you by my side. We’re better together and, I—I don’t want to be apart anymore. We’ve built a foundation. Let’s keep going together, real in every way that’s important to you and me. I’m scared, too, of breaking us. Of failing you. But, if I ever did, I promise you I’ll fight for us. You are the best thing that ever wandered into my life. The last guy let you get away. I won’t, Amarie.”
“Now I’m the one with my tongue wagging. What am I supposed to say to that?”
“Tell me that I’ve met with success in seducing your mind. That I’ve earned the pleasure of touching every part of your body.”
“Wow.”
Amarie stared at him, her eyes softened with wonder and awe. She had never been properly seduced. An injustice he would remedy if she gave herself over, trusted him with her pleasure.
Eli chuckled. “Give more than that, sweetheart. All you have to do is say yes… or no.” He cupped her bottom and squeezed. “If you’re afraid you can’t handle my Great Dane, I could just eat your appetizer tonight?”
Her breath hitched.
“You, sir, are no gentleman.” She nipped his bottom lip, then soothed the ache with her tongue. “I like it,” she whispered.
“You have no idea.” He gave a lopsided grin, spinning her in his arms.
“What are you doing?”
“This is one of my favorite songs.” A new song started on the Alexa. He placed her hand on his shoulder, and the other at his waist. She narrowed the space between them. “Dance with me.”
They started to sway in rhythm to the beat.
“The thing is, I don’t have a good track record with men. Being in a relationship for six years with a man who was cheating wrecks your confidence. I mean, maybe I was doing something wrong.”
He tightened his hold in reassurance. “You’re doing everything right with me. No one outside of this room matters.” He moved his face next to Amarie’s. “For you, I’d give a lifetime of stability, anything you want of me…” he whispered the lyrics in her ear.
“I would be lying to say that you don’t make me happy, the happiest I’ve ever been in my adult life. Happiness is an emotion that I’ve never been able to trust. But I trust you with my happiness. Honestly, it would crush me if you broke my heart.”
“Same here, sweetheart.” He hummed, placing his chin on the top of her head. Eli’s heartbeat took off, a gazelle at top speed. Gosh, his body was strung tight, ready to release. His erection stood at attention. Everything else lined up, eyes forward, ready to run an Olympic heat.
“Eli, I have to be number one. I’ve played second in my own life for years. There’s no way I’m going backward. Not even for you. So, it has to be about you and me—then we build our relationship on respect and placing each other first.”
“I agree, sweetheart. And honesty.”
“And one more thing, if we start this, dinner will get cold,” Amarie whispered.
He lowered his forehead until it rested against hers. “I can heat it up.”
“You already have.” She swallowed, then lifted her eyes to his.
“In that case, let me take your temperature.” He lowered his head and covered her mouth with his. This time he kissed her long and deep, savoring the flavor of sweet brewed black tea on her tongue. When he picked her up off her feet, her legs came up and wrapped around him. The heat at her center seared him, obliterating past wounds. With Amarie he had a new start, one she’d groomed him to perfection to embrace.
“You make me hungry for more,” she gasped.
He threaded his fingers through her hair, angling her head. “Then let me feed you, sweetheart.” And then he reclaimed her mouth, not breaking contact when he carried her into his bedroom.