Suddenly, Olivia felt a hand close over her low back, and Gabe was stepping in at her other side. She glanced up to a quick wink before he focused on the interview in progress.

The last of the doubt and insecurity that had been threatening to rock her off her axis ebbed away. Other women wanting to make a meal of her boyfriend didn’t have to become a flaw in their relationship. Not if Olivia refused to let it. And being the recipient of such easy devotion made that a whole lot easier.

Chapter 23

Gabe had just finished a molar extraction on a Greyhound and was drying his hands after scrubbing down when he heard his phone vibrating on the shelf above the sink. By the time his hands were dry, he’d missed the call.

Picking up the phone, he saw two missed calls from Yun and three texts.

10:58 Hey. Call ASAP.

11:43 What? Are you in surgery or something?

12:51 Gabe.This.Is.Torture.

What’s gotten in your head now? He stepped out of the scrub room and out the back door of the building onto the sorry excuse for a patio at the back of the building. Even if the broken concrete and privacy trellis were repaired, the commotion, smells, and noises of the shopping mall his office backed onto weren’t going to change, leaving compelling enough reasons for the patio’s continued neglect.

“Where’s the fire, Yun?” he said when she picked up.

“I take it you were in surgery? When’s your lunch break?”

“Ah, now, I guess. And yes, I was.”

“Anything good?”

“A molar extraction—the four-o-nine. And some of the surrounding bone.”

“My heart weeps with envy at all the things you get to do by yourself. I spent the last three hours of my day shaving and prepping animals for surgeries I haven’t even been brought in on.”

“Is that what you called to tell me?”

“No, but you took too long. My break’s over. Now I’m getting ready to shave the balls of a hairy cairn terrier so he can get the old snip-snip.”

Gabe chuckled. “I’ll think about that as I shove down the sandwich one of my techs just picked up for me. Wait, what am I saying? No, I won’t.”

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t be thinking of me if I could help it either. Listen, I only have a minute. What time do you get off?”

“I should be finished around five. Why?”

“Do you have date with Olivia tonight?”

“Yeah. Again, why?”

“Because I want to show you something. It won’t take long. Forty-five minutes max. Bring her along. Chances are she’ll know about it before you do.”

“Know about what?”