“One of my many skills.” Angie crammed an entire slice of pizza into her mouth to illustrate yet another skill, smiling around a rogue olive.

“Why is that so gross and yet so sexual?” Stevie asked Morgan.

“Only in your mind.” Morgan tousled Stevie’s hair, which she had taken out of her ponytail. The blond strands still bore the crease from their long day.

Angie examined Morgan more critically. “Fuck this party. You look exhausted, Morgan. Lillian will be here soon to play vet. You need to get some sleep.”

“You sure?” Since Angie’s business was technically a part of the clinic, she advertised on-site veterinarians. This meant one of those veterinarians had to show up for staff events occasionally.

“Of course. Stevie will defend me from my minions.”

Stevie gave Morgan an exaggerated look of horror.

“Thanks, Ange,” said Morgan.

Alone in her room, she eyed her bed, weighing the pros and cons of a shower. She smelled like horse and cow manure. Those smells hadn’t bothered her for years, but she’d feel better if she at least rinsed off.

The bathroom she shared with Lillian had been cleaned recently. She made a mental note to thank Lillian as she shucked off her clothes and stepped into the claw foot bathtub, which had been effectively, if inelegantly, retrofitted with a shower head and a hideous, dinosaur-themed shower curtain Stevie had bought as a gag gift. Hot water sluiced down her shoulders. She let it soak her hair and run down her face, washing away the grime of the day. Emilia’s profile with its tight jaw and taut smile drifted across the backs of her eyelids again. Wary. Guarded. Morgan wondered what the hell she’d been thinking when she fell into the water. Emilia obviously didn’t know her way around a boat well, although maybe she had at one point. Drinking on top of inexperience was downright stupid. On the other hand, Morgan had seen the spasm of grief that seized Emilia’s entire body when she’d mentioned Ray. Emilia had lost her father. That was reason enough.

The ancient water heater needed replacing, and she knew from experience that the sudden drop in temperature indicated that approximately forty-five seconds remained before it went from warm to frigid. Wouldn’t that be fitting, all things considered? Her mind conjured up the way the wet clothes had clung to Emilia’s body when she pulled her from the freezing ocean, and how she’d gasped as the wind had hit her.

Damnit. It had been too long since Morgan had let someone else touch her, and this was the result. Her mind had reverted to desperate measures, even while her heart and her schedule insisted there was neither time nor space for anyone else right now and hadn’t been since the collapse of her last relationship six months ago. Besides, what was the point of going on a date that could be interrupted at any moment by a call from the clinic? That likelihood was exactly why Kate called off their engagement in the first place.