Defending Hayden (Second Chances #7)(17)

“If you look closely, Mr. McLaughlin, you’ll see that the ice cream is made for dogs. I give it to my patients as treats. They love it.”

I groaned and bit my lip. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

She giggled and waved me off. “No worries. I do love me some ice cream, though. I’m sure by the weekend, I’ll be back to grab a couple of pints for me.”

“Speaking of your patients, how’s the dog from the other night doing?” I questioned.

Her face brightened. “Amazingly well. He can’t walk on his own just yet, but we put him in a doggie walker that helps dogs with missing limbs get around; it works perfectly. You should come by and visit him. I bet he’d love to see his other rescuer.”

There was no way I could tell her no, not with the way she smiled at me. “I might just do that,” I told her.

“Great, I can’t wait. Bear will love it.”

“You named him Bear?”

She shrugged. “It was the first name off the top of my head. What’s funny is that he responds to it. I guess he likes it.”

“That’s a good thing.” We stared at each other for a second before she tore her gaze away.

“I should probably let you go. I’m sure you have more important things to do than talk to me.” Actually, I didn’t. I quite enjoyed talking to her, much more than I cared to admit. She started to walk off but stopped and reached into her purse. “Oh, before I forget. I meant to give this to you the other night.” She pulled out my phone and handed it to me. “It’s rung a few times, and you have some text messages.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking it from her. My fingers brushed against hers, and it made me realize how much I’d missed that kind of contact. I wanted to touch her again, but instead, I clutched the phone. “I got scolded today for not answering my calls.”

“I never used it, but thank you for letting me hold on to it. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, Dr. Hunter.”

“Please, call me Hayden.”

I nodded. “As long as you call me Derek.”

“Derek it is, then. So maybe I’ll see you again?” she asked.

“Definitely.”





Chapter 8





Hayden


Why was I so giddy? It wasn’t like Derek McLaughlin, star linebacker for the Carolina Cougars, was going to come by the clinic to see the dog he’d helped me rescue. Guys like him didn’t do stuff like that. I felt stupid for actually being hopeful.

“So you saw him again last night?” Michael asked.

I ate a bite of my salad and nodded. “Yep. He was at the grocery store. I asked him if he wanted to stop by and see Bear.”

He gazed at me in awe. “This is some serious book-worthy shit right here. How many people can say this kind of stuff happens to them?”

I tossed a crouton at him. “You’re such a hopeless romantic. I think you’re worse than me.”

He chuckled. “I can’t help it if I believe in fate. Did you give him back the phone?”

“Yep. I couldn’t keep it forever. Besides, it was about to go dead, and I didn’t have a charger for it.” It had killed me not to look through the contacts and everything on it just to see who all Derek talked to on a regular basis. But I’d felt like I was encroaching on his privacy.

“I can’t believe you had the balls to ask him.”

“Me, either. It just kind of slipped out.”

He stared at me with a mischievous grin. “You like him, don’t you?”

“No,” I blurted out. “He’s a nice guy. I just thought with the way he helped me with Bear, he’d like to check up on him.”

His gaze narrowed. “And that’s it? The only reason why you asked him?”

I stuffed another bite of lettuce into my mouth. “Yep. Now let’s drop this. Derek McLaughlin will never be interested in a girl like me.”

Michael snorted. “Keep telling yourself that. You’re beautiful, and you have a big heart. What’s not to love about that?”

I looked into his eyes. “Sometimes that’s not enough.”

That was something I understood all too well. The man I had loved so deeply and thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with had cheated on me with my best friend. Her betrayal had struck me the hardest. Emily and I had been best friends for most of our lives, all the way back to elementary school. Now she was married to my ex and they were expecting their first child. It was always her, Michael, and me, the unbreakable trio. It was funny how life seemed to throw you for a loop. Jake was a good-looking guy and extremely smart, a prestigious lawyer working high-profile cases. He was always the life of the crowd, a smooth talker who could get anything he wanted. I learned that the hard way, when he was able to sneak around with Emily without me knowing. He tried his best to convince me to pursue a degree in something other than veterinary medicine, and when I didn’t, he loved to talk down to me, saying I wasn’t going to get anywhere in the world. For the longest time, I never felt good enough for him. I started to believe I wasn’t until I caught him with Emily, and it was as if the blinders came off. The pain, however, was still there.