Bastard(150)

I do as he asks. When I see what he wants to show me, I gasp. “Oh. My. God. Carter, you didn’t,” I say turning to face him.

“I did,” he replies. “I was right when I said you wouldn’t have any trouble finding a job.” Throwing myself into his arms I bury my face in his chest and start to cry; tears of shock, tears of happiness, tears for Lassie. “Don’t you like it?”

“I friggin’ love it.” I stand back to look up at him. I smile widely through my tears. “I’m just overwhelmed.” He kisses my forehead before turning me in his arms so I’m facing the shopfront again. There’s a sign in the window that says ‘opening soon’. His hands wrap around my waist as his chin rests on my shoulder. I can’t believe he would do this for me. Again, I look up at the large sign that’s spread across the whole front of the building. ‘Lassie’s Veterinarian Clinic’. It even has a picture of him on the side.

“Do you want to take a look inside?” he asks. Do I ever.

“Please. I’d love to.” He laces his fingers through mine as we walk towards the door.

“Here you go,” he says passing the keys to me. “It’s yours, so you should do the honours.” After I take the keys from him, I slink my arms around his neck and pull his face down towards mine.

“What did I ever do to deserve someone so wonderful?” I ask, brushing my lips against his. He chuckles at my question.

“You annoyed the crap out of me until I fell in love with you.”

“I did not,” I screech, pinching his arm.

“Ouch,” he says laughing, rubbing his bicep. “Your fingers are lethal.”

“I’m sorry,” I reply, planting a soft kiss where I’d pinched him.

“My dick hurts too, will you kiss that better?” I narrow my eyes at him when he grabs hold of his crotch, and we both laugh.

“Nice try.”

“Well you’ve gotta give me ten points for trying,” he says putting his hand on the small of my back and leading me inside. I’ll gladly kiss his dick after the tour, but I’m not telling him that.

You can smell the fresh paint when we enter. The walls are painted in a soft lemon. The floor tiles are white. There’s a long white reception counter on one side, and a row of white chairs along the floor to ceiling window at the front of the reception area. A green indoor palm tree sits in one corner in a tall white ceramic pot. It looks so clean, so fresh. I love it.

My eyes dart everywhere while Carter moves to disable the alarm. “The code is two thousand and ten,” he says coming to stand beside me again. “Just like my shop. It was a very important year.”

“It was?” My mind starts to race. What was so important in two thousand and ten?

“It was the year my life changed for the better. It was the year I met you,” he says leaning down to kiss the top of my head. Awww. He says the sweetest things sometimes.

Grabbing hold of my trembling hand, he leads me through to the back. There are two large examination rooms. They’re both identical. It makes me think of the pissy little room I had when I worked for Mark. This place shits all over his. Both rooms are complete with stainless steel examination tables in the centre of the room, and white custom-made benchtops running the whole length of the far wall. It has drawers and cupboards for storing supplies and equipment in.

“I know the walls are bare, but I wanted you to be able to add your own touch. I’ve just set you up with the basics.”

“It’s perfect,” I say squeezing his hand. I’m still in shock that he has done this for me, but I’m beaming as he shows me around. We move further down the corridor until we come to a larger room. It’s completely decked out for surgery, with two large stainless steel operating tables in the centre of the room. I’m flabbergasted. Lost for words. This would’ve cost him a fortune to set up. How he managed to do this in a little over a week amazes me. “I love you,” I tell him, sliding my hand around his waist and resting my head on his arm.

Eventually leaving his side I walk around the room, skimming my hands over everything. I can’t wait to get this place up and running. Adjacent to the room is a door that leads to the recovery area. There are cages stacked three high, lining both walls. This will be not only for the animals that have to stay after surgery, but any sick animals that need to be here for observation or treatment overnight. Living upstairs is going to make keeping an eye on them so much easier.

“Oh, Carter,” I say, throwing my arms around him when the tour is complete. “I don’t know what to say.”