Read Online Daddy 101 (American Romance) by Jo Leigh - Free Book Online

Pete looked better. The liquids and the medication were working, although he wasn’t ready to leave yet. She’d still have to keep her eyes on him for a couple of days. A dog his age was liable to take a sudden turn.
    But for now, Pete looked comfortable. Before they left, she would give him a brief exam and listen to his lungs. Now, though, she would leave the man and his pet alone for their moment, and take a look at her other patients.
    She went first to the bulldog with the broken leg. As she comforted the big guy she heard Pete’s cage door open. Glancing back, she watched as Alex crawled inside. He sat Indian-style on the big pillow, and Pete curled up in his lap like a pup.
    She felt a lump rise in her throat and turned away. What a ridiculous response. But then, her responses to Alex Bradley had all been pretty ridiculous.
    She’d known him for only a few hours. Yet he’d made her think of things she had no business thinking. Brought up memories best left undisturbed. She had treated him unfairly, and it rankled that she could be so petty. Especially when he’d been so open with his own story.
    The bulldog was doing well, and after a few minutes of petting him, listening to the soft, unintelligible conversation Alex was having with Pete, she turned to a young tabby kitten who’d been caught in some barbed wire. The little one mewled at her pitifully, but Dani saw that she’d eaten her food and had plenty of water. Her wounds were on the mend. The cat really just needed attention. All of the creatures she cared for did. No matter what medicines and surgical techniques she used to heal the wounded pets, the one thing she believed in most was a loving hand. A gentle touch.
    She lifted the cat to her chest, and turned to watch Alex. He had quieted, and now she saw why. He was still petting Pete, but his gaze was on her. He looked at her the way she knew she looked at her charges. With concern, with patience, with care. Why? She’d been nothing but snarly with him. Yet his look was genuine.
    He really did care. About her. A stranger, not someone in her huge ever-expanding family, or the town that had helped raise her. This was a sophisticated, intelligent man. Someone who owed her nothing, needed nothing back.
    “He’s better,” Alex said.
    “I can see that. I’d like to check him out before we go.”
    “You want me to come out?”
    She shook her bead. “I have a few more patients to tend to first.”
    He smiled. “I don’t think that one’s going to let you.”
    She looked down at the kitten. Her small gray head was burrowed against her chin, and the little claws were kneading her chest in a rhythmic motion that all children, no matter what species, seemed to know. Her purr was loud for such a teeny thing. “You’re right.”
    “Is that one a stray?”
    “No. She’s got a home. A good one. She’s just used to a lot of attention.”
    “Yeah, that’s how it is, I guess. You get spoiled.” He turned to the third cage down from Pete’s. Inside was a white mutt, the only dog who hadn’t moved or barked since they’d arrived. “What’s his story?”
    “The other side of the coin,” Dani said. “He’s not had it very easy, from what I could see. He’d been beaten up pretty badly. Lost a lot of blood.”
    “A stray?”
    “Worse. We took him from his owner. The jerk had mistreated him for years. The poor thing doesn’t know what a loving touch is.”
    She looked at the dog, alone, scared, wounded. When Alex spoke, it took her a minute to register his words.
    “Do you?”
    “What do you mean?” she asked, although she knew.
    “I keep thinking you want to be like that kitten, but you’re afraid, like that white dog.”
    “Bold assessment for a man I’ve known only a few hours.”
    “I haven’t known the critters here for five minutes, but it’s not hard to tell who’s who and what’s what.”
    She put the kitten back in the small cage, cringing at the distressed sounds the little