“Sort of. He was found on the side of the road by Carla. She took him here, cleaned him up, and noticed he was having problems. We’re fixing him up and seeing if we can place him for adoption.”

“Me.” She petted the pup, who licked her hand almost desperately. She smiled as the puppy began to wag its tail.

“You sure?” Jim’s indulgent tone told her he wasn’t going to fight her too hard on this. She was pretty sure the vet didn’t currently have a dog or cat of his own. Most people who worked with animals had their own personal pets, and the clinic had one or two cats that lived onsite as well, but she hadn’t scented any animals on her mate other than the ones in the clinic.

“Mm-hmm.” She picked the pup up carefully, giggling as it licked her face.

“All right, Chloe. Take him back to X-ray.”

Chloe nodded and carried her newfound fur baby out of the exam room, happy as could be. Her mate did not have a girlfriend, and Chloe had a new puppy.

Life couldn’t get any better.

Irene watched Chloe go, humming softly under her breath. “Does she have her two-year degree?”

Jim was watching Chloe go as well. He hated to admit it, but he was probably watching for the same reason Irene was. “Yes, and stop looking at my woman’s ass.”

Irene laughed, the sound rich and low. “Valerie isn’t the only one with a thing for redheads.” She picked up the puppy’s chart, flipping through it lazily. “Seriously, though. You say she worked here as a vet assistant for a couple of years, right?”

“Up until her assault, yes.”

Irene followed him out of the exam room and down to his office, now their shared office. “And she’s familiar with the routine here and all of the equipment, so that’s a bonus.”

“You think we should get her certified as a tech?” Jim settled in his chair with a sigh. “God, my back hurts.”

“Perks of the job.” Irene sat across from him, wincing as she stretched. “She knows what she’s doing, and her communication skills aren’t that bad. We can compensate for her hand by having someone else assist in surgeries and keep her running X-rays, ultrasounds and labs.”

Jim loved the idea of having Chloe work with him now that they were mated. “It’s up to her, but I don’t see why it can’t work.”

“She’ll never be a full vet, but she can be one hell of a tech.” Irene winked. “Plus, she’ll pretty the place up.”

“I’m worried she won’t be able to get board certified because of her speech issues.” Jim sat back, trying to stretch the soreness from his shoulders. “And we’ll have to make sure the courses she’s taken will get her the degree she’ll need or see if she needs to take more classes.”

“Something we can talk about later. Maybe over dinner.” Irene stood. “So, you take your fiancée to lunch, I’ll deal with the puppy.”

“You sure?” But Jim was already standing, taking off his lab coat.

Irene laughed again. “Get outta here.” She wagged her finger at him. “But I expect you to do the same when Val pops in.”

“Deal.” Jim hurried toward the X-ray room, where Chloe was finishing up with the puppy. “Hey, you.”

She smiled. “Hey back.” She picked up the puppy, who continued to lavish Chloe with love and kisses. “Good boy.”

“Have you thought of a name?” Jim took the pup, smiling as it turned its affections on to him. It really was the sweetest little pup. No wonder his mate had fallen for it already.

“George.”

Jim laughed, totally getting why she’d picked the name. It seemed his mate was as big a Bugs Bunny fan as he was. “And I will hug him, and pet him—”

“And squeeze him and love him.”

He approved. Anyone who liked Looney Tunes was on Jim’s happy list. “Okay, George. Irene is going to get the bad thing out of your tummy, so be a good boy for her, okay?” He popped into the exam room he’d just seen Irene going into. “You ready for Georgie-boy?”

“George? You named him already?” Irene chuckled when Chloe nodded enthusiastically. “Have Carla sedate him, I’ll be in when I’m done with this little guy.” Irene petted the older tabby cat.

“Hi, Mrs. H!” Chloe waved cheerfully at the owner of the building Cynful Tattoos rested in. “How’s Butch?”

“He’s good. He’s just in for his yearly checkup and booster shots.” Mrs. H, a tattooed older woman who adored the girls of Cynful and their mates, gave Chloe a huge hug. “It’s so good to see you back here.”

From the way Mrs. H eyed Jim, she expected to see Chloe here a lot more often.

“It’s nice to visit.” The sad little smile as Chloe looked around the exam room damn near broke his heart. “Anyway, I have to get going. I need to brag some lunch before I pass out.” She put her hand to her forehead dramatically. “I might swoon from hunger.”

Irene took one hand off Butch to wave them away. “Go. Feed her.”

“Will do.” Jim took hold of Chloe’s hand and, ignoring the delighted look on Mrs. H’s face, dragged her from the exam room. “Later!”

“Wait, where are you going?” Chloe didn’t try and stop him, but she didn’t lead the way either.

“I’m taking you to lunch.” He grinned. “It’s a fringe benefit of having a partner.” He ignored the puzzled way Phil stared at them. The guy was something of a gossip, but he was good at his job and the clients loved him. Soon enough he’d be informing everyone that Jim was off the market.

Even better, he’d tell everyone Chloe was too.

“As long as there aren’t any other fringe benefits,” she muttered.

Jim pretended he hadn’t heard her. They both had to work on their jealousy issues. He still had trouble seeing Gabriel Anderson as anything other than Chloe’s would-be boyfriend. Never mind the man was devoted to his wife, Sarah, or that he’d made it clear on more than one occasion that he and Chloe were nothing more than friends. Chloe hadn’t helped at all. She’d been jealous of his friendship with Sarah, making comments about how she’d spoken with Gabe, spent time with the man when Sarah hadn’t seen him in months.