Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 285 - 23

Chapter 285: Chapter 23

Pineville was a small town on the island where the club house was, so the veterinarian’s office was in a narrow purple clapboard house, and the waiting room area was obviously his living room.

Liam had found the vet’s name in a phone book earlier that morning and phoned for an appointment, but even so, they had to wait nearly an hour, during which time Rayne filled out the vet’s information sheet and Eric sniffed every inch of the cramped room, including an angry cat who hissed at the sight of the large dog, and a shy brown poodle, and a terrified yellow bird in a cage, all of whom were already there with their owners when Liam and Rayne arrived.

When the vet finally came out and asked for "Miss Wallace" Rayne left her purse on the chair next to Liam so that she’d have both hands free to deal with Eric while the vet looked him over.

Liam watched her disappear through a doorway, then he picked up a tourist guidebook written in Spanish because there was nothing else to read in the waiting room. Back then, when he realized Neil was half Puerto Rican and spoke Spanish fluently, Liam had decided to learn the language too. He had never regretted learning multiple languages.

Rayne’s phone rang shortly after he began to read, and he let the call go through to her phone’s voice mail system, rather than trying to answer it for her.

A few minutes later, it rang again, and her voice mail picked up that call too.

Few minutes later, she received another call.

Liam frowned at her purse, wondering if the busy boyfriend was trying to reach her. If so, he was either very persistent, Liam decided, or else some sixth sense was warning him that his girlfriend was ignoring his calls because she was straying with another man.

Gazing at her purse, Liam envisioned a wealthy, middle-aged businessman who’d probably been physically attractive when Rayne first met him years before, but who was now getting fat and out of shape—and becoming desperate to maintain his hold on a much younger woman—one who, he feared, might be tiring of her role as his ’plaything.’

Liam had witnessed that scenario often enough in the past to be certain he was right about Rayne and her boyfriend, but this time he reminded himself to feel a little gentlemanly compassion for the boyfriend.

After all, the poor son of a bitch had spent a small fortune to take her on a vacation at a premier spot on an island, and while he was stuck in Zen, Liam was about to take her to bed.

He looked up as Rayne emerged with the vet, who was repeatedly patting her arm in a way that struck Liam as rather inappropriate. His brows quickly drew together in displeasure.

"Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of the dog," the vet promised, quickly removing his hand from Rayne’s arm under the angry glare of a man in the waiting room who seemed to be a protective boyfriend or husband.

He cleared his throat. "I’ll dip the dog for fleas and give him all his shots. If you want me to board him again tomorrow night, just give me a call. In the meantime," he added as Liam rose to his feet, "I’ll get all the papers ready so you can take him back to your country when you plan to leave."

Liam stared at Rayne in amused disbelief, realizing that she planned to take Eric back with her. Then he picked up her suitcase from beside his chair and handed her purse to her.

"Instead of calling an ambulance for Eric last night," he joked as he held the front door open for her, "I should have just made my pilot fly him back to your destination in Zen."

Rayne accepted the jibe with a quick smile and explained her decision. "I have to take him home with me, or he’ll end up being euthanized."

"Is that what the vet told you?" Liam asked as he stepped off the cracked sidewalk in front of the vet’s house and used his free hand to lightly hold her arm to guide her down.

Rayne nodded. "He said there’s no chance of finding a good home for him here or on the island. Eric is a stray, and because he’s large, he’s expensive to feed."

Liam’s driver was waiting for them on the street as they approached, and when they were both inside the car, Rayne elaborated while Liam gave his driver their next location.

"I called Mia this morning," she clarified. "Mia told me that her boys wanted separate dogs since Neil had only gotten one for both of them. So, I told her about Eric, and she agreed to take him in. I think Eric is going to like the boys and be well taken care of."

Liam couldn’t agree more with that. Neil was a dog person, and no doubt his children had inherited that from him. Eric would like it there, Liam knew, so he changed the subject. "You had several phone calls while you were with the vet."

"They’re probably from Harry at the restaurant or Mia," Rayne said, already reaching for her purse.

Forgetting that she’d turned the volume on her phone up to its maximum, Rayne tapped the screen to retrieve her voice mail messages while Liam politely took the tourist booklet laying on the side of his seat and glanced through it.

The first message wasn’t from Harry; it was from Max, and he sounded so concerned that Rayne felt a stab of guilt.

"Rayne, why didn’t you return my phone call last night, darling? I called you again at the hotel this morning and left a message, and I still haven’t heard from you. I’m getting worried. Are you feeling ill? Are the headaches back?"

Max’s second message made Rayne feel even worse. "My love, I just called Mia and she said she talked to you yesterday and this morning, and you’re feeling fine. Evidently, you’re so angry with me for not being there that you won’t even take my calls anymore.

"I miss you terribly Rayne, and I’m tired of having to go away with you so that we can spend all our days and nights together. We should be able to do that right here in Zen. We’ve been together for years, and we know we make each other happy. We both want the same things—a home, children, and each other. What else matters? I—"

Unable to bear another word, Rayne ended the voice message without listening to the next message.

She stole a sidelong glance at Liam, relieved that he seemed to be engrossed in reading the tourist booklet he was holding, but he was frowning, his jaw looked tense, and his grip on the book was so tight she could see his hands slightly shaking.

After a moment of uneasy silence, Rayne said brightly, "Everything is perfect."

In response, he placed the booklet back onto the seat and raised a challenging brow at her. "Your boyfriend seems to think otherwise."

"You heard?"

"I couldn’t help hearing it. Is he married?"

"No, of course not! Why would you think such a thing?" She exclaimed, horrified.

"For one thing, you said you’ve been together for years, but from what I heard him say just now, you apparently don’t live together. How old is he?"

"He’s thirty-four. Why do you—" A realization hit Rayne, and she twisted toward him in the seat. "Are you by any chance under the impression I’m some sort of"—she hesitated and then settled for the least awful of the descriptions that came to mind—"mistress?"

"I didn’t give it much thought, but that seemed like the most probable explanation based on my experiences with similar scenarios."

"Have you encountered many ’similar’ scenarios?"

He leaned back, stretched his legs, and paused before bluntly replying, "Yes. Quite a few."

Before Rayne could react, he asked another question. "Is he the first boyfriend you’ve had as an adult?"

Rayne had never been in any other relationship apart from the one she had with Max. She’d never even had flings nor thought about it until now. She had no reason to hide it, so she answered honestly. "Yes." He was her first, and she’d thought he would be the last because they were meant for each other, but it turned out...

"Unbelievable," he muttered a little grimly. "How very innocent of you."

Startled by his tone, Rayne said, "I was never that innocent in the way I think you mean. In fact, I was a wild child."

"Good," he said tightly.

Rayne turned her head and gazed at the foothills of the mountains on her right while she tried to come up with an explanation for his attitude. Something he’d heard in the last few minutes was bothering him, but she couldn’t figure out exactly what it was.