“And what’s in there?”
She gave me a miserable look. “I thought about baby names this morning while I was drinking my coffee. NowI’mthe psycho.”
I burst out laughing. She did too.
When we’d calmed down, I handed her two applications. “Got these in for Coco. Why don’t you call and set up meetings for both families. You can get a feel for who might be the best fit. And I’ve got one for Charlie, one for Belle. If the meetings are good, we should be able to get all three kennels turned over this week.”
“Sweet. I’m on it.” She hopped up from the chair and adjusted her short denim shorts. “Does the yard need cleaned up?”
I sighed. “No.”
Her eyebrows rose slowly. “You were on shit duty?”
“Not exactly,” I hedged.
A deep voice came from the doorway: “That would be me.”
Ness froze, then turned slowly, her eyes widening comically as she took in the sight of Archer at the entrance to my office. “Oh, holy fuck me in the eardrum.”
Archer’s eyes narrowed. I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“You’re Archer Evans,” she breathed.
His entire body seemed to brace for impact. Couldn’t even blame the guy. I’d hardly given him a warm welcome. “I am.”
“You’re Archer-fucking-Evans.” She pointed at him. Then pointed at me. “Did you know about this?”
“When he showed up in the parking lot this morning, yes, I was officially made aware.”
“Archer Evans is volunteering here?” she squeaked.
“Can you stop saying his name?” I snapped.
Ness whistled. “You feeling feisty today, friend?”
“She hates me,” he said.
My eyebrows shot up. “I never said that.”
He arched a brow right back, and I tore my gaze away. Direct eye contact with this man made me feel all squirmy inside, and I didnotlike it.
“Her son was obsessed with you,” Ness said. “Like,obsessed.”
However Archer reacted to that news was none of my damn business, so I kept my focus locked on my best friend. “Vanessa Marie, you have things to do.”
“Don’t use my full name on me, Remi Elizabeth.”
“‘Was’?” Archer asked, and I cursed quietly under my breath.
Ness tilted her head. “Yeah. Past tense. The whole drunk-driving thing is a real turn-off when picking your heroes. He requested to toss the jersey he got for his birthday a few months ago. Right in the trash.”
This time, I couldn’t help myself. My gaze flicked back up, catching the brief flash of emotion in Archer’s eyes. He masked it immediately.
The phone on my desk started ringing. “Ness, please go schedule those visits. You,” I said to Archer, “sit.”
Ness grinned. “I love it when you get bossy.”
Archer’s unreadable gaze stayed on me while I rolled my eyes and hit the button to answer the call on speaker. “Second Leash Sanctuary, this is Remi.”