Veterinarian's Date with a Billionaire Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Epilogue

  Author's Note

  Free Novella

  About the Author

  Also by Amelia

  Veterinarian’s Date with a Billionaire

  Amelia Addler

  ANJ Press

  Pittsburgh

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

  Veterinarian’s Date with a Billionaire

  ANJ Press, First edition. June 2019.

  Copyright © 2019 Amelia Addler.

  Written by Amelia Addler.

  Cover design by Charmaine Ross at CharmaineRoss.com

  For Andrzej

  my brave, funny, silly, and loving dog

  who is fighting cancer with all of his might.

  I would go to the moon and back to save you.

  Chapter 1

  It didn’t take long for Juliet to spot her friends laughing in a booth at the far corner of the restaurant. They didn’t see her coming. A smile spread across her face as she walked toward them.

  “Well, well, well,” she said, arms crossed. “If it isn’t the Dynamic Duo of Wayside High School.”

  “No,” Greg replied, standing from his seat. “With you, we’re the Three Stooges.”

  Juliet broke into laughter. “I completely forgot that they used to call us that.” She pulled Greg in for a hug.

  Aaron stood up, wrapping his arms around them both in a group hug.

  “When did you get so strong?” squeaked Juliet.

  Aaron shrugged. “I have to be able to hold a wriggling four-year-old twin in each arm, and I think that’s the ultimate workout.”

  “Oh my gosh, I haven’t gotten to see them since their third birthday party. I haven’t seen you guys in forever!” said Juliet as she took a seat.

  Greg shook his head. “No, that’s not true. We all hung out six months ago, at my wedding. And my bachelor party, though the kids weren’t there.”

  “Ah, of course. How could I forget?”

  How could she forget? She was the only woman invited on the bachelor party – a four day backpacking trip in the mountains. She was worried that she wouldn’t be able to keep up, but she was one of the fastest in the pack. It seemed that getting married and having kids really slowed the rest of her friends down.

  “So Jules,” said Greg, “What’s this project that you need help with?”

  She took a deep breath. “It’s a long story, but basically, the vet clinic where I work is at risk of being shut down.”

  They looked at her with surprise, and she was about to continue when something caught her eye. It looked like…but no, it couldn’t be.

  Greg turned around to see what she was squinting at. “What?”

  “Shh!” She kicked him under the table. “Turn around!”

  Greg snapped back to face her just as Aaron leaned across the table to see what was so interesting.

  “Could you guys be any more obvious? I thought I saw someone, but – it turns out I was wrong.”

  Aaron shrugged. “It’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We probably know everybody in this restaurant. It’s practically a high school reunion.”

  Juliet cautioned a glance toward the front door again. She was being silly; there was no one there and she’d gotten all flustered for nothing.

  She cleared her throat and started again. “We had grant funding from – ”

  A voice cut her off from behind. “Hey guys! How’s it going?”

  Her eyes didn’t deceive her. She’d know that voice anywhere: her ex-boyfriend, James Balin.

  “Hey man! Long time no see. How’s it going?” Greg offered a handshake before motioning for James to take a seat.

  That flushed feeling was back, and Juliet knew that the skin on her chest was bright red under her hoodie. This was the last thing she thought she’d have to face during this visit to her hometown.

  Her mom nagging her about her hair being too long? Yes, always. The owner of the restaurant scolding her, for the thousandth time, about breaking a huge stack of dishes back when she was a freshman in high school? Sure.

  But running into James? Definitely not. As far as she knew, he hadn’t been back to Michigan in years. His family didn’t even live there anymore. It made her feel a little rattled to see him appear like that. But she didn’t want him thinking that he could rattle her, so she needed to play it cool.

  Juliet turned to him and smiled with as much grace as she could muster. He hadn’t aged a day – well, not in a normal way, more like a George Clooney way. His blue eyes were as bright as ever, and she had to force herself not to stare. James had many flaws, but being homely was not one of them.

  “Pretty good, it’s good to see you all,” James said. His eyes met Juliet’s. “Do you mind if I join you?”

  Before she could think of an excuse as to why he couldn’t sit with them, Aaron said, “No, of course not!”

  She reminded herself to breathe slowly. This was the problem with having guy friends. It was all fine and dandy until an ex-boyfriend showed up. If Juliet’s female friends were there, they would’ve known that the ex-boyfriend protocol called for civility with a large helping of coldness.

  They wouldn’t shake his hand. They wouldn’t ask how he was doing – unless they planned to look away, disinterested in his answer. And they certainly wouldn’t have invited him to sit down!

  James scooted into the booth next to Greg.

  “Hi James, fancy seeing you here,” she said coolly.

  “Yeah, I’m in town, kinda a surprise actually. Zach invites me for Thanksgiving every year, and I finally took him up on it.”

  Juliet shifted uncomfortably to make sure her legs didn’t brush against his; there wasn’t enough room in the booth for another person.

  “Oh yeah? How’s he doing?” asked Aaron.

  “Really well,” replied James. “I haven’t been able to see him for a while, so it’s a nice treat.”

  Juliet had to force herself not to say something snarky back to him, like “I’m sure it is hard to see your best friend when you refuse to leave your precious New York City.”

  Instead, she said, “Is your dad alone for Thanksgiving?”

  James laughed. “No, he’s got all of his coworkers to keep him company. They’re working on a big presentation for some investors, I doubt they’ll take any breaks for Thanksgiving dinner. Or Christmas.”

  “I see.”

  “It’s so nice to see you Juliet, I can’t believe I ran into you here,” said James.

  What was he going on about? Where else would she
be for Thanksgiving? Oh – yeah, she could be with her boyfriend’s family. If she had a boyfriend.

  “Yeah, it’s nice to see you too,” she lied.

  Greg prompted her again. “So what’s going on with the clinic?”

  “Oh!” James said, eyes lighting up. “Are you working at a clinic here?”

  “Westside Veterinary Clinic,” she said, keeping the edge out of her tone. “In Lansing.”

  It was best to remain neutral, she decided. She’d carry on as though he wasn’t even there, or as though it wasn’t the first time she’d seen him in five years. It’d been so long that it was just like seeing a stranger. At least that’s what she told herself to keep from getting frazzled.

  “We got notice two months ago that our funding will run out at the end of the year, and it won’t be renewed. The grant agency is no longer able to fund vet clinics.”

  Aaron shook his head. “That’s awful. How long can the clinic survive without funding?”

  Juliet sighed. “A month? Maybe two? Not very long. We don’t make much profit, because everything we do is offered on a sliding scale based on people’s income. It’s not enough to cover operating costs – hence why we got the grant for being a vet clinic in an underserved area.”

  “That’s so nice though,” interjected James. “You’re helping, uh, poor people take care of their pets?”

  She turned to him with the slightest glare in her eye. “When you say it like that you make them sound like they’re homeless. They just don’t have a lot of extra money to spend on their pets. But it doesn’t mean that they love them any less.”

  “Of course not,” James added, shaking his head.

  Juliet turned back to her friends. “But I came up with a plan. There is this newish company that develops cancer drugs. They’re not huge, but one of their drugs has been out for years. At first, it was only available for use in animals, but now it’s undergoing human trials. They’re holding a contest to raise awareness for how well the drug works. The winner of the contest will get one million dollars for a veterinary clinic, plus a stipend to run clinical trials.”

  Aaron raised his eyebrows. “That’s incredible. What’s in it for them?”

  “Well, they want people to put together a video of animals that were saved by the drug. They’re going to use that for marketing and fundraising, I don’t know.”

  James nodded. “It’s actually really smart. This can create a lot of hype, even beyond the winning video. It’ll help them with investment and buy in, more than a million dollars in advertising could do alone.”

  Before Juliet had the chance to cut him off, Aaron asked, “Does your dad’s company have something like that?”

  James shook his head. “No, we have an in-house marketing department who spends plenty of money on their own. Plus, none of the drugs that we developed are used in animals, just in people. But it’s not a bad idea.”

  “Anyways,” Juliet said, “I contacted a lot of my old vet school friends who are at some of the bigger veterinary practices. They’ve been using this drug for years and some of their patients agreed to appear in a video about it. Which is where I come in. I’m going to make this video and win the contest. I hope.”

  Greg smiled and patted the dark bag sitting on the table. “I brought my old camera, just like you asked. It’s all yours.”

  Aaron leaned back, crossing his arms. “And Greg is going to edit this video for you, right?”

  Juliet shrugged, a smile on her lips. “No, I can’t afford to pay him.”

  Greg laughed. “Oh, please. It would be nice to edit something other than wedding videos for once. And it’s an honor to loan my skills to your vet clinic for poor people.”

  Juliet had to swallow to suppress the laugh that almost sprung from her chest. Maybe guy friends had some merits.

  “Thanks Greg, that means a lot,” said Juliet.

  “I know a good bit about how drug companies work,” James said, apparently missing Greg’s jab at him. “Maybe I could be of some help?”

  “I think I’ll be okay,” replied Juliet.

  She was unable to force herself to smile this time. Why did James think he could show up in town after all these years and act like he was just another member of the gang? Did he think that she’d look at him and want to be friends all of a sudden?

  Luckily, at that moment, Zach came over to their table. “Hey guys, good to see you.”

  Everyone smiled and said their hello’s. Juliet made a point of being much warmer to Zach than she was to James. She liked Zach, after all. It wasn’t his fault that his best friend was a jerk.

  “James – we’re going to put our dinner orders in soon. Do you want to come over or…?”

  “Oh, of course. Sorry, sure.” James stood from the table. “It was really nice catching up with you guys. Maybe I’ll see you later?”

  “Sure, see you later,” said Aaron.

  Juliet waited until they were out of earshot to speak again. “Thanks a lot guys,” she hissed. “I really wanted to have to pretend to be nice to my ex-boyfriend.”

  Greg and Aaron started laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” she said, deciding again that guy friends were no good.

  “I don’t think that anyone would think that you were trying to be nice to him.”

  She crossed her arms. “What’s that supposed to mean? And why did you tell him to sit down?”

  Greg shrugged. “I didn’t want to be rude. And besides, it’s been a long time. Maybe it’s time for you to forgive? You can forgive but not forget.”

  “You know I hate that phrase.”

  “Yeah, we know,” Aaron said with a grin. “Maybe it’s time to get over it?”

  “No! It’s a stupid phrase! If you forgive, but you still hang onto whatever they did, then that’s not really forgiveness, is it?”

  Greg shrugged. “I mean, it’s a form of forgiveness.”

  “No, it’s not forgiveness,” Juliet said matter-of-factly.

  “Okay then, just forgive and forget,” said Aaron.

  Juliet realized that her shoulders were scrunched halfway up to her ears. She released the tension. “There are some things that can’t be forgiven.”

  Aaron and Greg looked at each other, then back at Juliet.

  “You’re still that mad?” asked Aaron. “I don’t think that’s good for your health.”

  Greg tried to hide his smile behind a menu.

  She wasn’t going to play into their teasing anymore. “I’m not mad. I just keep a very updated list of people to be avoided.”

  “Like a black book with people you hate?” asked Greg.

  Juliet sighed. “No, I don’t ‘hate’ anybody. There are just certain people that you can never trust.”

  Aaron got a very serious look on his face. “We better be careful, or we’ll end up on her list.”

  Greg nodded. “It’s kinda like a Do Not Call list. But it’s worse – a Do Not Trust list.”

  Juliet threw a sugar packet at him. “You’re both going to end up on my Do Not Call list soon.”

  They laughed and finally moved onto another topic.

  The rest of the evening was nice, even though Juliet felt like her nerves were on edge. She constantly looked to see if James was going to sneak up on them again. Luckily, he didn’t, and after they paid their tab, they walked out to the parking lot together without any sign of James.

  Aaron made them all promise to stop by his house after Thanksgiving dinner, and they agreed. Juliet waved goodbye, still on alert that James could show up at any minute. She quickly started her car and was about to pull away from her parking spot when the car suddenly stopped.

  “What in the world?”

  She tried turning the key in the ignition again, but that didn’t do anything. She put her foot on the gas with no response. She realized that everything in the car was dark – even the clock stopped glowing. She pulled the emergency brake and got out to take a look at it.

  Greg and
Aaron were still chatting and came over to see what was going on.

  “What happened?” asked Greg.

  “I have no idea. It was going, and then all of a sudden, it wasn’t.”

  “Maybe I could take a look?” said a new voice.

  Juliet closed her eyes. Of course James found her again. Just when she was about to get away from him for good.

  Chapter 2

  James took a step forward and opened the hood of Juliet’s Saturn Vue. He didn’t know much about cars, so he wasn’t really sure what he was looking at, but he still wanted to try. He would do anything for a chance to talk to Juliet for just a bit longer.

  Luckily for him, Aaron took the lead with the car. “Well, your oil looks okay. I don’t see anything obviously wrong, but Juliet, this is a pretty old car. It might be the engine or the transmission.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “It can’t be broken right now. Why couldn’t it break next week? I have to drive to Ann Arbor on Friday – it was the only day the lady with the parrot could meet.”

  James saw his chance. “I have the whole week off. I could drive you anywhere you need to go.”

  She responded without looking at him. “Thanks, but I’m sure my car just needs some type of fluid or something and it’ll be back up and running.”

  “I’m not sure about that Jules,” Greg said, shifting his weight. “And you’re gonna have a hard time finding a car to rent the day after Thanksgiving.”

  James tried to suppress a smile. Clearly Greg didn’t hold a grudge as long as Juliet did.

  “It wouldn’t be the worst thing for you to have someone go with you,” Aaron added. “You don’t know the people you’re going to meet. What if one of them attacks you or something?”

  “Why would anyone attack me? I’m sure they’re all nice, normal people. Since when are you so paranoid?”

  Greg shrugged. “Better safe than sorry, don’t you think?”

  A vein bulged from Juliet’s forehead, but she didn’t respond. She got back into the driver’s seat and turned her key in the ignition again. The car didn’t even try to start.

  James felt almost giddy with excitement.