“Cabins?”
“The accommodation at Snow Crystal is mostly in luxury log cabins around the lake.”
“Sounds perfect. A winter wedding in a snowy forest. That would be my dream.”
The fact that she dreamed of weddings should have been enough to send him skidding back to his apartment but for some reason he was still standing here.
“Do you ski?”
“Never intentionally.” She grinned. “Only when I lose my balance when walking. Which happens pretty often at this time of year.” They reached the curve of Morton Street and turned around, returning the way they’d come. “So being a trauma doctor doesn’t put you off adventurous sports?”
“No, although some things are off-limits.”
“Such as?”
“I hate motorcycles.”
“Did you always want to be a doctor?”
“Yes.” They arrived back at his building and he held the door for her. “My father and grandfather are both doctors. Family practice in Connecticut.”
“You didn’t want to join them? Follow in the family footsteps?”
“I wanted something faster paced.”
“Was your father angry with you for not wanting to join him?”
“Angry?” The question surprised him. “Why would he be angry?”
“Oh, because—” She gave a little shake of her head. “I thought maybe he wanted you to join him, and that you doing something different might have made him angry.”
“He wanted me to do whatever it was that interested me. In my case that was trauma.” He stood aside to let her walk first into the elevator. “Did you always want to own your own business?”
“No. In fact it would have been the last thing on my mind.” She unwound her scarf from her neck. “I’m not that good with people and I’m not good with accounts.”
“My sister says the Bark Rangers virtually own the whole of the East Side of Manhattan.”
“We’re doing well. Most of that is down to my sister, Fliss. She’s the business brain.”
He watched as she soothed Madi.
The dog had been so well behaved the whole time they’d been out he hardly recognized her as the same animal he’d met when he’d walked through the door that first day.
“Does Fliss have your sophisticated skills as an animal tamer?”
“Animal tamer?” She straightened. “Aren’t you slightly exaggerating my skills?”
“Not from where I’m standing.”
“I thought ‘animal tamer’ was reserved for someone who works in a circus, or at least with dangerous animals.”
“My apartment looked like a circus when you arrived the other day and as for what’s dangerous—it’s all about perspective. You turned Madi from a marauding mass of teeth and fur into a well-behaved animal. She’s looking at you for praise and attention all the time. She’s walking close to your leg and waiting for you to give her instructions. If that isn’t animal taming I don’t know what is.”
“She’s a good girl.”
He noticed that the moment they arrived in his apartment, she removed Madi’s coat. The dog’s comfort was always her priority.
“You love your job.”