Summary:

Alise Cruthers gets a job on the Island as a Paleo-Veterinarian's Assistant and she catches the eye of the obscure Owen Grady. After he insults her intelligence, she's able to hold her own and prove him wrong. He admires that and offers to buy her a drink. They both fall for each other hard, but Owen's hiding something that gets in the way of their happiness. Will she be able to look past it and figure out a way to make it work?

If someone told me when I was a wide-eyed 8-year-old with a dinosaur book in my hand that I'd actually get to see one in real life 20 years later I would think they were full of it. But low and behold, there I was, 28-years-old, petting a baby Triceratops on an island full of them. My inner 8-year-old was bursting with excitement, but my 28-year-old adult was keeping myself in check.

"Does somebody need a tissue?" my brother asked, giving me a pouty look.

"No. What are you talking about Lowery? It's just really dusty out here," I said quickly wiping the rim of my eye. In my defense, seeing a dinosaur in real life was something I only dreamed about when I was a kid, something I thought would never be attainable. I looked at him, rolling my eyes at the smirk on his face. "Oh, shut up." I said, standing upright from my previous kneeling position.

Lowery laughed, "I'm just kidding. It's pretty amazing, though, isn't it?" he asked as we started walking, dodging the little children that were running around the petting part of the park. When I dragged Lowery in here I didn't care that this part of the park was for kids, I was petting a damn dinosaur.

"Incredible," I agreed, looking around and taking in my surroundings.

"So, I have to admit, there's a reason why I asked you to visit me..." he said, catching my attention. Lowery invited me to come down out of the blue a couple of months ago and of course, I didn't pass up the offer, especially since I didn't have work to hold me back. "I heard there's a job opening for Veterinary Assistant and I looked into it - you fit all of the qualifications and I know you'd love it here. Obviously, I can't personally give you the job, but I know they're looking and they'd be stupid not to pick you for it."

"Wow, Lowery…" I trailed off. I needed a minute to wrap my head around this.

Visiting an island full of dinosaurs was one thing, but working on an island full of dinosaurs? It was a dream and also sounded dangerous - especially because my job would require me to be up close and personal with these dinosaurs and they're not your regular old zoo animals, they were completely different than that.

Plus, I couldn't help but think about what my mom would say. She had a fit when Lowery first started working here. Luckily my step-dad Carl was really supportive and helped her come around.

"I already handed in your resume, I hope you don't mind." he gave me an apologetic look, but I knew it wasn't genuine. I opened my mouth to protest. "I sent it in a couple of days ago, right after I found out. I know you're looking for a job and these positions fill up quickly. You don't have to make a decision now, but the head Veterinarian said he would like to meet with you tomorrow."

"I'll meet with him." I smiled, Lowery's eyes lit up.

"Great. Let's go grab some food, I'm starving,"

I laughed, "When are you not hungry, Lowery?" I shook my head, following him to get some food.

Meeting with the head Veterinarian, Dr. Collier, was nothing like I expected it to be. I expected to have a quick conversation with him about where I went to school and what experience I had as well as a few other interview questions. He did ask me those questions, but then he also spent a good 45 minutes telling me about the orientation and the extensive training program for aspiring paleo-veterinarians on the park.

He also gave me a brief history on the history of paleo-veterinary medicine and how it differs from anything I've learned so far about animals. I learned that the basic anatomy of a dinosaur is unlike any animal I've seen in the past. I knew working with dinosaurs would be a whole different ballgame and nothing like the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado that I worked at previously.

I also asked him "why me?" Why not get someone with years and years of experience? I only have 3 years under my belt and there are loads of people more qualified than I am. He told me they were looking for young and ambitious assistants, he wants them to get equal opportunities and doesn't want to discriminate against those who don't have as much experience because the only way to get that experience is to be allowed that experience.

When we were done, he shook my hand and told me he thinks I'd make a great addition to the team and by that point he had completely persuaded me. I was sold.

"When do I start?"

I went back home the next day and just three weeks later I was on a plane to Costa Rica for my first day of orientation at Isla Nublar.

I had the option of staying on or off the island. If I stayed off the island, I would have to find an apartment and there would be a boat every morning for the park personnel at 6:30 am and I would probably have to get the 8 pm boat back because that's what fit with my schedule and the boating schedule.

The only downside to living on the island was that there was very limited space in the apartment complex built for the staff members. Luckily for me, someone was just moving out right when I was going to move in. I decided staying on the island was my best option. I'd get an extra hour of sleep in the morning and I wouldn't be back to my apartment so late at night.

My training would start at 8:30 am and go until 4 pm, 5 days a week for 2 months. That left two days a week and nights free, so after a week I decided to get a job working as a bartender at the Three Horns bar on the park. I worked as a bartender all through college and I needed to pay back my million dollars worth of student loan debt and the training hours just weren't cutting it.

It was 12 am on a Sunday and I was cleaning glasses behind the bar, putting them in their rightful place. It was like a ghost town here, surprisingly so. I would have expected the place to be crowded until close at 1 am, but the bars close down at 11:30 pm to the public, the next hour is allotted just for park employees. They probably figure this is a family park, not that many people are going to be out partying until 1 am unless if they have a nanny or a babysitter taking care of their kids, which was unlikely.

I didn't mind the quiet hour, it gave me time to take a second and relax and actually hear myself think. The second my shift started at 6 pm up until a little bit ago, the music had been blaring and there were a bunch of people packed in here, screaming orders at me and shorting me in tips, if I got one at all. I got used to all of that pretty quickly, as that's how it used to be in college.

I was the only bartender on to close, Sasha left an hour ago and Colin left thirty minutes after that.

"How'd you make out tonight?" my coworker, Lucy, asked as she walked over to bring me another tray of glasses.

"Pretty good. There was this one girl who threw a drink in a guys face, but that was pretty entertaining." I laughed.

"Geez, wonder what he did to get that." she scoffed.

"Me too. How'd you make out?"

"I've been standing since 4 and I got a 30-minute break to scarf down a hamburger, but other than that it's been pretty good. Went by fast." she said.

"You poor thing. Why don't you take a seat?" I asked, taking the tray from her.

"No, it's fine. Gotta finish cleaning the dining room. I only have to make it through another 30 minutes and I'm free. You staying 'til close?"

"Yeah, just another hour and I'll be free." I laughed, shining up some glasses as we spoke.

"Whoa," Lucy said, I looked up, giving her a curious look. I followed her eyes to where she was looking and saw a man walking into the bar. He was wearing dark jeans and a cream colored t-shirt, along with a gray colored vest. He scanned the bar as if he were looking for someone, but when he saw there was no one here, he looked almost relieved. "That's Owen Grady… the raptor trainer," Lucy explained, her voice just above a whisper. "He just never really comes out much, especially when tourists are around. So it's a little surprising he's here..."

Maybe he just doesn't like people, I thought. Tourists can be a pain in the ass.

"Oh, he's coming over here," she said, shaking her head as if she were flustered and nervous all of a sudden. "I'm gonna go… finish working. See you later!" and just like that, she was off with a brisk walk, keeping her head down as she passed by Owen, who gave her a curt nod.

He walked over and stopped in front of the bar. He looked tired, stressed. His beard just a little more than stubble framed his face nicely and his shining green eyes were hard to miss. He was an attractive man, the type of man that woman would swoon over. Maybe Lucy had a crush on him and that's why she left so quickly, or maybe she was scared of him? He is a raptor trainer after all. You've gotta be a certain type of man to train a raptor… or I would think so anyway.

"Hi, may I help you?" I asked with a friendly smile.

"Shot of tequila," he said firmly, placing his hand on the bar with a thud, before sitting. "Actually make it two." he then let out a groan as he relaxed in his seat.

"Rough day?" I asked, smiling as I put two shot glasses in front of him and poured in the alcohol.

"You can say that." he scoffed, a faint twang behind his voice.

"Well, nothing a couple of shots can't fix, right?" I laughed as he drank them, one after the other as he let out a satisfied 'ah'. "Anything else I can get ya?"

"A bottle of moonshine," he said. He looked tense and sounded like he was barking out orders. I think he realized this because he let out a sigh, relaxing and added a softer "Please,"

"Comin' right up!" I smiled, getting the bottle for him and placing it in front of him. He didn't hesitate to take a sip. I smiled, getting back to the glasses as I figured he didn't need anything else.

"Are you new around here?" he asked. I looked up at him, wondering how he would pick that up if he rarely comes out, as reported by Lucy anyway. "You just don't seem like you've been here for too long. You're very… cheerful, like the daily grind of working here hasn't seemed to of caught up to you yet."

"Well, maybe that's just the type of person I am. Do you come here often enough to know that I'm new?"

"No, it's not really my scene."

"A bar isn't your scene?" I asked. By the way he just came in here and got two shots of tequila, I'd think the opposite.

"Too many people. People like to talk." he said, taking another sip of his beer.

My face fell slightly, "Not much of a talker, then? I'll leave you be…" I was about to take my tray of glasses to the other side of the bar, but he stopped me.

"Sometimes it's nice," he said, catching my attention. "Especially when the person you're talking to doesn't expect anything out of you," he took another sip of beer. I figured he was making a reference to something that happened earlier that day. "And it's nice to talk to someone who's easy to talk to and easy on the eyes."

I couldn't help but feel my cheeks burn and I hoped it wasn't noticeable.

"Alise, we have to be out of here in 10." the manager on duty, Kristin said as she walked by from the kitchen. I nodded. "You count the register out?"

"I was just about to..." I said, glancing back at Owen and then to her. I didn't count the register out yet because Owen was still here, which is what I wanted to say, but it wasn't my place.

"Well get on that." was all she said before she walked away. I sighed as Owen pulled out his wallet and put twenty-five dollars on the table.

"Don't want to keep you." he quickly drank the rest of the beer and put it on the counter. "I'm Owen, by the way," I smiled and before I got a chance to respond, he continued, "Have a good night, Alise."

"You too." I smiled as I watched him leave the bar.