Jill Shalvis - Animal Attraction

She went still, then snorted. “Way to be strong.”

He knew every bit as much as she that this shouldn’t happen. It was risking too much. Someone was going to get hurt.

Too late for that…

And in any case, he couldn’t let her go. In fact, his arms came around her and held on. “Jade, what the hell am I going to do with you?”

“Are you as scared as I am?”

“Terrified,” he said. “Hold me.”

She laughed but did just that. “You know,” she said, mouth against his ear. “Someone once told me that when I’m in an unsure situation, calm assertive dominance is best.”

He stroked a finger over her jaw, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “You want me to assert some calm dominance now? Over you?”

She shivered and her eyes darkened. “Maybe just this once…”

As he went from zero to sixty in less than a second, rising with her in his arms to head for his bed, he had to wonder just who was the one in control.

The next morning Jade slumped at her desk and eyed the clock as she yawned widely. It was only eight o’clock.

She’d gotten maybe three minutes of sleep the night before, and so had Dell. He had to be dragging every bit as much as her.

Bringing up the day’s to-do list, she added, Get a nap.

Dell came in wearing work boots, low-slung jeans, a hoodie, and an opened down jacket, looking far more like a Hollywood version of the mountain vet than the real thing.

Except the dirt on his boots and the straw on his shoulder and back were real, and so were the shadows beneath his eyes.

Yep, he was dragging as much as she. Only he looked much better while doing it.

He pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head and looked at her, his cheeks ruddy from the cold air, a day’s growth on his square jaw.

He’d been riding. She’d seen him out the window tearing across the meadow on Kiwi’s back, the man and the horse beautiful in the weak sun that was trying to burn through the fog.

She looked around her for a distraction, but everything was in place. Her pencils perfectly lined up. The files were pulled. Peanut was on top of Jade’s printer. Beans was curled up on Jade’s lap. Gertie lay at her feet, staring up at her with love and adoration.

None of them needing a damn thing from her, for once.

“You were gone when I got up,” he said.

“Had things to do,” she said. “The boss is real demanding. I left you a note.”

“Yes, thanking me for last night.” His gaze held hers. “You sneaked out.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said.

“You sneaked.”

Okay, she had. She’d held her breath and slipped out of his warm, strong arms, grabbing her clothes off his floor and dressing on her way to the front door. “Fine!” She stood up and tossed her hands high. “I sneaked out. Are you telling me no woman’s ever sneaked out on you before?”

The look on his face answered her question, and with a sigh of disgust, she started to turn away, but he took her by the arms and lifted her up so they were nose to nose.

She wasn’t sure where he was going with this, but by the sparks in his eyes she was going to guess maybe some more calm, assertive dominance…

Suddenly the door opened and in came Keith, with Mike right behind him. And then Adam. All three stopped short and stared at the two of them.

Dell set Jade back down and she backed away from him, attempting a smile. “Morning,” she said, and turned to her workstation. She felt Dell looking down at her but she didn’t meet his gaze.

“Is everything okay?” Mike asked.

“Yes,” Jade said, and felt Dell move off. She let out a low breath and watched him go, then turned and nearly ran smack into Adam.

He picked up the schedule she’d printed out for him, and studied it. “Going to be a long day,” he said.

He wasn’t kidding.

At lunch Jade locked the front door after Dell and Adam left for their usual cholesterol overload. She looked around at the empty place and tried to rub the matching ache between her breasts.

She couldn’t.

She and Dell had spoken several times since their… what had it been, a fight? Not exactly. There’d been no raised voices, no slammed doors, no pouting or brooding.

But things were off. He hadn’t laughed when Peanut had announced to a room full of waiting patients that she had a “crush on doc.”

He hadn’t teased her when she’d brought him the lab reports to go over. He hadn’t let his eyes warm when he looked at her. Actually, he hadn’t looked at her.

With a sigh, she put in her earphones, cranked her iPod and turned to the accounting.

Her version of relaxing.

Now that she finally had all the accounts entered, it was sheer joy to balance the numbers out every day, and she watched with great satisfaction as reports ran down her screen.

Pink came on, her voice a gorgeous low, husky rockand-roll rasp. Jade loved Pink. Pink was strong. Invincible. “You’re fucking perfect,” Jade sang along with the song, standing up to put more paper in her printer. Fucking perfect…

Dell. Dell was fucking perfect.

She couldn’t help it, then, the song demanded it. She was already standing so her body moved with the music. It was her line dancing teacher’s fault, she used this song sometimes, the PG-rated version, of course. With a little shimmy, Jade whirled and-dammit!-came face-to-face with Dell and Adam.

With a surprised yelp, she yanked out her earplugs and searched for her dignity.

There was none to be found.

“Do you think she was singing to you or me?” Dell asked Adam.

“Me,” Adam said. “You’re nowhere close to fucking perfect.”

Oh God. Jade put her hands to her very hot cheeks.

“You might want to try a dance class,” Bessie said, coming through with her push broom. “You’re stiff as my broom.”

“I’m in a dance class,” Jade said.

“Maybe you should get a refund.”

“I thought she moved pretty good,” Dell said.

Jade would have shot him a shut-up-and-die look, but she was too embarrassed to meet anyone’s gaze directly.

“I could teach you some moves,” Bessie said, planting her broom right in the middle of the room and giving a little hip shaking boogey that had some parts of her jiggling more than others. Since Bessie was five foot two, both vertically and horizontally, she nearly gave herself a black eye, but she looked pleased with herself. “Yeah,” she said. “I still got it. I’d show you my never-fail-to-get-me-some move, but the last time I tried it out for Mr. Southwick, I pulled something in my hindquarters. Had to go to the doctor and everything.”

Dell grinned.

Even Adam was smiling.

Jade sank to her chair and stared at the phone. Why did it never ring when she needed it to? She did her best to look busy. Busy while sweaty and out of breath. She heard footsteps move away from her and she sighed in relief.

They’d left her alone.

“I like your moves,” came Dell’s low voice near her ear, making her jump. He put his hands on the armrests of her chair and whipped her around to face him.

“Everyone should dance on their lunch break.”

She tried to glare at him but he wasn’t laughing at her. His eyes were dark. And warm. “Don’t be mad. Seeing you so comfortable here is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

She gave him a push but she might as well have tried to move a brick wall. “You think everything’s sexy.”