Jill Shalvis - Animal Attraction

“You don’t have to go,” he said as she shimmied back into her skirt.

“Yes, I do.”

Because it was getting harder and harder to hold her heart from him. In fact, if she kept this up, she knew she wouldn’t be able to do it at all.

“Jade.”

Throat tight, eyes burning, she turned back, then gasped softly as he cupped her face and kissed her. If he’d kissed her long and deep, she might have been able to resist, but he was far more devious than that. His mouth was devastatingly gentle. Tender. A sweet good-night kiss.

But not a good-bye kiss.

Oh, damn, she thought when he pulled away and walked her out to her car. Damn. She was in big trouble.

The next day Jade got out of bed before dawn. Actually, to be exact, it was four thirty A.M. It wasn’t a time she’d seen often and she yawned more than once on the drive.

She’d watched the calendar and told herself she was merely indulging her curiosity, but she knew it was more than that.

Much more.

She pulled back onto Dell’s street less than seven hours after she’d left and saw that his truck was still there. Finding it unlocked, she sighed in relief and climbed in to wait. Ten minutes later his front door opened. It was still dark, but she could see his outline as he headed for his truck carrying what looked like grocery bags and his medical bag.

He stopped short, presumably at the sight of her car. Then he turned to his truck. She gave him a little wave.

He walked through the dark, foggy, chilly morning, stowed his stuff behind his seat, and angled in behind the wheel. “You didn’t want to stay last night, so what’s this?”

“You said I could ask you anything, that you’re an open book.”

“Yes,” he said, with a great deal of wariness.

“Where are you going?”

He paused. “If you’re asking, you must already know.”

“All I know is that every Monday, you start about a half hour late. And until I got my hands on your laptop, I had no idea why. But you’re going somewhere and providing your services to someone, a bunch of someones, who clearly mean a lot to you. I figure it can’t be too close or you’d just have them come to Belle Haven. So I got here extra early just in case.”

“Jade, why does this matter to you?”

Because you matter… “You said you wanted to get to know me. Maybe I feel the same.”

He studied her a long moment, then shook his head but started his truck.

They drove for an hour straight out into the middle of nowhere before Dell turned off at some invisible landmark, because Jade sure as hell didn’t see a sign. Or even a road. He switched into four-wheel drive and kept going.

“Getting nervous?” he asked when she white-knuckled the dash over a particular bad rut.

“It has occurred to me that out here would be a great dump site for my body.” The next rut nearly rattled her teeth right out of her head. “Probably I should stop watching Criminal Minds before bed, it makes me see a serial killer in everyone.”

“I know something else you could do before bed…”

Yeah, yeah.

He flashed a grin in the rising dawn. “You know, you hopped into my truck. I didn’t coerce you.”

“My mistake.”

After another ten minutes, they began to pass some signs of civilization. Mobile homes and trailers, each more run down than the last. He parked in front of a double-wide with bars on the windows and turned to her, smile gone. “You can wait here if you want.”

“Are you going to tell me what this is about?”

“I told you. Pro bono work for people who can’t afford pet care.”

She knew there was more, it was in every line of his body, but he said nothing more, just grabbed his black medical bag and got out. He waited for her, and together they walked to the trailer.

It was that brief beat of time between dark and dawn. Purple and pink light hovered in the air, made evanescent by a low-lying fog.

The door to the trailer opened before Dell could knock, revealing a woman somewhere in her fifties. She had dark skin, dark eyes and dark hair streaked through with silver. She took a look at Dell, then Jade, and arched a brow.

The movement, the subtle, almost wry surprise, was so instantly recognizable to Jade that she almost gasped.

The woman was clearly related to Dell.

Stepping back, she allowed them access without a word.

Dell set his hand on the small of Jade’s back and urged her into the trailer. He didn’t introduce her to the woman. In fact, he pretty much dismissed both of them and walked through to the small living area.

There, lining a bench, sat a small crowd, each person with an animal.

Dell sat at a nearby table, opened his bag, and pulled out his laptop. This he thrust at Jade. Apparently, she was going to make herself useful.

The first patient was held by a ten-year-old girl with jet black hair and matching eyes. Clutched in her hands was a skinny, scrawny cat, both looking terrified.

The woman who’d answered the door smiled at the little girl, nodding encouragingly.

The girl shuffled closer.

“Hi, Lakota,” Dell said to her. “How’s Duncan doing?”

Lakota didn’t speak, she just nodded. Dell gently took Duncan from her and gave him an exam. “He’s asthmatic,” Dell said in a low voice to Jade, gesturing that she needed to take notes. “Lakota found him a few months back. Note that there’s still no weight gain. Heart rate, one eighty; respiratory rate, forty-eight breaths a minute. No heart murmurs and his abdomen palpates normally, but he’s dehydrated.” He looked at Lakota. “He needs to have more water. You need to make sure it’s always available to him. You’ve been giving him his meds?”

When Lakota nodded, Dell rummaged through his bag and brought out a small pill bottle. “Here’s what he’ll need until next time.”

“Dell,” Jade said softly. He couldn’t give a minor meds like that, he…

Once again the older woman stepped forward and put her hands on the girl’s shoulders. And that’s when Jade saw another resemblance-they were mother and daughter. Jade glanced at Dell, who was looking at her, eyes as dark and silent as his family’s. Jade sat back, sorry she’d started to speak, even sorrier that she’d doubted him. Bowing over the laptop, she went back to note taking.

Two hours later, Dell had seen the last of the people waiting and he was stuffing his instruments back into his black bag.

Jade shut the laptop and stood. On the walk outside to the truck, Dell shook his head. “I can’t believe you Dell’d me.”

She had. She totally had. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “Don’t be. I’d give these people whatever they needed, legal or not.”

She stared at him. He was utterly serious. Before she could ask him why, the door of the trailer opened behind them.

The woman, whom Jade now knew was named Nila, came out.

Nila’s gaze met Jade’s. “Thank you,” she said.

Jade stopped, surprised. She glanced at Dell, who was still walking. He hadn’t stopped. “For what?” she asked the woman.

“For coming out here, for giving back to people that most others have forgotten about.”

Jade looked at Dell, who was at the truck now, then back to the woman. “I didn’t do much. It’s all Dr. Connelly’s doing.”

“Yes.” The woman nodded, without looking at him. “But he won’t take my thanks.”

Jade nodded at her and got into the truck. They had an hour before their first patients at Belle Haven would arrive, and she figured they’d just make it. “You were amazing back there.”

Dell put the truck into gear and began the considerably rough drive back without a word.

“That woman…” Jade turned in her seat to watch Dell’s reaction. “Nila. She’s related to you.”

They hit a rut and she nearly kissed the windshield. Dell stopped the truck and turned to her, tightening her seatbelt.

They were on the move again before he answered. “Yes.”

Jade drew a breath. “She’s your mother.”

“Birth mother.”

Jade nodded. There was a difference, of course. A birth mother was exactly that. The giver of life but not necessarily the caregiver. “Why did you bring me?”

A very small smile came into his eyes. “You hijacked my truck.”

“You could have told me to get out.”

“Jade, has anyone ever successfully told you what to do?”

“No,” she admitted.

They were quiet a long moment, then Dell let out a long breath. “You wanted to know me. I’m not sure why that means something to me, but it does. So I brought you.” He glanced over at her. “I can count on one finger the number of people outside of Brady, Adam, and Lilah who have been inside my home, who have unlimited access to my computer, who know what I do every Monday morning for a woman I shouldn’t give a shit about.”

Her breath caught. “Me.”

“You.” The sun slanted in, blinding them. He put on his sunglasses. “You’re in. As in as you can possibly be. Your turn, Jade.”

Two days later, Jade had lunch with Lilah in town at the bakery, where they stuffed themselves with turkey and cheese croissants. Lilah was entertaining herself by turning her ring finger to and fro so that the sun coming in through the window hit the diamond just right and glared into Jade’s eyes. “How do you get any work done if you’re staring at that thing all day?” she asked, slipping on her sunglasses to keep from being blinded.