Jill Shalvis - Animal Attraction

But she wasn’t feeling the same need. She grinded against him and he closed his eyes. No, that made it even worse.

Or better…

Her hands were everywhere, grasping ahold of anything she could brace herself with, and though he tried to keep the pace steady, she wasn’t helping, moaning his name, arching against him, trying to climb inside his body. He felt her body tighten around him as she burst and he opened his eyes to watch, but that proved to be his undoing and he came with her, hard. When his knees gave out, he slid to the floor, barely managing to keep a grip on her. Not that she noticed. She was limp, content, and clearly sated, and for once he felt the same. Breathing hard, he braced them against the wall and held her close.

“Gonna miss that,” she said hoarsely against his chest.

Yeah. Big-time.

“Are we going to get up?”

No. He wanted to stay here, right here, still inside her body, in her life. “I’m not ready to let go of you.”

With a soft little hum of agreement, she cuddled in tight.

Nearly a week later, Dell shut himself in his office after a long day and sank exhausted to his chair. He’d caved and called the temp agency (emphasis on temp) on the second day. He’d told Jade he wasn’t going to replace her and he wasn’t. The agency had sent a perfectly nice twenty-two-year-old receptionist from Boise, who was interested in wintering in Sunshine to ski on the weekends.

That was the same excuse Jade had given him when she’d come to Sunshine and it hadn’t escaped him, and as he thought of her, as he had for five straight days now, he felt a stab of pain in his chest.

Of course that might just be the fresh scratch from pec to pec, courtesy of one pissed-off feline from an earlier patient visit.

His day had sucked.

His life sucked.

Leaning back in his chair, he closed his eyes, wanting to snap at whoever had just opened his door and let themselves in. “It’s called a knock.”

Ignoring his scowl, Lilah sat on the corner of his desk. “You okay?”

As if he were too busy to talk, he stared at his computer-which wasn’t even booted up. “Yeah.”

“You working?”

“Yep,” he said, without taking his eyes off his blank screen.

She came around the desk and stood behind him, staring at the blank screen along with him. “Dell-”

“Look,” he said. “I know you think you’re trying to help with the phone calls, the texts, the lunches you keep bringing by, but I want to be left alone.”

“Really? Because when I was hurting, you never left me alone. You badgered, bullied, and pretty much shoved me back to the life of the living.”

“I’m not you,” he said, closing his eyes.

The next sound he heard was that of his office door shutting quietly. He dropped his head to his desk, pounding it a few times because he was a complete asshole.

When the door opened again, he didn’t lift his head. “I’m sorry. I just want to be alone.”

“Got that loud and clear. And nice job on kicking the puppy, you asshole.”

Adam. He sighed. “I meant for you all to go away.”

“Aw, and here I wanted to join your pity party.”

“Fuck you.”

Adam came around Dell’s desk and kicked Dell’s chair back from it. “You sent her away and now you’re punishing everyone that’s left. What the hell’s that?”

“I didn’t send her away. She left all on her own.”

“So ask her to come back.”

Dell shoved Adam away and stood up, stalking to the window.

“It’s unlike you to hole up and hide out.”

“I’m not.”

“Bullshit you’re not. How many women have you dated this year?”

Dell craned his neck and narrowed his eyes at his brother.

“Yeah,” Adam said. “I can’t count, either. You’ve never even looked back. But you’re looking back now. Why don’t you just man up, tell her how you feel, and work it out?”

“We’re not talking about this.”

“Okay. Except we are.” Adam took the desk chair and made himself comfortable, leaning back, folding his fingers together over his abs. “Because I’ve been voted to kick your ass into gear.”

“Look, she was needed back at home, so she went. It’s not that far. We’re going to visit.”

Adam nodded.

“And anyway, I should be relieved. It’s a forced slowingdown period, right? Things… they were getting a little out of hand.”

“Out of hand?” Adam repeated. “Is that what you kids call falling in love these days?”

Dell turned to face Adam, his ass resting against the window sill because his legs felt a little wobbly. “Who said anything about love?”

“Oh, that’s right. You only love four-legged furry creatures.”

“Fuck you.”

“Aw, you’re repeating yourself again.” Adam stood. “Listen. What happened to us when we were kids, that was… fucked up.”

Not wanting to hear this, or anything else for that matter, Dell gave Adam a push toward the door.

Adam took a step back but held his ground. “But we still managed to make something of ourselves.”

“Adam-”

“That was all you, man. Brady and I kept our heads on straight because we had you to look after. And then later on when the both of us lost it, you kept your head on straight. You give everything you have to us, to this place, to the animals that come to you in it. So why can’t you give everything you have to the one woman who’s ever made you happy?”

“Look, I told you, we’ll be okay. I’ll see her whenever I’m in Chicago, and-”

“You’re in Chicago never.”

Dell gave Adam another push to the door.

“Good talk,” Adam said, just before Dell slammed the door in his face.

It took three days for Jade to get back to Chicago. The drive was easy enough, smooth weather, no car problems. Her phone rang steadily. Lilah, checking in with traffic reports, wanting Jade to know about the cow reportedly on the highway in Wyoming, and the detour in Nebraska, and that Lilah had already planned a Chicago trip.

Jade had hung up each time smiling.

Then tearing up.

She missed Lilah already.

Brady called, letting her know he’d changed her oil the night before she’d left and also put on new windshield wipers.

Adam called several times as well, asking about work and scheduling. Things they both knew that he already knew.

No pressure to come back, not from any of them. They wanted what was best for her.

They wanted her to be happy…

Dell didn’t call. She didn’t expect him to. But she picked up her phone often and thumbed to his contact info, then set her phone down.

Back in Chicago, she went straight to her town house. There were no surprises. Well, except that when she set Beans’s carrier down and opened the door, the cat didn’t want to come out.

Jade coaxed her with some treats, but after she ate them she went right back into her carrier with a low growl that Jade would have sworn said, This is not home.

Jade’s mother had sent people in to clean periodically and Sam had long ago adopted her few plants, so she shouldn’t have been surprised to find everything in order and in its place, smelling slightly of lemon cleaner.

It was bigger than she remembered. More open.

More empty.

She’d spent her first day alone, not having told anyone she was back, but by day two Sam had sniffed her out.

He let himself in with his key and called to her from the front door. “Jade?” Before she could blink, he’d crossed the living room, hauled her off the couch and was hugging her. “Jesus, are you a sight for sore eyes.” Pulling back, he stared down into her face and smiled.