If it were possible, he looked even more upset.The color on his face went from a deep red tinge to white.
Jennifer stood and laid a hand on Lucky’s head.“Grant.Everything is fine.”
“But you’re so damn little.”
Jennifer rolled her eyes and chuckled as she walked through the living room to the sliding glass door that led to her small back patio.
“Come on, Lucky, outside.”
She watched the dog hobble outside for a minute and ensured he was all right.She couldn’t let him stay out long because of the sprinkles of rain that hit her face.She’d have to put a new one on the dog if his cast got wet.She looked up.The dark clouds promised more by morning.She hoped for a mild storm because she loved the energy and sound, and they always made her fall asleep faster.
She walked past Grant into the kitchen and came out with two syringes and two bottles of medicine.
“Lucky, come,” she called before she turned back to Grant and noticed he still looked upset as she waited for the dog.“It’s not about strength, Grant.It’s about reading the animal.Animals don’t know deceit.Their bodies tell me exactly what their next move will be, and I know them all.”She waited for Lucky to come inside and sit on the floor by her on the couch.
“Now, what are you doing?”
“Lucky needs his medicine.One is an antibiotic, and the other is for pain relief.”
He watched as she expertly filled the syringes and gently grabbed the skin at the back of Lucky’s neck.She gave the first one and then the other.He looked amazed when the dog didn’t even flinch.
“You are very good at that.Maybe you could give me my next flu shot?”he said, only half kidding.
Jennifer snorted as she carefully disposed of the syringes and medicine in special cartons on the kitchen counter before she came back into the living room.
“When you do it as many times as I have, you learn all the tricks.”
Lucky hobbled back to her bedroom, where his bed was.Jennifer gazed at Grant, and neither said a word for a long minute.She tore her gaze from his, fidgeted, bit her lip, and looked anywhere but at him.
She started getting nervous again.She couldn’t concentrate on anything else but him now and didn’t have an excuse not to give him her undivided attention.
“Can we sit down?”he asked in a careful, relaxed voice.
Jennifer sat on one side of the couch.Her heartbeat immediately went into overdrive when he sat in the middle, very close to her, shifted toward her a bit, and put his arm behind her on the back of the couch.
“Remember the problems I told you about earlier?”He went on when she nodded and looked up at him.“The first was checking before you opened the door,” he said, watching her carefully.“The second is letting other men in your apartment, making them feel like they have a chance.”His hand lifted from the back of the couch and drove his fingers through her hair.“Because they don’t, do they?”His voice grew softer and deeper.
Jennifer’s eyes closed when a wave of need pierced her midsection, spread molten heat, and dampened her panties even more than they already were.She tilted her head into his hand.
His eyes creased with amusement mixed with intense arousal.He growled low in his throat.“Jennifer?”
“Hmmm?”Her eyes opened to gaze at him and slide over his masculine features.Her heartbeat began to race in her ears, making it impossible to concentrate on his words.
This time, he outright laughed.“I asked you a question?”He ran his thumb back and forth over her lips.“If you don’t answer me in the next three seconds, I’m going to have to kiss you,” he threatened.
She blinked up at him in startled confusion when he pulled her across his lap against his chest and lowered his head.He immediately drove his tongue into her mouth.She was absolutely powerless to resist him.In fact, she was eager to give him the control his kiss seemed to demand.
She was unable to breathe, all she could do was feel.The hottest wave of desire swept through her so strongly that fear raced down her spine.It was too intense, too overwhelming.She jerked and pulled back, only to be hauled back into his embrace.She whimpered low in her throat.
The sound of her distress immediately reached him.He lifted his head to stare down into her face, laced slightly with distress.He brushed his fingers over her lips.“I’m sorry, baby.I didn’t expect that to get out of control so fast, and the last thing I want is to scare you.”
Jennifer swallowed and nodded before she pushed herself off his chest and sat down next to him on the couch.Jennifer adjusted her shirt before she looked up at him through her lashes.
Grant put a hand on her chin and ignored her slight flinch.“Don’t look like that, sweetheart.I need you to believe I would never hurt or push you to go faster than you’re ready.”
Jennifer paused for a moment, then nodded and caressed the wrist that lay across her face.
“It just took me off guard.I’m not used to feeling like—oh, I don’t know, like I had no control of my body.”
