“You can’t be full yet.You’ve hardly eaten.”
Jennifer looked down at her plate.“I’ve eaten half the food on the plate you handed me.There was more food than I could eat in one setting.”
Grant looked skeptical but let the matter drop.It wasn’t long before the food was put away and the dishes were done.He seized her hand and pulled her toward the door.
“Come say goodbye to me.”He stopped at the door, looked expectantly down at her with his hands at his sides, and waited.
It finally dawned on her what he had been waiting for.She felt the warmth of a blush descend upon her face as she closed the space between them, stood on her tiptoes, and reached for his lips.
He bent and let her have his lips.She only had control for seconds before he took it from her, lifted her off her feet, and pulled her tightly against his chest.He pushed his tongue into her mouth and deepened the contact between them.He lifted his head as his breath rasped out of his lungs.He set her down and away from him.
“Get some rest.I’ll be in touch.”
She nodded, closed the door behind him, and locked it before he could say anything.She didn’t have to look to know she had a silly smile on her face.
It was only later in bed that night when she recalled his last words.“I’ll be in touch.”
What exactly did that mean?She wished she could call Tessa, but she feared what her friend would say or that she’d get angry.Jennifer still hadn’t told her about the relationship between her and Grant.If there ever was one.Darn.Whatever this was, it was complicated, especially for someone who’d never had any kind of relationship with a man.
One of the biggest reasons she’d never had a boyfriend was that she stayed so busy.Throughout her teenage years, it was a struggle just to survive and make her way out of poverty.In college, she had to study hard to remain in the vet program or risk losing the scholarship and working any time she had off.After graduating from college, she wanted to put in as many extra hours as possible at the vet office to pay off her school loans and start a nice nest egg for her future.
When she became the shelter director, she put in sixty- to eighty-hour workweeks to organize and clean the building.Then, her time was spent on programs the previous director hadn’t completed or didn’t feel the shelter needed.It was only in the last several months that she was able to take a breath.
Chapter Thirteen
“Jennifer, there’s acall for you.”
Jennifer handed off the small, wet dog to an employee and wiped her hands on a towel.She entered the office and reached for the phone on her desk.
“Hello, this is Jennifer.”
“Hi, Jennifer.”
Just the tone of his voice made her blood heat and her heart race.She gripped the phone, took a few breaths, and sat down hard in her office chair when her legs shook too hard.
“Jennifer?Are you there?”
