The corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled up at me, and all I could manage to say was a quiet, “Hi.”
CHAPTER 03: JERICHO
Every time this man took a breath, the buttons on his shirt were holding on for dear life. I swore I could hear them screaming with the effort of containing his impressive chest. The cream-colored fabric hugged every inch of him and left very little to the imagination, and the overwhelming urge to trace the tips of my fingers across that broad expanse bubbled up from someplace deep within me.
Gods, where didthosethoughts come from? My face splotched with heat as I caught my bottom lip between my teeth and bit down to try to shock my brain back into place.
It didn’t work.
I snapped my eyes back up to his, the same faded denim blue as his jeans. A smattering of freckles gave some color to his otherwise pale face, and his strawberry blond hair swept back from his forehead in a wave of barely-controlled chaos. A few strands had come loose at the front and curled down across his brow like he was Clark Kent. Or would it be Superman, since he wasn’t wearing glasses? He was certainlybuiltlike the superhero, all pleasant curves of muscle and an earnest face like he had no idea how gorgeous he was.
The faint clicking of the camera shutter finally reminded me what I was doing here, and I tipped my head back to better meet the other man’s gaze.
“You’re tall,” I said, because everything else I could think of was wildly inappropriate.
“No.” He sounded almost distracted as his eyes swept again from my hair down to my shoes. “You’re just short.”
His shoulders stiffened and his face went slack the moment the words left his mouth, but my bark of laughter earned me at least the ghost of a smile from him.
“Now that we’re done stating the obvious, it’s nice to meet you, Zeke.”
He cleared his throat, and his fingers flexed around mine. “Nice to meet you, too.”
I bit my lip again to keep from grinning at the slight waver in his tone. To cover my amusement, I leaned in a little and dropped my voice. “Nervous?”
His shy smile had my stomach doing somersaults. Gods, he was cute.
“A little,” he admitted. “This isn’t my usual scene.”
“Well, then you’re in good company, because it’s not mine, either. Although—” I gestured dramatically around us with my free hand. “Technically the woodsaremy scene, but modeling is most definitely not.”
“You do a lot of hiking?”
“Something like that,” I said. “What about you? What’syourscene?”
He huffed a soft laugh. “Lately? The animal shelter. I’ve been spending most of my free time there since my internship ended.”
There wasno wayhe could get any more adorable.
He didn’t look young enough to be a recent college grad, unless I was a terrible judge of age—which was a distinct possibility. Either way, the topic got more than a few words out of him at a time, and with something to focus on, he seemed less nervous.
“Color me intrigued. What sort of internship?”
A hint of pink tinged his cheeks. “I’m a small animal vet, so I’ve been interning at a local clinic for the last year. I’m actually about to start my surgical residency in a few weeks.”
I let out a low whistle. “Impressive. So should I call you Dr. Zeke?” I reached up with my free hand to straighten the collar of his shirt as an excuse to step closer. “Show you the respect you’re due.”
His cheeks were fully red, now. “That’s really not necessary. Just Zeke is fine.”
“Just Zeke it is, then.”
“Okay, gentlemen, can I rearrange you a bit?” Sadie asked, making both of us jump.
She was much too good at letting us forget she was here.
Zeke took a step back, and his hand slid out of mine when she gestured him toward the stone hearth behind us.
“Can I have you sit here on this side,” she said, indicating the left corner, “with your knees pointing toward Jericho?” When she had him settled the way she wanted, she turned to me. “I want you next to him, leaning on his shoulder.”
