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All of a sudden, a large dark object zoomed up my neighbor’s driveway, only just clearing the security gates before they would have slammed shut on his tail. Gene had made a break for it. His intended destination was soon made clear as his wet paws skidded across my front porch. Next, he commenced singing the song of his people. Holy shit, the dog could howl.
“Hey, Gene,” I said, fumbling with the locks on my front door before throwing it open. “Hello, beautiful boy. What’s all the fuss about, huh?”
After giving me a doggy grin, he shook himself dry, wetting me from head to toe in the process. Meanwhile, Garrett stood in the rain, waiting for the security gates to open so he could come after his pooch. Awesome.
Guess I had to get this awkward reunion over and done with sometime. It’s not like anything had actually changed in our relationship. I remained the safe friend, et cetera. Seeing as I was already damp care of Gene, I slid my fingers under his collar and started walking him home. My blue jeans and white tank top were drenched in no time. “Lose something?”
“Yeah. Guess he missed you,” said Garrett, shoving his hand through his dark wet hair. Of course, wet looked good on him. It was like he was in the middle of making an ad for designer cologne. As if any moment now he’d pull out an electric guitar and perform a solo. “Thanks.”
And the warm smile he gave me . . . he had no business looking at me like that. None at all. His gaze dipped to the white lace bra visible through my wet tank before jumping back to my face. Then his jaw firmed and he asked, “How have you been?”
“Good. Great. And you?”
“Fine,” he said, taking charge of his dog. “Glad to be back. Hell of a drive.”
I smiled. “Yeah.”
He immediately narrowed his eyes on me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. We can talk later. I’ll let you get in out of the rain.”
“Hang on,” he said, grabbing hold of my arm. His hand was large and warm and felt altogether too good and grounding, given the situation. “Ani, why are you giving me your fake smile?”
Thunder rolled far off in the distance and the rain came down harder.
“I’m not giving you a fake smile.”
“Yeah, you are. You’re also avoiding looking me in the eye.” He paused and frowned. “You’ve seen those pictures, haven’t you?”
“I, um . . . It’s none of my business.”
Gene tugged and Garrett let him go. The dog immediately dropping and rolling in the nearest puddle of muddy water. Talk about living your best life.
“I mean, it’s great that you went out and had some fun,” I said. “This is ridiculous. We’re both soaked. I’m going to head inside.”
His grip on me tightened. It was firm, but not painful. “Wait a minute, Ani. Let me explain.”
“You don’t need to ex—”
“Smith wouldn’t get off my case about going out. So I agreed to go to the opening of a new nightclub by a friend of ours.” He took a step closer so he wouldn’t have to yell over the weather. “Smith invited the woman he’s dating, and she invited her friend. And the friend was wearing these fancy high heels and almost tripped getting out of the car. I grabbed her hand to stop her from falling. Then the paparazzi freaked her out and she was clinging to me, so I just focused on getting her inside. That’s when they took those photos.”
“She was very beautiful.”
“She was very young,” he said. “And you’re still angry.”
“I’m not angry. I’m glad you got out and spent some time with your friend. But all of this . . . it’s still none of my business. We’re just friends.” I attempted to step back, and his frown increased to a scowl. “Garrett, seriously, it’s fine. Can you let go of me now, please?”
“If it’s so fucking fine, then why the hell do I feel this overwhelming need to explain myself to you?” His forehead was a mess of furrowed lines. And he was more than willing to get all up in my face about the matter. “Can you tell me that much?”
“I don’t know!”
“Me neither!” he yelled straight back. “Shit.”
I wiped the rain out of my eyes. “This is stupid. Let’s talk about this later when we’ve both had a chance to get dry and you’ve had some sleep and—”
His spare hand slipped around the back of my neck to take hold of me and his mouth was on mine. Holy shit. Garrett was kissing me. There was no lead-in or warning. Just his firm, warm lips and the tease of his tongue slipping into my mouth.
I went from attempting to establish some physical and emotional distance between us (for the sake of my own sanity) to making out with him on his front lawn in the rain. Because it never even occurred to me not to kiss him back or to try to stop things. I was drowning in him. The heat and demand and everything. He was everything. I anchored myself to him with a fistful of his shirt and held on for dear life. The heat spreading through my veins was so foreign. It had been a long time since I’d felt anything like this. And I was so desperate for his touch and attention, if he took it away from me now I might cry.
