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His nose met my skin, dragging from the curve of my jaw down to the strap of my top, goose bumps trailing in its wake. He inhaled and it was his turn to groan.“What happened to your fox, princess?”
“His paw, something bit him.” My hands left the water to grip the basin, barely noting the water dripping down the front of my body.
“So you called my brother?”
“I calledHeather.”
“To call my brother?” The commanding tone was back and the answer tore from me.
“Yes.”
It seemed to wake him up. I felt the briefest brush of hips, the hardness concealed beneath the fly of his jeans, then he retreated and my back arched, following him to the very last second. Air flowed between us, still sticky and oppressive but less consuming. I started to turn but he placed a hand on my shoulder.“I need to get to work,” he said without further explanation.
What waswork?“Right… of course.” I clutched the counter tighter. It was the only thing holding me up.
He retreated, urging Boy out ahead of him.“Princess?” he said. I think I uttered a reply.“Stop feeding the foxes before one of them bites you.”
15
MAL
I Wanna Be Yours – Arctic Monkeys
Princess: Do you mind if I come by and switch the DVD out today?
Her text stared back at me as it had for the past thirty minutes. It sat right below the unanswered text message from the day before.
Princess: I’m popping into the pet store over lunch, Jasmine put some treats aside for Dudley and the foxes. Want anything for Boy?
It was two days, a full forty-eight hours since the incidentin the kitchen.
Incidentbeing a chickenshit term for being overcome by jealousy that April called out a vet to help an injured animal, because that vet happened to be my attractive, happy-go-lucky brother. Let me spell it out one more time for all parties involved. I got jealousbecause she called out my brother, the village veterinarian—big underline there—to help a wounded animal. I sounded like an insane person. And I couldn’t even be quietly jealous. It was so damn obvious, she’d stated it out loud.
“You sound jealous, grumps.”I cringed every time I thought of it.
If that weren’t embarrassing enough, I’d pushed her up against the counter and ground my rock-hard cock against her. Not even the memory of her sweet arse cheeks cupping me through my trousers was enough to wipe away the burn of humiliation. It was like a bridge troll dry-humping Snow White.
And yet here she is texting you,a traitorous little voice whispered.She responded to you in the kitchen.No way would I have pressed my cock against her if she hadn’t. Unless I’d misread the signals. Misread her breathy moans. It wasn’t like I had a lot of experience reading women.Shit.
My mind churned, thoughts pinging from one impossible scenario to the next. Anxiety crept across my chest and tightened like shadowy vines. With trembling hands, I read her text again. The only way around this was to act normal, act like nothing happened. And if she slapped me and demanded an apology next time we were face-to-face, well, I’d muster the courage to stammer through it and then move to New Zealand.
What the hell would I do in New Zealand? Did they even have whisky?Of course they do. Focus.
Mal: What happened to your plans for tonight?
I’d overheard her talking on the phone to Juniper outside the dunnage yesterday morning, they were going to the Sheep’s Heid.
Great job not being creepy.
A single blue tick appeared, then a second. She’d read it. For the next thirty seconds, I gripped that phone like it was the final plank of a sinking ship. Three dots appeared and my breath caught.
Princess: June’s new rescue isn’t fitting in well, she has to skip.
No idea what that meant. I didn’t really care.
Princess: I’m thinkingThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Mal: You saidThe Sixth Sensescared you.
