If We Dare - J.H. Croix Page 0,47

what had passed between us in that heady, intense passion, right now, I asked him if he wanted a drink.

When he said yes, I didn’t plan on enjoying a glass of wine with him while we sat at my kitchen table talking about nothing and everything. I certainly didn’t plan on getting sleepy enough that my chin fell to my chest. I came half awake when he lifted me into his arms. I most certainly didn’t plan on letting him carry me to bed. And then, when he moved to leave the room, I didn’t plan on reaching out to catch his hand in mine. I certainly didn’t plan on saying, “Stay.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Jade

“I swear, he’s fine,” Shay said, looking at me from behind the reception desk at the vet clinic.

“Can I see him?” I asked in return.

She grinned, her blond ponytail swinging when she held up a finger and grabbed the ringing phone. “Stolen Hearts Vet Clinic,” she said as she lifted it to her ear.

I wandered away from the desk, walking across the waiting area to look at a bulletin board on the wall. It was covered in thank you cards, along with many photographs from various animals that either came to the vet clinic, or were part of the rescue program they ran.

While Shay scheduled an appointment for whoever was on the phone, I heard the front door to the clinic open and reflexively glanced over my shoulder to see Walker coming in. He hadn’t seen me yet, so I took a moment to absorb the sight of him.

My pulse sped up and my belly did a quick little flip. He wore faded blue jeans and battered leather boots. A black T-shirt that did nothing to hide his muscled frame topped off his look. Damn, that man did a T-shirt and jeans amazingly well. He was mouth-watering—all rangy muscle as he moved with easy grace toward the reception desk.

His name slipped out of my mouth without my permission. His feet stopped and he turned, his silver-smoke gaze locking with mine instantly. I swear it felt like a little flame flickered through the air between us. The moment was electric. It had only been a few hours since I’d seen him, and I was already a puddle of need.

I’d woken this morning with his arms wrapped around me after sleeping better than I had in years. After several thrashing beats of my heart, Walker angled across the room to where I stood off to the side of the reception desk. Shay’s gaze was curious when her eyes bounced between Walker and me.

“Hey.” That one word, spoken in Walker’s gravelly drawl, set butterflies alight in my belly.

I took a shallow breath because my lungs couldn’t do anything else. “Hey. What are you doing here?”

Just then, the door to the clinic opened again. This time, my older brother came through. Lucas’s eyes bounced to us instantly.

Just what I need. My protective brother as an audience.

If Walker thought anything of Lucas’s presence, he didn’t let it show. His eyes held mine a bit too long for comfort, and I found I couldn’t look away. The electricity shimmering around us felt so powerful I irrationally worried my brother could actually see it.

Now, you know you’re losing your mind, my inner critic quickly chided me.

“Checking on the opossum?” Lucas asked as he stopped beside Walker and me.

“How did you hear about the opossum?” I countered.

“I told him,” Walker replied with a slow grin that sent those butterflies completely wild in my belly. It was enough to try to manage my body’s crazy reaction to Walker on my own. It was far more unsettling with an audience, especially one that might have an opinion.

“We do work together, in case you forgot,” Lucas said with a pointed look in my direction. “I’m glad you didn’t try to wrangle a wild, injured opossum on your own, by the way.”

Defensiveness flashed inside, and I put my hands on my hips, narrowing my eyes at my brother. “I’m sure I could’ve handled it fine. I do appreciate Walker’s help, though.”

“Injured wild animals are not something to fuck around with, Jade. At least Walker has some experience because his mom used to have a bird rehab program,” Lucas replied.

“She did?” My eyes swung to Walker.

Somehow during the course of events last night, that detail did not come up. I was hungry for every little detail I could absorb about Walker. That little detail about me—my greedy curiosity about all things