Joke’s on You by Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,13

fuckin’ nuts.”

I stared at him in shock, dumbfounded by some people’s stupidity.

“And when we tried to arrest her after that, he opens fire on us, pissed that we’re taking away his wife.”

“That’s when you took the bullets to the chest,” I said softly.

He nodded. “That’s when.”

“Did the man die?” I asked curiously.

Was it bad that I wanted him to?

I mean, the man nearly killed Booth!

“No.” Booth leaned forward for his drink, and that was when I realized that I was still practically standing between his legs.

Before I plopped down next to him, I carefully gave him his drink.

Then I took my spot beside him before leaning forward and sucking some coffee from the coolest straw ever.

“Thank you,” he rumbled, taking small sips.

I leaned back and stared at him.

“I just…” I licked my dry lips. “I had to know, I guess. I feel stupid for not noticing before.”

He chuckled. “I think that mostly it was me not wanting to tell you. I knew that you looked. That was why I put Asa completely in front of me.”

I scratched my head, then leaned forward to drink the rest of my coffee.

The straw made amusing sucking sounds as I hit the bottom.

“Want some more?” he asked.

That I shouldn’t do.

Taking his shirt off had been the highlight of my day, though.

I really, really wanted to go to bed so I could dream about taking it off all over again.

That was about as close as I could ever come to having Booth Pena—in my dreams.

“Sadly,” I said as I picked up my cup, “I really have to go. I have to be up early in the morning. Even earlier than usual because I have to get the dogs into the kennels and get them fed and watered. Luckily, there’s one less that I’d have to take care of today because Delanie sold one to an ex-cop in Toronto. He came down early, and I had to do the whole spiel with him. I’m not sure how Delanie does it. I feel like a complete moron every time I try to make them sit or do something and they don’t pay attention.”

He chuckled.

“Delanie is just insanely good at it,” he said as he leveraged himself out of the glider using his knees. “Thank you for coming over to check on me, Dillan.”

I bit my lip and stared at him for a few long seconds.

“You scared me, Booth,” I told him honestly. “Be safe out there. Asa would miss you like crazy if you weren’t here anymore.”

He was silent for a few seconds as he led me once again through his house, only backward this time.

When I opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch, I half expected him not to follow me out. But he did.

Stepping out on the porch with me, he didn’t have a shy bone in his body as he proudly stood there in front of me looking like a midnight snack.

The light that was coming from his house at his back, paired with the front porch light, lit up his body like he was a display at the museum.

And he really could’ve pulled off the Greek statue look completely.

He had well-defined, honed muscles. And I’m not talking about here and there. I’m talking about those muscles along his ribs that I liked to call ‘side abs.’ His pectoral muscles were bunched up, making me kind of envious.

Sadly, I wasn’t the biggest bra cup in the world, and when Booth stood like that, his muscles there were even bigger than my boobs.

And the veins.

Sweet baby Jesus, the veins on the man.

They were everywhere.

On his arms and biceps, his belly, running down into his pants, seriously, if I was a nurse, I’d be drooling right now.

As it was, I wasn’t a nurse, I just had a stellar ability to check out the male form, and I was practically salivating.

Luckily, the fact that I knew that Booth would most certainly notice had me keeping it under control.

He missed absolutely nothing.

Which was why, when he cleared his throat, I blushed profusely.

“Those freakin’ bruises are gonna hurt tomorrow,” I lied through my teeth. “Are you sure you don’t need to, you know, go to the emergency room or something?”

He flashed me a quick grin, and I had the distinct feeling that he knew damn well I wasn’t looking at his bruises.

“I went to the hospital,” he said. “They forced me to. I passed out for a second, so it was required by law. When I