has me weak in the knees before he takes a step back and gestures toward the bedroom door. Right, of course. We can’t make hot cocoa in his bedroom. Apparently, he has no intention of putting pants on as he steers me toward the kitchen without any stops. Cool, cool, cool. This is totally fine.
The kitchen looks slightly cleaner than it did the last time I was here. Grime still stains the grout, and the table is a bit sticky, but the dishes that were in the sink before are clean and in the drying rack. Baby steps.
I’ve lied to myself enough for one night, so I’m not even going to pretend my eyes don’t linger on Ranger’s mighty fine, tight butt as he makes himself busy heating milk and mixing in the cocoa powder. I breathe a sigh of relief when he sets a mug in front of me and then takes a seat, removing his glorious glutes from my eyeline. Not that the alluring view of his pierced nipples is much better.
“Sorry again about getting you out here in the middle of the night for nothing,” he says, running his thumb absently over the handle of his mug and licking his lips.
“Oh, please.” I wave my hand dismissively. “It wasn’t for nothing. We have cocoa.” I lift my mug and then take a sip. The hot liquid burns my tongue and down my throat as I swallow, but it tastes pleasantly chocolaty, so I’m not complaining.
“Please tell me this isn’t the dumbest call from a worried owner you’ve had before?”
I laugh, then take another sip and relax in my seat. “Before I got into training and everything, I was a receptionist at a veterinary clinic, and we had some interesting clients.”
“Oh yeah?” His eyes sparkle as he leans forward. The move seems unconscious, but I can’t be sure. All I know is that I find myself leaning a bit closer too.
“There was this lady once who decided to breed her dogs.” I roll my eyes to give him a hint about where this story is going. Ranger’s foot bumps against mine under the table, sending little sparks all along my body, a charged energy seeming to crackle between us. “And I guess she just figured nature would take its course and that she wouldn’t need to research anything.”
“Uh-oh,” he says with a grin.
“Yeah, uh-oh,” I agree. “So I get this call one afternoon, and she’s frantic because her dogs are stuck together.” I pause for effect, waiting for his eyes to go wide with understanding.
“The knot?” he guesses, and I snort a laugh and nod.
“Yup, they were knotted. She told me she’d been throwing hot dogs at them for twenty minutes and couldn’t get them to separate.”
Ranger howls with laughter, and I join him.
“Oh my god, imagine being balls deep, and some crazy lady comes along chucking food at you,” he cackles between bouts of laughter, causing us both to laugh even harder. He wipes away the tears streaming over his cheeks. I’ve never seen him so joyful and free.
“I don’t know. I’ve been fucked by a few guys where the experience could’ve been vastly improved by snacks,” I joke.
His laughter dies off, and it takes me a few seconds to notice an undercurrent of heat in his eyes. I lick my lips, and Ranger’s eyes drop to my mouth, following the motion. My heart beats a little faster, and…I’m not sure if he’s leaning in or I am, but between one blink and the next, our lips are pressed together.
My mind short-circuits as Ranger’s hot and soft lips part against mine. He drags his tongue along the seam of my mouth, the taste of chocolate lingering.
But as quickly and unexpectedly as the lovely mouth-to-mouth started, it ends. He gasps and pulls back, leaving me suspended in space with the ghost of his kiss on my lips and a sick, guilty feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“I’d better go.” I jump up so fast I nearly knock the chair over. Ranger tenses. I curse myself for my careless movements. Out of the corner of my eye, I see his fists clench, his chest rising slowly as he draws in a deep breath. “Sorry,” I mutter, then flee from the kitchen and out the front door.
Once I’m in my truck, I turn the music up loud enough I won’t be able to hear myself think, and I hightail it home.
11
Ranger
Fuck, fuck, fuck. What did I do? Did I