puppy railed against the leash but then seemed to finally realize they were there to help and relinquished its struggle on the way to the car.
Once settled in the back seat, the creature proceeded to lick Kirby’s face.
“Ah, more kisses.” She tore off a tiny bite of the burger as a reward.
“Boy or girl?” Reese asked as she started the car and took the first U-turn toward downtown.
Kirby lifted the little one’s wagging tail.
“Girl. I win.”
“You’re amazing. How did you know?”
“Easy. A boy would have taken the bait on the first drop and thought about the consequences later.”
Reese raised a brow and glanced in the rearview mirror. “Are we talking about dogs or men?”
Kirby simply smiled.
“Thank you for doing this. I know you’re really busy at work,” Reese said.
“Happy to do it.”
The puppy curled up beside Kirby and fell fast asleep as they rode, in relative silence, back to the station.
“Speaking of work and kisses, how did your date go last night?” Reese asked.
Kirby figured the question had been percolating in her friend’s brain.
“Okay. He’s amazing-looking, but otherwise I have no story to tell.” She privately smiled at her understatement, and Reese totally witnessed the momentary slip.
“Keep your eyes on the road, please,” Kirby admonished. “We don’t want to kill the puppy after we went to so much trouble to rescue her.”
“Okay. But dish, please.”
“There’s nothing to dish. Seriously, I’m not planning on sleeping with the guy. I just need to get him to talk.”
“Right. No telling where those guys have been.”
“Probably no more places than my ex had been,” Kirby said.
“Oh. Sorry, I forgot. Hey, know what? I think you should totally go for it with this guy. Get the story, and have a few orgasms.”
“What? No.” But even as Kirby said it, her body begged to differ.
“Do it, Kirby. You deserve to have some fun. Just make him wear protection.”
Reese eased to a stop in front of the station.
“I won’t let it go that far,” Kirby said as she exited the back seat, much to the disappointment of the puppy.
Reese’s smirk said it all. Kirby hadn’t been the least bit convincing.
Maybe because she didn’t feel the least bit convinced. Mostly, what she felt was a deep stirring that whipped into a frenzy at the thought of him. It was as if he’d turned her on last night and there wasn’t an off switch.
Between the high of rescuing the puppy and the images of Easy Ride that her mind feasted on, getting anything accomplished at work wouldn’t be easy.
Once back at her desk, a different reality set in. She hadn’t logged out of the private portal, and someone had obviously been poking around the site. Furthermore, she knew exactly who that someone was. But there was no way she’d let Seth hijack her assignment.
True, she had a chink in her armor, which could make it more challenging to be objective. Yet, she wanted to feel what this man had made her feel. She deserved to feel something. All the self-talk in the world kept leading her back to the same place, and back into the arms of the irresistible unknown.
Mix business with pleasure...live in the moment.
The only problem was, she hadn’t been prepared for...this. Out-of-control desire. As appealing as it sounded to shed her good-girl image, she hadn’t set out to sleep with her source. Too risky. Professionally and personally.
In fact, she’d be satisfied with a repeat of last night’s “performance.”
Yeah. Right.
At least she was prepared to take Reese’s advice, should the uncontrollable happen again—make him wear a condom—because she was in too deep to stop now. For the pleasure, and for the story.
Her moment, it seemed, had arrived.
* * *
ADAM PUMPED A generous amount of Purell into his hands and worked it through every pore. The cool gel calmed his sweaty palms, and the clean scent cleared his head for what he was about to face.
He was still reeling from the emotional jolt, as if he’d been riding the most incredible mare and was cold-cocked by a low-hanging branch.
It didn’t help his nervousness to see the name Henry V. Drake on the wall next to his grandfather’s hospital room.
At least his worst fears weren’t realized. Henry hadn’t died. From what little Adam had been told when he’d asked for directions at the nurses’ station, his grandfather took the wrong dosage of one of his many medicines and blacked out on the front lawn. Fortunately, a neighbor called 911 and gave Adam as the primary contact.
He knocked lightly while easing the door fully open.
“Come in, come in!” Henry’s cheery greeting provided some assurance that nothing essential had changed.
The man looked up as Adam approached. A rather large glob of pudding wobbled on the spoon as Henry’s hand shook ever so slightly.
“What the heck are you doing here, son? The hospital folks weren’t supposed to bother you with this.” Henry set down the spoon and shoved the entire tray aside.
Adam perched on the edge of the bed.
“You gave everyone quite a scare, old man.”
“Busybody neighbors. I was resting on the lawn. I wish they’d mind their own business.”
As if to emphasize his point, Henry kicked at the covers, exposing one pale thin leg and one foot sheathed in a fuzzy blue sock, complete with rubber speed bumps on the sole.
“You were resting, facedown, on the lawn?”
“Okay. Maybe I got a little dizzy.”
“You and I are going to put together a written schedule for your medications. Or, better yet, hire a nurse to stop by the house and administer them. I promise I’ll find a pretty one.”
A little life returned to Henry’s pale cheeks.
“I’d rather you find a pretty one for yourself. Nurse or otherwise.”
“I’m working on it.” Adam couldn’t help but smile when he thought about Kirby, which was absolutely insane. But she
