“And let Audrey catch wind of my epic failure before the sun comes up? No thanks.”
“AudreyWalker?”
“Formerly Audrey Hamilton. My cousin.”
Sullivan takes a moment, as though this information is processing. “You were never just passing through town, were you?”
“I never said I was.”
He shifts, pointing that piercing gaze at me. It’s intense. So fucking intense. I want to look away, but for the life of me, I can’t. I can’t stop thinking about that steely gaze locking with mine as he came so hard above me his entire body shook from his release.
That wasafterI lost count of the times he brought me to the edge of a deliciously euphoric cliff and shoved me right over.
“Sull—”
“I need to grab a crate so I can move her,” he says, looking back at Roxi.
“Afraid I’m fresh out. Best I can do is a cardboard box.”
“No, I need a kennel. I’ll be back.”
“Wait, where are you going to take her?”
“My great aunt has a wildlife rescue a few miles outside of town.”
“Really?” For such a small town, Daisy Hills really has been full of surprises. It’s no wonder people never want to leave this place. People who are not my mother, anyway. If I can just survive today, I plan to become a lifelong resident. But if today is an epic failure, I’ll be packing up my possessions and leaving with my tail tucked between my legs.
“Yeah. She takes in injured wild animals and nurses them back to health until they can be released back into the wild. Keeps the ones who can’t. Should be a pretty good place to sleep off a hangover. Safe from predators, anyway.”
Dammit. Just like that, the grumpy, pain-in-the-ass man reveals hedoeshave a heart. I’m overcome with the urge to jump him. A good, quick fuck might take my mind off the mess before me long enough for me to keep it together. Would it really be so bad?—
“I’ll be back in fifteen minutes or less,” Sull says, already on his way out.
“Okay, I’ll just—” but he’s already out the back door. “—clean up.”
Guess I’m the only idiot affected by our night together. But the message has been received loud and clear. As soon as Roxi is rehomed, I’ll shift my focus back to keeping my business alive and put Sullivan West out of my mind—for good.
Or, you know, I’ll try.
CHAPTER 4
Sullivan
“Thanks, man,” I say to local veterinarian Bryan Maxwell as I secure the crate in the back of my truck. It was sheer dumb luck that he and his wife were at the animal shelter this early in the morning, but spotting their vehicle saved me a trip back to my place. “I’ll have this back before the end of the day.”
“I’d use a pair of gloves,” Bryan says. “In case the little guy wakes up and decides to take a bite out of your hand. Rabies shots are a bitch.”
That’s an unpleasant thought I could’ve done without.
“Right.” I open my driver’s side door, but hesitate getting in. “Could you please do Lila a favor and not say anything about this?”
“She’s worried her grandma will find out, isn’t she?” Haley chimes in, looping her arm through Bryan’s.
“Her grandma?” I repeat, replaying what Lila said earlier. It’s fuzzy, though, considering I was in battle ready mode when she was going on about keeping this a secret.
“Valerie Hamilton,” Haley says, as though that clears everything up.
Well fuck.