“Have you been here… long?” Amy managed, ignoring the voice inside her head screaming,
“Only long enough to make breakfast. I took the liberty of helping myself to your house key last night, after you passed out. I thought you might be a little under the weather this morning. I can honestly say, I’ve never seen anyone get so drunk, so fast, on so little.”
Amy pulled the covers up to her chin and watched in dismay as he set a tray across her lap. He’d given her a glass of orange juice, a plate filled with steaming, golden slices of French toast drenched in butter and syrup, and a rose. A delicate, pale pink rose. She didn’t know what to say. Not only hadn’t anyone ever fixed her breakfast in bed before… but a rose! What had she done to deserve this? She was afraid to ask. “Um, about the rose…”
“I had to go to the supermarket for coffee, and I spied this rose. It’s the same shade as your skirt.” He grinned at the blush spreading across her face. “And your cheeks.”
“This rose isn’t for… ah, anything special? I mean we didn’t…”
“Don’t you remember?”
“I remember being unbuttoned out of my blouse.”
Jake helped himself to a corner of toast. “Don’t you remember anything else?”
“I remember a conversation about… gardening.”
“You mean that stuff about flowers, deflowering?”
Amy closed her eyes. She’d hoped it had been a nightmare. She’d told an acquaintance of only two hours her most intimate secret… and she was almost certain she’d then proceeded to attack him. “What happened after the conversation?”
Jake sliced off another corner and fed it to Amy. “You tried to get me to go to bed with you.”
“I didn’t!”
“You did, but I wouldn’t do it. I have my principles, you know. I didn’t want you to think I was easy.”
If she could die from embarrassment, Amy was sure she’d be dead in a minute. She swallowed the piece of bread in one gulp and slumped back against the headboard. “I suppose I’m relieved. I was afraid I just didn’t remember it.”
“It? You mean the momentous occasion?”
She detected a trace of laughter in his eyes, but his voice was low and purposefully seductive. It was a nice combination, she thought; it was playful. He was trying to ease them through an awkward morning after.
She sipped her orange juice and studied Jacob Elliott, deciding he had to have been at the head of the line when God was giving out all the good stuff. Not just physical good stuff like broad shoulders and perfect teeth. Jacob Elliott had a bunch of intangible qualities that, even in her inexperienced state, Amy knew would make him an extraordinary lover and a good friend. There was a gentleness about him, a satisfaction with life, a generous sense of humor. And he was honorable. Thank goodness.
She couldn’t imagine what had gotten into her last night. She’d indulged in a glass of wine from time to time-a nip of sherry at Christmas and champagne at weddings-but it had never affected her like
She should explain to Jake. He probably thought she was a crazed sex fiend. “I don’t usually do things like this,” she said. “I’ve never picked up a veterinarian before. And I’ve certainly never tried to get one into my bed.”
Jake nodded solicitously and tried not to smile.
Amy nervously twisted her napkin. “I can’t imagine what you must think of me, but it’s wrong. Honestly, I’m really very nice. In fact, most men think I’m prudish.”
Damn. This wasn’t coming out right, and if he didn’t stop smiling she was going to rearrange his nose. “What I mean to say is that I’d never go to bed with you!” Lord, now he looked insulted! “Not that it wouldn’t be… ah, pleasant.”
“Pleasant?”
“Incredible?” Did she just say “incredible”? Was that her voice? That shamelessly husky whisper?
She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not interested in casual sex. I think the union between two people is very special and should be reserved for marriage. Besides, I could never, um, fool around with my employer.” She looked at him speculatively. “Do I still have a job?”
“You bet. And it starts today.” He glanced at his watch. “I have to get going. Mrs. Tobin is bringing her cat in at eight o’clock. Things slack off around noon. That would be a good time for you to come in to the office and meet my crew. The clinic is just around the corner from the supermarket… you can’t miss it. Oh, and Amy…”
“Yes?” She gulped, afraid of what he might say next.
“Wear something casual… something that won’t show dog hair.”
Amy locked the front door behind her and skipped down two porch steps before coming to a screeching halt. There was no little red car sitting in her driveway. She thunked her fist against her forehead. “Dumb, dumb, dumb.” Her car was still in the supermarket parking lot. No big deal. She could ride her bike. She hustled back into the house and changed out of her blue sundress into a pair of red shorts and a crisp white blouse. She traded her white sandals for a pair of running shoes.
Thirty minutes later she sailed into the clinic parking lot with sunburned cheeks, her blond curls damp against her forehead. She parked her bike in the flowerbeds to the side of the door and immediately stepped in a soft, malodorous brown mound. The four-letter expletive she uttered fit the occasion perfectly. She entered the empty, air-conditioned waiting room holding her shoe as far from her nose as possible.
Jake looked up from the front desk and grinned. “You have to be careful where you walk around a vet’s office.”
“Uh-huh.”
He gingerly took the shoe from her. “Follow me. I’ll rinse it off for you and give you the complete tour.” He opened doors as they walked. “Four examining rooms.” He pointed out a room with microscopes and stainless steel gizmos. “We have a good lab.” They proceeded toward the back of the clinic. “This is our grooming and minor- surgery area… over there are intensive-care cages.”
He cleaned her shoe in a deep sink, sprayed it with disinfectant, and waited while Amy laced it back onto her foot. “Boarding kennels are through that door, and major surgery is downstairs.”
He led her into a large carpeted room with wall-to-wall bookshelves and a huge oak desk heaped to overflowing with stacks of manila folders, magazines, apple cores, and a massive yellow tomcat with only one eye and half a tail.
“This is my office. Maybe you could help me get it straightened out.”
The floor was littered with newspapers. Cardboard boxes held unpacked books. Phone numbers had been scribbled on the wall nearest the desk. Photos of patients were taped everywhere.
Straighten it out? Amy gasped. It would take a forklift to clear off his desk. “How much are you going to pay me?”
“It’s not as bad as it looks.”
“Is the cat real or stuffed?”
“That’s Spike. I rescued him from the shelter. He’s had a tough life. He lives here now.”
“Any other animals I should know about?”
“Spot comes and goes with me; you’ve met him. And there’s Ida.”
“What’s an Ida?”
Amy’s eyes opened wide. “My word. I didn’t see it there. It blends in with the palm tree.” This, Amy thought happily, was going to be fun.
Jake wanted to kiss her. It was all he could think about. Actually that wasn’t entirely true, he admitted to himself. He could think of other things, but they started with kissing. Hell, maybe one little kiss wouldn’t hurt. A gentle kiss. Last time he’d kissed her he’d acted like a Neanderthal. This time he’d use restraint.
He didn’t want to do anything that might jeopardize Amy’s feelings for him. She was a passionate, responsive woman who’d saved a very special part of herself for twenty-six years. He didn’t want to be the one to mess up her plans. He didn’t want her jumping into his bed because he’d stirred up a bunch of vacationing hormones, and then when the flush of desire was sated have her wonder if she’d done the right thing.
