With These Two Hands

by Lori Ryan

  She knew what he wanted. She just wasn’t sure she could give it to him.

  As much as she’d love to see her father and brother, she couldn’t go home. Not yet. The clinic wasn’t making a decent profit. She’d yet to do what she’d set out to accomplish when she left home to attend vet school. She’d wanted to create a viable, sustainable, profitable practice. In time she would. She was committed. But her time was running out. Soon her contract with the American Veterinary Medical Foundation would be over and she’d have to come up with an extra fifteen hundred dollars a month just for her student loans, forget about all the other expenses related to running her vet clinic.

  Her cell phone pinged with a text message.

  AARON: Got plans for dinner?

  She smiled. Aaron was a great distraction.

  KAYLEIGH: I’m cooking, want to come over?

  AARON: I thought you hated cooking.

  KAYLEIGH: I don’t hate it, I just don’t do it very often.

  AARON: What’s the occasion?

  The occasion was she was worn out and cooking had always calmed her. Working in the kitchen with her grandmother on her farm filled Kayleigh with a sense of accomplishment. Her grandmother’s farm was where she had first learned the power of unconditional love found in animals, and in her grandmother.

  KAYLEIGH: I have a few days off.

  AARON: Really?

  Kayleigh had created a co-op of sorts for vets in the area. Once a month they relinquished their pagers for a few days off while someone else took over. The coverage rotated so everyone got a turn.

  This weekend was hers. Barring any major local emergencies, she was off for the next four days. That was, if she could keep people from knocking on her door. Maybe she’d go stay at the bed and breakfast with Lily.

  KAYLEIGH: Really. You coming before I change my mind?

  AARON: Be there in ten.

  Be there in ten? Where was he? He would take longer than that to get to her house from the mountain.

  KAYLEIGH: Where are you?

  AARON: Just leaving the medical clinic.

  He’d been at the medical clinic?

  AARON: Can I bring anything?

  KAYLEIGH: No, just stay dry. It was starting to sprinkle when I left earlier.

  AARON: Ahh, you’re worried about me. That’s so sweet.

  KAYLEIGH: Don’t flatter yourself.

  AARON: See ya in a few.

  Kayleigh found herself smiling again. It had been a while since she’d hooked up with a guy. She’d attended a conference in Denver a few months ago and spent a couple of nights with a medical rep. The sex had been decent, but nothing epic. Nothing like her romance novels, or her battery-operated boyfriend.

  Maybe she should stop reading novels. Maybe she was setting her standards too high.

  She went back to her cooking, flipping the breasts over. Since Aaron was coming, she added a few more vegetables to the pan. She bent over, rummaging in the fridge for salad fixings.

  She was washing and chopping vegetables a few minutes later when her favorite song came on—Eye of the Tiger, by Survivor. Her grandmother had been a huge Rocky fan and Kayleigh had seen every single one at least four times. Even the bad ones at the end of the franchise.

  She kicked the fridge closed, hands filled with veggies as she sang and danced to the song.

  “He’s watchin’ us all with the eyyyye,” she dragged out the note like Survivor’s lead singer, David Bickler, shaking her hips to the drum solo, “of the—”

  “Nice moves,” someone behind her said.

  Kayleigh screamed, dropping a carrot on the floor.

  Annie barked and ran around her feet, licking the carrot.

  “Oh, shit, sorry,” Aaron said.

  He stood in the doorway to her kitchen, his hair dripping wet. Her gaze traveled down his body and she noticed his wet shirt was glued to his chest. A nice, strong, muscular chest.

  “You scared the crap out of me,” she said.

  “And the dog.” Aaron nodded to Annie as he knelt down and picked up the carrot. Annie had licked it before apparently deciding carrots didn’t make the grade with her. “I knocked but you didn’t answer. I heard the music and figured you didn’t hear me.”

  Her breath caught in her throat. She’d thought Aaron Sumner was a sight to behold, but that was when he was dry. Aaron Sumner wet. No words. She shook her head.

  The dog took that moment to notice him and start barking. Some watchdog.

  His eyes met hers but not before taking a long stroll up her bare legs on the way.

  She glanced down. She was wearing an over-sized Texas A&M sweatshirt that nearly covered her barely-there shorts.

  “Annie, be quiet, Aaron’s not a thief.”

  Aaron raised a brow.

  “Are you?”

  “Nope.” He laughed. “What the hell does ‘Gig ’em’ mean?”

  “What?”

  He nodded toward her shirt. “It says Gig ’em.”

  She pulled at the hem of her sweatshirt, thankful the material and her bra were thick enough to hide her puckered nipples. “It’s the saying for my alma mater.”

  “Okay.” He chuckled under his breath.

  “What?” She pointed toward the sink.

  “What does it mean?”

  “It’s an old school thing. It refers to gigging frogs.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” She swatted at him. “You’re soaking wet.”

  “Yeah, it started raining harder about half way here. I ran, but it was no use.” He waved his hand up and down his body.

  “Well, go to the bathroom and take off your clothes.”

  Aaron smirked. “Already trying to get me naked, huh?”

  “Whatever.” She shook her head, trying to hold back the real answer. Yes, she would love to see Dr. Aaron Sumner naked.

  He stepped closer. “That’s what I thought.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You want me naked. It’s written all over your face.”

  She twisted, her face flushed, turning on the water to wash the rest of the vegetables. “Bathroom is the first door on the right. There’s a robe on the hook. Bring out your clothes and I’ll put them in the dryer.”

  She heard him chuckle as he walked down the hallway. The door closed and she turned, breathing deep. She needed to get this food on the table before he came back in nothing but a robe. Talk about a distraction.

  She turned her attention back to the chicken and lowered the heat, covering it with a lid. Then she went back to her salad prep, trying to think of anything other than Aaron in her bathroom, stripped down to his boxers.

  “Where should I put these?” His voice came over her shoulder, his breath caressing the skin of her neck.

  She jumped, and goose bumps spread across her skin.

  “Sorry.” His hand latched on to her waist. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  She laughed but was surprised by how breathless his words sounded. She was suddenly all nerves, now that he was standing in her kitchen. As much as Kayleigh joked and acted like she was always in control, she worried that maybe he’d say no if she tried to take this further than friendship.

  “Where should I put these?” Aaron asked again.

  Kayleigh turned and took the clothes from his hands, not looking him in the eyes. They were delicious eyes, a mix of green and chocolate brown that she knew she could get lost in. “Let me just pop these in the dryer, then we can eat.”

  “You okay?” he asked.

  Crap, he was trailing behind her.

  “Uh, yeah, I’m good, just…” She knelt down, unable to process her conflicting desires. Sleeping with Aaron would be amazing, she could tell by his strong hands and smart intellect. But sleeping with Aaron could also open up an entire case of worms.

  She opened the dryer and tossed in his wet clothes. She stood, closing the door and letting out a tiny shriek when she turned to find Aaron on her heels.


  “Sorry,” Aaron said, moving closer, pressing her against the dryer.

  Her eyes rolled up and met his. Mistake. His hazel eyes were half-lidded and darker now.

  He pressed in closer, extending his hand behind her. “Probably need to turn it on.”

  She choked out a cough. “What?”

  He stepped back. “The dryer.”

  The dryer. Of course. He wasn’t talking about her, even though she was more turned on than she’d been in…she couldn’t even remember. She took a tentative step toward him.

  The robe was now gaping to the belt at his waist and she could see a small smattering of chest hair across lean, defined pecs. She licked her lips and swallowed hard, slipping her hands inside the terrycloth material.

  His skin felt warm against her palms. Her eyes came up to find his. He tilted his head, and as his eyes focused on her mouth, his tongue licked his bottom lip. Kayleigh was pretty sure she moaned.

  Aaron leaned in, his mouth going to her ear and his warm breath melting her. “Nervous, Kayleigh?”

  A half giggle, half yelp escaped her mouth again and she slipped under his arm and leaned against the dryer. She needed to breathe. Being so close to him wasn’t letting her do that.

  “Chicken’s almost ready,” she said. Yes, food, that would distract him for a few minutes while she got ahold of her nerves.

  She tried to sound casual, like he wasn’t in the process of shaking her once stable foundation. “You hungry?” she asked.

  His hand snaked around her waist, his fingers spread across her stomach, underneath her sweatshirt. “Yeah, I’m hungry,” he growled in her ear.

  Dear God.

  Aaron placed a hand on the dryer on either side of her, framing her in.

  Her eyes locked on his chest which was bare thanks to her too-small robe.

  “Hi,” he said, sliding his other hand around her waist.

  “Hi,” she choked out.

  “You can look at me, Kayleigh.”

  No, she couldn’t. She lifted her gaze until her eyes met his. He smiled, that smirk that marked him as not quite a good guy.

  “I found this on your bathtub,” he said. He held up her new romance book. The cover had a half-naked rogue pirate clasping a nearly bare-chested women on the deck of a ship, long hair waving in the wind.

  Shit. “Give me that.” Kayleigh swiped for the book, but Aaron held it just beyond her reach, laughing.

  “Oh, Dr. Montgomery,” he smirked, releasing her and opening the book, “does the town know about your penchant for sexy pirates and captive maidens?”

  “Shut up.” She swatted his arm and jerked the book from his grasp. “Go sit down if you want to eat tonight.”

  He raised a brow as if answering and her body exploded with fire. Yeah, this was going to be a long dinner.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “So,” Kayleigh said, spooning vegetables onto his plate. “How was the clinic today?”

  Aaron eyed the delicious meal in front of him but glanced down when he heard a low growl. Her dog sat at his feet, glaring up at him. “Um, your dog is…”

  “Ignore her. She just wants your food,” she said. “Annie, go. Eat your own food that Lina put out for you.”

  The dog gave one last pouty look but scampered off.

  “Lina Bianchi?”

  “Yeah, she comes over a few times a week to help with my pets when I work late.”

  “It’s not that late tonight.” He glanced up at the clock and noted it wasn’t even six o’clock.

  “She was here when I got home earlier. I thought I’d be working later, but my staff shooed me out at five. It was a first I think.”

  “Being shooed out the door or leaving at five?”

  “Both,” she said, popping a piece of chicken in her mouth.

  Aaron had never been a jealous man but right then, he’d give anything to be that piece of chicken.

  “What?” she asked as she chewed.

  “It’s funny,” he said.

  She swallowed and Aaron’s attention was drawn to her throat. God, he had to stop this. If he kept fantasizing about her, he’d be answering her questions with nothing more than grunts and groans.

  “Earth to Aaron,” she called.

  “Oh, sorry.” He focused on her face, which was another mistake. Kayleigh Montgomery was beauty-queen gorgeous with an hour-glass figure sure to drive any man wild, including him. “It’s just…funny.”

  “What?” She took a long swallow of water and again he was losing the battle to tame his dick.

  When he’d seen her dancing around in her short shorts earlier, her blonde hair bobbing from side to side, toned legs flexed, he’d damn near came in his pants, despite how drenched he’d been from the rain.

  He didn’t know why he was trying to talk himself out of an affair with Kayleigh. She seemed like she might be willing and okay with short term. What could it hurt to blow off a little steam, relieve stress?

  “Are you ever going to tell me what’s so funny or are you going to sit there with that sappy-ass look on your face.”

  Aaron shook his head to rid himself of the sexual fog. What had he been about to say?

  She sat up straight in her chair, dabbing the edges of her lips with her napkin.

  “I was going to say that it’s funny that sometimes you can act so refined, like now, cutting your vegetables and sitting up so straight, and then other times you talk with a mouth full of chicken or say foul things.”

  She shrugged. “Maybe it’s all the animals rubbing off on me.” She grinned down at her dog. “You’re a bad influence, Annie.”

  ”You said you were raised in Boston.”

  “Mm hm.”

  “I did a rotation at Mass General.”

  Kayleigh stiffened.

  “Something wrong?” He didn’t know what he could have said to get that response.

  “It’s a popular hospital. Especially for students at Boston University,” she said. Her answer was curt, as if to tell him not to expect more. “Does my foul language bother you?”

  “Not at all. You’re forgetting, I grew up with five brothers. Do you get your dirty words from your books or do you have five brothers too?”

  “Shut it.” She tossed her napkin at him. “Are you going to answer my question about the clinic?”

  “It was amazing, actually.”

  “You sound surprised,” she said.

  “I guess I kind of am. I’m used to the fast-paced adrenaline rush of a big city hospital.”

  “I know, right? It’s totally different here.”

  “Did you work in a big vet hospital before?”

  “Well, yes, us pet doctors have to do internships, too. I spent a year in San Diego working at a small animal hospital and even did a rotation at the San Diego Zoo.”

  “Oh, wow,” he said, totally impressed. “You didn’t like the monkeys?”

  “Working in a big city had never been my goal.”

  “What was your goal?”

  “This,” she said with no hesitation. “Running a small-town vet clinic.”

  “Seriously?”

  She scowled. “Yes. Why?”

  Aaron shrugged, reaching for the salt shaker. As he grasped it, his hand began to tremble. He quickly drew it back, but he could see that Kayleigh was watching him. He would bet she’d seen it.

  “What was your goal when you went to med school?” She asked as if she hadn’t just witnessed anything out of the ordinary.

  “Honestly?”

  She nodded. “Of course.”

  “I wanted to run a small-town medical clinic.”

  She raised a curious brow. “Like the one in Canyon Creek?”

  “Actually, I wanted to run the clinic in Canyon Creek,” he said, tossing his napkin onto his plate.

  “Huh,” she said, leaning forward. “So, what happened?”

  “I really don’t know.” He shook his head, trying to remember when his plans had changed. He couldn’t pinpoi
nt a specific time.

  “You fell in love with the lure of the city and the specialty?”

  He glanced up and stared at her blue eyes that seemed to see straight through him.

  She frowned. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. I get it, Aaron. I don’t judge you.”

  “What do mean?”

  “To someone who doesn’t grow up around big city hospitals, I think it can be addicting when you work at one. It’s easy to develop a God complex.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just what happens.”

  Aaron struggled not to get defensive and lash out, but it was hard. As much as she said she wasn’t judging him, it sure as hell felt like she was. “You said growing up around big city hospitals. Is that what you did?”

  She sat back in her chair and blew out a heavy breath. “Yeah,” she said, as if it pained her.

  “In Boston?” he said, asking the obvious.

  “My father was Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Mass General.

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah.” She stood and began clearing the table.

  “And, let me guess,” he said, standing to help her. “Your father didn’t like that you wanted to be a pet doctor.”

  “Something like that,” she said, walking to the kitchen and dropping the plates into the sink.

  He leaned around her and dropped his own dish in the sink.

  She turned to face him. “So, what’s your story, big city doc?”

  “Oh no,” he laughed, taunting her with a shake of his finger, “we’re not done with you, princess.”

  “Princess?” She wrinkled her nose.

  “Come on, your dad was a bigwig at Mass General, you grew up in Boston.”

  “So that makes me a princess?”

  “You came from money, didn’t you?”

  “Does it matter?” She scooted around him and began cleaning the dishes.

  Aaron grabbed a dish towel and dried each dish as she finished. “Of course not.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” she said, not meeting his gaze.

  “I know.”

  “You liked working at the medical clinic today?” she asked.

  He noticed the change in topic, but he let her get away with it. This time.“Yeah, I really did. I used to work with Doc Olson when I was a teenager. He’s the one who pushed me to go to med school.”