I mean, shit, how much harder would it be to operate on an outlaw than a golden retriever, right?
“Thank you,” I said quietly, nodding solemnly as I met Kennedy’s gaze. “I mean that. You saved his life.”
She smiled, shrugging. “The bullet missed anything important and lodged between the two ribs. He’s really lucky, you know.”
I just nodded, my eyes still drinking her in before they caught on something, and I stood. Kennedy stiffened, blushing as I moved towards her. Her eyes darted over my face, her lip catching in her teeth as I closed the distance between us.
“Uh, hang on, we—”
“Hold on.”
I grabbed a paper towel from the wall-mounted roll behind her and brought it to her temple to dab at the little flecks of blood I’d spotted. She blushed again when she realized what I was doing.
“Oh, that.” The blush bloomed red across her cheeks, and slowly, I felt the corners of my lips turning up.
“See now I’m just curious what you did think I was going to do.”
Her only reply was to get even redder in the face, the flush creeping down her neck as she chewed her lip. Fuck was she tempting. I’d been close to her a few times, but never like this. Never this close and definitely never this alone with just her. The scent of her shampoo curled through my senses, and when her breath caught, the soft sound seemed to echo in my ears.
Kennedy swallowed, still blushing as she looked up, those big baby blue eyes darting over my dark ones.
“I—nothing,” she stammered.
We’d flirted before. I’d held back. But right there, that close to her, with her scent captivating me and her nipples rock hard against her shirt and those very kissable lips all pouty and wet and tempting right there for the taking?
Fuck… this was approaching dangerous territory. This was approaching a point where I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to control myself. And when I saw that flash of heat in her eyes, and the way her tongue darted out to wet her lips as her pulse thrummed in the hollow of her neck, I could feel my cock swelling as my heart started to pound.
“Tell me,” I purred.
Kennedy blushed. “Nothing, I thought for a second that… it’s nothing.” She started to turn away, but before I could stop myself, my hand reached out to gently cup her chin. I groaned inside at the touch of skin on skin. I’d never touched her like this before.
“You thought I was going to kiss you.”
I didn’t need words to know I was right. Because Kennedy was one of those girls who, for as fucking knocking gorgeous as they were, just didn’t seem to get just how much of an effect they had on a guy. She blushed like she’d been doing the last two minutes straight, that lip caught between her teeth again. I was still right up against her, and when I dropped my hands to either side of her, holding on to the counter at her back, she swallowed thickly.
“N-no, I didn’t think that,” she said quickly. Way, way too quickly.
Fuck, this was too much. I was too close, and she was too fucking tempting, and my cock was way too hard for me to stay there with her. But it was like I was bound to her—like I couldn’t make myself walk away no matter how much my brain screamed at me to do just that.
Our eyes locked, the beast inside of me growled, and slowly, I felt my control start to shatter. Kennedy licked her lips—pink, pouty, and glistening so fucking invitingly. I heard the growl in my own throat, and when her breath caught sharply and when her body started to arch towards me almost like it was moving without her control, it was like the rest of the world started to fade away.
I moved in slowly, screaming at myself to stop, that bringing her into my world was wrong, and reckless. But the closer I got, the more I tuned that voice out until the only sound in my ear was a dull roar as my lips moved to centimeters away from hers.
And suddenly, the spell broke, like a baseball through a plate glass window. Kennedy jerked away from me, shaking her head, sucking in a breath of air as her eyes darted wildly to mine.
“What the fuck is wrong with me?” She breathed, almost like she was talking to herself.
“Kennedy,” I groaned. I started to move for her again, but she shook her head, stopping me.
“No, that…” her head kept shaking as she bit her lip. “No. Landon, we…” she darted a finger between us, swallowing thickly. “We can’t do that.”
“And why’s that,” I growled.
“Because…” she trailed off, biting back… something as she looked away. “Because.”