Crazy, Hot Love

by K. L. Grayson

  I’ll be damned if she doesn’t look disappointed by my answer.

  Every time I see Claire, I tell myself to play it cool. No staring. No flirting. And absolutely no smokin’ hot fantasies. Nine times out of ten I succeed, but today is that tenth time, and I can’t seem to control what comes out of my mouth. Oddly enough, she doesn’t seem to be bothered by it, which I find fascinating.

  I’ve seen the way women look at me—like I’m a piece of meat, someone to show them a good time. I can hardly be mad because that’s the vibe I’ve given off. But with Claire, it’s always been different. When she looks at me, it’s as though she’s looking through me, tempting me to open myself up and tell her all my secrets, secrets I need to keep her away from. It’s unnerving to say the least, and yet peaceful in a way I don’t quite understand.

  My reputation as a ladies’ man is true. It’s also a thing of the past. I’ve never been interested in a committed relationship, but lately the thought of taking home a beautiful woman, only to have her walk out a couple of hours later, never to be seen again, isn’t as appealing as it once was.

  Mom always said one of these days I’d feel the need to settle down. That need hasn’t hit full force, but maybe this is the start of it, maybe it’s somewhere on the horizon.

  I have a feeling I could settle down with someone like Claire. Unfortunately, I’ll never get the chance. Rhett and Coop would kill me if I laid a finger on her. And while I’m certain I could kick both of their asses with my hands tied behind my back, I have my own reasons to keep her at arm’s length. But those reasons seem to fade when she’s standing this close to me.

  Tucking the rag into my pocket, I take a step back, hoping I’ll be able to regain some of my sense. “Whatcha got for me?” I ask, nodding toward the brown bag in her hand.

  Claire sets the bag on my tailgate and pulls out two sandwiches, chips, and a soda. “Figured you didn’t bring lunch.”

  “You’re right. I didn’t. But this is great. Thank you.” I grab the first sandwich and take a hearty bite.

  “Were you planning on working through lunch or what?”

  “This fence isn’t going to mend itself, so yeah, I was plannin’ on working through lunch.”

  Claire shakes her head. “All you Allens are so much alike. Work, work, work.”

  She hit the nail on the head with that one.

  I have three brothers and a sister; Beau is the oldest brother, a freelance photographer who bops around the world. Then there are the twins, Cooper and Rhett. Coop owns Dirty Dicks, a local tavern and restaurant, and Rhett is a bull rider with the PBR, and he also works on the ranch with Dad. Aside from our blue eyes and mutual affection for the one and only Claire Daniels, the only thing we boys have in common is our work ethic. None of us knows when to quit or step back. We’re always pushing ourselves beyond our limits. It seems the only one who has been able to find balance is Rhett, and that’s all thanks to his relationship with Mo.

  Then there’s my baby sister, Adley—smart and sweet with the mouth of a sailor and more balls than most of the men in my fire department. Plus, she’s got a heart made of pure gold, which explains why she’s studying to be a nurse.

  “Work isn’t a bad thing. Keeps me out of trouble.”

  Claire raises a brow. “And by trouble you mean someone like Blondie who was trying to mount you in the bar last night?”

  Is she jealous? I want to call her on it, but if I found out she was, in fact, jealous, that would add fuel to the fire already raging inside of me. “I didn’t touch Ella.”

  “Ella? She has a name.”

  “She does. And the only reason I know it is because I used the jaws of life to get her out of a mangled car about a month ago.”

  “Oh.” Claire blinks and looks down.

  I follow her gaze, and that’s when I notice the dog she’s brought with her.

  “Sometimes I forget you save lives for a living,” she says.

  “I don’t save lives for a living. I’m a firefighter, Claire. Who’s your friend?” I nod toward the fuzz ball prancing around in the grass like she’s got a stick up her ass.

  “Nice deflection,” Claire says. “And this is Milo. He’s blind, so be careful.”

  I squat down, offering the dog my hand to sniff. Milo prances toward me, sniffs around, and licks the tip of my finger before bouncing off to the next best thing. She gets tangled in the leash and falls down, but gets right back up.

  “Sorry, sweetheart, but Milo is a girl. No male would flounce around like that.”

  “Excuse me,” she scoffs, bending down to cover Milo’s ears. “He doesn’t flounce, and he is definitely a he.”

  “Oh yeah?” I lift a brow.

  “Yeah.”

  “And you know this because…”

  Claire opens her mouth to tell me how she knows, but nothing comes out. Probably because she knows I’m right.

  “Because I just know.” Turning away, she leads Milo back the same way they came. “How dare he question your masculinity?” She talks to the dog as if it’s a person, and I laugh, following after her.

  She only makes it about ten feet before I snag Milo off the ground.

  “Hey. Give him back.” She reaches for the dog, but I’m much taller than Claire, and I keep the pooch raised above her head.

  She jumps several times, her breasts rubbing against me in the process, and I’m tempted to hand the dog back before I get a hard-on, but Claire feels too damn good, and I can’t bring myself to do it.

  Eventually she gives up. “Damn you for being so tall.”

  “If you stop, I’ll prove to you Milo is not a boy.”

  “Fine.” She crosses her arms over her chest, fluffing her tits to perfection, and watches me.

  I flip Milo over, tucking her in the crook of my arm. Her tail hangs down, her legs parting as she graciously accepts a belly rub. There’s a ton of fur down there, but when I push some of it aside Claire can easily see.

  “No penis or balls. Your little friend Milo is a girl.”

  Milo wriggles at the sound of her name, scrounging to crawl up my chest, and I maneuver her accordingly while smiling proudly at Claire. Milo finally reaches my neck and licks a slobbery path from my collarbone to my ear.

  “Awww… She loves you.”

  “Most women do.”

  Claire rolls her eyes and takes the dog from me. Milo commences licking Claire’s neck the same way she did mine. Lucky bitch. That’s what I’d like to be doing.

  “Goodbye, Trevor.”

  Claire walks away, her denim-clad ass swaying from side to side and fueling every single fantasy I’ve ever had about her.

  And damn it, now I’m going to have to work the rest of the day with a hard-on.

  6

  Claire

  “Sorry, sweetie.” I put Milo in her cage, giving her one last pat on the head before I lock it up. All of the dogs are cuddled up on their beds with full bellies, perfectly content to be in for the night. Not one of them lifts a head to bid me farewell… Well, no one except Milo. She’s still yapping away, wondering where her new sidekick is going. I felt guilty putting her away earlier so I carted her around with me the entire day.

  I shut off the light on my way out of the kennel, hoping she’ll get the hint and go to bed like the rest of the animals—like I want to do. Today was exhausting. I don’t know how Mo does this day in and day out. She’s in tip-top shape, that’s for sure. Me? I ache in places I didn’t know a woman could ache, and I scratched my arm on a nail in the barn. Damn thing bled for almost an hour. I should probably get it checked out, but I don’t do hospitals, so that’s a big no-go. I’d rather end up with a scar than chance a silly doctor trying to stitch it up.

  By the time I do one final walk-through, the sun is setting, my stomach is growling, and Trevor is walking out of the barn.

  “Heading home for the night?” he asks, pulling his gloves off. He tosses them in the back of his truck before walking toward me.

>   “Yup. You?”

  “Nah. I’m going to grab a bite from Dirty Dicks and then come back out here and do a few more things before calling it a night.”

  “Mmmm,” I moan, letting my eyes drift shut. “A juicy burger from Dirty Dicks sounds amazing.”

  “Careful, Claire.”

  Trevor’s gravelly warning wraps around me, and I go perfectly still. Slowly, I open my eyes. He’s taken a few steps back, his body drawn tight as though he’s physically holding himself back from something.

  But from what? Me?

  Next thing I know, he’s barreling toward me, his eyes clouded with determination.

  He grabs my arms and oh God, this is it. He’s going to kiss me.

  “You’re bleeding.” He twists my arm to get a better look, but the touch of his hand causes a zap of energy to race up my arm, and I pull away.

  “Huh?” I say, looking at my arm to see if his touch burned me. But there’s nothing but a dusting of goose bumps.

  “You have a cut on your arm,” he says, nodding toward the blood.

  “Oh. Uh…” I look at my arm again, trying to collect my thoughts.

  How foolish of me to believe Trevor would kiss me out of nowhere. I’ve known him for years, and not once has he tried to put the moves on me, why on Earth would he do it now?

  I shake my head. “It’s nothing. Scratched it in the barn earlier.”

  “It doesn’t look like nothing.” He reaches for my arm again. “That’s deep. You might need stitches. And a tetanus shot.”

  “No and no.”

  “What do you mean no?”

  “I don’t do needles.” I try to pull my arm away again, but this time he has a firm grip.

  “Let me clean it up, get a better look at it, and I’ll be able to tell.”

  “It’s fine. I’ll clean it up when I get home.”

  “Quit being difficult and let me help you.” Grabbing my hand, Trevor leaves no room for argument. With my fingers wrapped in his so I can’t get away, he unlocks Animal Haven and leads me to the bathroom.

  Standing beside the sink, I watch carefully as Trevor pours peroxide on a cotton ball and brings it to my arm.

  “Shit,” I hiss, flinching away from him.

  “Sorry. There’s a lot of blood, some of it dried, so this might take a minute or two.”

  I grimace. “Just make it quick. I don’t have a high pain tolerance.”

  Trevor grins and looks up. “You never have. Remember that time Rhett, Coop, Beau, and I took you, Mo, and Charlene hiking, and you twisted your ankle? You cried like you lost a damn limb—”

  “Yes, Trevor, I remember,” I admonish. “No need to remind me.”

  “I didn’t mind carrying you down the hill that day.”

  What? “You didn’t carry me down the hill, Beau did.”

  “Nope. Pretty sure I remember that day because it was the first time I ever got to touch you, and I was on cloud nine. Walked as slow as I could just so I’d get to hold you a little longer.”

  My jaw drops open. I don’t even know how to respond to that as I work my brain, trying to remember the details of that afternoon.

  “Don’t think about it too hard, sweetheart.” He laughs when I roll my eyes. “Where’s Milo? I thought for sure you’d end up taking her home.”

  “No. I don’t really do animals.”

  “What are you talking about? You love animals.”

  “I never said I don’t love them; I just don’t own them. Never have.”

  Trevor’s stops dabbing at my cut. “You’ve never had a pet? How did I not know that?”

  I shrug. “Nope. My parents said we didn’t have time for one.”

  “It’s never too late. You could get one now.”

  “I know, but I’m not sure I’m ready. They’re a lot of work. I couldn’t imagine doing this sort of thing day in and day out.”

  “You’re ready.” He says, wiping away more dried blood. “And you’ve got to remember, you’d only have one, not the twenty or thirty you take care of out here.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Maybe I’ll think about it. Sometimes it gets lonely coming home to an empty house.”

  “What about all the guys Mo has set you up with? They could come keep you company. Maybe next time Joseph wouldn’t bring his mother.”

  I slap Trevor’s shoulder, and he laughs.

  “You are not allowed to make fun of my love life, Trevor Allen.”

  There’s a pregnant pause. I watch Trevor’s smile transform into something wistful. “For what it’s worth, Joseph doesn’t deserve you, and it’s his loss. Any man would be lucky to have you, Claire. Don’t ever think differently.”

  My heart swells at his kind words. Trevor and I have known each other for ages, but we aren’t alone together often, and I don’t think we’ve ever just sat down and talked. But I like it.

  A little too much.

  “That’s worth a lot,” I tell him. “Thank you.”

  He nods. “I also think you’re ready for that dog and you’ll make a great pet owner.”

  I smile to myself. “I’ll think about it.”

  Neither of us says a word as he finishes cleaning my wound. After he’s applied the triple antibiotic ointment and Band-Aid, he looks at me. “It’s not as deep as it looked. I don’t think you need stitches.”

  “Good,” I sigh. “That’s good. Because that would not have been pretty.”

  “But you will need a tetanus shot.”

  “I’ll add it to my list of things to do.”

  “I’m serious, Claire.” He gives me a firm look. “Soon. You need to have the vaccine within twenty-four hours of the injury.”

  My eyes drop to where Trevor’s hand is wrapped around my arm. His thumb makes slow, circular movements just above my elbow, and I wonder what it would feel like to have his hands touching other places on my body.

  I draw in a shaky breath and look up. “Okay. I’ll go after work tomorrow.”

  “Good.”

  His smile is so potent that I have to suck in a shaky breath. His lips are ruddy and full and look so damn soft—and screw his hands, I wonder what is mouth would feel like trailing across my skin, latching onto my breast, traveling down my stomach. And is it just me or did he move closer?

  “Promise me.” His warm breath fans the side of my face, sending a shiver down my spine.

  Even after a long day of work, he smells amazing. I want to yank him in, bury my face in his neck, and smell him some more, maybe take a little taste. Instead, I stand motionless, afraid that if I move he’ll move, and I definitely don’t want that. But I do have to squeeze my thighs together to suppress the growing ache. It doesn’t do any good.

  “I promise,” I whisper.

  I force my eyes to his. Tension thickens, heat creeping between us, and as if he’s reading my thoughts, Trevor’s eyes dip to my mouth. I’d give anything to know what he’s thinking, but judging by his erection, which is pressing against my hip, I think I have a pretty good idea.

  “Good. That’s good.” His hand slides down my arm, and his head drops. He watches his fingers slip off my hand and land on my hip. When he looks up, his eyes are hooded, and I silently urge him to do it—just do it already.

  Kiss me.

  He takes a breath.

  Sweet baby Jesus, this is it.

  “Claire?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Tell me not to kiss you.”

  I should. You know it, I know it, but… “I can’t.”

  Trevor leans in close. My lips part, and I close my eyes.

  “Last chance,” he warns.

  Curling his fingers around my hip, he tugs me forward until my body is flush against his. My heart beats rapidly, and there isn’t a doubt in my mind he can feel it against his chest.

  There’s a pause, and then his hand is gone from my body. A second later he’s cupping my jaw as though my face were made of porcelain. I hold my breath, waiting to feel whether his lips are
as soft as they look.

  “Breathe, Claire.”

  I do, and on my next breath, Trevor’s lips brush mine. It’s gentle and sweet, and I try to tell myself it’s no different than any other first kiss I’ve had with a man. But I’m lying. It’s different because with this kiss, I melt. With this kiss, my heart thunders inside my chest, and my toes curl in my boots, and I dig my fingers into his shirt as I hold him to me because I can’t get enough.

  This kiss is everything I’ve hoped for and everything I’ve told myself I didn’t want or need. But I want it, and I want it with Trevor. Far too soon, the kiss ends, and I open my eyes.

  Trevor’s blue eyes are wide, pupils dilated, and all of the desire coursing through me reflects in his gaze.

  “What are we doing?” he asks, rubbing absently at his bottom lip.

  “No clue. But I want to do it again.” I push up on my toes, sealing my mouth over his, and when he groans, I push my tongue inside his mouth. His tongue brushes against mine, exploring my mouth while I do the same, and you’d never guess that this was our first dance because Trevor kisses me like it’s something he’s been doing for years.

  Wrapping an arm around my waist, he hoists me onto the sink. He uses his knee to push mine apart and I pull him to me. Trevor threads his fingers into my hair.

  No kiss has ever felt this good, this right. I get lost in his touch, in his scent, in him, knowing I’ll never be the same. With one kiss, Trevor Allen has ruined me for all other men.

  Like all good things, this kiss comes to an end, and Trevor rests his forehead against mine. It takes a couple of seconds for me to catch my breath, but when I do, I smile.

  “I have no idea what just happened there,” he says.

  “It’s called a kiss,” I quip.

  He pinches my side, and I giggle, my knee jerking up.

  “Ooomph.” Trevor winces and doubles over.

  7

  Trevor

  “You kneed me in the junk.”

  Claire’s eyes widen, her pink lips part. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” She reaches for my cock as if she can somehow make it better.