“Hi gorgeous.” He gave her a lopsided grin.
Her face turned red. She knew he didn’t mean it. It was only meant to tease her. Normally she’d give a snarky comment back but she was too raw with Lucy and the truth ripped out of her mouth. “Why do you always have to say stuff like that? It hurts my feelings.”
He cocked his head, giving her a quizzical look. “Kat,” his voice was smooth like honey with just a touch of a drawl. “I’m not trying to hurt you. I say it because it’s true.”
Her mouth hung slightly ajar. There was no way he meant that. All those comments, she had just assumed were his way of actually putting her down. He was being facetious. “What?” she asked incredulously.
His hand came up to brush a strand of hair from face. “I’m glad you’re here, Kat. Is that better?”
No words came out as she looked at him. Something was shifting inside of her and, with his simple words, she was re-seeing every interaction they had ever had. A whimper from the car seat interrupted her thoughts and spared her from answering.
“It’s all right, Lucy,” she cooed softly.
His hand rubbed her back and even in this situation, she felt hot liquid pooling between her thighs. Jesus Christ, he was turning her on.
“Can I ask you a question?” His voice was deliciously close to her ear.
“Mmmm,” she murmured looking at Lucy.
“Why are you all wet?”
“What?” her strangled cry choked out of her mouth.
“Your pants. They’re all wet. Did you say Lucy’s water broke?” His eyebrows drew up and his lips parted as he looked at her with a question.
God, she wanted to kiss him. Had Carl been right? Was she attracted to Luke? She’d bet the sex was amazing. He looked strong, she could ride him like nobody’s business. “I think so,” she answered, forcing herself to look back at Lucy. She needed to concentrate.
“Let’s get her inside. Come on,” he called to Lucy. She gingerly got up and climbed out of the car. Luke opened up his arms and she went right to him. He picked her up without even trying and began carrying her into the house.
“How did you get her to do that? She didn’t even like Carl.” Kat stared at his back as she raced to keep up with his long strides.
“I’ve helped a lot of cows bring their calves into this world. She’s a smart girl and she senses that I’ll help her. Don’t you, sweetheart?” His soothing voice was meant for the dog, but it floated over her. She’d love to hear him whisper like that to her.
If it was possible to be jealous of a dog, then Kat was in that moment. How did it take her this long to realize that she was attracted to Luke? She grimaced. Because she had skipped over being attracted to him and jumped to the part where he was surely rejecting her. She always got defensive when she thought he was teasing her.
“Thanks for helping. I would have stayed and had Carl help with the delivery but then I would have had to transport all the puppies.” She bit her lip. That would have been a bigger mess than this. Kat opened the front door for him and he carried Lucy through.
“Carl says that you’re moving.”
“Yeah, though I don’t know where yet. I have to find a place when I get back.” If I can find a place, she thought to herself. Her eyes adjusted to the dimmer light and she looked around. Luke’s place was amazing. It was a little rough around the edges but it was clean as a whistle and it felt like a home. Old hardwood floors and big comfy couches. She could see straight down the hall to the kitchen and a giant butcher block table filled the eating area. It was the perfect family gathering table.
“Can I ask you a question? Why not just get a place that allows dogs and keep Lucy? You obviously really love her. You drove all the way to Montana for her.” Luke quirked his eyebrows at her in a way that was incredibly sexy.
“I’m off for the summer but I work so much during the school year. How could I keep her?”
“Ah, yes. Carl mentioned long hours and not a lot of pay.”
“Carl has been full of a lot of advice lately,” she huffed.
She heard him take a deep breath. “I know I am pushing the envelope here, but he just wants to see you happy. I know he’s worried about you.”
Her nostrils flared. “Now you’re meddling in what isn’t your business.”
“And you’re a tyrant who is being grumpy with people who care about you.” His voice was even but he turned to give her a pointed stare.
Kat glared back. She hadn’t been her five minutes and he was already giving her a hard time. “This is why you drive me crazy.”
“Because I’m not afraid of you? You’ve made it clear what you think of me, but let me tell you what I think about you. You push people away who care about you and I know you have a good heart―” Luke stopped as Lucy let out a guttural noise. “Shit,” he hissed.
He moved quickly down the hall and through the kitchen, to a back family room. There was a large wooden box in one corner. The sides were close to three feet tall but the front was only a foot. The inside was lined with blankets and Luke laid Lucy down in the box.
The dog panted and then with a push, out came a puppy. It was wrapped in a sac and Kat gasped. She reached out to it but Luke gently grabbed her hand. “Lucy knows what to do.”
“Are you sure?” her voice trembled as Lucy began to lick at the puppy, removing the amniotic sac. Another was already being birthed. “Holy shit,” she breathed.
“It’s amazing, if you think about it.” His hand gently massaged hers. “Everything else is stripped away and it’s just life. Beautiful life.”
The puppy gave a tiny perfect squeal. Lucy cleaned its belly and Kat could see that it was a little girl. Her heart completely melted at the sight of this tiny little puppy. “I could use a little more of beautiful life.”
“Do you like being a teacher?” His voice was quiet now.
“I love it. Well, I love the kids. All the rest, the testing, the state standards, the parent expectations…” She didn’t bother to finish. It didn’t need to be said. “And Carl is right, I need to make some changes but I don’t where to start.”
“Why don’t you start by holding that adorable puppy? Lucy is cleaning the next one.” He pointed at the small pup that had stolen her heart.
Kat gently lifted the tiny bundle with its eyes tightly closed. She held it up to inspect it. It was so cute, It’s brown body the color of rich mahogany wood with a little white stripe between its eyes. It stretched in her hands and then a dribble of pee started leaking down her arm. “Oh!” she cried as a torrent of urine erupted from the dog, spraying all over her. “Crap,” she cried as pee dripped down her chest and between her boobs.
BARKING MAD LOVE
CHAPTER THREE
LUKE LET OUT a startled gasp and then a low laugh started from his chest. Kat stared at him openmouthed for two seconds before a tiny giggle escaped her lips. Then another and then a few more. She set the puppy back in the whelping box and fell backwards on the floor as heaving laughs wracked her body. Luke lay down next to her as gulping belly laughs escaped him too. “Not crap,” he chortled, “pee.”
A fresh wave of giggles erupted from her as she stared at the beamed ceiling above. “I love your house,” she giggled out as she rolled towards him. “If it has a shower, I will probably declare it perfect.”
He started convulsing hard again and they lay on their sides facing each other wracked with giggles. “I do indeed have a shower, but I don’t know why you would want one, I mean it’s just a little pee.” He grabbed his sides as more laughter erupted from his chest.
“You’re awful you know that?” But it didn’t hold any of her usual rancor. In fact, it was hilarious.
“Wait till you see me deliver a calf. I’m covered from head to toe in cow gunk.”
“Giving birth is a beautiful thing,” she giggled wildly again. “How…how…how… dare you call it gunk,” she managed to push out between laughs.
He gave another hiccupping laugh as he reached for her hand. “You’ve got me there.” Suddenly Kat became aware of how close together they were and how sexy his lips were curved into a smile. She refused to have their first kiss be while she was covered in dog pee. She turned her head away and sat up to look into the dog box. It was only after she looked in to see a third pup that she realized she was planning their first kiss. This was Luke, the guy she couldn’t stand.
He sat up too but his hand brushed back her hair. “If you want to go now, I can stay with Lucy.”
Shaking her head, she looked at him. “I’ll stay with her until she is done, but thank you.”
“All right.” He leaned over and his lips brushed her forehead as he breathed out the words. “You’re welcome to stay here for as long as you need, Kat. Hang out with Lucy. The puppies can’t go to homes till the end of the summer and I am sure she could use some help with them. You can take some time to figure out what you want to do next.”
Her forehead tingled where his lips had touched. “I’ll think about it, Luke. Thanks.” Her voice came out in a husky whisper. Had she really just said that? Was she actually contemplating spending an entire summer with Luke? She might even be excited about it. His eyes bore into her but she refused to look at him, instead keeping her eyes on the five puppies in the box with Lucy.
She would be playing with fire if she stayed. Attraction was crackling between them and she shook her head. How had she not noticed this sooner? All the tension between them was sexual.
“What are you thinking?” His hand brushed her hair again.
“That I can’t believe I am actually considering this.” She still didn’t look at him. She pet another of the pups but didn’t pick it up.
“Why not?”
“We usually fight all the time,” she said as though it should be completely obvious.
“Oh that.” He gave another chuckle. “Well, you are fiery―”
“Me! You’re blaming me? You always bait me.” She turned to him then. His brown eyes were flecked with gold, black studded lashes framed them in the sexiest way possible.
He sighed. “I bait you because it’s all I can do to get you to talk to me.”
“What?” she asked incredulously. He was talking like he had always liked her. Which was crazy. The girl he dated would be absolutely perfect. Not like her.
“I like seeing your chest heave.” He gave her a devilish grin.
“Now I know you’re lying. There is no way you have wanted to date me all these years. You are gorgeous and I was too heavy―“
“That is total bullshit. If anything, you’re too thin now. Don’t get me wrong, you look great, but I like you better when you’re a little curvier.”
Kat looked at him like he was completely mental. There was no way he was telling the truth. Everyone thought she looked better now. And while she liked feeling attractive, the pressure to keep the weight off had been one more thing making her grumpy. What if she messed it up? “Now you’re just shoveling total cow shit my way.”
One of his eyebrows quirked up, and a sexy curve pulled at his lips. “I have shoveled a lot of that, so I know it well. I can get you plenty of experience if you want it because you seem incapable of telling the difference between shit and the real deal.”
Normally she bristled when he said stuff like this. She tried to bristle now. She rolled her eyes. “There you go again, insulting me.”
“No, Kat, I was trying to compliment you and you were insulting me.” His words were accompanied with a meaningful stare.
Her mouth hung open. Damn. He was right. “I…I…didn’t mean… I’m not pretty enough―”
He leaned over then and placed his lips on hers. His lips were incredibly soft and sensual and the gentle kiss absolutely curled her toes. “Sweetheart, you’re gorgeous. You always have been. The blond hair, blue eyes, and those lips that beg to be kissed. I tell you something else, women would kill to have curves like yours. If ever a woman has looked more like Marilyn Monroe, I haven’t met her. Every time you left Carl’s room in college, all the guys were panting like lap dogs. But you were so beautiful and, that tongue of yours could cut a man to pieces. They were too scared to ask you out.”
Her hand came to his cheek and she ran her fingers over the stubble. It wasn’t the first time someone had told her that she used her words to push people away. Even Carl had been cautious around her lately. “Why do I do that? Cut men to pieces?” she leaned back on her elbows and he moved a little closer so their bodies were almost touching.
“You’re tough. You don’t take shit from people. It’s why you can teach middle school. But don’t mistake guys’ motives. It’s not that they don’t think you’re hot. It’s that they’re too scared to ask you out.”
“How come you didn’t say anything like this before?”
“I’ve tried a couple of times but…”
“I get pissed and tear you a new one?” she supplied.
“Yep, that pretty much says it all.” He grinned. His hand skimmed her arm and goose bumps erupted across her skin. “I think Lucy is done with the birth. The puppies are all eating. Do you want to take that shower? I’ll go get your bag.”
“Sure, that would be great. Although the second I pick up another puppy, is it just going to pee on me again?” She giggled, scrunching her face like she had smelled something terrible.
But he didn’t laugh this time. His lips came down on hers again. The kiss lingered and tingling shot all through her. His hand came to her waist as his lips broke away and then he kissed her more deeply. With every touch, Kat wanted more. She tipped her head back further, starting to open her mouth, to meet his tongue but he pulled away and broke the kiss. His hand came up from her waist to stroke her cheek. “It’s part of being on a farm, but I hope you find it’s worth it.”
A little disappointment snaked down her spine that he had ended the kiss. He was still so close and she wanted to raise her lips up to meet his again but before she could, he stood and then reached for her hands, to pull her up too.
It was probably better that they stopped, she thought to herself. She took a deep breath. This night was completely out of control.
She headed up the stairs finding a nice bath on her right. Fresh white tile covered the bottom half of the wall while a big claw foot tub stood proudly off to one side. She wondered if Luke had it redone. It was in perfect condition. She turned the shower on, but before she left, she was taking a bath in that tub.
“What should I do with my clothes?” she called as she stripped off her t-shirt. The floor was so shiny and new, she didn’t want to get it dirty.
Still holding her shirt, she carefully took off her pants so that they didn’t touch the floor.
The door clicked open. “I’ll take them for you when you’re ready….” He stopped in the doorway. He was stone still except for his eyes, which were moving all over her.
She clutched the clothes in front of her. “Your floors are so nice, I didn’t want to―” She stopped talking, a blush creeping up her cheeks.
“The floor will wash but I’ll throw your stuff in the washer. Just hand them over.” He reached out his hand with a devilish glint to his eye.
“I’ll pass them out the door in a second. Cover your eyes!” she demanded.
He gave her one last meaningful look before he disappeared around the corner and stuck his hand through the open door. She tiptoed over to the hand and reached out to give him the clothes. He grabbed her wrist instead of the laundry giving her a gentle tug.
“Ahhhh, stop that!” she shrieked.
His thumb skimmed along the sensitive skin, stroking it. “I’m glad you like the bathroom reno. I’m going to work on the kitchen next, it just takes time.”
She bit her lip, delighting in the sensations he was causing. She could only see his single hand through the door but it was large and strong. The kind that could make a woman weak in the k
nees. “I like the kitchen the way it is. This room is great but the rest of the house is super homey.”
“I like you the way you are.” His husky voice made her vibrate.
“Then why did you stop? I mean…” She halted, closing her eyes.
“Kat, we are going to do a lot more than a quickie on the living room floor. It’ll take some time to build.” His thumb moved faster, rubbing a circle on her wrist.
“Oh,” she breathed.
“Why don’t you take that shower? I’m going to check on Lucy.” His thumb slipped off her skin and he grabbed her dirty clothes, thumping down the stairs.
She sighed, leaning her face against the crisp tile. Kat, you’re losing it. Not only was she not protesting at his advances, but she had done that needy girl thing where she was all like, why’d you stop? Where was the Kat that flayed men alive? That Kat had ended up alone, a workaholic, and pushing even her best friends away. Maybe it was time to be a little more vulnerable.
She stepped into the spray. The water washed not only the dog fluids away, but the grime from driving all day. She began lathering her hair and soaping up her body.
Ten minutes later, she emerged a new person. She wrapped up in a fresh towel from Luke’s linen closet and glanced around. She had only just realized that he hadn’t brought her suitcase up. Opening the door, she peeked down the hall but it wasn’t there either. “Sorry,” she called. “But do you know where my suitcase went? I don’t see it.”
“Yeah, I got a little distracted by a girl in her underwear and I accidentally carried it back downstairs. I didn’t want to interrupt your…” He came to the bottom of the stairs, holding the suitcase. His eyes travelled up from her bare feet to her wet hair, with only a towel covering her. “Shit, Kat. You’re making this really hard.”
“What?” She smiled innocently. She should take some time and think this through. But at that moment, she didn’t want to. She had been trying to think through everything. Maybe it would be better to just jump and see where she landed.
Barking Mad Love: Chance Romance with a Canine Helper! (Puppy Love Book 2) Page 2
