{"product_id":"then-came-you-isbn-9780593546192","title":"Then Came You","description":"\u003cb\u003eA woman’s world is turned upside down by one night’s torrid fling in this Animal Magnetism romance from \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Jill Shalvis.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVeterinary intern Emily can’t believe she wound up in the small town of Sunshine, Idaho, instead of the Los Angeles clinic she had always imagined. Now she has to put her plans to move to L.A. on hold for a whole year while she fulfills the obligation of her vet school scholarship.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen Wyatt, her gorgeous one-night stand from a Reno vet conference, introduces himself as her new boss. And Emily is just as drawn to his seductive looks and quiet strength as she was on that very steamy night. She soon learns that Wyatt isn’t just a laid-back doctor, but a delicious alpha male tempting her away from her carefully laid-out plans...\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for Jill Shalvis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Jill Shalvis writes with humor, heart, and sizzling heat!”—\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author Carly Phillips\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Clever, steamy and fun, Jill Shalvis will make you laugh and fall in love.”—\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Rachel Gibson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A Jill Shalvis hero is the stuff naughty dreams are made of.”—\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author Vicki Lewis Thompson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Animals and hot heroes. How can you not love a romance like that?”—\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Jaci Burton\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Exactly what a romance story should be.”—Dear Author\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Romance...you can lose yourself in.”—\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eJill Shalvis\u003c\/b\u003e is the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of several popular series including the Heartbreaker Bay series, the Animal Magnetism series, the Lucky Harbor series, the Wilders series, and the Sky High series. Her baseball-themed romances include\u003ci\u003e Slow Heat \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eDouble Play\u003c\/i\u003e, and she also appears in anthologies such as\u003ci\u003e He’s The One\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cb\u003eOne\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eI wanted to thank you for having me, Dr. Connelly—” Emily Stevens broke off and shook her head. Not quite right. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel in the parking lot of her new job. “I really hope to make a positive impact—” Nope, even worse. No one liked a brownnoser. She cleared her throat, looked into her rearview mirror and forced a smile. “I’m thrilled to be stuck in West Nowhere, USA.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYour own fault.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe drew in a deep breath, applied lip gloss—because everyone knew that was the same thing as courage—and got out of the car. It was early autumn, and the chill in the early morning air only served to remind her just how far from Los Angeles she really was. She looked around, taking in the towering, intimidating Bitterroot mountain range, backdropping what could only be described as a vast, wide open valley of the most pristine, remote land of meandering rivers and lakes she’d ever seen. Emily figured it was filled with bears and wild mountain lions, and probably Bigfoot for all she knew.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHaving come from the land of freeway overpasses and interchanges, the wildest animals she’d ever seen were of the two-legged variety.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn front of her was Belle Haven, a wood and glass building housing an animal center run by Dr. Dell Connelly and his two brothers, Brady and Adam.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf only Belle Haven had been her number one choice on her list of dream jobs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOr even last.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut it hadn’t been on her list at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe sucked in a breath. She could do this. She had to do this. In her first year of vet school, she’d accepted one of only two available grants. The repayment was a year of internship at either of the two animal centers who’d donated the money, and she always paid her debts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe’d hoped for L.A., not Sunshine, Idaho, but that’s what happened when your mom’s multiple sclerosis flared up right before you left for college and you ended up doing school half-assed while trying to keep the rest of your life together—the other scholarship recipient got their first choice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShit happened, and Emily knew that better than most. Shit happened, people got sick and died, you picked yourself up and kept going.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat was one year anyway? And besides, by tonight it would only be three hundred and sixty four days left . . .\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePulling out her phone, she accessed her calendar, the one she’d labeled The Plan. It kept her sane, listing everything that had to be done, including her goals. More recently she’d added a list of the pros and cons of Idaho, though so far only the con column had anything in it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUnder today’s goal she’d typed: make a good impression.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHuh. Not nearly as helpful as she’d hoped. Next time she’d have to be more specific. She slipped the phone back into her pocket and kept moving.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe property was immense. Besides the big, main building, there was a barn, and pens off to the side. There were three guys in the first pen, two of them working a few horses, one leaning against the fence taking notes. All looking like they’d walked off a Marlboro Man photo shoot.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot something she saw in L.A. every day . . . She pulled back out her phone and added her first check to the pro column—hot guys. She was still smiling when she entered the front doors to a large waiting room area.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSprawled out in various positions on the floor were a golden retriever, a collie mix, two pissed off cats in carriers, and . . . a Shetland pony.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe pony stood next to a chair, calm as you please, while the woman holding his reins sat flipping through the latest Women’s Journal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot something you saw every day . . .\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe front counter was a wide half circle, behind which was a woman working two computers and her phone at the same time. She was a strawberry blonde, beautiful, cool as a cucumber as she ran her world. A parrot was perched on her printer and a cat dozed in her lap.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis tugged another smile out of Emily. Animals owned her heart, always had. Hot guys and animals . . . a damn fine combination. Feeling better, and far more confident, she moved toward the counter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe biggest St. Bernard she’d ever seen came around from behind it and gave her a friendly “wuff.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmily patted it on the head, and the St. Bernard “wuffed” again.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Gertie wants you to pay the toll,” the receptionist said, nodding to the jar of doggie treats on the counter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmily gamefully pulled one from the jar and offered it to Gertie. The dog took it, slobbered her thanks, and lumbered back around the counter, where she thudded to the floor, making the ground shake.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Graceful Gertie,” the receptionist said with a laugh.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Wuff,” said Gertie.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Wuff!” said the parrot in a perfect imitation of the dog.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe receptionist smiled. “No cookies for you, Peanut.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Boner,” Peanut said.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe woman slid the parrot a long look. “We’ve discussed your language.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePeanut gave a startlingly human sounding sigh and fell silent.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe receptionist turned back to Emily with a smile. “How can I help you?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I’m Emily Stevens, the new intern.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Oh good.” She looked vastly relieved. “Dell’s been asking every five seconds if you’re here yet. It’s been chaotic since Olivia left to have her baby last month—”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA man stuck his head in from a hallway off to the left. Emily recognized him as one of the guys from out front, the one who’d been taking notes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“She here yet?” he asked.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“As a matter of fact,” the receptionist said, and pointed to Emily. “Emily, meet Dr. Dell Connelly,” she said.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Great to have you,” he said. He had the coloring of a Native American, with dark eyes that cut straight to hers. “Sorry ahead of time, but we’re jumping right into the fire this morning.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis only made her feel even more comfortable. “I live in the fire,” she said.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Perfect. We need two extra hands in delivery. I’ll catch up with you later on everything else.” He gestured for her to go down the hall.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo down the hall she went. She passed a few exam rooms, an x-ray room, what looked like a staff room, and then a surgical room.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe back door was opened, flapping in the wind.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“He’s in the last pen,” someone in scrubs said, pointing outside.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFeeling a little bit like Alice in Wonderland must have after she’d fallen down the rabbit hole, Emily headed out the back door and to the last pen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA man was there, on his knees, at the back end of a sheep. He wore cargo pants and a doctor’s coat over broad shoulders, his wavy sun-kissed brown hair a few weeks past needing a cut. There was something oddly familiar about it, something familiar about him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe sheep’s head was down, her belly was clearly swollen with pregnancy, her sides heaving.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“You’re doing great, Lulu,” he murmured, stroking her sides. “Such a good, sweet girl.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLulu bleated weakly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I know, baby,” the man said. “Almost there, promise.” His tone changed then, still low, but now he was talking to Emily. “Welcome, New Girl. Can you come closer, or are you going to help by osmosis?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the sound of his voice, Emily felt the shock of familiarity reverberate through her as she moved into the pen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Glove up,” he said, still not taking his eyes off his patient. “Back pocket.” Keeping his hands on the sheep, he elbowed his jacket off one hip.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmily stared at his butt, now revealed. It was a great butt, as far as they went. Really great. “Um—”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“We doing this today?” he asked.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBiting her lower lip, she reached out and snagged the gloves from the back pocket of his cargoes, doing her best not to cop an accidental feel while she was at it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Good,” he said. “Now get ready to help catch.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe pulled on the birthing gloves as the sheep emitted another bleat, this one sounding so pain filled that she winced in commiseration with mama sheep.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Hurry up, New Girl,” the guy said. “Find your sea legs. Poor Lulu here isn’t going to wait for you.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmily eyed the muck in the pen, and then her new pants suit, which had been bought with the Beverly Hills clinic in mind, where she’d envisioned herself treating the pets to the stars and looking glam while doing it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShit happened.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe moved over to make room for her and she kneeled at his side in time to literally catch the baby sheep and lower it to the ground.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe next half hour was a bit of a blur. The second lamb arrived in the wrong position, so she found herself up to her elbow in sheep. Literally.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Close your eyes,” her mentor instructed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe did, and he was right. It was much easier to “see” with her hands when her eyes were closed. The uterus tamped down hard on her arm, hard enough to bruise for certain, but she managed to guide the baby out. She stared down at the wiggly mass of goop and felt her heart stutter with the miracle of birth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey helped Mama get her babies cleaned up, helped the babies get on all four wobbly, stick-thin legs, watching as they took their first sips from Mama. Covered in hay and muck, and sweating like crazy, Emily’s eyes misted with the beauty of it all.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen she became aware that the man next to her had gone still. She felt the weight of his gaze. Yeah. At some point in the past half hour he’d figured it out, too.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTaking a deep breath, she looked up and met his familiar whiskey-colored eyes, which were narrowed at her in a squint. He was as filthy as she, but somehow he still looked hot as hell.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe opened his mouth to say something just as someone joined them. Dr. Connelly crouched low at her other side, grinning at the sheep. “Nicely done, Lulu.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo longer in pain, Lulu bleated happily at the praise.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe turned to Emily next. “Sorry we didn’t get acquainted before we threw you to the wolves. I’m Dell Connelly.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExtremely aware of the man still on his knees next to her, staring openly at her now, Emily started to thrust out her very messy, still-gloved hand to Dell. “Oops— Sorry.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDell smiled. “No worries.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I wanted to thank you for having me here, Dr. Connelly,” she said, struggling to remove the gloves. She was about as graceful as Gertie.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Dell,” he corrected, and eyed her new and now filthy business suit with a quirk of his lips. “We’re pretty casual here. Try jeans tomorrow.” He nodded to the man on the other side of her, the one who’d carefully settled the new lambs with their mother. Emily could see his T-shirt beneath the opened doctor coat now, stretched over his broad chest, loose over his abs. The shirt said: Trust Me, I’m a Vet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“So you met Dr. Wyatt Stone,” Dell said. “He’s going to be your immediate supervisor for the duration of your internship, and you’ll be shadowing him. I’d trust him with my life, and certainly to have my back in any situation that arises here, and you can, too.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOh boy. With no choice but to actually finally face this head-on, she looked Wyatt in the eyes. Oh yeah, it was him. Her one and only one-night stand from her one and only vet conference three months ago in Reno.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTwo\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWyatt was exactly as Emily remembered—flat-out, dead sexy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDammit.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe was built all big and rugged and tough. Great eyes, great smile, both of which advertised that he was up for anything, especially trouble.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile he squinted those mesmerizing eyes at her, Dell snorted and shook his head. “You lost your glasses again? Man, Jade’s gonna staple them onto your nose.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“They’re in my coat pocket,” Wyatt said, his voice sliding with smooth heat over Emily’s every single female nerve ending. She hadn’t forgotten the gruff huskiness of it in her ear, whispering all sorts of naughty promises of what he planned to do to her next.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd he’d kept every promise.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvery.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSingle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll night long . . . She must have made some sound because both men raised their brows. She bit her lip and shook her head. Nothing. Or at least nothing she wanted to share with the class. Especially since she was remembering how her supervisor felt buried deep inside her body.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDell reached forward and patted Wyatt’s pec, pulling out a pair of glasses, shoving them on for him, adding a face shove while he was at it. It was a guy thing to do and spoke volumes about how well they knew each other.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWyatt blinked, presumably putting his world into sharp focus. Then he took another long, careful look at Emily and his mouth went grim.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe could join her club. This was the stuff nightmares were made of. Going to school in your Spiderman pj’s. Giving a public speech naked.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd discovering you’d accidentally slept with your boss.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe got to her feet and backed up, right into the fence. Yep, graceful to the end, that was her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDell rose to his full height. “You okay?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Yes, I just have to . . .” She put her hands out, letting the two men—one a little confused, the other completely flummoxed—assume she needed to wash up.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhich she did.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd then she needed a quick escape out of here and a one-way ticket to Timbuktu.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe hustled into the clinic and straight into the first room she came to.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA small bathroom. Perfect. There she scrubbed up, staring at herself in the mirror over the sink. “Good going, Doc. You slept with a perfect stranger for the first time in your entire life and now you have to look at him every day for a year.” Not that that was going to be a hardship.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe tapped a second round of soap out of the dispenser and scrubbed up some more. It was Reno, Nevada’s fault, she decided. It had been her first vet conference, and she’d loved it. She’d just graduated, been high on that and the joy of her future, and for the first time since her mom had died, she’d decided to let her hair down.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd oh boy had she done just that.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe’d had the night of her entire life; hot, torrid, amazing sex, but the next morning when she’d left his hotel room and made the walk of shame back to hers, wearing her clothes from the night before, heels in hand, she’d been embarrassed at her lack of control.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe, the woman who had to interview dentists before choosing one, she who couldn’t buy a new pair of shoes or an outfit without thinking about it at least overnight, had slept with a perfect stranger. Except now he wasn’t going to be a stranger at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKarma was such a bitch.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBehind her, the bathroom door opened. With a surprised squeak, she quickly whirled around. “I’m in here—”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I know,” Wyatt said. The room was so small that his body bumped into hers when he closed the door. The last time this had happened, she’d ended up in his bed. Naked.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Step back,” she said in a voice that wasn’t nearly strong enough.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe didn’t step back. To be fair to him, he couldn’t. But he didn’t have to get closer—which is exactly what he did. So much closer that she could have taken his pulse. With her mouth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe was wearing glasses and though she’d never given it an ounce of thought before, a guy in glasses was sexy as hell.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOr maybe it was just this guy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe dropped his birthing gloves in the trash, and then washed and dried his hands, his gaze holding hers prisoner in the mirror the entire time. Then he turned to face her and backed her into the wall. One of his hands settled beside her head, the other by her hip, trapping her in. “It’s really you.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe gave him a little push, but did the big lug move? No. “I’m using the facilities here, Wyatt.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Good to know.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“That I’m using the facilities?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“That you remember my name.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt was just about the only thing she did know about him, and that he’d pointed it out only emphasized how big a mistake she’d made. And if she was regretting it, sleeping with him, how must he feel? She knew why she’d done it, but why had he? What kind of a guy picked up a woman in a hotel bar at a vet conference?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOkay, so just about every guy on the planet would be up for that. But still . . .\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe was close enough that when she tilted her head up to stare at him, a strand of her hair stuck to the stubble on his jaw. She stared at it, at the way his mouth quirked slightly, revealing an easy humor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd she realized maybe she knew a little bit more about him than just his name. Thanks to the past hour, she also knew he was a vet like her, and a really good one at that. He was early thirties-ish, definitely young enough that the faint lines fanning out from his eyes were clearly from the sun and laughter, not age.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis wasn’t the problem. The problem was the other stuff she knew about him, things no one should know about people they worked with. Like the fact that he kissed amazingly. And he did . . . other things amazingly too. He liked to talk when he was in bed. Dirty talk that had shockingly turned her on. With nothing more than his voice, he’d been able to coax her into forgetting everything except what he’d been doing to her. And she’d liked what he’d done to her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA lot.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe’d been an intuitive, giving, demanding, fantastic lover, and now she worked for him. Good sweet baby Jesus.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThose whisky eyes on hers, he hit the bathroom lock, the sound of the bolt sliding into place as loud as her accelerated breathing. “Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head. “No way.” They weren’t going to have a second one-night stand no matter how hard her nipples had gone. He’d already wielded his magic over her, with nothing more than that low-pitched voice and sex-on-a-stick smile. They were over and done.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDone. Done. Done. “Absolutely not doing it again.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe grinned. “It?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“You know what I mean.” She poked him in the pec, momentarily distracted by how firm it was. “And how is it you work here? Are you stalking me?” She gasped as another thought occurred to her. “Did you guys take me on because of— Oh my God. Is it because I”—she lowered her voice into a horrified whisper—“got naked with you on the first date?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis lips twitched. “Sweetness, that wasn’t a date.” His voice went a little dry. “But yeah, I found you so irresistible in Reno that I hired a PI, got your last name and where your internship would be, and then applied to the same place to have a job as your supervisor all in order to continue having sex with you.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Okay,” she said slowly, staring up at him. “You’re right. I’m being ridiculous.” Now that she was thinking again, logic thankfully took over. She’d accepted this internship long before she’d ever gone to Reno. “Sorry about that.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Yeah, you almost overreacted there for a minute,” he said on a smile.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Ha.” But she was overreacting to his smile, holy cow. He hadn’t shaved that morning, and she had good reason to know that the stubble on his sexy jaw wasn’t too soft or too rough, but juuuust right. She closed her eyes and tried to shake off that memory, but it was far more difficult than she’d have thought possible. “I have a plan,” she said. “A life plan. And this isn’t on it. You aren’t on it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGetting back home to L.A. was on it. Marrying her college study partner John was on it—though probably it would help if she was actually dating him for real instead of their vague promise to “maybe” reconnect in Los Angeles once he’d passed the bar exam. Paying off her college debt and buying her dad a house was also on her plan. As was getting herself a nice, comfortable, stress-free life. The only thing regarding Idaho on the plan was the three-hundred-and-sixty-four-day countdown she had going.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWyatt had been watching her think too hard and his smile faded at whatever he saw on her face. “Your academics and work ethic earned you this internship, Emily. What happened in Reno—”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“—stays in Reno?” she asked hopefully.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe stared down at her for a long beat, and then nodded slowly. “If that’s how you want to play it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“So . . . it’s my call?” she asked, needing the verification.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Your call.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Really?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I’m a lot of things,” he said. “Not all of them good, but if I give my word, then it’s gold.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe nodded, and some of her relief must have shown because he cocked his head at her, looking genuinely surprised. “What did you think I was going to do?” he wanted to know. “Take out an ad in the newspaper about our night?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOh God. “Sunshine has a newspaper?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Well, no,” he said. “But there’s a bulletin board outside the Stop And Go. Good as gospel.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe dropped her head and laughed a little, and then realized her forehead was on his chest. His hard chest. She quickly lifted her face. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have touched you.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis eyes darkened a little bit, and she knew he was remembering the other things she’d touched that night.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd kissed . . .\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOh this was bad. Very, very bad. “We have to go back to being strangers,” she said.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe just stared at her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“We are strangers,” she said.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Yeah. Strangers who know what each other’s O-face looks like—”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe covered his mouth but it was too late. And great, now she was sweating again. “We wouldn’t know that,” she said through her teeth, “except someoneinsisted on keeping the lights on!”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe smiled, wrapped his fingers around her wrist and pulled her hand from his mouth. “I like the visuals.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd there went the bones in her legs. “Okay,” she said shakily. “We’re going to need rules.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe grinned. “Like?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“No. No smiling! These aren’t fun rules.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Damn.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe forgot about the no touching, and poked him in the sinewy pec again. Her finger practically bounced back. “One of the rules is that you can’t look at me like that,” she said. “We aren’t going to repeat what happened in Reno.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe laughed softly. “It’d be hard to repeat it since you can’t even say what ‘it’ is.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I’m serious! I work under you, that’s it—” She broke off at his wicked expression and realized that she’d sounded . . . dirty. “You know what I mean!” She said this in no uncertain terms, firmly, and she meant it. Or, more accurately, she wanted to mean it. She’d have to work on that. “So you can just keep those sexy looks to yourself.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Sexy looks?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLike he didn’t know. “Yes!”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“All right,” he said in his slow, warm voice. “I’ll stop giving you sexy looks. Anything else?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“We ignore what happened in Reno. It never happened. We stay professional because Belle Haven is my job, my livelihood.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis smile faded. “We’re in accord there.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe let out a breath of relief. They could do this. “Okay, good. I’ll go out there first.” She started to turn to go around him, but there wasn’t room.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Here,” he said, and his hands went to her hips as he turned, too, trying to make space.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow they were sandwiched up against each other and she sucked in a breath.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“We’re going to have to stop meeting like this,” he said, good humor in his voice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“If you weren’t so big, it wouldn’t be a problem.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe gave another sexy low laugh and she replayed her words, heard the unintentional innuendo, and blushed. Well, hell. He was big. Everywhere. And in spite of being knees deep in muck not fifteen minutes ago, he smelled good. Really good. Warm and sexy good, which was just damn unfair. “Are you doing this on purpose?” she asked.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe gave her a look of utter innocence. “Doing what?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Blocking the door!”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Why would I do that?” he asked.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe closed her eyes, sucked in a breath, and squeezed past him, brushing her breasts against his chest, her thighs to his, and everything in between—all of which contracted hopefully—as she finally got to the door.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Emily.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe didn’t look back. “I think we’ve said everything there is to be said, Dr. Stone. I really think it’s best if we completely ignore each other for now.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I get that, but you’ve got a . . .”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe felt the brush of his fingers at her ass, and she craned her neck and glared at him in disbelief. “Are you serious? We just agreed that this”—she waggled a finger between them—“never happened.” God help her but she couldn’t do this without his cooperation. “That’s the plan. Remember the plan. Stick to the plan.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe stared at her for a beat through those sexy glasses, then lifted his hands in surrender.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTurning away, she peeked out the door. Seeing no one, she stealthily slid out and took a deep breath. Shook it off. Just a minor setback on The Plan she told herself. Just a little hiccup, and a huge mark in the con column of Sunshine. About six-feet-two-inches huge.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrying to be cool, she walked down the hallway, and had just passed the staff room when the woman from the front desk stuck her head out.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Hey there,” she said. “I didn’t get to introduce myself before. I’m Jade Connelly.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmily shook her hand. “Are you related to Dr. Connelly?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Married him. Did you know you have a birthing glove stuck to your ass?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThree\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBemused, feeling a little bit like he’d been hit by a tornado—a cute, feisty, sexy-as-hell tornado named Emily, Wyatt stepped into the hallway. He was just in time to catch sight of Jade pointing out what he’d tried to tell Emily—that she had a birthing glove stuck to her very sweet ass.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHer own hands on that sweet ass, she was twisting around to try to see herself. She went still, and then yanked off the glove. She stared down at it, and then, from the length of the hallway, lifted her head and caught his gaze.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe raised a brow.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe blushed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSomeone should probably point out to her that in order to ignore someone properly, you didn’t blush every time you caught sight of that someone. But it wouldn’t be him, since they weren’t going to talk. Not about their personal lives, and certainly not about that night.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd yet he remembered it, every detail. Sometimes he’d flash to the feel of her lips on his skin, her breath warm on his neck, her bare legs wrapped low and tight around his back, hardened nipples pressed to his chest as she arched up into him. And the sound of her sweet, needy gasp in his ear on that first thrust . . .\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe blew out a breath and shook it off. He knew what she wanted from him, and he agreed. They needed to ignore what’d happened in Reno, for lots of reasons, not the least of which was that like her, working at Belle Haven was everything to him. No way in hell would he put it in jeopardy. He knew how to be professional, and for both of their sakes, that’s exactly what he’d be.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe center’s tech, Mike, came down the hall, his eyes going to Emily. “Pretty,” he said to Wyatt.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A good vet,” Wyatt said.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMike smiled. “Even better.” He handed over a file. “Exam room two. First timer. Has a . . . unique problem.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWyatt slid him a look. “Care to share?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom exam room one came the sounds of a scuffle, and then Dell’s voice calling out for Mike.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Oh shit,” Mike said. “Gotta go.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Hey, what’s the unique problem?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut Mike was gone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInstead, Emily was moving back toward him. Someone, probably Jade, ruler of their universe here at Belle Haven, had given her a lab coat to put on over her suit. He wasn’t sure why she’d been in a suit in the first place when her job was wading knee deep in questionable shit all day, but hell, he had sisters, two of them, both bat-shit crazy, so he knew better than to question a woman’s clothing choice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBesides, she’d looked sexy as hell in her fancy suit, with her pretty blazer offering peek-a-boo hints of some lace thing beneath, as she helped Lulu give birth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn general, Wyatt didn’t have a “type” of woman. For him it was about a certain gleam in her eye, a spark that said she knew life was hard as hell but that it could also be fun as hell, and\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Berkley","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305153810661,"sku":"NP9780593546192","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593546192.jpg?v=1767742379","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/then-came-you-isbn-9780593546192","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}