Page 123 of Sit, Stay, Love
He took another beat. ‘It’s pretty late.’
‘Buffy’s sick. She’s here. Toby’s taking care of her.’
‘And you’re staying the night?’
Her hackles instantly raised. ‘Yes. My dog is sick.’
‘Do all his clients have sleepovers when their animals are sick?’
‘I’m not one of his clients. I’m his friend.’
‘Right. And are you in bed with him, because it sounded like—’
‘Aren’t you even going to ask how Buffy is?’ she snapped.
He sighed. ‘Is she okay?’
‘Yes. She’s going to be okay. And I’m on the couch, though I’m not sure what that’s got to do with anything.’
He was silent again and she let the moment stretch out, determined not to give him an inch. He was being ridiculous, and obviously cared more about his ego and his jealousy of Toby than he did about her and her dog.
‘I’m sorry,’ he eventually said. ‘I don’t want us to fight. I just wanted to apologise. I’ll let you both get back to sleep. I hope Buffy is okay.’
She bit her lip, then asked, ‘When are you back?’
‘Tuesday night. I can give you a hand on Wednesday morning before the event, if you like. You can give me some chores. I’m amazing at chores.’
‘I think I’ll be fine. I’ll see you at the fundraiser. Call me when you get home.’ They said goodbye and she hung up.
‘Is everything okay with James?’ Toby asked, dropping onto the couch beside her, the hint of a smile lifting the corners of his mouth.
‘Really?’ She shook her head. ‘I’m going to go see Buffy. Then I think Iwillsleep in your bed.’ She pushed past him, her last sight being Toby’s deep frown.
Sera woke early and went straight into Toby’s surgery to check on Buffy again. The dog wagged from inside her cage, looking at her owner as if her whole world was ending.
‘Let me check her,’ Toby said with a yawn from behind Sera.
She jumped out of her skin. ‘Where did you come from?’ She gulped. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of tight navy boxer briefs.
‘The couch,’ he grumbled, then yawned again and ran a hand back through his hair, causing his long torso to stretch out, and his boxer briefs to dip dangerously low.
She blinked at his stomach and the curve of his hip bones as he scratched his head, then rubbed his bare belly, his hand coming to rest on the line of hair that led to places she shouldn’t have been thinking about.
‘You sleep okay?’
‘Huh?’ She was distracted by his boxer shorts and their accompanying bulge.
He glanced down, then looked up with raised brows and said, ‘Move it, so I can take a look at her.’ He casually lifted her off the floor, his strong hands wrapping around her waist as he shifted her to the side and plonked her back down.
She gasped and stumbled, steadying herself with the edge of the examination table. She couldn’t stop staring at him. At his muscles, and how the cotton of his boxer briefs hugged his seemingly impressive…
Damn.What the hell was going on with her? Was she sweating? Why was she sweating? It’s not like this was the first time she’d seen his belly,or that delightful patch of hair. They’d been to the beach plenty of times, lazing the day away side by side on the sand, and playing in the surf, Sera on his shoulders, wet and happy and laughing. His boardshorts hung just as low as his stupidly snug boxer briefs, and when they were wet, left just as little to the imagination. This wasn’t even the first time she’d seen him in his underwear, when she thought about it. Which she really didn’t want to. She really,really, didn’t want to.
She sighed inwardly. Her jerk heart had no right to thump as wildly as it was.
‘Sera.’ He waved a hand in front of her face. ‘Where have you gone?’
She blinked and slapped his hand away. ‘Nowhere. I’m standing right here.’
