Sold to the Highest Bidder (21 page)

BOOK: Sold to the Highest Bidder

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Can a four-year-old girl, a snowball fight and a six-year-old diamond ring finally keep Molly and Jason together?

Almost a Family

Prominent lawyer Molly Schaeffer rearranges her life to return home and take care of her niece after a car accident leaves Molly’s sister hospitalized. Little does she know that Jason Elliot, her ex-boyfriend-turned-hot-veterinarian, is her sister’s next-door neighbor.

Jason’s been burned by Molly before and has no intention of letting it happen again. He’s made his own success with a lucrative practice. But what he secretly wants is a family of his own, and he knows that a career woman like Molly is not the sort to give it to him. Since Molly turned down his proposal six years before and left town, he’s kept his broken heart under wraps. Can they forgive each other enough to make a new start? Or is this the final goodbye they never really had?

Warning: This title contains some explicit sex.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Almost a Family:

Molly ran through the ankle deep snow to his house and pounded on the door. “Jason? Jason, open up! It’s Molly!”

He threw open the door, looking harassed with his mouth set in a firm line and his eyebrows pulled together in the middle, making a crease in his forehead. “Keep your shirt on!” he ordered, frowning down hat her.

At the sight of him, she started to cry without explanation. It didn’t matter that she had vowed not to need his help. It didn’t matter that they were still at odds over broken hearts and mixed messages. All that mattered was that Sara was missing. All she knew was that there was one person she could count on. Could always count on.

“Please,” she begged, her voice thick with tears. “Sara’s gone and I can’t find her anywhere and her coat is missing and…”

Jason grabbed her upper arms. “Get a grip, Mol,” he ordered. “She’s here. She’s asleep on the couch.”

The flood of relief almost buckled her knees and was immediately followed by hot anger. Anger at Sara for disappearing without telling her. Anger at Jason for not calling to let her know. And most of all anger at herself for losing it in front of him. Tears pricked again, relief and confusion and frustration all rolled together in one uncontrollable, blubbering mass.

“What in the blue blazes is she doing over here? And why didn’t you call to tell me?” She wiped her cheeks furiously, leaving them tearless and blotchy.

His chin flattened. “Now it’s my fault?”

“I thought she was in her room!”

He stood upright, indignant. “And I thought you had let her come over. That’s what she said.”

At that Molly’s eyebrows soared sky-high. “I wouldn’t let her come over alone! What sort of person do you think I am?”

He sighed, and his shoulders slumped a little. “The kind that would take great pains to avoid spending any time with me.”

Silence dropped like a bomb. Standing back, he pushed open the door so she could enter.

She did and took off her coat, not knowing what to say. He was right after all, she had been avoiding him. She peeked inside the living room to the right. Sara was laying peacefully on the sofa, covered with a soft blanket with a gigantic golden retriever’s face on it.

Watching the girl sleeping, Molly took several deep breaths to get under control. Tears smarted in her eyes at the supreme relief of knowing her niece was okay. Finally she said quietly, “You still should have called me. You have no idea what went through my mind. I was terrified.”

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “She said you’d said it was okay. I figured you’d dressed her up and made sure she got here. It’s only across the lawn.”

“I did not do any such thing. I was working in the kitchen and she was supposed to be upstairs in her room. I can’t for the life of me figure out how she got out without me hearing.”

“Well, she’s safe, anyway,” he said, and Molly felt the emotions draining from her slowly.

As the panic subsided, Molly caught herself staring up at him. She noticed for the first time what he was wearing, and her mouth watered despite the fear and anger still trickling through her veins. Bare feet and a pair of surgical scrub bottoms, paired with a white T-shirt. There was a day’s growth on his face. He looked relaxed and cuddly and she wanted to grab the drawstring on the front of his green scrubs and untie it. Pull him closer to her and feel his warm, hard body against hers. Let what was left of the adrenaline drain away in the shelter of his arms.

“That’s the main thing,” she whispered in response. Her aroused gaze lifted from the string to his face and she saw color creep into his cheeks. She’d embarrassed him, and the knowledge made one side of her mouth twitch.

Still, only four feet separated them, and the urge to touch was strong. Molly felt her jeans hugging her tightly, felt the tightness of her bra straps as she became aware of everything in their tiny sphere of existence. She saw Jason flex and unflex his right hand and she wanted to feel it cushioning her neck as he kissed her silly. She saw his chest rise and fall beneath his T-shirt and wanted to feel that chest against hers. The memory of it was so strong she could almost feel it now, warm and hard and smooth.

It took no longer than a heartbeat. Each took a step and a half and they were in each other’s arms. As she’d imagined, Jason’s right hand captured the back of her head as it had thousands of times before, while the other wrapped around her back and pulled her close against his hard chest. His mouth was firm and hot against hers and she pressed closer, losing herself in his taste and texture and confirming that nothing had changed. They were still a perfect fit.

Her hands lifted up and threaded through his dark hair, leaving trails in their wake as he stepped her backwards, pressing her against the foyer wall. His hips pinned her there while his tongue danced with hers. He made a soft sound in his throat and she felt a current run from her breasts to her core, and one thing only passed through her mind as his hand slid up her ribs.
Sara is asleep
.

At that moment, she felt something vibrate against her pelvis.

“Of all the rotten timing,” Jason muttered, tearing his mouth away from hers. He reached down and lifted the pager from his pants, looking at the number.

Molly stared up at him, dazed as desire coursed through her body. Oh no. In another few minutes, he could have carried her to bed and she wouldn’t have put up a fight. Not one ounce of opposition. The thought exhilarated and frightened her all at once. Would making love to him now be the same as it had been? Better? Would all their anger, the recriminations, fuel it to burn even hotter?

Yeah, until they were both completely obliterated by the flames.

She could not lose control with Jason. She could not. Things were already too messy. She was absolutely going back to Calgary when Kim was better. What had she done?