She was woozy, too, after a week on the new crash diet. The kennel fees and vet bills had bitten deep into her already lean grocery budget.
And yet, her butt still hadnât gotten any smaller. Go figure.
Time to start foraging. It took character and a sense of humor to make a meal out of what was left in her kitchen. She heaved herself to her feet and opened the cupboard. Crumbs in the bottom of the cornflakes box. Whatever she might still be able to scrape out of the Skippyâs jar. There was a third of a bag of peeled baby carrots in the fridge, and she was hungry enough to actually eat them tonight, not just tell herself that she should. God, it would be great to just pick up the phone and order in something wickedly high-caloric and delicious.
That made her think about Davy McCloudâs offer of Mexican food. A whoosh of something potent and scary shivered up her spine.
Sheâd been checking the guy out ever since sheâd started teaching at Womenâs Wellness. Your typical stern, taciturn Nordic warrior type; studly, gorgeous and as cold as ice. Apparently uninterested in her, but oh, so fascinating. The lure of the unattainable, and all that crap.
She stared at the black pepper and the teabags while the images played through her mind; McCloudâs powerful body moving over the tatami with the swift, lethal grace of a thrown spear. He was so well-proportioned, you didnât notice how huge he was until he was right in your faceâand then, whoopsy daisy, it was too late.
He was way too big for her, though. Big guys made her nervous. On those rare occasions that she did indulge her baser instinctsâthat would be way back in prehistory when she still had the nerveâshe picked mellow, scrawny guys who made her laugh. Guys she could put into a hammerlock, if need be. Craig had fit into that category.
Her mind shied away from poor Craig. She focused her attention back on the far more appealing image of Davy McCloudâs half-naked body. Nobody could put McCloud into a hammerlock. She had a tough time imagining him laughing, either. The thought of those piercing eyes made heat rush into her faceâand various other parts of her body.
Strange, to have such a raw sexual reaction to a guy she barely knew. Sheâd been off men for months. Waking up naked and bewildered in a strange hotel room after witnessing a brutal murder could do that to a girl. Real libido crusher. Turned those hormones off like a faucet.
And God, she would really, really rather not think about that tonight, or sheâd start feeling slimed, and have to take another shower.
A hot, juicy sexual fantasy starring Davy McCloud and her trusty vibrator would be a fab distraction. He was pure fantasy, though, and sheâd better not forget it. With his angular face, his grim mouth, his hair cropped off into that sweat-stiffened brush cut, he looked almost military. Too severe for her. Once his hard-on was taken care of, she would drive a guy like that bonkers with her smart mouth.
Must be the old opposites-attract cliché. His attitude of rigid discipline and authority rubbed her the wrong way. Made her want to goad him. Like, hey, who died and made you boss of the universe, pal?
Then sheâd strip him naked, rub him down with oil, knock him onto his back and ride him off into the sunset. At a hard gallop.
Whew. She opened the fridge, fished a carrot out of the bag and chomped it. Might as well give all that extra saliva an honest job to do.
She should cut herself some slack. Lusting over McCloud was a lot more fun than fretting about Mikeyâs big, hurt eyes when she left him at the money-sucking pet hotel, or feeling like she was going to urp with dread every time she peered into the shadows of her own porch. It was better than worrying about Snakey lying in wait for her in the dark. Or obsessing about what had happened to poor Craig and Mandi.
She grabbed the Skippyâs jar and the bag of
Elizabeth Amelia Barrington