And got an eyeful of gorgeous man as a reward.
Last time, Jett had been shirtless and sitting on his bed. This time he was so much more than shirtless. The only scrap of fabric covering his beautiful body was a snug pair of black briefs that showed off his unbelievably perfect ass. Every muscle of his body appeared to be flexed as he did some kind of modified push-up.
With one hand.
I could practically feel the saliva pooling in my mouth. His skin glistened, proof he’d probably been working out for a while. His body sported several tattoos varying in size and intricacy that had me aching to explore each one.
With my tongue.
“Jesus,” Jett muttered as he released the position and maneuvered himself into a sitting position. “Do you mind?” he snapped, probably because I couldn’t stop staring.
His surly attitude reminded me why I was there. I turned and slammed the door to his room shut so that Newt wouldn’t overhear anything I had to say if he happened to come home early from his playdate.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I growled. “You spent three days and two nights sitting outside Apollo’s enclosure and finally make this potentially life-changing discovery about him and then when it comes time to take the next step, you bail?”
“I didn’t think the vet and the guy who runs a wildlife sanctuary needed their hands held when it came to handling one damn dog.”
Jett reached up to snag a towel off his bed which was right behind him but instead of wiping at his damp skin with it, he strategically placed it over his knees. His wheelchair was only a few feet away from him but when he began subtly trying to move closer to it, I reached for it myself.
And pushed it farther away.
“So it still comes to this,” I snapped as I motioned to Jett’s towel-covered legs.
I glanced around the room, found what I was looking for and made my way to it.
“What are you doing? I need my fucking chair,” Jett growled.
“Yeah, and I need to get something through your thick fucking head, so we’re going to do this my way.” I leaned into the heavy dresser near the door and moved it enough so it would prevent anyone from fully opening it. I needed to teach Jett a lesson but had no interest in embarrassing him in front of anyone else.
I returned to stand over Jett, a position I knew made him feel vulnerable, but I didn’t care. I kicked off my boots at the same time that I reached behind me to grab my T-shirt so I could pull it over my head. I ignored Jett’s startled eyes as I cast the garment aside and went for the zipper on my jeans.
Once the jeans and socks were gone and I was left in only my briefs, I sat down across from Jett. He automatically pulled at the edges of the towel to make sure his legs were covered. I ignored the move and stared Jett in the eyes.
“His name was… is Marcus Gray. He’s an attorney based in LA. He represents Fortune 100 companies in criminal cases. So like when a pharmaceutical company kills a whole bunch of people because they cut corners, Marcus is the one they call when someone tries to hold them accountable. He’s good at it. Really good at it. He has a way of turning lies into truth and truth into lies. He’s gorgeous, well-read, charming, and one hundred percent out of the closet. And out of the hundreds, probably even thousands of guys who were a better match for him socially, intellectually, and economically, he chose me. Me, a good ole country boy fresh out of vet school who thought fine dining was when you got two forks to use instead of one.”
Jett’s eyes softened a bit, but I couldn’t let his pity affect me.
“We met by pure chance. I’d just gotten a job at the San Diego Zoo and I was running late. It was my first day and it was pouring out, so I jumped into this cab that had stopped for me. Except that it hadn’t stopped for me. It had just stopped. As in, stopped because of a red light. So there’s me, soaking wet, fighting with an umbrella that had already died a violent death, commandeering the back seat of a cab already occupied by a man who’d been forced to rely on public transportation after his private car and driver had failed to show up in time at his hotel.”
As I spoke, I could still remember every moment of that first meeting with Marcus. How different would my life have been if he hadn’t invited me to share the cab or if I’d had enough sense to understand when a cab was available and when it wasn’t?