Page 41 of All I Need

I TRY NOT TO WATCH her ass sway, but it’s not my fault the fabric of her long peach colored sleeveless dress fits her so damn perfectly. The color makes her deep golden skin shine and her hair look like the color of honey. Her toned arms are on display, the subtle curve of her hips make me itch to reach out, place my hands on them and pull her back against me.

Probably not a good idea, though.

Especially since she’s my newly single and, hopefully, new employee who lives with the woman who’s like a second mom to me.

Still… I can’t stop my mind from traveling down a road it most certainly shouldn’t be venturing into.

It’s a shame she’ll be wearing scrubs the rest of the time she’s working here. I wasn’t thinking when we discussed her coming in today, she probably feels overdressed and a tad uncomfortable.

We round the corner into the front reception area and I almost breathe a sigh of relief knowing she’ll be in Linda’s hands now. Not only do I know she’ll convince her to accept the job offer, but I can move away from her for a few minutes and get control of these growing feelings—and the constant hard on I seem to have around her.

She glances back at me, her eyes twinkling with mischief as those hips I was itching to touch earlier sway back and forth a little more dramatically the last few steps it takes to get to the front desk.

The little minx.

She knows exactly what she’s doing to me—but if she thinks I didn’t notice the way her eyes heated when she first saw me this morning, she’s sadly mistaken.

I know I affect her—maybe even as much as she does me. Though, I’m not sure how that’s possible. But whether there’s an attraction between us or not doesn’t matter.

Not when the wounds of dipwad Gary’s betrayal are so fresh. He’s got to be some kind of moron to cheat on Ellie. Obviously, I’ve never seen the woman he cheated with but it wouldn’t matter. I can’t imagine there’s anyone better than Ellie. Lucky for me, he’s a moron and didn’t realize what he had.

Good thing I’m smart.

“Dr. Mac will see you and Mr. Buttons here next Thursday,” Linda says into the phone while keeping her eyes trained on Ellie.

I’m not a good actor—and Grayson is a blabber mouth—so when I talked to Linda about Ellie coming in today, she didn’t miss the fact that I was excited for more reasons than just her stepping into Linda’s shoes. If she doesn’t take the job, I’ll have to start looking for someone else. That not only sounds like no fun, I also, despite knowing it’s probably not the best idea, really want her around every day, in my business and my life.

“Aww, thank you. That’s very kind of you to say but I’m pretty sure Dr. Mac will be well taken care of. I’m going to miss being here also but the change will be good for our family.” She pauses briefly before, “Okay, bye bye, now.”

She places the receiver back into the holder then comes out from behind the desk to stand in front of Ellie. Linda smiles then glances quickly my way before returning her eyes to Ellie.

“Well, since Dr. Mac here isn’t going to introduce us, I guess I’ll do the honors.” She pauses just long enough to smirk when she sees me roll my eyes. “I’m Linda.”

“It’s wonderful to meet you, Linda. I’m Ellie.”

“The pleasure’s all mine. Now, Walker, run along. I’ll take good care of your Ellie, I mean, Ellie.” She’s not even trying to hide her smile over the not such a slip of the tongue comment. “You go check on Copper after his little snip-snip.” She takes Ellie’s hand in hers then shoos me away. Ellie looks at me with wide eyes before giggling and following Linda back behind the front desk where she pulls up two stools in front of the computer.

“What are you still doing here? Don’t you have work to do?” Linda asks without looking up at me. I shake my head, chuckling lowly.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m going. Just…”

“Walker,” she admonishes, “I know what I’m doing. I’ll show Ellie everything I do here—which, let’s face it, is everything,” she teases with a wink, “and convince her to work for you.”

“You make it sound like such a hardship.”

“Dealing with you and your moodiness every day? Of course it is.”

“My moodiness?” I almost shriek.

She grins. Little shit knows just how to push my buttons.

“See? You just proved my point—so moody,” she chides.

I take a deep breath. “You’re the worst.”

“Yet you’re going to miss me.”

“That I am, Linda. That I am. I’ll leave you ladies to it. I have to run out to the Sanders’s farm at the end of the day to check on a few of their pregnant cows. Ellie, if you’d like to come with, you’re welcome to.”

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