Page 11 of Hidden Desires

Chapter Four

“Oh, my.” Summer grinned from ear to ear when Autumn’s new bodyguard walked into the clinic shirtless and carrying several paint cans.

Jackson basically took over the remodeling project and what a godsend he was. Smiling to herself, Autumn joined Summer in admiring his backside. It was nearly ninety degrees outside, and all he wore was baggy denim pants patched with fabric near the back pockets. It was more of a fashion look instead of actual rips in the denim and left little to Autumn’s imagination.

“Where on earth did you pick up that beefcake?” Summer licked her lips and a twinge of jealousy shot through Autumn’s body. “Is he the guy your father hired? Can he hire me a guy like that?”

Autumn’s cheeks heated. “He’s an old friend.”

Not really true since their relationship had gone from platonic to sexual within seconds. He spent that whole summer nearly ignoring her, and then suddenly he was inside her making her scream his name.

Autumn sighed remembering each and every time. He made her scream all right, and happened to be the only lover she’d taken who could. “And an ex-lover.”

Summer’s jaw dropped. “You had sex with him?”

Autumn chewed on her lip. “Years ago. We were just kids, and he left. Not too much to that story, and it’s best left in the past. Jackson’s a friend of my family’s and my father’s most trusted . . . whatever. Anyway, he’s here now to help.”

“Help give you a screaming orgasm,” Summer mumbled under her breath.

Jackson’s voice halted their conversation. “Ladies, if you don’t mind, I need you to move everything on this counter so I can take it out and put the new one in.”

Summer giggled like a schoolgirl. “Sure thing,” she replied. “Come on, Doc. He needs us.”

Autumn continued to stare at Jackson while he waited for them to clear the desk. The last guy she dated turned out to be a jerk. And there’d only been three lovers since Jackson, one being a one-night stand. The other two relationships ended in deceit and dishonesty. But none of them remotely held a candle to the “beefcake” standing in her clinic with his shirt off and sweat glistening his body. None.

“Who’s your friend, Autumn?” Jackson pointed to Summer.

“Oh, sorry. Jackson, this is my assistant Summer.” Autumn joined them in the effort to clean the counter while remaining organized as well. “We’re planning on opening a bigger clinic together once Summer completes vet school.”

“Yeah. I’d love nothing more than to kick Dr. Gallagher’s butt from here to the moon.” Summer stuffed files in a crate. “The little twerp doesn’t deserve the good name of being a veterinarian, and I’d love to put his stinky ass out of business. Especially after what he did to you.”

“Summer,” Autumn warned.

“What? The pompous little twit needs a good ass kicking. Though I’d rather do it with dollars instead of fists.” She smiled at her friend. “You took care of the fists part for me.”

Jackson turned completely around with a smile on his face, and Autumn did her best not to meet his eyes. “You punched the pompous little twit?”

Autumn struggled to stand still and focus on gathering her scattered files. The less said about that incident, the better off everyone would be. The last thing Jackson needed to know in detail was her relationship with Frank Gallagher.

“Punch? Hell no. She gave him a bloody nose and two black eyes. I told her to let him bleed out on the street, but Autumn wouldn’t. She’s too caring, even in battle. She gave him some damn Kleenexes to stop the bleeding before she drove him to the hospital. He cursed a blue streak for her breaking his nose.”

Autumn remembered that and smiled to herself. “Both of you know damn good and well I can take care of myself.”

And she could. Living with three brothers who serviced in the Marines and picked on her relentlessly, she had to know how to fight her own battles. And she won many wars because of it.

“Sure you can.” Jackson lifted a pile of folders and dumped them into her arms. “Take these to the back, Rocky, so they don’t get lost.”

Summer came close to dishing out more information than Autumn liked. It had been three years since the jerk separated from her and their past best remained concealed and locked away from the general public. She didn’t care how much she was supposed to trust Jackson, he didn’t need to know about every gritty detail of her life.

The puppies in the back barked for attention and Autumn couldn’t help smiling at the furry critters. Many times throughout her career, she wondered why she chose this field of work when it’d be so much easier to quit. One look at the puppies faces and she knew why. She was meant to, and no one, Gallagher included, would stop her from doing her job and doing it right.

She returned to the front to find Summer and Jackson chatting. Her best friend reached out to Jackson, touching his arm lightly as they both shared a laugh. Autumn took a deep breath and cleared her throat.

Autumn knew she could deny it all she wanted. She didn’t want another woman, a prettier woman touching him. Out of nowhere, a pang of jealousy speared her as she watched the two turn quickly as if they’d been caught doing dirty deeds.

“Isn’t there work to be done?”

Summer made her way to the far corner of the room, cleaning up the front office and shifting all the paperwork to the back. Jackson stood before her reading her perfectly.

---