Daddy's Pet

3. Scarlett

3

SCARLETT

Good lord. It would be just like me to be near a desirable male for the first time in years, smelling of horse sweat and manure. Even though man candy was the last thing I needed, the God-given vision he presented to my eyes made up for the fact that I had lain on his lap like a hopeless female.

Shoot, had I ever been within roping range of a male so fine? He carried me to his truck, arranged Toby in the back on a pile of jackets, and reached across me to fasten my seat belt, clueless of the effect his inner forearm had when it came into contact with my n*****s. What had come over me? Divinely handsome dude insisted on taking me to get my head examined. His bossiness was way too control-freaky for me.

“Hey, where is Dr. Farley, anyway?” The good old doc was old for sure—polar opposite on the age spectrum from Dr. Dreamy here. But I wasn’t looking for a man, no matter how good looking. After Darwood, I swore off men forever. And ever.

“He got stuck out at Shelter Cove helping a mama calve her baby. Hard labor. Took way longer than expected. So I’m taking his local calls tonight. As of last month, we share the practice.”

I bounced my knee instead of looking at the ropy ridges on his forearms that rippled as he turned the steering wheel. Nope, definitely not checking out those ridges. “I’m fine. It’s unnecessary to take me to the hospital. Promise it’ll be okay if you just take me home.” Definitely not noting how huge his hands were. What a delicious light brown color his skin was on the back of those hands, dusted by golden hair. Definitely not noticing.

“Ha! You don’t know me, so I get why you expect I might do such a thing just because you tell me to. Not. Gonna. Happen.”

Not observing either how that deep voice was coaxing my lady bits as if crooking its beckoning finger at her to come out and play.

Ugh. What was my issue?

He used the car phone to call a buddy of his and ensure that we’d be able to see someone right away, instead of waiting in the emergency room. Opening my door, he moved as if to scoop me into his arms again.

I rushed to say, “Uh, that’s unnecessary. I can walk.”

Next thing I knew, those admirable arms lifted me off the seat and held me against his rock-solid chest. “Yeah, I get it, you can walk. But it’s unnecessary. Things will go a lot easier for you, Scarlett, if you just accept that I’m in charge.” On that note, he scooped me up in his arms and told Toby, “Stay.” He turned toward the hospital, and I hoped to goodness nobody saw me like this, while appreciating his kindness toward my canine, before he shut the door behind us. “Good boy.”

“He’ll be okay. He enjoys sleeping in the car. It’s like a safe cave for him,” I said, and without realizing, I rested my head against his shoulder as if it belonged there. I guess getting knocked out by the kicking end of a gelding took a bigger toll on me than I understood.

“Something tells me, even though you can slay your own dragons, inside you there is a girl who needs to enjoy being protected. Even though you don’t want to admit it.”

My heart thudded heavy against my ribs at his words. I needed to get away from Dr. Dreamy as soon as possible, before my vow of chastity was toast.