The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [215]
Gabe stepped next to Lizzy. “You’ve been crying.” Just being close to her made him feel funny—adrift, as Ceily had said. He didn’t know himself when he was this close to her, and he sure as hell didn’t recognize all the things she made him feel.
Lizzy bit her lip, which looked extremely provocative to Gabe. “I’ve never seen babies born before. It’s amazing.”
Gabe slipped his arm around her and nuzzled her ear. Keeping his hands, or his mouth, to himself was out of the question. “Did you help Jordan?”
She laughed softly. “Mostly I just tried to stay out of his way.”
Jordan said from behind them, “I couldn’t have done it without her. She has the touch, Gabe. No sooner did she stroke that old cat than she settled down and relaxed some. I was afraid I was going to have to sedate her, but Elizabeth’s touch was better than any shot I could give.”
Gabe made a noncommittal sound. He knew firsthand just how special Lizzy’s touch was.
Within minutes they had the mother and all her babies cozied up in the pen and set in a warm corner where there was plenty of sunshine and quiet. The mother cat, exhausted after her ordeal, dozed off.
“Will she be all right?” Gabe asked.
Elizabeth answered him. “Jordan said none of her injuries from the dog are significant. He cleaned up some scrapes and scratches, one not too horrible bite, and then she started birthing.” Laughing at herself, Lizzy admitted, “When she let out that first screeching roar, I thought she was dying. Jordan explained to me that she was just a mama in labor.”
Jordan, trying to slip clean dry bedding in around the mewling kittens, said, “Gabe, why don’t you show Elizabeth around the rest of the clinic?”
Lizzy’s eyes widened. “Could you? I’d love to see it.”
Since Gabe would love to get her alone, he agreed.
Everything about Elizabeth Parks fascinated him—her softness, her freckles, her temper, her awe at the sight of a yapping puppy or a sleeping bird. She was complex in many ways, crystal clear in others. By the time they were done looking around, Jordan had finished with the kittens and he showed no hesitation in embracing Lizzy again.
Gabe wanted to flatten him.
“Come back any time, Elizabeth.” He glanced at Gabe. “We can talk more.”
“I’d like that. Thank you.”
Gabe knew his ears were turning red, but damn it, he didn’t want her hanging around Jordan. He didn’t want her hanging around any man except himself.
And he still wasn’t too keen on her discussing him with everyone. God only knew what she might hear!
She finally stepped away from Jordan and faced both men. “I have to run off now. I have more errands to get through.”
She backed to the door as she said it, keeping a close watch on Gabe.
“What errands?” he asked suspiciously.
“Oh, the usual.” She reached for the doorknob and opened the door. “The library, the grocery store…a visit with Casey.”
The last was muttered and it took a second for it to sink in. Gabe scowled and started toward her. “Now wait just a damn minute—”
“Sorry! Gotta go.” She hesitated, then called, “I’ll see you tonight, Gabe!”
She was out the door before he could catch her. He would have given pursuit if Jordan hadn’t started laughing. At that moment, Gabe’s frustration level tipped the scales and he decided Jordan would make a fine target. Slowly he turned, his nostrils flared. “You have something to say?”
Jordan was his quietest brother, but also the deepest. He kept his thoughts to himself for the most part, and tended to view the world differently than the rest of them. He was more serious, more sensitive. Women loved him for those qualities.
What had Elizabeth thought of him?
Gabe waited and finally Jordan managed to wipe the grin off his face. “I’d say Elizabeth Parks is pretty special.”
Gabe’s muscles tightened until they almost cramped. He hadn’t thought her special at first, but now that he did, he didn’t want anyone else—anyone male—to think it. “Me, too,” he snarled.
Jordan was supremely unaffected by his anger. “Going to do anything about it?”