Read Online What This Wolf Wants by Jennifer Dellerman - Free Book Online
Authors: Jennifer Dellerman
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since it’s almost noon.” Ben placed bowls of eggs, fried potatoes, sausages and a heaping platter of pancakes—when did he make pancakes?—and toast on the table.
If the men at her table were fully human, she might have to give a lecture. After all, she was a doctor and in front of them were steaming piles of artery clogging goodness. Between the pizza last night and the appetizing food she was about to eat, she vowed to have a healthy dinner to make up for it.
And because of the huge salad that loomed in her future, she dug into the bowls before any male had a chance to.
Chapter Six
In a mass, every iota of testosterone departed from her home, leaving her with a strange feeling of abandonment. Shaking it off, Jackie tackled the mess in the kitchen. Though the men had offered to help, albeit—other than Zan—half-heatedly, (Ben of course pulled the I cooked you can clean card) she waved them off. She just wanted a time out. And maybe a nap.
After tackling the kitchen Jackie tidied the house, but when she found her gaze, and her nose, lingering on the bed Zan had slept in, she let out a disgusted breath, changed clothes and headed outside to work in her garden. She loved her backyard, with it’s small patch of grass edged on two sides by raised flower beds. She’d created concrete stepping stones that not only led to the beds, but were placed strategically throughout the garden so she could pull weeds or prune without standing on the soil. At least that’s what she told people who commented on the pretty steps. In actuality, she hated the thought of accidentally squishing any worms living in and enriching her soil. She considered it a symbiotic relationship. She was careful with the worms and they were nice to her plants.
Unfortunately, the joy she usually felt from tending her flowers eluded her. Flashes of Zan would pop into her head. Zan sitting at the table, his hands deftly cutting potatoes. Zan standing by the edge of her bed, his green eyes intent with predatory awareness, as if about to pounce.
Zan, injured—and hello, naked—on the bed in her guestroom. To her delight—shame, she meant shame—the latter image caused her to react in a very nonprofessional way. And of course, it was the picture that seemed the most vivid, and repetitive.
What she needed was a mental and physical diversion.
A shower and grocery list later, she was pushing a cart through McKensie’s Market. And it was a hotbed of gossip. Already the arrival of Dean’s brother was well-known. When she turned into the frozen food section she also found out how well-known it was that five men had been seen leaving her house early that afternoon. The older of the two whispering women pressed her lips together and gave her a tight nod, though her daughter, Penny, gave her a genuine smile. “Hey Doc.”
“Hello, Penny. How’s that finger of yours?”
Penny held up her pinkie, the one she’d accidentally gouged with a knife during one of her shift’s as a waitress. “Almost healed. That cream worked like a charm.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” No lie. Penny was smart, funny, worked circles around most people, and didn’t hold anything back. If you don’t want the truth—aka does this make my butt look big—don’t ask Penny.
Jackie couldn’t help but adore the woman.
“So I hear you had a bunch of men leaving your place early this morning?”
Jackie choked on her spit while Penny’s mom let out a horrified huff. But seriously. Wasn’t it better to ask the question of the individual involved rather then to gossip about it, incorrectly at that? “Uh. Actually, it was about one. After they all ransacked my kitchen that is.”
“I also hear that one of ‘em was Dean’s brother. What’s his name?
Zack?” While Mrs. Vernon turned away, apparently showing her disapproval at the whole incident, she hadn’t moved away. And while Jackie shouldn’t care what people thought about her, she was one of the few doctors
If the men at her table were fully human, she might have to give a lecture. After all, she was a doctor and in front of them were steaming piles of artery clogging goodness. Between the pizza last night and the appetizing food she was about to eat, she vowed to have a healthy dinner to make up for it.
And because of the huge salad that loomed in her future, she dug into the bowls before any male had a chance to.
Chapter Six
In a mass, every iota of testosterone departed from her home, leaving her with a strange feeling of abandonment. Shaking it off, Jackie tackled the mess in the kitchen. Though the men had offered to help, albeit—other than Zan—half-heatedly, (Ben of course pulled the I cooked you can clean card) she waved them off. She just wanted a time out. And maybe a nap.
After tackling the kitchen Jackie tidied the house, but when she found her gaze, and her nose, lingering on the bed Zan had slept in, she let out a disgusted breath, changed clothes and headed outside to work in her garden. She loved her backyard, with it’s small patch of grass edged on two sides by raised flower beds. She’d created concrete stepping stones that not only led to the beds, but were placed strategically throughout the garden so she could pull weeds or prune without standing on the soil. At least that’s what she told people who commented on the pretty steps. In actuality, she hated the thought of accidentally squishing any worms living in and enriching her soil. She considered it a symbiotic relationship. She was careful with the worms and they were nice to her plants.
Unfortunately, the joy she usually felt from tending her flowers eluded her. Flashes of Zan would pop into her head. Zan sitting at the table, his hands deftly cutting potatoes. Zan standing by the edge of her bed, his green eyes intent with predatory awareness, as if about to pounce.
Zan, injured—and hello, naked—on the bed in her guestroom. To her delight—shame, she meant shame—the latter image caused her to react in a very nonprofessional way. And of course, it was the picture that seemed the most vivid, and repetitive.
What she needed was a mental and physical diversion.
A shower and grocery list later, she was pushing a cart through McKensie’s Market. And it was a hotbed of gossip. Already the arrival of Dean’s brother was well-known. When she turned into the frozen food section she also found out how well-known it was that five men had been seen leaving her house early that afternoon. The older of the two whispering women pressed her lips together and gave her a tight nod, though her daughter, Penny, gave her a genuine smile. “Hey Doc.”
“Hello, Penny. How’s that finger of yours?”
Penny held up her pinkie, the one she’d accidentally gouged with a knife during one of her shift’s as a waitress. “Almost healed. That cream worked like a charm.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” No lie. Penny was smart, funny, worked circles around most people, and didn’t hold anything back. If you don’t want the truth—aka does this make my butt look big—don’t ask Penny.
Jackie couldn’t help but adore the woman.
“So I hear you had a bunch of men leaving your place early this morning?”
Jackie choked on her spit while Penny’s mom let out a horrified huff. But seriously. Wasn’t it better to ask the question of the individual involved rather then to gossip about it, incorrectly at that? “Uh. Actually, it was about one. After they all ransacked my kitchen that is.”
“I also hear that one of ‘em was Dean’s brother. What’s his name?
Zack?” While Mrs. Vernon turned away, apparently showing her disapproval at the whole incident, she hadn’t moved away. And while Jackie shouldn’t care what people thought about her, she was one of the few doctors
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