Page 112 of Failure to Match

With a small sigh, I held out my palm. “Give me your hand.”

He didn’t even attempt to mask his excitement as his massive palm landed in mine. I bit back my own smile, guiding his fingers forward so Toebeans could sniff them again. When he didn’t hiss or swipe, I said, “Try scratching behind his left ear.”

It worked.

It frikkin’worked. Toebeans was allowing a practical stranger to pet him, and all it took was a massive cardboard palace drenched in Jackson’s scent, a recording of his voice on an endless loop, and... ah, yes, the portraits. How could I forget about those?

“He’s so soft.”

I hummed in agreement. He was super soft. A total cuddle slut too when he was in a snuggly mood.

“I can’t believe he’s actually letting you touch him.”

“Just wait,” Jackson murmured. “By the end of next week, he’ll be all snuggled up on my lap, purring away.”

A hurricane of butterflies erupted in my chest when I pictured it. The air was stripped right out of my overinflated lungs. My pulse stuttered.

Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to give Daniel that call he’d asked for, since he’d given me his business card and everything…

“You okay?”

“Huh?” Meeting Jackson’s curious gaze was a mistake. It only made the fluttering worse. “I’m fine. Why?”

“You very suddenly stopped moving,” he pointed out. “And breathing.”

Had I? “I was just trying to remember where I put the business card.”

His fingers slowed their scratching, his eyes slimming dangerously. Almost like a predator locking in on its prey. It made my clit flutter.

I cleared my throat and tore my gaze away from him. It messed with my thinking when he looked at me like that, and the quicker we could have The Talk, the better.

“Listen, about last night…” I trailed off. Why did I trail off?

My hesitation provided him with just enough space to say, “I’d like to do the coaching orientation as soon as possible.”

Okay, sure, “But first we should... I really think…”

The statement was at the very tip of my tongue, short and simple:it can’t happen again.

That was it. That was all I had to say.

If I didn’t end it here—if I allowed this…thingbetween us to escalate any further, I’d end up getting hurt. I knew what I felt, and I knew where it was all headed. It would be really, very stupid of me to keep going down this path.

Both for my emotional well-being and my career.

Jackson waited for me to say it, watched quietly as I struggled to get the words out. The silence stretched and stretched… until it started to feel like a dare.

I licked my drying lips. “What I’m trying to say is that last night really shouldn’t have… and we can’t?—”

I was going to say it that time, I swear. But just as I was about to get the words out, an overstimulated Toebeans twisted in my lap and sunk his teeth into my hand.

“Ow,” I noted flatly. That was, uh, definitely a lot harder than he usually bit. Normally it was a playful little nip or a quick swipe of his paw to let me know he was all done.

Normally he didn’t break skin. Or growl like that.

“What’s happening?” Jackson’s fingers had gone still, a frown pinching at his handsome features.

“Nothing. He’s just letting us know he’s done being petted.”

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