Page 47 of Dear Pink

“Are you sure you have the time?” Going to PetSmart or anywhere else with him is a mistake.

“I would love nothing more than to help Homer get settled into his new home. Why don’t you fill out the paperwork while you wait for me?”

“Okay.”

Getting attached to Gabe is sheer madness, but Homer needs his help. My logic is flawed, but who can say no to a sexy man holding a turtle?

Chapter 14 - Gabe

PetSmart is packed. I hold Lolly on her leash in one hand and the other rests on the crook of Hannah’s back. Even a small touch generates a surge of desire. The sexual tension drives me insane. I thought we were on the same page after the kickball game, but she ran out of the bar like I developed instant cooties. I wasn’t overeager with my kiss because I feared scaring her. She seems skittish. Doesn’t she get how much I care? Or maybe she plays this game of keep-away on purpose? I want my hands covering her entire body, but there’s a block between us. Each time I get close, she draws away from me.

It’s been a full hour since she adopted Homer, and the two of them love each other already. I wish she would trust our chemistry in the same way. I’m smitten with this woman, but is she interested in me romantically? She glances at me, her grey eyes glittering, and I hold back from taking her on the floor of PetSmart. She licks her lips as if she read my mind, but then a giant glass tank distracts her.

“Oh my, Gabe. Look at this habitat. It calls to me.” She squeals and my stomach knots. I want to excite her too.

“Hannah, this tank’s five times the size Homer requires at his age.”

“But won’t a comfortable open area make him happy? Wait, is this tank too big?”

“Do you have the space for it in your house?”

“I might need to rearrange the furniture, but I have room. This tank is the ultimate home for Homer.”

“I don’t even know where you live,” I say, realizing I have no idea where home is for her. She doesn’t answer me because she’s too engrossed in the turtle aisle.

“What do turtles eat?” she asks.

I point to a shelf above her. “They sell turtle food here, but you supplement the diet with vegetables, fruit, and worms.”

She wrinkles her nose. “Worms? Do I have to kill them?”

I laugh. “You’ll find plenty of live worms in your yard.” Wait. Does she live somewhere with a yard? This girl is an utter mystery. She could live in a tent in the forest or in a treehouse. She only gives me tiny glimpses of herself.

I grab a filtration tube, but she’s already moved to tank decorations. I place a heating lamp in the cart and follow her down the aisle.

Hannah turns to me, eyes bright with excitement. “I adopted a pet turtle.”

Her happiness is contiguous. I step closer. Her lavender scent begs me to run my fingers through her hair. I abandon the cart for a minute and lean into her warm neck, and I’m surprised when she moves toward me. Our bodies press together. My breath hitches. The electric current between us buzzes, intense and relentless.

“Gabe.” She sighs my name, and I yearn to bite those lips. Should I kiss her? What if I’m misunderstanding the signal? The heat radiating off her body turns me on even more. I imagine taking her in the turtle aisle. I pin her against the boxes of fake rocks and brush my lips to hers. She parts her mouth, and the tip of her tongue meets mine. I go in hard for a deeper kiss when suddenly my arm is jerked out of the socket.

Lolly yanks me in an attempt to run after a ball. Another ball? Who threw it this time? A young boy in a baseball uniform giggles. He watches Lolly gallop toward the bouncing sphere. She drags me through the aisle behind her, my shoes squeaking across the tile floor.

“Lolly, no. Stop,” I command to no avail. She cuts a sharp corner and runs smack into an endcap display. She slides straight through the paper products. With her momentum, the slick floor, and the sharp turn, I fall too. Hundreds of puddle pads rain down.

The boy howls in laughter, and fellow customers gasp. Someone says, “Is that Dr. Russo?” Then I hear a light female giggle in my ear.

Glancing over my shoulder, I see Hannah take hold of Lolly’s collar. She extends her hand to me, and her facial expression makes me chuckle. I’m lying on the floor of PetSmart, puddle pads everywhere, and Hannah is giggling, her mischievous eyes scheming. She’s smoking hot.

“One hell of a show,” she says.

“I’m nothing if not entertaining.”

“Oh, Mr. Fancy, I have no doubt you are capable of many levels of entertainment.”

I swear her words mean something else. The heated stare she gives makes my cock imagine thousands of ways to entertain her. She must read my mind because she lowers her face to mine and kisses me full on the lips. No barely there touch. Her lips mean business. This time, my mouth parts, and our tongues engage in a seductive play in aisle four. She crawls on top of me, and I never want to move. My growing excitement becomes obvious next to her thigh, and she moans with acknowledgment.

“Excuse me,” barks a sixteen-year-old PetSmart employee. He clears his throat. “I said, excuse me.”

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