Forbidden Harmony (Harmony Falls, Book Three), page 36
“Did you muzzle the dog?”
Harper nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t want him biting me.”
“Smart. Is it your dog?”
“No. There was an asshole driving like a moron in front of me. I think it hit the dog and then took off. He looks like a stray to me.”
The stranger nodded, as his large hands moved quickly over the rest of the dog’s body, searching for obvious injuries.
The rain had slowed to a light drizzle and Harper jumped when there was a big boom of thunder and the rain became a torrential downpour again. Shivering, water dripping from her nose and her chin, she leaned forward and spoke directly into his ear so that he would hear her over the rain.
“I need you to help me carry him to my car. There’s a vet about ten minutes from here.”
He turned his head and Harper blinked at the closeness of his face to hers. She caught a glimpse of his dark eyes and tanned face before he tilted his head and spoke into her ear. “We’ll take my truck, there’s more room.”
His biceps bulging against his t-shirt, he carefully picked up the stray, cradling it against his chest as he headed toward his truck. She splashed ahead of him and opened the passenger door. The truck was high, and she felt like a little kid, stepping onto the running board and using the handles to help herself climb in before scooting over to the middle. The man eased the shivering, whimpering dog into the truck until his head was lying on Harper’s lap.
The dog cried out again when the man shifted his back leg into a more secure position before closing the door. He slid behind the wheel and slammed the door shut. Now that she was sitting right next to him, she was acutely aware of just how big Mr. Sexy Lips was.
He was lean but he was well over six feet and the hands gripping the steering wheel were twice the size of hers. She could feel every brush of his thigh against hers as he started the truck and drove down the road, peering through the windshield.
Both of them were shivering and he turned the heat to high. She enjoyed the warm air blasting against her body for a few seconds before reaching across and angling the vent so that it blew directly onto the trembling dog draped in her lap.
“Steady, boy. Steady.” She rubbed the thick, wet fur of his forehead and neck when he shifted and yelped.
“I’m Nathan.”
“Harper.” She peered out the windshield into the darkness. “You’re going to take your next right in about five minutes, it’s a long winding driveway. Try to go slow, there are lots of potholes.”
She glanced up at Nathan. “Can I use your cell phone? I left mine in my car.”
He pointed to the phone mounted on the dashboard and she grabbed it.
“Code is 175636,” Nathan said.
She punched it in and then dialed the number from memory, smiling a little as she held the phone to her ear. Her dad and Addie’s numbers were the only ones she actually knew.
Her father’s voice on the phone chased away some of the chill she felt. “Hey, it’s me. I’m about three minutes away and I have a dog that was just hit by a car. Maybe a broken hind leg, or some internal injuries. Can you meet me at the clinic?”
“Yes. See you soon, sweetheart.”
Her dad ended the call without asking any other questions, and her smile grew. God, she loved him.
She stuck the phone back in its holder on the dashboard. “Once you reach the top of the driveway take a left, you’ll see a brick building you can park in front of.”
He nodded but didn’t say anything. She petted the injured dog, her teeth clacking together and her body quaking from the cold. She was tempted to lean into Nathan to try to leech some of his body heat, but he was just as wet as she was and wouldn’t provide much warmth.
He turned right and drove slowly down the bumpy gravel driveway. Harper held the injured dog and tried to minimize his movements, breathing a sigh of relief when they parked in front of the clinic. It was already lit up with light and a sense of being home covered Harper like a warm blanket, chasing away some of the chill she felt.
Nathan jumped out and hurried around to the other side of the truck, opening the door and easing the dog out, doing his best not to bump the injured leg as he shifted him in his arms. Harper slid across the seat towards the door and jumped the considerable distance to the ground. She slammed the door shut as the door to the clinic opened.
Leaving Nathan and the injured dog behind, she ran over and hugged her father, burying her face in his shoulder. He smelled the same, a combination of antiseptic and coffee, and her throat started to burn as she blinked back tears. God, she’d missed him. She hadn’t been home at all in the last year and he’d only visited her once in the year she’d been gone.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
“Hi, Dad.” She kissed his cheek and scooted past him into the clinic, her sneakers making rubber squeaks on the tile floor with every step.
Harper crossed the foyer to the swinging door that separated the waiting area and exam rooms from the back of the clinic. She held the door open as Nathan and her father walked through. A green blanket was spread out on one of the steel examining tables and Nathan eased the dog down onto it as her father brought over a muzzle.
He untied Harper’s scarf, setting it on the long counter that held the lab equipment, before petting the old dog’s cheek and chin. He slipped the muzzle on and secured it, then examined the dog’s eyes and ears.
“Pupils look normal. Harper, step around here and hold his head while I examine him, please.”
How many times had she done this before? Too many to count. It might have been over a year since she’d last helped her father in the clinic, but she fell into the familiar routine without missing a step. She buried her fingers in the shaggy fur of the dog’s throat and scratched gently.
She was right, the dog was a shepherd cross. He was horribly thin. His hipbones and ribs were sticking out and he had lost large clumps of fur across his body. She wondered idly when he had eaten last as he made a low sigh and closed his eyes.
She watched her father’s hands, crisscrossed with large blue veins, ease their way down the dog’s body. He prodded the dog’s stomach and when the dog whined, he said, “Steady, boy. Steady.”
She rubbed the dog’s head again, picking out small burrs and twigs from his fur, murmuring soft assurances to the frightened animal. The initial warmth of the clinic had faded, and she clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering as water dripped from her hair down the back of her neck.
Nathan stood just slightly behind her and she was more aware of his body then she should have been. Man, how tall was the guy anyway?
Her father hummed softly to himself, muttering small unintelligible words to the dog as he pressed around the dog’s back hips.
The dog whimpered and tried to sit up. Harper pressed against his head and shoulders, but despite how emancipated and weak he was, the dog was starting to slip free. Before she could shout a warning to her father, she felt the hard, warm bulk of Nathan press up against her. His big hand pushed against the dog’s shoulders next to hers, his other hand bracing the dog’s head against the table.
The dog struggled for a few seconds longer before giving up the fight. With Nathan holding him down, Harper was free to pet and scratch the dog’s neck.
“Good boy. That’s a good boy,” she said when he whimpered again.
The dog settled and she was suddenly much too aware of Nathan’s body against hers, of his warm breath on the side of her neck. His chest brushed lightly against her back, but he was keeping his lower body away from hers. She should have been pleased that he wasn’t using her need for his assistance as an excuse to be a total perv. Instead, she was wishing his crotch was pressed up against her ass, wishing that grinding up against a total stranger in front of her father was a perfectly a-okay move to make.
Who’s the perv now?
She was. With a capital P. Still, his politeness wasn’t gonna stop her from asking Mr. Tall, Dark and Sexy Lips out the minute she had a chance. He would be a nice distraction from the current mess that was her life.
“Okay. You can ease up now,” her father said.
Nathan stepped away and she mourned the loss of his warmth. She cautiously stepped back from the dog, waiting to see if he would try to get up. He didn’t move, keeping his head on the blanket and his eyes closed.
“No break in the leg, but that hip’s dislocated,” her father said. “We’ll sedate him, do some x-rays and then pop the hip back in. Nathan, can you stay and help?”
“Wait, what?” Harper stared at her father. “You know this guy?”
Her father nodded as Nathan stuck his hand out. “Hi, Harper. I’m Nathan Henshaw, I work with your dad. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Harper stared mutely at him.
Mr. Tall, Dark, and Sexy Lips was Dr. Henshaw.
The asshole veterinarian who was trying to steal her father’s practice and send him into early retirement.
The man she’d never met, but already hated.
Well, shit.
Read more about the Harmony Falls series, HERE
The Elizabeth Kelly Newsletter
For a FREE Elizabeth Kelly short story, as well as excerpts of upcoming books and contests and giveaways, don’t forget to sign up for Elizabeth’s newsletter here.
About the Author
Elizabeth Kelly was born and raised in Ontario, Canada. She moved west as a teenager and now lives in Alberta with her husband and a menagerie of pets. She firmly believes that a person can survive solely on sushi and coffee, and only her husband's mad cooking skills prevents her from proving that theory.
* * *
For a FREE Elizabeth Kelly short story, as well as excerpts of upcoming books and contests and giveaways, sign up for Elizabeth’s newsletter here
* * *
For more information about Elizabeth, check out her website at
www.elizabethkelly.ca
Also by Elizabeth Kelly
Tempted Series
Tempted
Twice Tempted
Forever Tempted
Breathless
Tempted Trilogy
* * *
Red Moon Series
Red Moon
Red Moon Rising
Dark Moon
Alpha Moon
Pale Moon
Red Moon Bundle Books 1 - 3
Red Moon Bundle Books 4 - 5
* * *
The Recruit Series
The Recruit Book One
The Recruit Book Two
The Recruit Book Three
The Recruit Book Four
The Recruit Book Five
The Recruit (Book Six)
The Recruit Series Bundle (Books 1-3)
The Recruit Series Bundle (Books 4-6)
* * *
The Shifters Series
Willow and the Wolf (Book One)
Ava and the Bear (Book Two)
Kat and the Bird (Book Three)
Porter’s Mate (Book Four)
Bria and the Tiger (Book Five)
Rosalie Undone (Book Six)
The Dragon’s Mate (Book Seven)
Rise of the Jaguar (Book Eight)
* * *
Harmony Falls Series
Sweet Harmony
Perfect Harmony
Forbidden Harmony
Redeeming Harmony
* * *
The Draax Series
Reign (Book One)
Rule (Book Two)
Rebel (Book Three)
* * *
Individual Books
The Necessary Engagement
Amelia’s Touch
The Rancher’s Daughter
Healing Gabriel
The Contract
A Home for Lily
Saving Charlotte
Shameless
The Fairy Tales Collection
Broken
An Unlikely Seduction
* * *
Holiday Romance
The Christmas Wife
The Christmas Rescue
The Christmas Nanny
Sordid Games
Elizabeth Kelly, Forbidden Harmony (Harmony Falls, Book Three)
