All I Want Read online

  He kissed her softly and then not so softly. And then he pulled her down so that he could thrust up into her. “First, I’m going to take you on these stairs.”

  Her breath caught and she found herself nodding her head like a bobblehead. “And then?” she asked eagerly.

  “And then we’ll move to the upstairs landing. And then your bed. And then maybe the shower, if we can still walk.”

  She pressed her mouth to his gorgeous lips. “And then?”

  “And then,” he said, voice rough with need and emotion, God, so much emotion, “I want to hold you while I sleep. All night, Zoe. I want to wake up with you in my arms. And then we do the same thing all over tomorrow night. And the night after that.”

  Her heart had swelled up against her rib cage. “For how many nights?” she asked.

  “All of them,” he said, and mended the last rift in her heart.

  Epilogue

  Six months later . . .

  A warm breeze settled around Zoe and Parker as they watched a just-married Wyatt and Emily sway to the music together in Zoe’s backyard. The plan had been to do the reception in the house but the day had turned out so unseasonably perfect they’d moved the party outside. They were still dressed as bride and groom, though Emily was barefoot and on tiptoes, wrapped in her husband’s arms as they stared at each other raptly.

  “You look so beautiful tonight,” Parker murmured, coming up behind Zoe, pulling her back into his strong, warm arms. “You outshine even the bride.”

  She felt herself flush a little and wriggled, gratified to feel Parker’s body respond.

  Mouth nuzzling her ear, he laughed softly, naughtily. “Keep that up and I’ll drag you inside.”

  “Not yet, you won’t.” She laughed breathlessly. “AJ and Darcy went inside an hour ago for more booze and never came back out.”

  “Lucky bastard,” Parker murmured, and dragged her out to the dance floor, where he succeeded in heating her up and making her look longingly at the house.

  He laughed at her. “Not yet,” he teased.

  It was two more hours before Zoe stood in the middle of the street, finally watching Wyatt and Emily drive off in his truck, the Just Married graffiti all over it.

  Behind her, the rest of the gang cheered loudly and migrated back to the yard, where the wedding reception would carry on, probably late into the night.

  Parker slid an arm around her. “They grow up so fast.”

  She laughed and turned into him, her breath catching at the sight of him, as it had all night. “Did I ever tell you that the sight of a man in a tux makes me wild?”

  He flashed a very wicked smile at that. “How do you feel about a man stripping off his tux?”

  “Even better.” She laughed when he nudged her toward the house instead of the party. “We can’t yet,” she said. “We have guests.”

  “They’ll never even notice,” he promised.

  Inside, the house was dark and quiet. Parker didn’t turn on any lights, leading her by the hand into . . . the kitchen? “Not that I’m complaining,” she said. “But I’m tired. I’m going to need a bed to do my best work—”

  He flipped on the light.

  Oreo lifted his sleepy head from his bed by the stove. Bonnie and Clyde, both cuddled with him, lifted theirs, too. At the sight of Zoe, the Food-Giver-Outer, they came running and tumbling toward her and she gasped.

  Each of the kittens had a ribbon around their neck and from the ribbon hung a sign. Clyde got to her first, and his sign read:

  Marry our daddy?

  And Bonnie’s read:

  Will you . . .

  Parker sighed. “The one night that he’s faster than she is . . .”

  Zoe turned and threw herself at him, both laughing and crying as she squeezed him tight.

  Parker’s arms came hard around her. “Is that a yes?”

  Speechless, her chest tight with emotion, she nodded.

  Oreo, sensing the escalating excitement, lifted his head and barked.

  Zoe laughed through her happy tears and kissed Parker. “Yes,” she said against his lips. “We’ll all marry you.”

  Sunshine, Idaho, is a small, sunny town – the perfect home for man and beast. Well, maybe not for man, as pilot-for-hire Brady Miller discovers when his truck is rear-ended by what appears to be Noah’s Ark.

  As the co-owner of the town’s only kennel, Lilah Young has good reason to be distracted behind the wheel – there are puppies, a piglet and a duck in her Jeep. Still, she doesn’t find it hard to focus on the sexy, gorgeous stranger she’s collided with.

  Brady is just passing through, but there’s something about Lilah and her menagerie that makes the temptation of staying in Sunshine one that’s difficult to resist . . .

  Praise for Jill Shalvis:

  ‘From beginning to end, Animal Magnetism is a captivating story that will have you laughing out loud, rooting for a happy ending for Lilah and Brady, and hoping that this won’t be your last visit to Sunshine’

  Romance Reviews Today

  Sunshine, Idaho, is the perfect place to give injured animals a refuge . . . or to find one. Veterinarian Dell Connelly suspects there’s a reason his clinic’s uber-efficient receptionist has taken shelter here.

  Jade Bennett couldn’t be happier to escape the big-city jungle to work with injured animals . . . and enjoy the gorgeous views of her ruggedly sexy boss.

  Jade is used to planning everything in her life, but Dell’s seductive, alluring ways have sparked an uncontrollable desire. And though Dell has never had time for love, Jade’s strength and sass is the kind of call no red-blooded male can resist . . .

  Praise for Jill Shalvis:

  ‘Funny and hot as hell . . . Moving,

  empowering, and engaging’

  All About Romance

  After a tragic stint in the National Guards, Adam Connelly returns to his animal shelter in Sunshine, Idaho, just wanting to be alone. Then he opens the door to the woman whose heart he once broke. Still gorgeous, still tough-as-nails, but this time, unusually vulnerable.

  Adam is the last man Holly wants to see. But with her father missing, he is the only one she knows will be able to find him.

  For Holly and Adam, each with their ghosts, a search this desperate, this unpredictable and this intimate, will have its share of risks – including opening their hearts one more time.

  Praise for Jill Shalvis:

  ‘I’m a big animal lover, and this series is centred around animals. Animals and hot heroes. How can you not love a romance like that?’

  Jaci Burton, New York Times bestselling author

  Special Ops soldier Griffin Reid doesn’t exactly have happy memories of growing up in Sunshine, Idaho. But when he returns to recover from a war injury, he finds comfort in the last person he’d expect.

  Teacher Kate Evans harbours dreams of graduate school and a happily-ever-after, desperate to break out of the monotony of Sunshine. Luckily, a certain sexy man has just come back into her life.

  Until now, Griffin has seen Kate as simply his little sister’s friend. But as they both attempt to forge their paths, they must decide if their passionate connection can turn into something more lasting . . .

  Praise for Jill Shalvis:

  ‘Humor, intrigue, and scintillating sex. Jill Shalvis is a total original’

  Suzanne Forster, New York Times bestselling author

  Veterinary intern Emily can’t believe she wound up in the small town of Sunshine, Idaho, instead of the Los Angeles clinic she had always imagined. Now she has to put her plans to move to LA on hold for a year while she fulfils the obligation of her vet school scholarship.

  Then Wyatt, her gorgeous one-night stand from a Reno vet conference, introduces himself as her new boss. And Emily is just as drawn to his seductive looks and quiet strength as she was on that very steamy night.

  She soon learns that Wyatt isn’t just a laid-back doctor, but a delicious alpha male tempting her away from her care