Rumor Has It Read online

  kissed her just beneath her ear. The feel of him, the scent of him, everything about his nearness made her weak in the knees. Her eyes drifted shut, and she very nearly tilted her head to give him better access, but she controlled herself. Still, there was no holding in her moan. She’d missed him so much, too much. “Griffin.”

  “Missed you, Kate,” he murmured.

  For a moment she closed her eyes, allowing herself to savor the sensation of his embrace, but she couldn’t let him do this to her, refused to let him destroy her again. Lifting her head, she met his gaze in the mirror. “Why aren’t you in DC?”

  “Decided against the bitch of a commute,” he said lightly.

  She wasn’t amused. “I don’t understand.” And she wanted to understand. She needed to understand.

  “I didn’t take the job,” he said. “I don’t care about it. You’re the only thing I care about, Kate.” He smiled a bit wryly. “I’d move to the moon to be with you. Or, as it turns out, San Diego.”

  They were surrounded by the complications of her new life, and yet he still managed to make it all sound so simple. She closed her eyes again, but Griffin cupped her face, waiting her out.

  “You caught me off guard,” he said when she opened them again. “Knocked my sorry ass for a loop the way you reeled me in.”

  “I reeled you in?”

  He laughed. “In the best way. You embraced me, compromised me . . . loved me.”

  Kate couldn’t speak. She could scarcely breathe. “I also seduced you.”

  “My favorite part,” he said. “When I got hurt, I went to Sunshine because it was ‘home,’ but I was wrong. Home is wherever you are, Kate.”

  Her heart squeezed tight, so damn tight that she couldn’t talk, and Griffin studied her for a long beat. “If you’re not ready for this,” he said quietly, braced for something. “Just tell me.”

  Rejection. He was putting on a good show, but he wasn’t sure about his reception here in her world. “There’s no ranch here to run,” she said. “What will you do?”

  He shrugged. “I like the beach. Always did think I’d make a great lifeguard.”

  She stared at him. He remained utterly still for her inspection, his eyes unwavering and intense, and . . . vulnerable.

  No, he was nowhere near as laid-back as he wanted her to believe. In fact, she was pretty sure he wasn’t breathing, waiting on a response from her. “You’d move here for me,” she said cautiously, needing this spelled out.

  He gestured to a pack on the floor near the love seat. “Already did.”

  “Just for me,” she murmured, marveling at the truth of it. Turning to face him, she sighed in pleasure as his warm, strong arms closed tightly around her. “For my dream . . . Oh, Griffin.”

  “Is that ‘oh, Griffin, how romantic’ or ‘oh, Griffin, you’re an idiot’?”

  “Both, but mostly the first.”

  He chuckled, the sound raw with relief as he rubbed his jaw against hers. Then he buried his face in her hair, letting out a long, ragged breath that seemed to come from the very bottom of his heart and soul. “About your dream,” he said. “I was hoping it might include me.”

  She slid her fingers into his silky hair and lifted his head so she could see his face. “It always has.”

  He stared into her eyes as the tension seemed to drain from him. “Always,” he breathed. “I like the sound of that word from you.” He stroked a hand down her back and then up again, fingers spread wide as if he needed to touch as much of her as possible.

  “Griffin,” she said softly, having the exact same need. “Tell me you love me now.”

  “I love you now,” he said, never taking his gaze from hers, giving her a promise, a vow. Giving her everything she’d ever wanted. “I love you always.”

  Epilogue

  One Year Later

  Kate came back to Sunshine with a lot less fanfare than she’d left. She stood at the top of the dam, a light wind blowing her hair back from her face as she stared down at the lake far below.

  A big, warm, callused palm slid into hers. With a smile she entwined her fingers with Griffin’s. They’d just spent the past few days driving back from San Diego. Wanting one last moment to themselves before they met up with both of their families waiting for them at the ranch, they’d stopped here at Kate’s place.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  She drew in a deep breath and smiled up into his tanned face. It had been the best year of her life. “I don’t remember ever being better.”

  He gave her a smile. “It was a good year,” he said. “But I’m thinking it’s time to change things up a bit.”

  “We’re moving back to Sunshine,” she said. “I’ve got my job at the school, and you were just hired on at the local ATF office. How much more can we change things up?”

  He stroked the hair from her face. “Well, for starters, you could be my wife.”

  She went utterly still. “Are you asking me to marry you?”

  “Too soon?” he asked.

  The lump got bigger, and her heart swelled up against her ribcage. “No,” she said, pulling his mouth to hers. “It’s perfect.”

  Dear Reader,

  Did you know Rumor Has It isn’t the only book in the Animal Magnetism series? It all started with Animal Magnetism. The idea for that book hit me one day when I was grocery shopping. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to write next when I ran into a guy in army gear in the cookie aisle. Be still my heart. He had on dark sunglasses, absolutely no smile, and testosterone was pouring off him.

  He ultimately chose two packages of granola bars instead of cookies, which nearly killed the fantasy, but I recovered. By the time I’d gotten to my car, I’d concocted a whole backstory for him. And just like that, Animal Magnetism was born.

  Brady Miller doesn’t smile much because he hasn’t had anything to smile about in a very long time. He’s an ex–army ranger, now a pilot for hire for organizations like Doctors Without Borders, back in the States at the request of his foster brothers. They run a large animal center in the middle of Nowhere, Idaho, and need his help.

  He agrees to stick around for unusually complicated reasons, even though he’s lived his life as purposely uncomplicated as possible. Fact is, he’s not much of a family guy. He’s always been a wanderer, no roots, no home base.

  Maybe even a guy who can’t be saved.

  It takes a village to show him the truth, including one silly little puppy and one sharp-tongued, sharp-witted heroine willing to knock him flat on his ass to make sure he gets it—that he was never lost at all, and as the saying goes, home is where the heart is . . .

  Turn the page to read the first chapter of Animal Magnetism. And after Brady’s story, read his foster brothers’ stories in Animal Attraction and Rescue My Heart. And the series isn’t over. More coming in 2014, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, I’m back in the grocery store looking for more inspiration.

  Happy reading!

  Jill Shalvis

  Brady Miller’s ideal Saturday was pretty simple—sleep in, be woken by a hot, naked woman for sex, followed by a breakfast that he didn’t have to cook.

  On this particularly early June Saturday, he consoled himself with one out of the three, stopping at 7-Eleven for coffee, two egg-and-sausage breakfast wraps, and a Snickers bar.

  Breakfast of champions.

  Heading to the counter to check out, he nodded to the convenience store clerk.

  She had her Bluetooth in her ear, presumably connected to the cell phone glowing in her pocket as she rang him up. “He can’t help it, Kim,” she was saying. “He’s a guy.” At this, she sent Brady a half-apologetic, half-commiserating smile. She was twentysomething, wearing spray-painted-on skinny jeans, a white wife-beater tank top revealing black lacy bra straps, and so much mascara that Brady had no idea how she kept her eyes open.

  “You know what they say,” she went on as she scanned his items. “A guy thinks about sex once every eight seconds. No, it