Chapter 25
CHAPTER 25
The dog wandered around the loft, sniffing and smelling things. I put a handful of food into the bowl which it downed ravenously. At Jackson’s advice, we decided we'd just give her a little bit of food every hour so that she didn’t gorge herself and get sick. We also did the same for water.
The dog had a sweet personality, and after she sniffed everything, she awkwardly hopped up on the couch beside me and laid her head on my lap. I lavished all the care I had within me on this stinky little dog. I was already in love. Jackson sat across from us and watched us.
“Well, are you going to name your dog?”
I pursed my lips. “She needs a good name. How about Mia?”
Jackson winced.
“What?” I asked.
“Ex-girlfriend.”
I rolled my eyes. “How about Mandy?”
“Uh, Mattie might kill us.”
I giggled. “Good point.”
He studied the dog. “She looks like a Chloe. ”
I gasped. “I love that name.” I looked down at the dog. “Is your name Chloe?”
Two black eyes looked up at me, and a tail wagged.
Jackson had a lazy smile on his face. “Chloe and Emily.”
I stroked the dog’s head. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For giving me the best gift anyone has ever given me. I have never gotten something I loved so much from anyone.”
He cleared his throat. “We should bathe her. I can smell her from here.”
“I’ve never given a dog a bath before,” I said with wide eyes. “Maybe I should YouTube it and see how it's done?”
He laughed and rubbed his eye. “I think we can handle it. Do we have a bathtub that has a shower hose?”
I nodded. “Your bathroom.”
“That figures,” he said, as he stood up. “Come on Chloe. Let’s go.”
As if she knew her name, the dog got up on shaky legs and followed behind Jackson.
“We should've YouTube'd this,” Jackson said through gritted teeth. He was thoroughly drenched, and so was I. The only one who didn’t seem to be getting any wetter or cleaner was Chloe, who apparently hated getting a bath.
She drenched us when she kicked an incredible amount of water out of the tub. Then she jumped out of the tub, causing Jackson to chase after her. She managed to outrun him and simultaneously shake water everywhere. Jackson slipped and slid after her, trying but never quite getting her in his arms. I laughed until my sides hurt. When he finally captured her in his arms, they were both panting. While he carried her back, Chloe repeatedly licked his face.
“That was like a greased pig chase,” he said, looking back at the puddles of water that trailed down the hall. After that, Jackson decided to shut the bathroom door.
“Okay, time to get serious,” Jackson took off his wet shirt and wet socks and stepped into the tub, jeans and all. He pulled the scrambling Chloe onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. She instantly calmed.
I sat there on my haunches stunned. His body was a thing of beauty. All corded muscles and broad everything. And the way he tenderly cuddled Chloe to his perfect chest took my breath away.
He looked at me. “You're going to have to do the washing.”
“Okay,” I said blinking with nerves. I squeezed some shampoo onto Chloe and started to massage it into her fur. I alternated between using the water hose and rubbing her body. My fingers, more than once, accidentally brushed over Jackson’s warm bare stomach that was nothing but smooth skin and rippling muscle. As I touched him, my insides clenched in weird ways.
He seemed oblivious to my hand brushing against him. He just shifted her to the left or the right so that I could get my hand in between him and Chloe. As I washed her belly, all I could think about was how his hard, corded stomach felt against the back of my hand. The guy radiated heat. How was it possible that someone could be this muscular? He had muscles on top of his muscles. Even though I finished washing Chloe’s belly, I was having trouble pulling my hand away. So I just repeated the circular motion of my hand against her, so that I could drag the back of my hand against his abs again and again. I seemed physically unable to stop touching him. I concentrated to steady my breath. My heart pounded in my chest. I couldn’t stop. I told myself to stop, but my hand kept brushing against him again and again.
“Emily,” his voice was low.
My eyes slid to his face. His eyes burned hot. I swallowed. He reached out and wrapped one huge hand around the back of my neck. Slowly, he tugged me closer to him. With wide eyes, I stared up at him. My lips parted .
And then his eyes went to the door, and he dropped his hand, a second before the door swung open.
“What the hell?” Matt sounded confused as he stood looking at Jackson sitting in the tub, holding Chloe, who was doing her best to look like the most pitiful and bedraggled dog in the world. I crouched on the outside of the tub, soaked, heart racing and probably looking like I was about to combust sexually.
“We have a dog,” I said, as I looked up at Matt from my knees.
He frowned. “I fucking hate dogs.”
My mouth dropped open. “What?”
“God, it stinks in here. Dogs stink. And they’re messy.” He looked disgusted.
“Chloe is different,” I said, indignant on her behalf.
Matt gave Chloe a dirty look. “So you just went out and bought a dog?”
“No. She’s a homeless dog. That we saved.”
“She is probably riddled with disease. No,” he said with finality.
My mouth dropped open. “Matt.”
“She’s going back to wherever she came from,” he said. “Was there any Thai left over?”
“She isn’t,” I said, doing nothing to disguise the stubborn tone of my voice.
Matt rubbed his forehead. “I can’t even deal with this. You have no idea what kind of day I had. Is there any food?”
“In the fridge.”
“Can you help me heat it up?”
I turned back to Chloe. “I can help you later. I'm not finished here.”
Matt stood there for a long moment, and then the door slammed shut.
I avoided looking at Jackson.
We finished bathing Chloe, but this time, I made sure I didn’t touch Jackson. I wrapped Chloe in a big fluffy white towel while Jackson stood up in the tub. His wet jeans clung to his legs. Water streamed off his chest. Our eyes met as he stepped over the edge of the tub.
I swallowed hard. I cuddled Chloe to my chest. “I'll clean your bathroom.”
“You want to talk about it?”
My lips parted, but I refused to look up at him. “About what?”
“About the fact that I can’t seem to keep my hands off you and you don’t seem to mind one bit?”
I licked my lips, unable to meet his eyes. “No.”
He stepped a bit closer to me. I stared into Chloe’s wet face unable to look up.
“Jackson.”
“Let me know when you're ready to talk about it.”
My whole body trembled. I was wet and cold, but that wasn’t what was making me shake like a leaf. “I should go change.”
I turned and fumbled with the door, and escaped to my bedroom. I rubbed Chloe with the towel until she wasn’t dripping anymore. My mind raced. What had he meant when he said that he couldn’t keep his hands off of me? Was he trying to tell me that he wanted to kiss me?
I buried my face into Chloe’s wet body, as I remembered how his stomach had felt against the back of my hand. I had practically molested him while he bathed my dog.
I looked at the ceiling. I had no idea what to think. This whole situation felt insane. I questioned why so many women were running head first towards the man. Didn’t any of them see how truly terrifying he was?
I needed to go downstairs and deal with Matt and his crabby mood. Why did he hate dogs so much? He just needed to see how cute Chloe was and he would instantly change his mind. I changed into dry clothes and wrapped a new, dry towel around Chloe before I carefully carried her down the stairs.