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  Titles by Jaci Burton

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  (an eNovella)

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  (an eNovella)

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  (an eNovella)

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  (an eNovella)

  UNEXPECTED RUSH

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  THE TIES THAT BIND

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  INTERMIX

  Published by Berkley

  An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

  penguinrandomhouse.com

  Copyright © 2004 by Jaci Burton

  Excerpt from Wicked copyright © 2004 by Jaci Burton

  Penguin Random House supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader.

  INTERMIX and the “IM” design are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Ebook ISBN: 9780593098509

  Berkley trade paperback edition: May 2007

  First InterMix Edition: August 2020

  Cover image by Photographee.eu / Shutterstock

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  pid_prh_5.5.0_c0_r0

  Contents

  Cover

  Titles by Jaci Burton

  Title Page

  Copyright

  one

  two

  three

  four

  five

  six

  seven

  eight

  nine

  ten

  eleven

  About the Author

  one

  Abby lawson stood outside the door to dr. mike Nottingham’s office and raised her hand to knock, then stopped.

  Okay, dumb ass. He called you to his office for a reason. If you’re going to make a decent veterinarian, you’ve got to stop quaking in your boots every time one of the docs wants to see you.

  She should have had an orgasm this morning. Now she was a jumble of pent-up anxieties. Okay, she was always a jumble of pent-up anxieties, but today more than usual.

  It was all her ex-husband’s fault. If Chad hadn’t been such a lying, cheating, whoring son of a bitch, she might be a satisfied, happy woman. Instead, she was embarking on her first career, scared shitless and perpetually horny because she had no man in her life, no prospects for a man, no time for a man, and no desire to ever repeat the mistakes she’d made in the past. Too bad her sex drive didn’t understand the no man part. Her libido wanted a man in the worst way.

  It wasn’t going to get one. Right now she had to concentrate on her career, not sex. And career meant focusing on what Mike wanted to talk to her about.

  It was time for end-of-semester evaluations. Maybe that’s why he wanted to see her. The two semesters she’d spent at Silverwood Veterinary Hospital had been damn near perfect. Silverwood Vet Hospital was one of the best in Oklahoma. Hell, she’d love to work there permanently if she didn’t have a driving ambition to set up her own practice after graduation.

  Jumping the gun was a really bad idea. For all she knew, Mike was going to tell her she had no future as a vet when she stepped into his office.

  Quit being such a baby, Abby. Did she leave her self-esteem at home today? If her friends Blair and Callie could hear her thoughts, they’d smack her.

  That’s what she needed right now. A good slap in the face from her two best pals. They were great at pumping up her ego when she needed a boost. And she sure needed one at the moment. Or a swift kick in the ass, anyway.

  Knock on the freakin’ door! She rapped lightly.

  “Come on in,” Mike called out.

  She stepped in and closed the door behind her. Mike was on the phone and motioned her to one of the chairs in front of his desk. She slipped into the chair, and as Mike turned to the side, she admired his profile. He wore his black hair a little long, and it curled at the ends. Thick, she itched to grab hold of it and run her fingers through the shiny darkness. He was tall, about six two, she’d guess. Not overly bulky, but more like a runner, all lean muscle. He wore jeans and a polo shirt that showed off his well-toned pecs and arms. Always relaxed, casual, and smiling. And tan.

  Maybe he laid naked by his pool and worked on beautifying his already gorgeous body. Her pussy twitched. Great, Abby. Good idea to launch a fantasy while sitting in the boss’s office. Might as well just slip your hands between your legs and start masturbating right now. I’m sure he won’t notice. Ugh.

  Career, remember? Not men. And definitely not this man.

  She occupied her wayward mind by looking around his expansive office. Pictures of dogs, cats, lizards, birds, and horses filled the wall space. Behind his desk was an aquarium overflowing with exotic fish. Abby was mesmerized watching the colorful fish dashing through coral and around undulating sea grass.

  “Sorry. Thanks for waiting.”

  Turning her attention from the hypnotic aquarium, she folded her hands in her lap and looked at him.

  He winked a steely blue eye at her, his smile comforting.

  Okay, so he was smiling. A good sign. “Not a problem.”

  “You didn’t start without me, did you?”

  Abby half-turned in her seat. Mike’s partner, Seth Jacobs, stepped through the doorway, closed the door behind him,
and flopped down in the chair next to hers. Just as casual as Mike in jeans and polo shirt, Seth grinned and brushed a lock of sandy brown hair away from his face. Abby warmed at his smile. Like Mike, Seth always made her stomach churn, though he was completely different in looks. Where Mike was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome, Seth radiated boyish charm. Just under six feet tall, Seth was solid muscle, built like a warrior, yet one of the most gentle men she’d ever met. And he cracked jokes all the time, making her laugh so hard she’d end up doubled over against the counter with tears streaming down her face.

  “Your internship is almost finished, Abby,” Mike said, capturing her attention.

  “I know.” She felt a momentary sense of loss. She loved this place, would miss it when she was gone.

  “And we’ve decided that we should celebrate,” Seth said. “After all, we’re your last stop before graduation, aren’t we?”

  “Yes. Last stop. Uh, celebrate?”

  “Yeah. You know. Like a party?” Seth cocked a brow.

  “Oh, that’s not necessary. You’ve both been wonderful enough as it is.” Heat rose up her neck and headed toward her face as they both stared at her, then back at each other.

  “Of course it’s necessary. We thought we’d do it at the club this weekend,” Mike said, looking at Seth.

  Seth nodded. “Great idea.”

  “Huh?” What were they talking about? “What club?”

  “Silverwood Country Club, of course,” Seth said. “We’ll throw a big party for your impending graduation. Invite the entire office staff. You can bring along a few of your friends.”

  Abby shook her head, horrified at the thought of any attention, especially by these two men. “I don’t think so, but thanks.” Blair and Callie would have a field day with this one. They’d never let her live it down. Partying with two of Silverwood’s most eligible bachelors? Oh, God, the mere thought of it—

  “Don’t be ridiculous. We insist. We’ve been wanting to, ah, take you out, anyway,” Mike said.

  Abby’s gaze shot to his, certain she hadn’t heard his last sentence correctly. “Take me out?”

  “That was subtle, dumb ass,” Seth said, glaring at Mike. “Abby, let me explain. Mike and I are both . . . interested in you.”

  “Interested.” She knew she sounded like an echo, but honestly, she wasn’t really grasping what they were trying to say. Okay, she was grasping, but she wasn’t believing it. Not for one damn second.

  “And you said I wasn’t subtle?” Mike rolled his eyes at Seth.

  “Well, it’s not the easiest damn subject, is it?” Seth replied.

  Abby had entered an alternate universe. That had to be it, because her reality was never like this.

  Mike skirted his desk and squatted in front of her, picking up her hand and cradling it between his. Only this time there were no instruments, vaccination vials, or file folders between them. Just skin. Warm skin. Her fingers rested on his wrist, his pulse beating rhythmically. Normal. Which was more than she could say for her own, which rushed along at breakneck speed every time she took in a breath. His body was like a heat blanket. She inhaled again—really, she couldn’t help herself, because he smelled like he’d just stepped out of the shower. Clean, fresh, God, what kind of soap did the man use? Some kind of aphrodisiac for sure. Eau de Torture of Women.

  You are in such bad shape, Abby. So she hadn’t had sex in like four hundred years. So what? Okay, maybe two years. Two years. Two goddamn years. She was thirty-three years old. In her prime, sexually, and she should be having the best sex of her life right now. Instead, she was knee-deep in finishing up her internship in veterinary school and the only release she was getting came from the self-induced variety with her vibrator.

  Pathetic.

  “Abby, I’m sure you’ve noticed Seth and I both have an interest in you.”

  Okay, she was definitely having some kind of weird daydream. “Uh, no.”

  Mike cocked a brow. “You didn’t?”

  And now she was embarrassed at being so clueless. They were interested in her? Holy hell in a handbasket. Where had she been the past year? Oh sure, they teased her and joked with her and were personable and friendly and gorgeous and smelled good and she’d like to unzip their pants and grab their cocks and . . . oh, God. Where was she going with this thought process, anyway?

  The way Mike looked at her now, his eyes darkening, she realized he had been paying a lot of attention to her the past several months. She turned her gaze to Seth and saw the same probing look in his warm eyes. Only it wasn’t a hands-off, professional look. It was heat. Desire. Much more than just Hey, you work here, and we think you’ll make a great veterinarian. It was more like a Hey, baby, we’d like to get you naked.

  Shit. She was way out of her league here.

  “I’m sorry, Abby. We’re making you uncomfortable,” Mike said. He stood and backed away, giving her space.

  “No, you’re not. Really.” Yes, he was, really, but it was uncomfortable in a good way. Two men wanted her. Wow.

  “You really had no idea,” Seth said.

  “No. I didn’t. I mean, God, this is so embarrassing, but no, I really didn’t.” Could she be more clueless? Such an unattractive quality. She brushed her hair away from her face with her fingers, trying not to blush. She wasn’t exactly the most experienced flirt. The only man she’d ever been with was Chad, and she hadn’t flirted since high school. That was almost fifteen years ago. She was rusty.

  “Okay, since Mike butchered this so damn badly, let’s start over.” Seth stood and pulled Abby from her chair, keeping hold of her hands. “Abby, over the past year Mike and I have gotten to know you very well, not only professionally but personally. You’re not only competent as an up-and-coming veterinarian but also warm, charming, gorgeous, and funny, and we found ourselves with one hell of a dilemma. First off, we didn’t want to approach you during your internship, because that would have been unprofessional. Now that you’re finished up here, there’s no moral conflict, and we felt we could ask you if you’d like to . . . shit, I’m not doing this any better than Mike did. This sounds like a fucking job interview.”

  She fought back a grin at his obvious discomfort. Okay, admittedly, this was fun. “A dilemma?”

  “Yeah. We both want to ask you out.”

  She couldn’t help it. Her lips quirked. “And that’s a dilemma?” She felt the old flirtatious surge, long dormant, spring to life. Creaky and not used in a long time, but it was still there.

  “A big dilemma,” Mike added, stepping beside Seth to take one of her hands in his. “I’m sorry we overwhelmed you with this. We kind of thought you knew.”

  A little shiver of delight skittered down her spine as she realized she was sandwiched between two incredibly sexy men. Now this she could get used to. “I guess I was focusing on work and wasn’t paying attention.” But she was sure as hell paying attention now. And enjoying every second of having Mike and Seth look at her as if they wanted to eat her alive. Her body flushed, but this time not from embarrassment. Heat seared her from the inside out. Her panties moistened, and her nipples hardened to the point she wanted to look down and see if they showed through her scrubs.

  “Too much work and not enough play,” Mike said with a wink. “You’ve been working your ass off the past few years. It’s time to play a little. Let Seth and me take you out this weekend. Since we realized we were both interested in you and neither one of us was willing to back off, we figured we’d both take you out and let you decide.”

  “Decide?” She looked at both of them and swallowed hard, not even wanting to ponder the implications of that word.

  “Okay, not really decide,” Seth corrected. “Mike’s an ass. There’s no decision to make. We’ll just have fun. We’ll buy you dinner at the club. The entire office staff will attend, and you can bring your friends, making it completely safe. We’ll dance and toast your impending graduation with a bottle of champagne. Or two,” he finished with a win
k. “Then if you’re interested in either of us or maybe both of us . . . well, we’ll go from there.”

  Holy shit. Could she do this? Go out with two men? At the same time? Her head was beginning to pound. Everything was happening much too fast. This morning her biggest concern was getting home so she could to feed her cat, do her grocery shopping, and be done in time to catch her favorite television show before she had to start her homework. Such was the excitement of her life.

  This was a little bit more than she was used to. She needed Blair and Callie, and she needed them now. A powwow was in order.

  “I need to think about this,” she said, her gaze flitting to both of them. Actually, she didn’t. She wanted to jump on it right now before they changed their minds. But she really needed to talk to Blair and Callie first and get their advice. The only man she’d ever dated was Chad. It wasn’t like she was loaded with experience here.

  “You do that,” Mike said. “No pressure. God, I’m really sorry about this, Abby. We mangled this whole invitation pretty badly.”

  She stood and, despite wanting to end the conversation on a professional note, couldn’t manage to shake the smile from her lips. “Actually, I think you both did a pretty good job of making my day. Quite possibly my entire year. Thanks.”

  “Oh, Abby. One more thing,” Mike said.

  She paused. “Yeah?”

  He pulled a file from his desk and handed it to her. “I want you to do the Jackson spay tomorrow.”

  She grinned and took the file. “You got it.”

  “You’re going to make a helluva vet, Abby.”

  “Thanks to both of you. I’ve really enjoyed my time here, and I’ve learned so much. You’re really too good to me.”

  Before she embarrassed herself any further, she hurried out of their office. After finishing up her paperwork, she hightailed it out of there and called Blair and Callie from her cell phone, scheduling a lunch for the next day.

  If ever there was a need for her best buddies, it was now.

  Holy hell, what a day.