Then Came You by Jill Shalvis

specifically their good-bye, and then sucked in a breath. “Did you—”
    â€œLike when I told you as you left my hotel room that it’d been the best night I’d had in a long time?” he asked.
    Actually, he’d pressed her against the hotel room door, cupped her face, given her a
wow
good-bye kiss, and then whispered in her ear.
You’re going to be hard to get over, sweetness. That was a night I won’t forget.
She cleared her throat. “Yeah,” she said. “That.”
    He was still smiling, but there was more to his gaze, a sudden intensity. “No,” he said. “That was one hundred percent honesty.” He met her gaze. “You’re not the only one thrown off their axis here, Emily. We never intended to see each other again. Hell we didn’t even know each other’s last names. And that worked for me.”
    She absorbed the unexpected jab, and then shook it off. If she was being honest it worked for her, too. After her internship, she was going to leave Sunshine and go back to her real life. She had a whole lot of plans, none of which included a sexy but laid-back vet who apparently had his own secrets. “Which is why we need to really work at ignoring our sordid past.”
    His lips quirked. “Especially since you have an almost sort of boyfriend. The . . . silent kind.”
    She refused to let him bait her. “And how about
your
reason for not wanting to be with someone. Let’s hear about that.”
    He didn’t answer. Just flat out said nothing.
    If she hadn’t been so flipping curious about him in spite of herself, she’d have taken the time to admire his ability to do that so effectively. Only a man, she thought. “I suppose this is your charming way of saying none of my business?”
    He shrugged.
    â€œGot to tell you,” she finally said. “It’s a little annoying, not being able to read you, and you not speaking in full sentences. Or in
any
sentences.”
    He smiled at that. “When you first started here. I wondered how a cute little thing like yourself had ever been pushy enough to make it through the world of animal medicine, but you’ve got grit, sweetness. You were born for this job.”
    â€œAnd you should’ve become a politician for your ability to dodge a question.”
    He tipped back his head and laughed. It was a good laugh, and did something to her belly. Not good.
    â€œI’m not opposed to being with a woman,” he said. “As you very well know.” He met her gaze, and she felt yet another blush rise up her cheeks.
    â€œAs for settling down with
one
woman,” he went on. “I work morning to night, I live the job, and on top of that, I’ve got two bossy, nosy sisters, and we share a large ancestral home that’s falling apart. It all requires a lot of my time and attention. A woman would be crazy to want me right now.”
    Emily thought maybe that was unfair to the woman who fell for him—which absolutely would not be her. But surely, whoever
did
could see through his schedule to the man beneath, and just as surely get that he was worth working around his busy life.
    â€œNow you,” he said.
    â€œMe what?” she asked warily.
    â€œWhen I complimented you in front of Dell, you just about fell over in shock and embarrassment. Why?”
    â€œI didn’t.” But she had, and they both knew it.
    Wyatt waited her out with the same calm patience he’d shown every animal they’d seen together.
    â€œI guess I didn’t expect you to notice how hard I was working, because you were working just as hard,” she finally said.
    He looked at her for an eternal beat, during which time it felt like he was seeing all her inner thoughts. And as some of these inner thoughts involved him naked on a platter, this wasn’t a comfortable feeling. But she also had a lot of insecurities and self-doubts, and