Animal Instincts [The Andersons 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Marie Jermy Page B

as the bastard who made it. You!”
    “ No! ” Rex mentally kicked himself for his sharp tone. Ramona was not his ex-wife, far from it. He told himself the chances of a repeat performance were, at best, zero to nil, and yet, he couldn’t make himself trust her, not when Stacey’s poison still taunted him. “ I mean, I haven ’ t got anything, you know … But—”
    The lust in her eyes turned glacier. “ Oh, I get it,” she interrupted. “ If I had something to catch, you wouldn ’ t want to catch it. ”
    He gave himself another mental kick, this time harder, when she shoved him away and stood up. “ Ramona, I didn ’ t mean that. ”
    “ Oh, yes, you did! It ’ s written all over your smug face. ” The slamming of the door behind her rattled the window pane.
    This time, the urge was too strong, and Rex gave the filing cabinet a hefty kick. He gave it another for good measure and gathered his clothing. He ’ d just fastened and belted his pants when he heard an extremely loud and vocal curse, and Ramona flew back into the room, her face flushed bright red.
    She glared at him as if daring him to ask for an explanation. Not that he needed to, not when he spotted her jeans spread-eagled on the desk and her yellow lace panties snagged on the cactus plant on the windowsill…
    Hang on a minute. Yellow lace panties? And not just any yellow, either, but an in-your-face yellow. How could he have not noticed them? He stared at them and a renewed surge of heat stiffened his cock. Colorful lingerie had always been a turn-on for him. His lips then quirked when Mimi Parish spoke through the door.
    “ Ramona, when you ’ ve finished running around half-naked, perhaps you can attend to your first patient of the day? A cat with a serious case of hairballs. ”
    “ Don ’ t you dare laugh! ” Ramona sternly told him.
    “ Wouldn ’ t dream of it. ” He waited until she was dressed then caught her wrist as she went to walk past him. “ I only dream of you. ”
    “ If that ’ s some sort of half-assed apology for saying I ’ ve got something to catch— ”
    “ I never said that! ” Rex shoved his free hand through his hair, causing it to stick up at right angles. “ Dammit, Ramona! Hasn ’ t it occurred to you that I have other reasons for using condoms? ”
    “ Yeah, you don ’ t want to get me pregnant. ”
    “ Exactly. ”
    “ But since I ’ m on the pill, that ’ s unlikely to happen. So what the fuck is your problem, Rex? ”
    “ Hmm, let me think about that? How about being on the pill doesn ’ t mean— ” Rex broke off before he spilled his guts about Stacey. “ Don ’ t take this the wrong way, Ramona, but I don ’ t owe you anything. No explanation. No nothing ” She obviously did take it the wrong way because her glare was glacial. He released her wrist and, adopting an equal frostiness, reminded her, “ You ’ ve got some hairballs to attend to. ”
    Ramona opened the door, her murmured curse fiery and curt. But then she did something that surprised the hell out of Rex. She pressed the door shut and kissed him. His arms immediately went around her, his hands cupping and kneading her well-rounded ass, pulling her closer to his hard body and even harder cock. She purred, which he promptly savored, then deepened the kiss until…
    “ Ramona? Hairballs. ”
    Smiling, Ramona drew back and straightened his tie. “ When you do want to explain, then you know which bedroom to come to. ”
    No, Rex didn ’ t want to explain, but he certainly knew which bedroom to go to. The one next to his.
     
    * * * *
     
    In actual fact, later that same evening, Rex did go to Ramona’s bedroom.
    Casually dressed in a purple velour jog suit, a frown wrinkling her brow, she was sprawled out over the bed studying what appeared to be architectural drawings. He paused for a moment, uncertain whether to disturb her or not, but then tapped lightly on the open door. “Hey.”
    She looked up, startled. “Hey,