The Landry boys had put the building up and it was incredibly sturdy, with a concrete floor, steel and wood walls, and a high ceiling. There were windows up high but most of the light came from electric lights positioned throughout the building.
There were pens and kennels of all sizes to house the various animals that he brought in for rehabilitation. Each one had a door that opened to an outside pen as well. Of course, tonight, all of those doors were not only closed but had been secured with additional plywood.
There were also some interior play and exercise rooms and he had an examination room and an office in the building as well.
He headed for the examination room first.
He was dripping all over the floor, as was Naomi. As soon as he set the crate of bears down, he tossed her a towel from one of the cupboards.
“I’ve got extra clothes here,” he said as he wiped his face and then ran the towel over his hair. “Never know when I’m going to get dirty or bloody or both.”
She smiled. “I’m sure that’s true.”
“Want a t-shirt? Maybe some shorts that have a drawstring would work? We do have a washer and dryer. We have to launder blankets and towels and rags all the time. We can throw our stuff in to dry.”
“Yeah, that’d be great,” she agreed.
He headed for the locker room they’d put in. Jason Young, country music’s biggest new star and a local boy, had made a huge donation to the park and the company had used some of it for this rehab facility. One of the things on Donovan’s wish list had been a shower. Again, working with injured and sick wildlife came with a lot of unexpected…dirt. And other things. Being able to wash off and change clothes was handy. He spent a lot of nights up here as well. It made him feel better to be close to the animals that needed more regular monitoring. So in addition to the shower, his office had a sofa, a coffeepot, and a microwave. He even had a rollaway bed he could pull out if he needed more than a nap on the couch. The place actually seemed homey. And it gave him a place to go when he felt weird about crashing at his brother’s place with Griffin and his girlfriend, Charlie. The two lovebirds deserved their own space. They didn’t need Donovan in their way all the time.
He grabbed a t-shirt and jeans for himself and a t-shirt and athletic shorts for Naomi. They were going to be huge on her, but at least it was better than her own soaked clothes.
He changed before going back out, then pointed her in the direction of the locker room.
Sure enough, when she came back out, she was swimming in his shirt.
And then she said, “The shorts didn’t really work. Even with the drawstring.”
Donovan’s eyes dropped to her long legs. Her long, bare legs. “Wha—” He cleared his throat. “What do you mean?”
He knew exactly what she meant.
“But the shirt’s really long, so I’m good just like this.”
Like this. Meaning without shorts. Or, obviously, her jeans. Or anything else.
He was not going to ask if she was wearing panties.
He was not.
“How can I help?” she asked, moving in next to him as he examined the second cub for any abrasions, cuts, or other injuries.
She smelled amazing. How could she smell amazing? They’d been outside in a rainstorm. She’d been holding a bear. A muddy baby bear.
“Uh. Um…”
She looked up at him.
Her brown eyes, a warm chestnut color, were so gorgeous. He wanted to cup her face and just stare at her. He wanted to run his hands over her cheeks and down her neck and over her shoulders. Then he wanted to bring her up against him. He wanted to cup her gorgeous ass and press her close.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. He definitely wanted to taste her lips. He’d seen them berry colored, a pinkish color, and crimson red. And yeah, he was now realizing how obsessed he was with her lips. He’d been cataloging her lipstick shades. Apparently. But today she wasn’t wearing any lipstick or gloss. And God, he wanted to kiss her.
“Donovan?”
Did she sound breathless? Surely not.
“Yeah,” he finally managed. “Yeah. We, um, need to get them fed.”
He moved around the table to the cabinets, pulling out the ingredients to mix up the food—similar to baby cereal—they’d try first. If that didn’t work, they might have to bottle feed the cubs.
Two of the cubs took the cereal right away. The third, the one Naomi had caught, was less inclined.
“We’ll have to give him a bottle.”
“Can I do it?” she asked eagerly.
Donovan laughed. “Sure. Let’s get them settled in the pen.”
Donovan prepped the bottle and they moved the cubs to one of the pens in the main portion of the building. Naomi propped up against the wall and Donovan gave her a blanket, the bear, and the bottle. The cub gratefully started nursing.
She looked up at him. “Well, this is good, right?”
It was very good, because the blanket was covering her legs and the flash of white panties he’d seen when she’d gotten down on the floor.
“Yep. For now. He needs the calories. But we don’t want him getting dependent on us.”
She nodded and looked down at the animal. “You think they’ve been on their own for two days?”
“Probably about that.”
“Poor babies.”
He watched them for a moment. She looked so beautiful like this. She should look bedraggled, shouldn’t she? Just having been out in a rainstorm? Her hair still wet? Wearing his clothes while hers dried? But no. She looked soft and happy, if slightly amazed to be holding a baby bear. And…she wasn’t wearing a bra. The shirt was big on her and fell off one shoulder, but now with the bear on her lap, it pulled more tightly against her breasts and her nipples were obviously hard and there was nothing between them and the soft cotton.
Donovan cleared his throat. “I’ll be back with more supplies.”
He took his time, but nothing was going to actually work to get the image of the sexiest and most amazing woman he knew, holding a baby bear, out of his mind. So he returned with more blankets and bedding as well as a few toys five minutes later.
They were babies. They’d need things to explore and to play with as they gained strength and learned to climb and forage on their own.
They scampered to the far corner as he rolled the first car tire into the enclosure. It would provide something for them to explore and climb on.
Naomi got to her feet and Donovan didn’t look away fast enough to avoid the flash of panties he got.
Or maybe he didn’t really try that hard.
Naomi joined him as he made a few trips from the supply room, adding two more car tires for climbing, a plastic barrel with the bottom cut off for the cubs to explore, and a large plastic igloo they could turn into a den. He’d add some logs and branches as well when he could get back outside.
“So, now we need a plan here,” Naomi told him, surveying the pen. “There’s a big storm brewing and you need a plan for not just the bears, but all the other animals that you’re housing here. And for yourself.”
“I’ve only got a beaver and a wolf. And they’re doing fine right now. Plenty of supplies. I checked in and they’re restless, I’m sure sensing the storm, but they’re safe.”