Animal Instincts [The Andersons 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

The Andersons 2

Animal Instincts

When Rex Latimer joins the Greg Stephens Veterinary Practice, Ramona Anderson is fuming. Not only could Rex become her partner, but he's got the keys to the house attached to the practice—a house Ramona had plans to turn into a home for disadvantaged kids. Well, even though Rex is the hottest man alive, Ramona has news for him—he will not buy into the business and “Operation Accommodation” will be a success.

Fresh from a messy divorce, Rex is looking forward to a new life in Silver Creek, Montana. But what he doesn't bargain on is the green-eyed sex kitten that is Ramona. Their working relationship doesn't start well when he mistakes Ramona for the receptionist. Reggie the snake, however, rectifies that mistake. They soon find that house sharing also has its advantages.

But will the appearance of Rex's ex-wife pour cold water on the fire they've started?

Genre:
Contemporary
Length:
50,019 words
 

The Andersons 2

Marie Jermy

EROTIC ROMANCE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED:
Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device.
You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book.
This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at

[email protected]

IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

ANIMAL INSTINCTS

Copyright © 2012 by Marie Jermy

E-book ISBN: 1-61926-434-X

First E-book Publication: April 2012

Cover design by Jinger Heaston

All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

If you have purchased this copy of 
Animal Instincts
 by Marie Jermy from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy

This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

This is Marie Jermy’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Jermy’s right to earn a living from her work.

Amanda Hilton, Publisher

www.SirenPublishing.com

www.BookStrand.com

For you, Mum

The Andersons 2

MARIE JERMY

Copyright © 2012

A scowl knitted Ramona Anderson’s brow as she stared at the laptop screen. The e-mail from Greg Stephens, her partner and overall owner of the veterinarian practice where she worked, did not bear good news. Well, good news for Stephens maybe, but not for her. Not when Stephens was enjoying his golfing vacation in Florida so much he had recruited Dr. Rex Latimer to take his place and, if impressed, would invite him to buy him out.

Her scowl deepened as she leaned back in the chair and stared out of the office and treatment room. Damn Stephens! He knew she wanted to buy him out. She had the money, but for some reason, probably because Stephens was a sexist and misogynous relic, he refused to let her have the business lock, stock, and barrel.

She also had plans for the six-bedroom house attached to the practice. Plans that included working with her identical twin sister, Samantha, whose idea it was to turn the house into a summer camp for disadvantaged children. The idea was while living in the house the children could help with looking after the animals, and perhaps if their interest had been piqued enough, particularly the older ones, they might consider taking a career in veterinary medicine.

But now those plans were screwed. Stephens had given Latimer the keys to the house, telling him it was his.

A beeping from the laptop caught Ramona’s attention. It was another e-mail from Stephens. This time, when she opened and read the message, she turned the air blue with the kind of language that would even make her badass brothers, Ross and Matt, blush.

Stephens had asked—no, instructed—her to be on her best behavior toward Latimer and to accommodate him with anything he required. So not only had Stephens provided Latimer with a place to live, but he wanted her to suck up to him as well.

A devious plan began to take shape in her mind. According to her logic, if she owned half the practice, then by rights she owned half the house. So since “accommodating” was the word, she
’
d show Latimer, who in Stephens
’s
description was a “dedicated, talented, respected, and charming thirty-something-year-old man,” and who would be arriving that evening, just how accommodating she could be. She
’
d move in with him.

She had a vast array of tools at her disposal when it came to attracting a guy’s interest, her striking green eyes being one, her body with curves in all the right places, another. Equally, though, she had enough annoying bad habits to turn them off, particularly when it came to the bathroom.

When Ramona had lived at home, Ross, Matt, and her father, even her mother—Samantha had been more forgiving—refused to use the bathroom after her. If she had a dollar every time they’d complained about wet towels on the floor, caps and lids left off tubes and bottles, not to mention not even rinsing the bath out afterward, she
’
d be a millionairess ten times over. If her
parents’
and brothers’ gripes were anything to go by, particularly Matt’s as he now lived with her and Samantha, Ramona would give Rex Latimer all of one week before he moved out.

A sly smile touched Ramona’s lips when she wondered what Latimer would do if she invited Samantha to move in. Even at the age of twenty-seven, they both thought it hilarious when people became confused, sometimes bordering on agitated, with trying to tell them apart. She then shelved the idea. The last time they had played their game of
“
twin swap,” it had fallen as flat as a day-old, opened can of cola.

Though identical in looks, they could be like oil and water, especially where attitudes toward men and sex were concerned. Samantha was a hearts-and-flowers kind of woman, who believed in the white-picket-fence, fairy-tale ending. Whereas Ramona, thanks to a string of relationships that ended when she found out the men were all two-faced, cheating SOBs—still, it could have been worse, she could have slept with Owen what’s-his-face if she hadn’t seen him with his wife—didn
’
t do romance, just sex. She didn
’
t do love, just sex. In fact, she didn
’
t do any emotion that closely resembled love. She just did sex.

However, there was no way Ramona would even contemplate having sex with Mark Raven, who they had played their game on. Not only was he interested in Samantha, but he was so not her type. He was too pretty looking. Give her Daniel Craig over Ben Affleck any day. Also, Raven always seemed to reek of garlic, something she hated with a vengeance.

Noting it was coming up to her nine o
’
clock appointment, Ramona closed the laptop lid and plucked two pencils from the penholder on the desk. It was another hot and sticky start to the day, and she didn
’
t exactly need her shoulder-length hair adding to her frustration. Coiling the tresses up at the back of her head, she inserted the pencils crossways to hold the hair in place and walked through to the reception. Emily Coy and her new puppy, Benji, were waiting.

Seeing her gave Ramona an idea, for when she wasn’t helping out at her mother’s coffee shop, Emily was a hairdresser and beauty therapist and had her own salon in town.
“
Hello, Emily, come on through. I don
’
t suppose you
’
ve got any free hair appointments for this afternoon, have you?
”
she asked as she picked Benji up and placed him onto the treatment table.

“
I think so. Just a trim?
”

“
Nope, the full works.
”
Ramona smiled as Emily
’
s neatly plucked eyebrows rose skyward. She turned her attention to Benji, who kept turning around in order to lick her fingers.
“
I
’
ve been thinking about having my hair cut for ages now.
”

“
Define ‘ages
’?”

“Oh, c’
mon, Emily, anybody would think I
’
ve just asked you to decapitate me. And it
’
s not like my hair won
’
t grow back.
”

“
I know, but you
’
ve always worn it long. It might come as a bit of shock if I chop it all off.”

Ramona waved away Emily’s concerns and carried on with her examination. By early evening, however, and upon returning to the house she shared with Samantha and Matt, she began to regret her decision, her new hairstyle perhaps a little too radical even for her tastes.

“Whoa, Mona, is that you or a porcupine?”

Ramona looked away from the dressing table mirror toward the bedroom doorway. His police uniform pressed and fresh, even after a ten-hour shift, a devilish grin almost splitting his face in half, Matt made an over-the-top display of pushing his blue-black hair away from his forehead. She threw her hairbrush at him, which he deftly caught and pocketed.