Page 96 of Burn Point

I parked at the back of the house and gathered my precious cargo. The driver’s side door swung open. “Surprise!”

“Oh my God!” I yelped, spinning to see a grinning Nate filling the space the open door.

As his gaze passed over me and fell to Gracie, his wide grin fell too.

“I can explain,” I put up a hand to halt his objection, wiggling myself to the edge of the seat. His stunned expression had my defenses up.

“She was trapped under the shed at Mrs. O’Malley’s. I rescued her,” I sputtered, forced to quickly make my best argument. “Mrs. O’Malley got me in with the daughter of a friend. She’s a veterinarian. She says she’s about six months old. I couldn’t just leave her there, Nate. She was starving and injured, but she’s going to be okay, her little hind leg just has a little sprain. And she had a de-wormer at the vet’s office, so she might poop a little, but otherwise she just needs a healthy diet and some TLC, and she’ll be good as new. Oh, and we ran into Jules and Nelson from my old neighborhood while we were there, and she’s already made a new friend and we have a playdate for next week.”

My word vomit tumbled to a stop. Nate was staring at Gracie with wide eyes, and I couldn’t read if he was angry, or upset, or stunned, or what, exactly, was running through his head.

“Don’t be mad, please.” I whispered nervously. I couldn’t read him. For as long as we’d known each other, he’d always been so open. I’d never seen him this stoic and impassive. “It’s only for a little while, until I can find her a permanent home.”

“No,” Nate said gruffly, stroking a knuckle between Gracie’s ears, his jaw working.

Emotion swelled in my chest, a mix of anger and heartbreak. I couldn’t believe he wouldn’t let her stay with us until we could rehome her.

“Fine—I’ll keep her in Pearl until I find her a home.” I huffed, jumping down from the truck, forcing him backwards.

Nate didn’t give an inch as he glared into my eyes. “No.”

What the hell was his problem?

“What? Seriously? I cannot believe you, of all people, would turn away a helpless, injured…” I snuggled Gracie closer and stomped past him, my voice rising with righteous indignation. “… frightened, innocent little puppy dog.”

“Skippy, simmer down.” He grabbed my elbow.

I spun on him, prepared to launch into how terrible this travesty was, when I noticed the expression on his face. My argument died on my lips at his expression of childlike awe. His wide eyes were glued to Gracie, and he reached hesitantly for the puppy bundle in my arms. Bringing her to his face, I stood fascinated as he booped her little nose against his in the most precious Eskimo kiss of all time.

Sweet Gracie licked him right on the nose, then began wiggling in his arms, licking all over his face. I couldn’t blame her. I couldn’t get enough of him either.

“So…”

“So,” he said, “it looks like you trumped my surprise, and I need to rearrange my plans.” Nate snuggled Gracie in an arm and took my hand, leading me to the house.

It registered then. “What are you doing here anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be on duty? How did you get here? What’s going on?”

He tugged me close, planting a kiss on my lips, a goofy smile plastered on his face. My heart flipped over in my chest at the sight of Happy Nate.

“Apparently, me and my girl are bathing our new puppy.”

“Does this mean we can keep her?” Excitement spread through me.

Gracie crawled up his chest, tongue flicking out constantly and leaving dirty paw prints in her wake. “I’m scared not to. My woman has a vicious tongue when she gets miffed.”

“Oh, he’s got jokes now,” I said, following him to the bathroom.

“What kind of soap can you use on a dog this small?” He leaned over to turn the water on and fill the tub.

I rummaged through his toiletries. “I don’t know, probably none of this stuff. It might make her itchy.”

He sat on the edge of the tub, pulling the towel off Gracie, and leaned to place her in the water. Her hind legs hit the water and she cried out, scrambling to get back to the safety of his arms.

“Aww, she’s scared,” I said. Poor little baby had been through so much in a single day.

Nate pondered for a second, looking around the room. He stood quickly and handed her to me, then toed off his boots and ripped his shirt off. He emptied his pockets and in one swoop, snagged Gracie from my arms and stepped into the bathtub, pants and all.

“Oh my God, you are an idiot, what are you doing?” I laughed at this crazy fool.

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