Page 21 of Sweet Bred

My chest tightens at the sight. “Poor little guy. It must be so hard to see your kid in pain when you’re a parent.”

“Yeah, I was just thinking about that, too,” says Shaw, nodding slowly. “I hope he gets seen soon.”

I look at Shaw, and the genuine concern in his eyes that he has for someone he doesn’t even know makes me crush on him even harder.

“You’re going to be a good dad,” I say.

His eyes meet mine. A soft smile lifts his lips. “You’re going to be a good mom. How many kids do you want?”

His question sends a silvery feeling through me. It almost feels like we’re talking about us.

“At least two, but maybe three,” I say. “How many do you want?”

“Same. Two or three. Maybe four, if the rest aren’t too much of a handful.”

I laugh. “What if the first one is a total hellion? Does that mean one and done?”

Shaw blows air out of his cheeks. “Oh, boy. I don’t know. Guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Did he say we? Yeah, he definitely said we. Not that he necessarily meant the two of us. He could have just been talking in general terms…

Is it strange that I hope he’s not?

“Were you or either of your brothers troublemakers when you guys were little?” I ask curiously.

“My brothers caused a lot more trouble than I did. Reid always came home with tears in his clothes and twigs in his hair. Jake was constantly getting in trouble at school for being a smart-ass to our teachers. He was never happy unless he was the one in charge. Never really outgrew that, I guess.” Shaw smiles. “My brothers are both good guys, though. You should meet them.”

“Didn’t you say Jake lives in Seattle?”

“Well, yeah. But…hell, I don’t know. Maybe we’ll find ourselves up there sometime.”

The idea of taking a trip with Shaw fills me with giddy joy.

“I’d like that,” I say.

“In the meantime, I’ll take you to the wildlife sanctuary that Reid and Mackenna run.”

I grin. “That was actually one of my date ideas.”

He grins, too, his eyes sparkling. “Great minds think alike.”

A few hours later, I’m seen by a kind doctor who cleans up my wound and sutures it. I’m still limping a little as Shaw and I leave the hospital, but I don’t let that stop me from saying, “Back to our stargazing plans?”

But Shaw shakes his head. “I want to say yes, but you need to rest your ankle.”

“Aw. I was really looking forward to it.”

“Same. But there are plenty of other nights we can stare up at the sky.”

Shaw drives me home, insisting that he wants to make sure I’m comfortable and settled before saying goodnight. I apologize for how messy my place is as we walk in together, but he doesn’t even seem to notice.

“Let me do that,” he says when he notices me trying to tidy up my kitchen.

“No, you really don’t need to.”

“Well, then, neither do you.” He encourages me to sit down on my couch. “Can I bring you anything?”

“No. I’m good.”

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