Page 46 of The Very Naughty List

His deep voice soothes me, and as the adrenaline rush starts to fade, pure exhaustion fills its place. Even though it’s nowhere near the end of the day, I feel like I can’t keep my eyelids open, and a short while later, I fall asleep surrounded by my three handsome rescuers.

16

HAILEY

When I wake up,there’s something hard and warm beneath my cheek. I blink my eyes open slowly, realizing that the ‘pillow’ I’m using is Nick’s thick thigh. I must’ve been sleeping on him this entire time, curled against him with my head nestled on his lap.

I yawn and turn my head, looking up at his chiseled, bearded jaw. He’s definitely awake, his posture a bit stiff as if he’s afraid of disturbing me if he moves too much.

“How long was I out?” I murmur, sitting up and rubbing my eyes as I look around the room. Neither of the other two men are still here.

“An hour or so.”

My heart swells, a little lump of emotion welling in my throat. It means a lot to me that he sat here like this the whole time I was sleeping, like a silent, watchful protector—especially since he was also serving as a human pillow. I quickly glance down at his leg to make sure I didn’t leave a drool spot or anything, then shift my gaze back up to his face.

“Didn’t you have to finish up your shift at the station?”

“I called in and got someone to cover for me.”

Sebastian and Reid walk back into the living room as he speaks, and I glance over at them, startled. When I didn’t seethem when I woke up, I assumed it was because they had both headed back to the garage and the workshop respectively.

“None of you guys went back to work?”

“Nah, we all wanted to stick around and make sure you were okay.” Reid brushes it off casually, as if it’s nothing. But it’s definitelysomethingto me. They didn’t need to do that, especially since I was physically unharmed and mostly just freaking out. It’s not like they needed to sit with me to make sure I didn’t die or anything.

But they stuck close by me anyway, without me even asking.

I’m trying to figure out a way to say ‘thanks’ that will sound different than the dozen other times I’ve thanked them since I came back to town, but my thoughts are interrupted by something wet touching my hand.

I jerk in surprise, almost flailing a little to fling whatever it is off—but I restrain myself when I realize it’s Bruno. He must have been lying near the side of the couch, where I didn’t see him when I first woke up. Now he’s standing in front of me with his nose pressed to my hand. As I look down at him, he drags his tongue over my hand in a long lick.

It tickles slightly, and I can’t help but grin.

“Hey, look! I think I’m making progress on becoming friends with him.”

“He must have known you were scared. Dogs can sense when you need comforting.” Nick leans down and gives him a pet and some praise for being a good boy.

“Maybe.” I grin as Bruno flops back down on the floor. “Or maybe he’s just happy that I let him win the panty raid.”

“The panty raid?” Reid’s curiosity is visibly piqued.

“Oh, do tell.” Sebastian chuckles. “This sounds good.”

I fill the guys in on how Bruno stole my panties before I left for the Santa’s Workshop fiasco, and how I ran all around theliving room chasing him before finally giving up and letting the dog keep them.

Nick flushes deeply, and I can’t help but laugh at his embarrassment over Bruno’s behavior. It’s not like it’shisfault his dog stole my panties.

Unless…

I turn to face the muscled firefighter, giving him my best ‘come clean’ look.

“Did you train him to do that?” I demand.

“What? No, of course not!” Nick straightens, his shoulders going stiff. He looks like he’s about to panic almost as badly as I did until he catches the expression on my face and realizes I’m just teasing.

Sebastian and Reid break into laugher.

“Still, it’s like I said.” Sebastian shoots me a wink. “Dogs often start to take after their owners, don’t they? So if you didn’t train him to do it, maybe it’s just a habit he picked up from you. Come on, Nick. You’re in a safe space, you can admit it. Do you have a panty stealing problem?”

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