Page 128 of Burn for You

Oh, if you only knew.

“Please move in and get a puppy with me,” I say, dragging my hand down his chest until I reach the waistline of his pants. I slip my hand beneath it. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

He leans into my touch. “I was going to say yes anyway,” he says, using one hand to cradle my neck. “But you can try to convince me a little more.”

He presses his mouth to mine, enveloping me in a searing kiss. One that I can’t pull away from. His touch is addictive, and that’s what got me in this certain little predicament.

“You knowthey’re all going to be in little cages, right?”

I nod, my eyes watering at the thought.God, stop it, Whitley.Could you be more obvious?

“Yup. I know, but we can help one get out of his cage.”

“We’re getting a boy now, are we?” Rafael threads his fingers through mine as we walk towards the park. The sound of dogs barking intensifies the closer we get.

I shrug. “Don’t you feel like we’d be better boy dog parents?”

He chuckles in my favorite way before pressing a kiss to my hair. “Sure, baby.”

When we reach the park, an official adoption lady walks up to greet us. “Hi there! I’m Lina. How can I help you today?”

“Hi Lina,” I say. “We are here to adopt a dog.”

Rafael shakes his head, smiling down at the ground. I just squeeze his hand as Lina leads us towards the puppies.

“So much for just having a look, huh?” he whispers.

“Don’t act like you believed that for a second.” He nudges me in the side in response, and I smile before I notice the pen of gorgeous golden puppies running around in front of us.

“Awww! Oh hi!” My animal voice is out in full force as I crouch down to pet the head of a little golden retriever puppy. I don’t miss the irony of the fact that I told Isla I would never do marriage, kids, and a golden retriever, yet here I am. “Aren’t you gorgeous?”

“What’s its name?” Rafael asks Lina.

“His name is Clifford.”

“Oh hello, Clifford!” I say, scratching the top of his head. “Do you want to come home with me?”

Little Clifford sticks his tongue out, his little tail wagging around behind him. “I think you do,” I whisper to him.

I turn around to look at Rafael, and as soon as he sees the look in my eyes, he turns to Lina. “We’ll take him.”

After pickingup the essentials for Clifford, we brought him straight to our fishing spot so that he could go for a big run. Rafael has been throwing a stick for him for the last twenty minutes, and our little puppy is happily splashing through the river chasing it.

I sit on a blanket I’ve laid out in the truck bed, watching them with a smile on my face. Rafael is such a good dog dad already.

God, I need to tell him, but every bone in my body is hesitating, not sure how he will react, not sure if he will want the same thing that I do.

Rafael runs back over to me, panting as he plonks himself right next to me before he throws the stick a few yards across the clearing. Clifford goes bounding through the long grass to find it.

“Okay,” he says. “Out with it.”

Nausea rolls through my stomach. “Out with what?”

“You’ve been acting weird the last two days, and I’ve been waiting for you to come to me about whatever it is that I might’ve done wrong or what’s upset you, but my impatience has taken over.”

“No, no, you haven’t upset me, Raf. I just…I have something I need to tell you.” Wow. Yeah, no. I’ve never been so nervous in my life. Not even the first time around.

He grabs my hands, pressing a kiss to the top of each one. “Whatever it is, baby, you can tell me.”

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