Page 33 of When We Break

“I might have had the same reaction,” he admits with a grin.

“I didn’t want that. If I have an animal living in my home, I want them to also be my friend, and I want to be able to trust them with children and other animals. So we compromised. Riley is a Bouvier. He’s been highly trained as an alert dog, so if someone approaches me from behind like you did after the pub that night, he’ll alert me. He’s always on the lookout. I don’t typically let people pet him because he has to be aware that most people aren’t to be trusted. I work on his training every day. But in return, he’s sweet and good company for me, and we trust each other. I got him just before I moved out of New York.”

“I’m glad you have him, Irish. That was a good decision. Since you’ve been here, has The Asshole reached out to you?” he asks.

“No. But I changed my email address, my phone number, everything. I didn’t leave a forwarding address with the ballet company or with my building. Mik or Connor would see to having anything sent to me, and it’s been long enough that nothing really comes to me through New York anymore. I’m not hiding here. I haven’t changed my name or anything, but I didn’t make it easy for someone to find me, either. Who would think to look for me in Montana? No one.”

“I’m glad you’re here.” He brushes my hair behind my ear, and his fingertips drift down my jawline to my neck. “And now I know why you didn’t want to give me your number. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable when I didn’t take no for an answer, and if you want me to go, I will.”

“You didn’t make me uncomfortable. Trust me, if I’d been angry or put off, I would have told you to go feck yourself without thinking twice about it. I’m not shy in that regard, not anymore.”

“Good girl,” he murmurs, and those two words might have just made my ovaries explode.

I glance over at where Riley’s lying on his bed. He’s sleeping soundly, which is unusual for him when anyone other than the two of us is in the house.Dogs see more than humans, so if Riley trusts this man, that’s almost all the reassurance I need.

“Looks like he’s off duty,” Beckett says.

“He’s always on duty. If I have a nightmare, he knows to turn the lights on for me. It’s one of the things he was trained to do.”

He takes my chin in his fingers and turns me to look at him. His eyes are narrowed and intense, and I swallow hard.

“It’s probably not sexy to be afraid of the dark, is it?”

“Every single thing about you is sexy, Irish.”

“Should I get out of your lap?”

“Not on my account.” His mouth tips up in a half smile. “But if you don’t want me to kiss you, you might want to move.”

Oh, I want him to kiss me. I’ve dreamed about him kissing me for a while now.

When I don’t move, his eyes dip to my mouth, and I lick my lips. He cups my neck and jaw, his thumb brushes over my cheek, and he closes the gap between us and takes my mouth with his.

It’s so much more than I imagined.

His whiskers rasp against my skin, and he licks my bottom lip, making my stomach quiver. When my mouth opens to him, he sinks in.

This man kisses me like he was born for it, and it’s everything I never knew I needed.

But it’s over too quickly, and when he pulls away, we’re both breathing hard and fast.

“Wow,” I whisper.

“There are two things I’m not going to do tonight,” he tells me and swallows hard.

“Okay, what are they, then?”

“One, I’m not going to fuck you. Even though I want to with every goddamn fiber of my body, I’m not going to take it any further tonight.”

Well, that’s a shame.

“And the second?”

“I’m also not going home. I’m going to stay here, and we’re going to talk, and I’m going to hold you until we fall asleep. Unless you kick me out because you’re the boss, Irish.”

“I’m not for kicking you out, Beckett.”

He presses his lips to mine again, but this kiss is softer. Gentler. And then he pulls back and settles me against him so my head rests on his chest, under his chin, and he’s holding me close.

---