Page 8 of When We Break

“I won’t interrupt your brothers’ night out. It’s grateful I am that you broke my very expensive, supposedly trained dog.” I laugh as I pull away. “Good night to you.”

I spare Riley a glance.

“Heel,” I tell him, and he follows me dutifully out of the pub toward my car. “I can’t believe you went with Blake. You know better than that, Riley Gallagher. You can’t just follow handsome men around, you know. And we can’t tell Uncle Connor about it, or he’ll be surely good and pissed.”

He stops abruptly and turns, alerting me to footsteps behind me. He lets out a low growl as I turn to see Beckett approaching. Okay, so my dog is still doing his job.

Beckett stops short and holds his hands up. “He’s trained after all.”

“Quite well,” I agree and hold my hand up, giving Riley the sign to stand down. Immediately, my boy stops growling and sits next to me. Maybe we’ll get some training tonight despite how the evening ended.

“I didn’t mean to startle you.” His eyes fall to where I’ve fisted my hand at my side, and I intentionally loosen those muscles before he pins me in his gaze again. “I wanted to ask for your phone number when my nosy-as-hell brothers aren’t listening in. I don’t want them watching while I try to charm a beautiful woman.”

My brows rise in surprise. Beckett is not simply handsome. That’s much too drab of a word for this man. He’s…powerful. His jawline is sharp beneath that beard, and his dark eyes look lighter, almost like whiskey out here in the soft glow of the car park lights.

And when he smiles at me, it moves through me like molasses, from my head to my toes. I want more of those smiles.Even if I know I won’t allow myself to indulge in that pleasure.

Beckett Blackwell is sadly a person I’ll need to avoid. I’m not entirely sure I’ll ever be willing to be vulnerable to a man again.

Not yet anyway.

“Thank you for asking,” I finally reply when he shoves his hands in his pockets, waiting and watching. “But I’ll have to decline.”

Those whiskey eyes narrow on me, and I almost want to take the words back.

“It’s nothing personal,” I rush on to assure him. If I were anyone else, if I didn’t have such a fecked-up past, I’d absolutely date Beckett Blackwell. “I’m sure you’re a lovely man.”

“Yeah.” He nods, then chuckles, running his hand through his hair. “That’s how I’ve been described often. Lovely.”

I laugh with him and shrug a shoulder. “I’m simply not on the market.”

All humor leaves his face. “I apologize. I didn’t realize that you had someone.”

“Oh, I don’t.” I shake my head and notice that his shoulders relax. Great, so he’s sexy as sinanda nice person. “And I’m not looking for a … someone.”

“Fair enough.” He takes a step back, and I breathe a little easier. “Have a nice evening.”

When he turns to walk back into the pub, I have a moment of regret.

Perhaps it would be nice to get to know someone like Beckett. There’s no denying that I’m attracted to him. A woman would have to have no pulse to ignore the charisma and sex appeal this man exudes.

But I was also attracted tothe arsehole, and that ended in a nightmare.

Feeling slight melancholy and definite disappointment—I hate this so much—I watch Beckett go back inside and lead Riley to the car.

“This is for the best,” I say to both of us before I close the door and climb into the driver’s seat. After starting the vehicle and pulling out to head home, I eye the dog in the mirror. “Now, you do realize that you failed that training, right? I can’t believe you went with Blake. You know better than that.”

Riley lies down with a huff, and I shake my head.

“We’ll try that one again soon.”

* * *

Tonight is my favorite night of the month.

Spicy Girls Book Club.

Bee hosts it at her bookshop, and we’re up to about fifteen members now, which is a lot of fun. But I’ve grown closest to the original members.

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