Page 6 of Downward Dawg
“Movie,” she exclaimed, wanting to both pull away and press into his touch at the same time. More exciting than she’d anticipated, the grazing caress stole her breath, opening her mind to so many available options with him.You’re acting like a dork. It’s just an ear, woman, which is not a normal erogenous zone on you. Stop it now.“Yeah. So, ah, we were going to watch a movie.” Moving too quickly, the remote flew from her hand aiming directly at his face. He smoothly caught it with his other hand, beer tucked between his thighs. “I’m so sorry.” Smiling nervously, she plucked at the edge of the blanket. “Person holding the remote gets to drive. Means you’ve got to pick something.” The TV had moved to the screensaver slideshow, having been paused too long.
“You said you and Chicken were already knee deep into a romance, right?” He flipped to recently viewed and her stomach lurched. All he’d find there was romance, romance, and more romance.Each time one of her favorite authors had a new movie come out, she’d be on it like a shot. With the new streaming services, that meant there wasnot a single explosion to be seen on her queue of shows and movies. Would it make him rethink his visit, knowing she was a hopeless romantic?Hope not.“This one? Looks likely. Lots of mush. Let’s finish it. You can catch me up on anything important I missed.”
“You want me to talk during a movie?Other than sharing I've actually met the person who wrote this story? It was at a Texas author event, one of my favorites. D.M. Earl was absolutely lovely to talk to. She felt real and honest in a shirt-off-her-back kind of way. I got really good vibes from her. Best friend vibes. You know? So then, chatting with her made me appreciate D.M.'s books even more. When I found out about the movie I was so excited for her. She’s an indie author, so a movie deal? Unheard of and huge! So, okay, the brief on this movie is it’s about Tink, president of the Devil's Handmaidens, a female motorcycle club. She's out to rid the world of human trafficking. She's awesome! But, me talk during the movie? Nevah!”Elodie mugged for him, rolling her eyes wildly. “Hand over your man card, immediately.”
“Not a chance. Man card stays in the wallet. Which means we’ll watch silently, and I guess I’ll just be in suspense the whole time. Instead of a romance, it’ll be an art flick for me, where the ending doesn’t make sense. I’m good either way.” He stared intently at the TV as he tugged the blanket a tiny bit. She held tight with both hands, keeping it in place. Lips curling into a smile, he told her, “Just makin’ sure you didn’t have more than your share.”
She studied his profile. Full lips, noble brow, nose that had been broken at least once. But still, every vibe he gave off said he was a good man. She trusted her intuition. Always had. After all, it had been seldom wrong.
Don’t be wrong this time. This is me manifesting hope. Gimme, universe. Gimme.
Taking a leap of faith, Elodie leaned closer, squishing Chicken between them and lightly rested her cheek against his shoulder. “I’m a good sharer. Here’s a little more blanket just for you.”
Mad Dawg let out a huge breath in a whoosh, like he’d been rewarded with something he’d wanted for a long time.
I got it right.
Chapter Three
Mad Dawg
Standing at the back wall of the shop, he stared at the coffee maker as if that would make it brew quicker.
“I need one of those steal-a-cup things. Whatever they are.” He yawned. Waiting for the final gurgle was always the hardest, but today it was especially painful.
There hadn’t been much rest to be had for him. By the time Elodie had gone to sleep next to him on the couch, gradually slouching down until her head was in his lap and her dog curled up at his hip, he’d been well and truly ensnared. The thought of moving and waking her had been painful to contemplate, so he’d spent several hours longer than he should have just watching her in the wavering light of the TV. She was a quiet sleeper, stillness infusing every muscle, as if her body was all in on the idea of recharging, and conserved everything during the shutdown.
The late hour had finally forced his hand and he’d slipped out from underneath her by bare inches at a time, pausing each instant she so much as snuffled. Finally free, with the blanket tucked securely around her and the dog, he’d dared to bend and press a gentle kiss against her cheek. That had pulled a contented sound from her, something that made his already stiff dick ache.
Forcing himself to the door, he’d gathered his jacket and walked through, ensuring it locked after him.
He’d kept the bike’s rumble as quiet as he could, rolling slow and easy away from her house with a muted roar. Once on the road, he’d opened the engine up, taking himself home where he’d managed to catch a couple hours of restless sleep before the unaccustomed alarm pulled him from slumber.
Which brought him to here and now, standing in the shop at the ass-crack of dawn without even a single cup of coffee running through his veins. Another yawn snuck up on him, jaw cracking with the force. The coffee maker made its final burbling sounds, and he grabbed a cup, sorely tempted to just upend the carafe into his mouth.
Car sounds from the alley outside the back door had him moving that way and he stepped out just as Elodie stood beside her car. The shock on her face was comical, mouth opening and closing a few times before she snapped it tight.
“Mad Dawg?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He walked to her side and leaned in, remembering at the last moment he was the only one of them who remembered the cheek kiss from the night before. He straightened and offered her a sloppy salute as he said, “Just me, all bright-eyed and bushy tailed.” His statement might have been more believable if he hadn’t yawned in the middle. “Or at least here.”
“Why? You don’t open for hours.” Stepping to the back door, she reached inside to pull out a pile of pillows. “Shouldn’t you still be sleeping?”
“Just keeping an eye on things. I didn’t like the idea of you being back here alone.” He gestured to the alleyway extending on either side of their vehicles. “In the dark.”
“It’s always dark when I get here. That’s the important period right before sunrise, which is when I open for the practitioners of sunrise salutations. Five days a week. By myself.” Her reminder to him had a little heat in it, a reminder that she’d never needed him to defend her against the haunts before. “Today’s no different. I’d appreciate your efforts except you don’t look like you got a wink of sleep.”
“I managed a couple hours.” He shook his head. Defending his habits wasn’t why he was here. “Until I know for sure those guys aren’t a threat, I thought I’d provide an extra buffer. You know. Just in case.”
“Just in case.” She closed the back door of her car with one hip, then leaned against the vehicle. “‘In case’ sounds like you know an awful lot more than you said.”
“No, not really. Like I mentioned, there’s a meeting tonight where I might find out more. I hope to, but it’s hard to say.” He’d forwarded the surveillance video of the two men to the club’s technical specialist, and it was being run through facial recognition software right now. What was discovered would depend on who the men were, and what their affiliations might be.Given everything I saw, there’s absolutely no way they’re not members somewhere.“Humor me?”
“Humor you.” The smile he’d come to look forward to teased along the edges of her mouth. “And let you run yourself ragged escorting me the eight feet from my car to the back door of my studio?”
“Yeah. I don’t mind escorting you. It’s no hardship. Trust me.”
“I really enjoyed our movie night. And I slept like a baby.” The abrupt change of conversation left him floundering for a moment. She continued, “You smell like fresh coffee. I’m not into chemical enhancements, except for caffeine. So, you gonna gift a needy girl with a cup’o java?”
