Page 34 of Heal Me
“It’s all right, girl,” he continued. “See? Your mommy’s okay. We were just fooling around.”
Daisy growled when he reached his free hand towards her.
“Ric, don’t.”
“Shh. You’re such a pretty girl, such a good girl. You’re not mean. You just want to protect Kate. That’s your job. But you’re killing my arm. Drop, Daisy. Let me go. I’m not going to hurt anyone.”
Ric kept talking to the huge dog and her tail started to wag. He slowly laid his free hand on her head and scratched behind her ears, making her tail wag faster. Her grip on his arm loosened and she released him, but Ric kept scratching her ears and petting her head. Daisy shocked them both by giving him a big, sloppy kiss and laying down on the floor.
“Oh, my God. Are you all right? Did she break the skin? I’m so sorry,” Kate said as Ric flopped back against the couch.
“No, she didn’t break the skin. Felt like a vise grip on my arm, though. It’s okay. She was just scared that I was going to hurt you. Otherwise, she would’ve never come near me,” Ric said.
“Take off your shirt so I can look at your arm.” She lifted his Dale Earnhardt sweatshirt up and helped him take it off.
Ric leaned towards her and she examined his injured arm. Although there were indentations in it, Daisy’s teeth hadn’t actually punctured his skin. It was starting to bruise already, though.
“That’s going to be sore.” Kate was mortified. “I’m so sorry. She’s never done anything like that before.”
“It’s all right. I’m a stranger and, to her, it looked like I was hurting you,” Ric said. “I’m not mad. At least now you know that she’d go after anyone who tried to break in here.”
“Yeah, I guess so. Make sure you put ice on that when you get home,” Kate said.
“Perhaps you could get me some now? I can leave it on while we watch the movie.”
Kate stared at him. “You still want to stay?”
Ric rubbed her shoulder consolingly. “Of course. Kate, I’ve been kicked, bitten, and tossed on my ass by horses and bulls. I can handle a little dog bite. She really wasn’t being mean.”
Kate gave him a tremulous smile. “Not many people would realize that.”
“Well, I’ve worked around animals all my life. Even when I came home from college in the summers, I worked on the ranches or farms to make money,” Ric said. “So don’t worry about me. I’ve had a lot worse.”
Kate shook her head. “I still feel terrible.”
Ric leaned over and kissed her. “Don’t. I’m fine. You examined me. What’s your assessment, Doc? Will I live?” He took her hand and put it over his heart. “Does that feel normal to you?”
Kate glanced at Daisy, but she was completely uninterested in what they were doing. “Amazing.”
“I’ve been told that.”
Kate ran her hand over his nipple and he sucked in a breath. “Youareamazing, but I was referring to Daisy. She doesn’t care now that you’re touching me.”
Ric looked at the dog. “You’re right. She must know that I’m her friend now. Kate, if you keep doing that, there’s not going to be any movie.”
Kate had kept playing with his chest, enjoying his hard muscles and warm skin. She didn’t want to stop touching him and she loved seeing the desire in his eyes. “We could always go watch something in bed.”
