Page 37 of Keeping Guard
She forgot what she was going to say.
Chapter Thirteen
“You’re naked.”
Noah glanced down at himself. “Not true.” He still had on his boxer briefs. “Another few seconds, and you would’ve gotten an eyeful.” Her gaze roamed over him, and if she didn’t stop looking at him like that, she was going to see physical truth of just how much he wanted her.
“Ah...” She blinked like someone coming out of a trance.
“I was about to jump in the shower. Want to join me?” He lifted a brow, daring her.
“Ah...” Her cheeks turned pink, and she stepped back. “I’ll just go change.”
“You do that, princess.” After she shut the door behind her, he glanced at Lucky. “Do me a favor. If I so much as touch that woman again, bite me in the ass.”
Peyton Sutton was proving to be dangerous to his sanity. Why was he even attracted to her? His life was one of deployments, dangerous situations, and training. Rinse. Repeat. Any woman wanting a ring on her finger was to be avoided at all costs.
Peyton wasn’t a woman a man walked away from. She wasn’t a one-time thing, and he wasn’t a man who stayed. But he did like that sassy mouth of hers. Who knew he’d find that a turn-on? And the way she blushed? Made him want to discover where else she turned pink.
All those were reasons he should walk right out her door and put her in his rearview mirror. He would, too, if Joseph hadn’t told him that Peyton’s ex had shown up early this morning and doubled his offer for Joseph to spy on her.
So he’d stick around for a while. He’d make sure his runaway bride didn’t end up married against her wishes. As soon as that mission was accomplished, he would do her a favor and get out of her life.
Until then, he’d have to be her shadow. He needed to stop at the apartment and get his duffel bag on the way to Jack’s dog place, and he made a mental note not to forget the picture of his mother that he’d put in a kitchen drawer. It wouldn’t be so bad having Peyton hang out for the day. She could play with the puppies while he did whatever Jack had in mind for him.
“What did you say this place is?” Peyton asked when he parked in front of the dog kennels.
“Operation K-9 Brothers. Jack trains therapy dogs for our brothers and sisters in need.”
“When you say brothers and sisters—”
“Our fellow military personnel, especially those suffering from PTSD.” He reached over the seat and clipped the leash on Lucky’s collar.
“That’s really awesome. And you’re a part of this?”
“Temporarily apparently.”
“What does that mean?”
They hadn’t talked on the drive over, and suddenly she gets chatty? Explaining why he was here wasn’t going to happen. He exited the car. Lucky squeezed between the seats, following him out. Peyton got out and jogged up next to him. Too close. He could smell her scent, something fresh and citrusy. Made him think of summer days and sunshine. Light to his dark.
He sidestepped, putting distance between them. What was he even doing here? Spending his days with dogs wasn’t going to magically fix his head. Why his commander thought it would was a mystery.
Jack walked out of the office. “Good morning, Peyton.”
She gave Jack a warm smile. “Morning. It’s good to see you again.” She glanced around. “Noah told me what you do here, and I have to say that’s really awesome.”
“Would you like a tour?”
“Very much. How many dogs are you training? How long does it take before one’s ready to go to someone? Where do you get the dogs from? I know about therapy dogs, but I’ve never met one.” She eyed Lucky, who seemed to be hanging on her every word. “Oh, is Lucky a therapy dog? I guess I have met one then.”
Noah resisted the urge to kiss her into silence. Talk about training...in two days, she’d trained him to kiss her whenever she talked too much. He glanced at Jack, who was grinning like a fool as he listened to her. Noah didn’t like that. Not that he was worried his friend would make a move on her. Jack was totally in love with Nichole.
Her rambles belonged to him, though. And if that wasn’t the stupidest thought he’d ever had, he didn’t know what was. The two of them wandered off, Peyton asking her endless questions, barely waiting for an answer before she was on to the next one.
Instead of tagging along, he headed for the nearby stone bench. Lucky jumped up and sat next to him. The dog watched the two as Jack walked Peyton past the kennels.
“You like her, huh?” Lucky glanced up at him, then turned his attention back to Peyton. When she and Jack disappeared into the building that housed a new litter of puppies, Lucky whined.
