Page 34 of Hot Winter Nights (Bear Mountain Rescue 1)

Finally, when they were both inside his house, the warm air hit her face and she sighed in pure bliss as her numb skin started to tingle.

“I’m going to set you on the couch and get you something warm to drink. Do you want coffee or whisky?”

“I better stick with the coffee,” she said. “Whisky and I don’t make the best of friends.”

Dex grinned as he gazed down at her, the familiarity in his gaze making her heart ache. “I happen to remember you and whisky rather fondly.”

No, she couldn’t do this. She couldn’t let his teasing or his sexy smile break down her resolve. She couldn’t get hurt again.

The thought startled her. The last few weeks she’d been angry, with herself and with Dex, but she hadn’t really thought about the fact that she had been hurt by him, too. Because despite some of his less-than-stellar moments, she’d actually started to like Dex. He made her laugh, even when she didn’t want to, and he had moments of caring that showed a sweet side of him.

Of course, he didn’t have a single characteristic on her list. Okay, maybe one or two, but the point was that no matter what she’d started to feel for Dex, he’d squashed it. She was over it, and the first thing she could do to prove that was to let go of her anger.

With a bit of a sad smile, she said, “After everything that’s happened, I think we better not dwell too much on that.”

He was silent, making his way around the kitchen. She could hear Kermit whining from somewhere. “Hey, where’s my dog?”

“Locked in his old crate with a blanket. He’s warm at least, which is more than I can say for you.”

Considering how her skin stung as the feeling came back into her fingers and face, she hoped so.

“Why do you always have your dog locked up when I come over?”

“Because sometimes you stop by during her dinnertime.”

“Your dog has a set dinnertime?” she asked.

“No, I just usually lock her up with a bone while I have dinner, and then I let her out when we go to bed.”

Allie turned to see him in the kitchen, her eyebrows raised. “We?”

“Yes, we. You are not the only one who loves your dog. Bluebell usually takes the left side of the bed and shoves me all the way to the right by the time the alarm clock goes off.”

Allie laughed at the image of the big bloodhound kicking her master out of bed. Dex gave her a boyish smile in return. The one that set off a hundred fluttering wings in her abdomen.

“Do you want milk and sugar?” he asked.

She told herself to stop thinking about him in that way. Maybe they could move past everything and be friends. “Yes, please, both.”

He brought her over a steaming mug. “Scoot closer to the fire if you need to.”

“Thanks.” She took the mug, the ceramic scalding her skin. Setting it down on the side table to cool, she stared into the burning fire, more than aware when Dex sat next to her. Allie watched him drink his coffee out of the corner of her eye, his full lips on the brim, the sexy Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat when he swallowed. She worked up the nerve to say something…well, nice.

“Thank you for coming back for me. I know I didn’t give you a reason to with the way I behaved.”

“It’s fine. I’m sorry for what I said.” He drummed his fingers on the mug and then added, “Besides, I couldn’t let you suffer out there. It would have gone against my code.”

Fighting the blankets surrounding her, she tucked her feet up on the couch and turned to face him. “You have a code? I never would have thought.”

“Why?” he asked. “Because I made out with my best friend’s girl?”

The words instantaneously killed the ease she was just starting to feel with him.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know, but I did. I should never have touched you.”

“I wasn’t Hunter’s girl, though.” He stiffened next to her and her cheeks finally warmed as she realized how that had sounded. “I just mean…we had only been out a few times and we weren’t exclusive.”

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