Page 65 of Fake Dating My Billionaire Boss

“Bella? Did you find him? Is he okay?”

It’s Damian. He’s down here to check on me and Bo.

Chapter 21

Bella

Relief washes through me, and I let my tensed shoulders relax a little. But I keep my tight hold on my precious pup because he seems to like the way I’m clutching him to my chest. “I found him alright. Cowering under this table by the couch, poor thing, shaking like a leaf. He’s shaking a little less now.”

Bo nuzzles against me and licks my face.

When Damian crouches down next to us, Bo starts divvying his relieved puppy kisses between the two of us.

“We’re back,” Damian says gently, as he scratches behind Bo’s ears. “You’re okay, bud.”

“It’s like he thinks thunder is the sound of enemy military tanks rolling up, and we’re in the middle of World War Three or something. He’s always been like this about storms. He’ll go between barking defensively and hiding away.”

“Buddy, that thunder out there’s not going to hurt you,” Damian murmurs, while still working the fur behind Bo’s flattened ears. “And I’m sorry it’s so dark in here. Must’ve really spooked you.”

“He’s never really liked the dark, either.”

“Poor guy,” Damian murmurs.

Bo wriggles free of my grasp and throws himself at his newest comforter. Damian rubs Bo’s sides and then strokes the top of his head.

“You’re starting to feel a little braver, eh? Good news, buddy. The power company sent out a text. They’re working on the down line, and we should have power back in no time.”

It turns out that getting arrested is not the strangest thing to happen to me today.This—what’s happening in my heart, right now, as I watch Damian talk to Bo—is even stranger. I should feel worried right now, in Damian’s presence. I should feel tense and stressed and anxious because he’s a Knight and I’ve spent the last twenty minutes in his car lecturing myself about how he’s the enemy. But right now, as I listen to him give my dog an update about the power outage, a warm feeling floods my heart. It’s like the part of me that got frosty at Minerva’s is thawing out. This little show of affection has blasted away the last, stubborn slivers of ice out of my core and now I’m a melty, tired mess.

I should have taken a nap this afternoon, but instead, I discovered that the backs of police cruisers stink and that handcuffs hurt.

I’m not in a good frame of mind for making decisions. For example, are Damian and I in a fight? It’s hard for me to come to a conclusion about that right now.

“What?” Damian asks as he ruffles the fur on Bo’s chest and peers through the darkness at me.

“Hm?” I feel dazed. And the fact that it’s so dark in here and Dami an’s very, very close to me isn’t helping my mental clarity or lack thereof.

“You’re being really quiet. It’s not like you.”

“I was thinking.”

“About what?”

“About the fact that, ever since I picked Bo up from the animal shelter, I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. I mean, he looks at me like I’m his Mamma, and I’ll feed him and walk him and take care of him and he knows it. But he looks at you with awe, like you’re extra special. I’m his day-to-day kibbles, but you’re a crispy strip of bacon.” Damian chuckles.

Dear Lord, it is good to hear him laugh. Some more of the tension in my shoulders melts. The little needle-gauge in my head wavering between two ends of the spectrum between ‘fight’ and ‘no fight’ veers toward the latter. And that’s a huge relief. I don’t want to fight with Damian.

I want this awful feeling of tension between us to go away and be replaced with only the good kind of tension.

The kind that makes butterflies stir in my belly, and shivers of delight dance up my spine.

“So, I’m the bacon, hm?” he says. “I guess that’s a compliment. I heard once from this woman I was hanging out with that you can take anything and wrap it in bacon, and it will taste awesome.”

“Oh yeah? This chick must have a real head on her shoulders.”

“I don’t know. She’s a little wild. Likes to live on the edge.”

“Is that right?” I tilt my head and give him a smile that I’m pretty sure he can’t see, given how dark it is in here. It’s tough to make out his expression, here in the shadows, but I’m pretty sure he’s smiling, too.

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