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My eyes widened and my stomach fluttered again. “Wait—you do? It doesn’t have to be a date. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable or anything.”
She stared at me for a moment and I could feel her gaze reaching deep inside me, like she saw every part of me. “I want it to be a date, Mac.” She let out a breath. “Try again.”
I inhaled deeply, collecting myself. I didn’t know what the hell was going on with my brain right now. It was like it was short-circuiting. Juliette bit back a grin as she waited for me to speak again.
“Will you go out on a date with me, Juliette?”
Her lips widened and she smiled. “I would love to.”
I couldn’t help but smile back. “Okay, good.”
Her eyes shimmered. “It’s a date.”
“Get some sleep, beautiful,” I told her as I glanced at the clock and realized it was definitely past midnight at home now. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Until then,” she said, still with that same warm smile on her perfectly plump lips. I wanted to reach out and touch them. I wanted to trace them with my tongue before tasting her. “Sweet dreams.”
My self-control had officially disappeared.
“I’ll be dreaming of you.”
Juliette laughed softly. “Good.”
“Good night,” I told her, not wanting to actually hang up. There was something about her comfort that brought me an intense sense of peace. I wanted to revel in it, to stay suspended in that feeling forever.
“Good night, Mac,” she said quietly as she made no move to hang up either. There was hesitation and we both sat there for an elongated breath, staring at one another. A blush crept across her cheeks and she cleared her throat before the screen went black.
Shaking my head to myself, I laughed as I stood up from the bed. Clearly I wasn’t the only one who was losing their self-control and ability to function properly. The feelings between us were mutual and that was all I needed. I was going to make sure Juliette never regretted anything that happened between us.
She was already the best thing that had happened to me.
And I wanted to be the same for her.
CHAPTER TWENTY
JULIETTE
Sitting at my desk, I glanced down at Thor where he was lying on the floor by my feet. He lifted his head, looking up at me as his tongue hung out. I reached down and pet the top of his head before turning back to my computer. We had a busy morning and the kids that were here earlier wore him out after their clinic.
It wasn’t usually busy during the week until the afternoon but they didn’t have school today, so we set up a clinic for them. Thor thoroughly enjoyed all of the kids being here because it gave him some friends to play with, even if they were human. He was very much a people dog and the past week, he had become a staple here.
There was a knock on my door and I called out to whomever it was to tell them they could come in. It was Chase, one of the other coaches who was here for the day. He smiled brightly, laughing as Thor came running over to him. His black hair hung in his face as he bent over and pet him before looking back at me.
“Are you sure you have to give him back?”
I laughed along with him as he stepped farther into my office. He walked to the other side of my desk and sat down in one of the chairs across from me. “Unfortunately, I think his owner would be pretty upset if he didn’t get him back.”
“He’s basically become the rink's mascot. I heard some of the kids talking about wanting their team to be named after him.”
“They’re funny little people,” I said, shaking my head. I moved a stack of papers to the other side of my desk. “I’m sure Thor is going to miss coming here just as much as they are going to miss him.”
“Maybe you can still bring him some days?” Chase kind of shrugged, like he wasn’t that worried about it, but if it weren’t something Chase felt was important, he wouldn’t have brought it up. We had spent a lot of time together the past few weeks and from what I had learned about him, he was a pretty straight forward kind of guy. “He’s been good for the kids and the morale around here.”
I stared at him for a moment before nodding. I looked down at the two forms that were on my desk, my eyes briefly scanning over the fundraiser papers. “I know what you mean. I will see what I can do. His owner might be okay with it, that way Thor isn’t stuck at home by himself.”
“His owner might be okay with what?”
My head abruptly lifted and I looked past Chase as my gaze collided with Mac’s. Thor was already barreling toward him. Mac crouched down to greet his dog, giving him a rough scratch and hug before standing back up. The air left my lungs in a rush and my lips parted as a ragged breath escaped me. “Hey.”
