Page 16 of Always My Love

Lucy sprinted out of her hold and ran barking towards the front door.

Harper was going to have to work on her insistent need to bark at the sound.

“Hey,” Nick said when she opened the door after she’d gotten Lucy to sit and stay.

“Hi.” Harper kept the door open and then bent down to finish sliding on Lucy’s sweater.

“Wow, she has clothes and everything,” Nick said with a chuckle. “Blue’s going naked today.”

She smiled. “If I’m cold, she’ll be cold.”

“She does already have a fur coat on,” Nick pointed out.

Harper narrowed her eyes a little as she stood up to grab Lucy’s leash. “This is so much more fun.”

Nick chuckled. “Lucy seems to enjoy it.” He motioned to where her dog was currently chasing her tail and trying to pull the sweater off.

“She’ll get used to it.” She clicked the leash on Lucy’s collar. Suddenly, her dog’s attention was on the leash. “I’m working with her on her leash etiquette,” she pointed out as Lucy started biting the leash.

“Yeah, Blue needs some work in that area too.” Nick stood aside as they walked out the front door.

Harper paused to lock the door, but Lucy kept tugging on her leash, excited to go somewhere.

Finally, Nick took the leash from her so she could lock the door behind them.

“Got everything?” he asked as they walked to his Jeep.

She tapped her bag. “I think so. I brought Lucy some water and treats. I didn’t know how long we’d be out there.”

He helped her put Lucy into the Jeep and waited until the brother and sister happily greeted one another before answering.

“A few hours should be good for the first trip.” He waited until she was settled in her seat and then shut the door behind her and Lucy.

When he got behind the wheel, she was laughing and hugging Blue, who had jumped into her lap while Lucy explored the Jeep.

As they headed towards Pride’s docks, they chatted about the dogs, updating each other on new tricks each had learned. When they passed his house, it still surprised her how beautiful the place was.

Of course, every home on the street was simply gorgeous and had beachy small-town charm.

Most homes around Nick’s were three or four stories high, but his was more modest with only two stories that she could see. She figured he’d have a basement, since most homes in the area did.

She ached to see what he’d done to the inside of the place. When she’d arrived in town, he’d been working on replacing some of the wood-shingle siding. The new pieces stuck out in color from the old worn wood for the first few months. Now, however, after getting plenty of sun and weather, everything matched perfectly.

The trim around his doors, windows, garage door, and front door was all painted a warm rustic red.

“You’ve sure fixed up your home nice,” she said as he parked at the docks. His home was less than two blocks from the dock, but they parked in the parking lot anyway.

“Yeah, it’s come a long way. When I was a kid, there was a family from Poland living there. After they left, the place sat empty and didn’t get any attention.” He turned off the Jeep. “You and Hailey are doing wonders for the old cabin.”

“We’re trying. We’re not carpenters, but we manage. Still, I think we have enough saved to pay Parker to help us with a few things.”

“If you need a hand with something, I know my way around power tools,” he offered.

She thought about turning him down, but the possibility of saving a little money and working with Nick excited her.

“Sure, I may hit you up on that.” She tried not to sound too excited.

Nick’s smile warmed her, but then he lowered his voice. “We’re going to have to talk about that kiss.”

She swallowed and took a deep breath. “It was New Year’s. You were there.” She shrugged, trying to sound as casual as she could.

“Harper.” Nick stopped her from jumping out of the Jeep. “That might have been the reason you kissed me, but we both know there was more behind it than just a casual New Year’s smack on the lips. Wasn’t there?”

She felt her entire body start to vibrate from his light touch.

What was she doing? Nick was everything she should be avoiding. If she allowed herself to be attracted to him, to get closer to him, she could jeopardize everything.

“It can’t be anything more than that,” she said softly. “I… don’t think…” She shook her head.

Just then, both dogs let out happy barks and rushed to the front of the Jeep, as if they’d just realized they’d stopped.

Nick tried to rein in Blue, while she gathered Lucy. “We’ll finish this later,” he said.

She knew he didn’t mean it as a threat, but because of who and what she was, and who he was, in her gut she’d taken it as such.

Why had she agreed to spend a few hours locked out on a boat with the man? How in the hell was she going to not slip up when he was so damned sexy and easy to talk to?

Out of all the hell she’d been through in her lifetime, the next few hours were going to be harder than anything she’d experienced before.