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“How is everything going?”

My question seemed to snap Truman out of whatever spell he’d been under. He looked up at me, that frown smoothed into a gentle smile. His arms relaxed to his sides as he stood from his chair to approach me.

“Much better now that you’re here.”

I giggled because the line was so cheesy, but I could deal with a little cheese.

What surprised me was when he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in for a kiss. Truman didn’t seem to care that half the town was still wandering around nearby. A few people whistled, forcing me to break the kiss and laugh. I’d never been the person who was embarrassed by public displays of affection, but there was something about the newness and how everyone portrayed Truman that made me feel so giddy.

Several of the vendors started closing down their booths for the night, so I helped Truman pack up paperwork and load the dog carriers into the back of his truck. It probably wasn’t the best move, but I let Hector out of his cage, letting him run in circles around us as we moved things around. It said something about the dog’s loyalty that he stayed right by our sides instead of running off. I had such a huge soft spot for the big guy.

Would Truman hate it if I asked if we could keep both him and Daisy?

My face heated as the thought took root. There I was, thinking about starting a family with the man. Even if I didn’t really want kids, I’d be so happy to have a house full of dogs with him. Of all sorts of animals, in reality.

I hopped into the passenger seat, laughing when Hector followed me. He was much too large to sit on my lap, but the big guy was trying to anyway. I shoved him into the middle of the bench seat. When Truman opened the driver’s side door, he only stared at us for a moment before rolling his eyes, climbing inside. A small smile graced his lips. I knew he wasn’t mad. Maybe convincing him that Hector was ours wouldn’t be so bad.

After we loaded all the dogs back into their kennels for the night, which included Hector—the poor guy tried to give us the biggest puppy-dog eyes I’d ever seen—we climbed back into the truck heading back to my place. Daisy was awake when we got there, greeting us at the door by excitedly jumping around and barking. There was a rightness to seeing her in my home.

“Did you want me to take her home with me?” Truman asked as he followed me inside.

I gnawed at my bottom lip because I didn’t want the night to be over. This was why I’d had so much trouble with relationships in the past. Not only did I not crave sex like most of my partners did, but I also struggled to convey what I wanted.

“Stay.” It was only one word, but it seemed to do the trick.

Truman’s shoulders dropped, he approached me, wrapping an arm around me to pull me to his side. Where other men had made me feel small for not being able to put my desires into words, I was quickly learning that was something Truman would never do.

“Do you want me or the dog to stay?”

My face heated, but I looked up at him, giving him my best smile in the situation. “Both.”

Truman leaned in and placed a gentle kiss against my lips before he released me, kicked off his boots, and moved deeper into my apartment. It was hard not to be drawn to the way he walked around the place as if he’d been there a million times in the past. What was even harder to turn away from was when he lifted his t-shirt over his head before sitting on my couch. Daisy ran over, jumping the small distance to sit on his lap, covering his face with little kisses.

That feeling settled into my chest again, that this was how things were meant to be. I’d uprooted my life to move to this tiny little town, and while I hadn’t done it in hopes of finding someone to love, I’d found three amazing souls. Truman, Hector, and Daisy.

Chapter 14

Truman

It took me a moment to figure out where I was when I opened my eyes. I didn’t make a habit of staying over at other people’s places. It led to expectations that I didn’t think I could meet. Though when I rolled over to see long blonde hair and Allie’s angelic sleeping face, the usual sense of panic I felt when waking up in someone else’s bed never came. I wanted to be there with her. Had asked to be there with her.

Allie had looked so shy about asking me to stay, and while that normally meant something else entirely, I was okay with the snuggles and holding her until she fell asleep. There was something so special about the simplicity of it all. Maybe it was what I’d been missing all along. I’d been so focused on the physical that I was missing all the smaller things that made a relationship work.

Soft blue eyes opened to blink at me. While I expected Allie to be shocked that I was lying there watching her, she didn’t seem to mind it. A sleepy smile spread across her face before she leaned in to place a soft kiss against my lips.

Most people probably worried about morning breath, but I sort of liked that she wasn’t. There was nothing about the woman that I thought would ever repulse me.

Allie didn’t make a move to get up, just lay there drawing small circles on my chest with her pointer finger. It wasn’t something I normally found all that arousing, but with this woman? It was making me hard. I didn’t want her to think I expected anything if she got any closer. I’d worked hard to get her to trust me and I wasn’t about to ruin it with a little bit of morning wood.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t just a little bit.

Her hand kept moving, going just a little lower with each pass, making my eyes widen. Did Allie have any idea what she was doing to me?

“Good morning,” I mumbled, placing my hand over hers before it went too much lower. She was already circling my navel, her fingernail dragging through the fine trail of hair that led to my cock.

Her smile was playful when she leaned even closer to me. “Why’d you make me stop?” she asked.

“You don’t—you don’t have to do that.”