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What did that mean though? This was all new to me. I hadn’t experienced any of these things in my mature life.
You ready to take a stand?
I didn’t know what Miss Adeline’s question for Teague meant either. The way he’d stiffened, I had to believe he did.
“If she’d offered bourbon, I might’ve taken her up on it.”
Sadie ignored me.
I squeezed the towel around my hair again. “C’mon. You can bark at the hair dryer.”
She shot to her feet. The pitter-patter of paws on the hardwood floor erased some of the stress of the day. It was my favorite sound.
Muffy flopped on my bed while Sadie cruised past to the bathroom. Ash and Lucky stood at the foot of the bed, unsure who to follow.
The second I turned on the hair dryer, the barking commenced. I was lost in the hum. Thoughts of that scorching kiss besieged me.
Teague had a way of sneaking up on me whether he was present or not.
I wanted another kiss. The urgency and frenzy of it.
The certainty of his touch. He was never tentative.
And I needed him to be sure.
Something deep burned within me. It was like a tiny flame had escalated into a ball of fire. A desire so hot it threatened to consume me.
I switched off the dryer and shed my sweatshirt. When I saw my reflection in the mirror, I looked the same, but the inside pieces of me were shifting.
I traded my flannel pajama pants for an old pair of sleep shorts and crawled into bed. Sadie jumped up and lay on my pillow before I could put my head on it. I grabbed another pillow and scooted her over to make a little room. Ash snuggled next to Sadie. Lucky settled on the floor.
Exhaustion set in, but my mind worked too fast. Was Teague okay? Had they contained the fire?
I checked my phone. It was barely after nine.
I rolled over. Sadie’s face was right in mine. She sniffed and licked my nose.
“You’re crazy.” I rubbed her cheeks and kissed her head.
In the light through the window, Muffy gave the two of us ago to sleeplook. These dogs constantly kept me in check.
Maybe I’d never needed a man in my life or my bed because I had them.
“You like him.” I patted Ash’s side. She was doing well. Almost thriving considering what she’d been through.
Her tail thumped as if she knew I was talking about Teague.
“What would’ve happened if he hadn’t been called away?”
She looked at me with those luminous eyes.
“I don’t know either.”
Bzzz. Bzzz.
My stomach dropped at the text alert. Were the dogs at the Elliots’ okay? Gah, I was such a worrier.
My stomach dropped again for a different reason when I read the message.
