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Darius ignored both the hand and the question. “I don’t— What the hell is your dog doing now?” He looked down to where the Golden Labrador had moved so that it was now sitting so close beside him, it was able to lean the warmth of its body against his thigh.
Mia redirected the hand she’d held out to him to instead place it soothingly on top of the dog’s head. “Honey’s previous owner had her trained to be aware of and help her to deal with stress, when or if it occurred.”
“Like a PTSD-relieving dog?”
“Exactly like that, yes.” She eyed him curiously. “Are you stressed right now?”
Was Darius stressedright now?
He was always fucking stressed!
Oh, most of the time he shielded it from everyone except his twin, Felix. The two of them were fraternal twins rather than identical, but they still had an emotional connection, probably acquired in the womb, which often alerted them to when the other one was in pain or emotionally upset.
He wouldn’t be at all surprised to get a phone call from Felix in the next ten minutes asking him how his balls were.
Hiding the turmoil of his thoughts and emotions from others happened so often, it had become second nature to him. It just didn’t work with Felix.
Thisdogjust picked up on it too, no problem!
A dog named Honey.
It was aname, not a fucking endearment.
The name of a dog trained to deal with a human’s PTSD.
“Her previous owner?” he prompted.
“Hmm.” Mia sobered. “Mrs. Fletcher was apparently involved in a car accident several years ago, and it left her confined to a wheelchair. Honey was trained to help her deal with the stress she suffered because of that.”
“You used the past tense,” Darius probed.
“You’re very observant,” she admired.
“Part of my job,” he dismissed. “My family runs a security company. Kingston Security,” he added when she raised questioning brows.
“Wow.”
Darius waited for the usual questions people felt compelled to ask once they knew he part-owned and helped to run a security company with his brothers and cousin. His liking for Mia rose when she remained silent.
Hislikingfor her?
He didn’tlikeanyone outside of his family and the four women who had recently married into it.
He liked Mia, he realized.
The way she looked.
The openness of her character.
The complete lack of guile in her expression.
And my cock has been as hard as a fucking baseball bat since I first looked at her.
An unprecedented physical reaction to any woman.
Any womenbeforeMia, it seemed.
What the hell was going on with him right now? Admittedly, three of his five brothers, along with their cousin Adam, had all recently fallen in love with the women who were now their wives. But that wasn’t going to happen to Darius. Desiring a woman, as his cock had now decided he did Mia, did not equate to falling in love with her.
