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Honesty and decency surrounded him like a cloud, and I’d never felt safer with a date in my life.
“Made reservations for six thirty. Mind a quick stop along the way?” he asked, which I found surprising. Our last encounter had been all, “I’m in charge and don’t you forget it,” so this courtesy threw me off guard.
“No problem. Where are we going?” I asked.
“You’ll see. This will only take a minute.” He picked my hand off the seat, laying it on his thigh, and grazed his thumb back and forth across my skin.
All week I’d wanted him, and his hand in mine totally captivated me until the truck stopped outside an unfamiliar house.
It was only then I realized the heavy silence between us, and I pulled my hand out of his grip. The intoxicating grin he wore right then was the most salacious and knowing I’d ever seen on a man, and I wanted him to teach me all his wicked secrets.
“This it?” I inquired intelligently, my ability to retrieve actual sentences gone extinct like the Tasmanian Tiger.
He gave a lone nod. “Stay put, princess. There’s something I want to show you.” He lifted an ice chest out of the back of the pickup and carried it across the street, setting it down only to ring the doorbell. A few moments later he exited the stately house, arms empty, radiating a charisma that could draw the attention of any female still above ground. He was a silver fox, and the distinguished gray only added to his rugged good looks. My eyes latched onto him, his every move baiting my sexed-up body.
He held the front of his sports coat closed, and a curious sight caught my eye—a subtle movement beneath the fabric. My curiosity piqued, I leaned forward slightly to get a better view. To my surprise, he opened his jacket to reveal a golden lab puppy snuggled against his chest. It melted my heart instantly.
A tender smile crept across his face as he gently stroked the puppy’s fur. I smiled, enchanted by the unexpected glimpse into this alpha male’s softer side. “You wanna’ pet him?” he questioned.
Holding out both hands, I uttered, “Oh my goodness. Who’s is he?”
“We found him and four of his brothers and sisters in a deserted warehouse that caught fire in the industrial area. Someone must have dumped them there. I brought some food to the foster mom taking care of them until we find them homes.”
“We?” Unexpectedly, envy twisted my stomach into knots, wondering who this woman was to Riley, and yes, I knew I was being ridiculous. I just couldn’t help it.
He completely disarmed me by placing the warm bundle of fur against my chest, “Hold him tight now. Otherwise, his startle reflex will kick in. He needs to feel secure against your body.”
This man turned my thoughts to complete mush with pent-up sexual arousal, and I was more agitated than normal hearing the intoxicating combination of his protective and somehow paternal words.
The smell of puppy made me even more drunk on hormones and motherly instincts when I held him close and he licked my chin. “Isn’t he the sweetest little thing?” I cast a smile towards Riley, and his sky-blue eyes bathed me in a splash of possessive lust.
“Not the sweetest,” he said, and the shock of him ran through my body. “Not by a long shot.”
That was definitely the first time anyone, let alone a man, had compared me to the delightful taste of sugar. His smile widened and he almost made me believe it.
“Do we have to give him back?” I pleaded, marveling at the tenderness he showed towards the little pup when he took him from my arms.
I watched him return to the front porch of the foster home, not missing the assessing gaze the woman inside gave the passenger in his truck.
This side of him stirred a curiosity within me, a desire to unravel the complexities that lay beneath his dominating exterior and discover the secrets like puppies and a generous heart.
No indifference could be mustered in the face of his big-dick energy and gentle tone with the baby dog. It made me uneasy and something throbbed beneath my rib cage.
The ache lingered throughout the meal.
“Dessert?” he asked when we were finished with our mains.
I shifted in my seat, self-conscious about the ribs, corn on the cob, fries, and green beans I’d plowed through already.
My toes tapped their own rhythm on the wooden floor of Blaze’s T-bone where he’d reserved us a table with a view of the bay, and I avoided his stare while biting my lip. “Mm.” I hummed, noncommittally.
He slid the dessert menu towards me across the table and commanded, “Young lady, eat. Don’t pretend you’re not still hungry for my sake. I happen to like watching you put things in your mouth.”
My jaw dropped, and shock caused the words to wedge in my throat. The reaction was pretty out of the blue, given I was carrying this man’s child. But his playful teasing and flirty banter had kept the date fun and lighthearted in a way that was different from any other guy I’d been with, and he’d caught me off guard.
The server took my chocolate mousse order; apple pie and ice cream for Riley, and while we waited, he continued his thoughtful line of questioning, “Alright, rebel without a cause, spill it—who hurt you and sent you down your life-long path of defiance?”
I coughed up the water I was sipping and set it down with a thunk on the table. “What on earth are you talking about?”
