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“I know.” He tipped his forehead against hers. “Is it too much too soon?”
“No. Just unexpected.” She reveled in the way his heart was pounding against hers. “I’m still processing it, I guess.”
“So we’re good?” He raised his head to gaze down at her.
She nodded.
“Good.” He enclosed her in another bear hug. “I was worried you might not want this as bad as I do. Or not want it at all.”
“It’s not your kisses that scare me, Shep.” Her voice came out muffled against his shoulder. “It’s my reaction to them, okay?” She was glad he couldn’t see her face, because it felt like it was on fire.
He grew still. “Care to elaborate on that?”
She scrambled for a way to put her jumble of thoughts and emotions into words. “It’s just that we can’t go back, Shep. We can’t ever go back to what we were before. You understand that, right?”
“Yep.”
“We’ll never have what we had before.”
He reached up to cradle her face in his hands. “Isn’t this better?”
“While it lasts,” she cried, not sure how to make him understand. “If anything happens to us as a couple, though, we won’t be friends on the other side of it. We just…won’t.”
“Alright.” Nodding soberly, he dropped his hands. “Just know this. No matter what challenges come our way, I’m not giving up on us without a fight. I mean it, Prim.”
“Thank you.” She gave him a tremulous smile, wanting so badly to believe him. However, she’d walked this path before. She’d dated a family friend. And when it hadn’t worked, the fallout had been devastating to her, her mother, and both of their families. Soon afterward, her mother had added the No Dating Your Best Friend Rule to her list. It had remained on her list ever since.
“So, uh…” He thrust his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “The only reason I was off today was because I have to work on Sunday. That leaves tomorrow wide open if you wanna get started on your search and rescue training.”
She blinked as she considered his offer. “Sure. It’s the only day of the week I get to sleep in, but sleep is overrated.” She pouted up at him.
His lips twitched. “I wasn’t suggesting we start at the crack of dawn.”
She pounced on that. “How about the crack of ten, then?”
He snorted. “I don’t think ten qualifies as the crack of anything. But, yeah. That works for me.”
“Lemme guess,” she joked. “By then, you’ve already been up for hours and run a half marathon?”
“I own dogs. So, yes, I’ve been up for hours by ten.” He curled his upper lip at her. “But I rarely run farther than six miles.”
“I bet you could run a half-marathon,” she taunted.
“I’m capable of it, yes. But what’s the point?” He shrugged. “I run to stay in shape. That’s it. No gunning for the Olympics or anything.”
“You say that like it’s no big deal.” Envy coursed through her veins. “What I wouldn’t give to run even one mile!”
His gaze narrowed on hers. “What’s keeping you?”
She tensed, half expecting a lecture on diet and exercise to follow. It didn’t.
Shep waited in silence for her answer.
“I, er…it’s not that easy, Shep.” She couldn’t just snap her fingers and turn herself into a fitness guru.
“Neither is being a P.A.” He shook his head at her. “Or working on the rez instead of some posh hospital in a bigger city. Or putting up with me, for that matter.”
His words puzzled her. “I’m not sure where you’re going with that statement since I’ve nevereverconsidered our friendship to be a burden.”
