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She shrugged uncertainly, polishing off the rest of her sandwich before answering. It gave her time to prepare what she wanted to say.
“The last guy I dated was a bit of a health nut.” That was an understatement, but she wasn’t in the mood to rehash every ugly detail.
“You mean he was into body shaming?” Shep barked out the question.
Prim glanced away.
He unfolded his arms with a sigh. “Come here.”
She hesitated.
“Please?” He held out his arms to her.
She walked straight into them. He closed them around her, hugging her tightly. A long stretch of silence settled between them. Not the awkward kind. The good kind.
He tucked her head beneath his chin. “Prim, I’m just gonna say it. I’m attracted to you exactly the way you are. Do you understand?”
She shook her head. She didn’t, but she wanted to.
He rested his cheek against her hair. “I like the whole package, Prim. Every inch. Every curve. Every mouthycomeback. Everything that makes you…you. I don’t think I can say it any plainer than that.”
She caught her lower lip between her teeth, weighing his words. “I’m not the size I want to be.”
“Then tell me how I can support you getting there.”
The kindness behind his offer was positively breathtaking. “You already are. Just keep kicking my butt all over the yard during training. Don’t give up on me.”
“Count on it.” His voice was a soothing rumble against her heart. “It’s not going to change how I feel about you, though.” He reached up to give her ponytail a light tug. “I’m into you. Only you.”
She smiled and closed her eyes, allowing herself to revel in the beauty of his words. “Are you saying you want to be exclusive?”
“Yep.”
“Okay.”
“Okay, you’ll consider it? Or okay, we’re doing it?”
“I want to be exclusive,” she admitted shyly.
“Done.” He gave her one last squeeze hug before letting her go. “You ready to get back to work now?”
“Ready might be stretching it.” She gave him a weak smile.
He held out a hand to her. She yanked her coat back on and placed her hand in his.
“That’s my girl.” He tugged her back outside and had her help him mark off a stretch of driveway with a few pieces of deadfall. “On the count of three, let’s sprint to the other side.”
“Yippee,” she muttered sarcastically.
After they completed a few running drills, he released Rook and Bishop from their kennel. The large wire enclosure was attached to the side of the cabin. He and his uncle had constructed it themselves.
For the next hour, he trained her on basic dog commands. She got to practice making the two German Shepherds come, sit, heel, and stay.
Like their owner, they took their training seriously. She was willing to bet they enjoyed the exercises even more than she did. By the time the noon hour rolled around, she was convinced they were the dog version of workaholics.
Shep chuckled when she told him that. “Yep. They live for this stuff.”
“So do you.” It showed.
