He chuckled. “I can see why the two of you are such good friends. You have more in common than your love of animals. Tenacity, for instance.”
“Bullheadedness,” Gabe added.
She grinned. “Aw, thanks for the compliments, but changing the subject won’t get you off the hook.”
He shrugged. “Not trying to get off the hook. I have no problem admitting that I like Emily. A lot.”
“Holy shit, you slept with her,” Gabe muttered.
Lyndsey snorted. “That’s old news, hon. Get with the program. That was so two days ago.”
Shock rippled through Holden. Emily had told her friend? Not that it was a secret, it was just that she didn’t seem the type to broadcast her personal life.
She laughed. “Relax. Emily didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to, not with the way she came to work yesterday humming to herself and wearing a smile almost too big for her face.”
Ah, kind of like him yesterday. Apparently, he’d walked into ESI with a spring in his step or something, because the guys immediately picked up on the fact he and Emily had slept together.
A smile tugged at his lips as pride puffed out his chest. “Good to know.”
He loved that he could make her so happy others noticed.
“Just so you know,” he said. “I would never try to control her or change her. She’s perfect.”
Lyndsey smiled. “Well, okay then. I just need to have my girl’s back. I’m sure you understand.”
He nodded. “Absolutely. Wouldn’t be here without someone watching mine.”
An image of Braddock’s face as he clamped down on Holden’s uniform near his shoulder and tugged him behind a rusted-out car while bullets pinged all around them flashed through his head. His stomach and chest both tightened.
“That’s what friends are for,” Gabe said, and Holden could tell by the look in his buddy’s eyes that he knew he’d been talking about Braddock.
Not that his human buddies hadn’t saved his ass, and vice versa during active duty.
His phone vibrated. As he dug it out of his pocket, his pulse increased, and he wondered if it was an alert for Emily’s place. It wasn’t an alert, it was a text from Emily.
“I’m heading home to take a long shower. Care to join me?”
“Roger that.”He texted her back, then surged to his feet. Zena barked and stepped backward a few steps. He immediately exhaled and reset his calm. “Sorry,” he said. “Got to go.”
Lyndsey chuckled. “That’s got to be Emily. Give her my love.”
Oh, he was going to give the woman some love all right. But not the kind from a friend.
Chapter Fifteen
Three weeks to the day of their first kiss, Emily was pretty sure she was falling for Holden. Big time. The more time she spent with the guy and got to know him, the more time shewantedto spend with him.
The handsome man was kind and considerate, reliable, funny—trustworthy—that was a big one for her. His compassion for animals rivaled her own—another biggie. He respected her, which was one of many traits her prior boyfriend had lacked. And Holden was freaking amazing in bed. He took her out of herself, and every time she returned to reality, she returned as a better version. More confident. Happier. Satisfied. Holden took her breath away over and over, proving how amazing it was to connect with the right person.
Like now.
She was cradled against his hot, slick, naked body as they both worked to catch their breath from a morningsessionshe was never likely to forget. He’d done some amazing things with his tongue that had caused her to cross her eyes and pant his name until she burst into bliss with an orgasm he’d expertly extended until the world momentarily faded from sight.
Then he’d rolled on a condom and thrust inside her, causing Emily to arch off the mattress and cling to him as he’d magically coaxed another orgasm from her intensely heightened body.
She was beginning to think the man didn’t just have an affinity with animals, he had an affinity with orgasms too, and her body was more than happy to have him as her handler.
“You okay?” he asked, his voice rough and winded near her ear as she rested on top of him with her face planted on his shoulder after he’d rolled them over.
