“I’m okay.” She wipes her nose and finally rises from the floor.
“It’s almost midnight,” I say after glancing at the clock on the wall. “Call them now so you can go there.”
“Sure, I will,” she says, still sitting without making any movements. She must sense me waiting because she adds: “When you leave.”
I look up, calling for patience. I take several level breaths. “You won’t be calling anyone, will you?” I ask when I’m able to speak calmly.
She shakes her head, not meeting my eyes.
“Why?”
Her voice is so small. “I can’t because I’ll never hear the end of ‘I told you so.’”
Yeah, I knew this was going to happen. With a dreadful feeling in the pit of my stomach, I make her an offer. “My house is almost the same layout as this one, and I have a big couch. You can sleep there, and Ghost will keep you company.”
There’s hesitation written all over her face. It’s clear as day. She’s confused. Hell, even I’m confused about why I offered, but it’s too late to back out now.
“I don’t want to impose,” she tells me, meeting my gaze. Her voice drips with concern and melancholy. But she shouldn’t feel concerned. I’ve been so used to people sleeping at my place growing up, and later sharing a space with other firefighters, that sometimes I feel weird when no one is around—hence getting a dog.
“You won’t. In fact, you’ll be doing me a favor. I’ll be up at the ass crack of dawn for my shift, and you could do me a favor by walking Ghost in the morning.” I glance at the dog, his tail wagging vigorously, too excited at the prospect. I send him a look.Traitor. He just hangs his tongue out, mocking me.
“He has a cool name.” Her voice sounds shy, which is weird, considering her being a spoiled princess and all. She would be; otherwise, she wouldn’t score this house. Mrs. Jenkins, the lady from the local elites, is notorious for being picky, and someone must have pulled a few strings to get her this place. “And he’s so cute,” she says, even shier. Where did her confident voice go from last night, talking like she owned the world? She sounds like a normal person today. She looks at Ghost and cracks a smile, the very first one I’ve seen on her face. My breath hitches. It’s fucking breathtaking.
Suddenly, I notice other things too, like the way her soaked white shirt clings to her body, completely see-through. And her tits are gorgeous—big and supple. My fingers itch to touch them. She’s got curves on her under those baggy clothes. In all the right places. Just how I like them. I can see her narrow waist under her generous chest. Her pants hang low, clinging to her for dear life, and my eyes travel long past her belly button. All through her shirt.
My dick stirs, and at that moment, I know it was a terrible idea to invite her over. I turn around, subtly pretending that I don’t have a raging hard-on. “Get your stuff and come over.” I move to leave, but her voice calls out from behind me, stronger this time.
“Can Ghost stay with me while I get ready?” She rushes as if embarrassed to ask. And she should be. It’s my fucking dog. I turn around to remind her of it when I see her face. Her request isn’t one of a spoiled brat but necessity. She’s probably scared to stay at some dude’s house or even stay here, an evening on her own with no lock.
Even in Little Hope.
I keep forgetting I’m a large man with different fears. I swallow my sharp remark and nod.
“Stay here,” I command Ghost, and I walk away.
I can’t pinpoint why exactly, but her guarded aura nudges me inside, and I don’t like it.
ChapterFive
ALICIA
I watch him leave my destroyed kitchen. Did I just agree to spend a night at the house of a guy whose name I don’t even know? I guess I did. That’s not just out of character; it’s out of my mental capacity, yet here we are.
I’ve never spent a night with anyone but one of my family members under the same roof, and here I am about to walk into my neighbor’s house. No one will know where I am. Should I call one of my brothers and admit defeat? They’ll haul me away from here before I even end the call.
Do I want to stay on my own so badly though? I look around. The kitchen is a catastrophe. I’m sitting on my ass on the floor covered in inches of water. Some water seeped into the living room, but most of it stayed in the kitchen. I’m so grateful to whoever built this house with such a tall threshold. I nearly kissed the floor this morning when I stumbled over it, sleepy and groggy from the night I had, cursing it with all the words I know, but now, I’m thrilled it’s here.
Ghost whines, drawing my attention to his dancing from paw to paw. He clearly isn’t enjoying the cold water.
“Yeah, it sucks.” I stretch my arm to pet him, and he leans into my touch. His fur is so thick and soft. Surprisingly so. I expected him to be… prickly, maybe? I don’t know. I’ve never had a dog. Mom is a cat person, so we always had those fluffy egoistic bastards at home. They absolutely hated me and used to pee in my shoes. I don’t have a good track record with pets.
Ghost is something else entirely though. His eyes, currently staring into mine, are intelligent—almost on a human level or even brighter (yep, you got that right). He feels my pain, the one I’ve been burying all along. I’ve heard that dogs are empaths, and now I’m sure they are. No creature that has these compassionate eyes can stick to a bad person. And to be honest, I don’t know why, but the grouchy man doesn’t set off any of my triggers. In fact, it’s the opposite. I’m calm when he’s around.
Yes, I yelled when I saw him in my kitchen. Who wouldn’t? A huge man, knocking down the front door and barreling in? Yeah, that’s part of my night horrors. Until I realized it was him. Well, I didn’tseehim until he walked into the kitchen; at that moment, all I saw was a repeat of my nightmares. Until he was beside me with his dog nudging my cheek with his nose. Only then did I comprehend who was in front of me: a person I met no more than twenty-four hours ago and who already saved me. Twice. Plus, he’s a firefighter. The people from yesterday clearly knew him and worked with him, it seems.So I should be safe, right?
Ghost nudges my neck with his muzzle, reminding me of our current situation.
“Yes, boy. Let’s go.”
