I laughed to myself as Hawkley tracked his progress out of the corner of his eye.Glancing at Daire, because a girl could only hold off for so long, I caught him watching me with an amused smile on his face.
I grinned at him, and he laughed.
Bruce changed course away from Hawk and leapt up beside Daire instead.
Daire reached out and stroked the scraggly fur on Bruce’s back.“Handling this cat is like handling a skittish woman.”
My eyebrows rose.“How so?”
“He can only take so much loving before he snaps—ow!”Bruce dug his nails into Daire’s thigh and took off across the wood floors, his back legs sliding over the polished surface.“See!”he exclaimed.“He’s fiery.”
“He’s not fiery,” I defended him.“He’s just used to being let down.”
Daire’s eyes widened on my face making me realize I revealed too much.“What does he need to trust again?”
We were no longer talking about Bruce, but I’d be damned if I let on.Because I knew the answer, and it desperately wanted to be spoken.I shrugged.“He loves Noelle.All she did was stick with him.It shouldn’t be that hard.”
“And yet?”
I shook my head, unprepared to delve any deeper into that bruised organ that thudded erratically in my chest.
“A cat like that deserves someone who sticks,” he murmured softly.“He’s got so much to offer.And underneath that spiky attitude lies a heart of gold.”
I looked at him sharply.
“And a beautiful face,” he added.“Though you covered your sweet freckles today.”
Heat bloomed in my cheeks as I stared back at him.Twice he’d used the word beautiful to describe me.
Somehow that warmed my heart and terrified me at the same time.
Because a girl like me could fall hard for a man like him.
And a man like him wasn’t for a girl like me.
Not in the way I would want him to be.
“Say thank you,” he whispered teasingly.
I swallowed, my defenses stripped away by the arrow he so perfectly aimed through the gap in my armor.
“Thank you.”
He winked.“Good girl.”
I snorted and barked out a laugh.“Good girl?”
“Well, aren’t you?”
I tilted my head to the side, pondering his question while secretly thrilling at the direction our conversation had taken.
Paul was my only real relationship, and it was pure vanilla by anyone’s standards.I liked vanilla, but I wouldn’t have minded a chocolate fucking sprinkle here and there.
What would it be like to be with Daire?
And how long could it possibly last?
“This is requiring a lot of thought,” he mused.
