Chapter Eighteen
He wasn’tin love with LinxColson.
He didn’t do love—didn’t believe init.
Love always endedbadly.
Likenow.
Even though he got his dog back, she wasn’t thesame.
She followed him around all day like she was a prisoner out on a chain-gang. And now, she plodded into his cramped fifth-wheel trailer looking like a dejected and homelessstray.
“What’s the matter?” Grady prodded Sasha, who lay on the floor of his trailer, her eyes wide open but resting her snout on her front paws. “I got steak for us. You wantsteak?”
The big dog wagged the tip of her tail and barely looked up at him. She’d been excited during their time in town, alert to her surroundings, but as soon as he headed up the mountain, her ears started to droop, and then her head. By the time they made the turn up his driveway, she was slumped on the benchseat.
She’d staggered from the truck and slunk to the trailer door, lapping listlessly at her water bowl. He’d tried throwing a tennis ball for her to fetch, but she only stared at it and then lay down on the floor with a resignedexpression.
She obviously missedLinx.
Grady’s gut clenched, and his heart beat hollow at the memory of the day Linx dropped Sasha off. She was cold and resigned, and she’d spoken sternly to Sasha, ordering her to staybehind.
She’d then driven away without looking back. There would be no more dog deliveries with motel room hookups for him—no more favors, no more fights, no more heat andspark.
The fire had died, and now, Grady was relegated to dealing with Tami for newadoptions.
Rejection hurt, and he wasn’t used to being on the receiving end ofit.
He bent over and rubbed the big dog’s neck. “I’m sorry you had to leave your mommy. I didn’t mean for you to gethurt.”
What had felt like a victory was now fool’sgold.
“I was mad at your mommy for so long,” he said, scratching Sasha’s ears. “But now, I’ve forgotten why I’m so angry. She hurt me, because she lied to me. When I found out she kept you, I blew agasket.”
The dog lifted herself to a sitting position and rested her head on his knee the way she used to do. It should have been comforting, it should have made him feel warm and complete, but not now—not when he missed Linx with every fiber of hisbeing.
He’d spent so many years denying her, running from her, drowning in casual flings, and convincing himself that she’d lied—and she had, one version or the other, and now, it dawned on him that she had endedit.
She was telling him it no longer mattered whether she’d lied ornot.
It no longer mattered whether she’d had a baby ornot.
It no longer mattered what he thought abouther.
She was done, and this time, it wasfinal.
As final as her leaving her very heart—Sasha, or as she called her,Cedar.
Well hell, it damn well mattered to him whether he was in love with her or not. He was supposed to hate her, but if his heart hurt so much, and love caused pain, then what did Cait’s wordsmean?
One thing was sure. Sasha loved Linx and Sasha was inpain.
He stroked the dog’s silky mane and rubbed her behind the ears. “Do you prefer Sasha orCedar?”
The dog’s ears perked when he said, “Cedar.”
“Is it Cedar? Is that who youare?”
