“I’m sure you did.” Mack gave Sam a once-over and grinned at the gesture the guy shot back. “You want to take Noodle with you? I need a minute with Benson and Stabler here.”
Sam snickered. “Sure.” He took the dog in his arms, and the thing seemed to melt. Animals knew good people. “Aw, come on, Noodle. Let’s go find you a home.”
Sam walked away.
“I’m Stabler, by the way.” Jed slapped Mack on the back. “We’re on for dinner on Sunday. Thought I’d let you know.” He pointed at Cass and ordered, “Fix it. I’ll meet you by the pet shop.” He walked away, whistling, and got back into the car.
Something occurred to Mack. “This isn’t your area. What are you doing up here?”
Cass blushed but said nothing.
Mack waited, but she just looked at him as they continued down the alley toward the street. “You have nothing to say? Really?”
He turned away from her, uber annoyed. Because his heart wouldn’t stop racing and the love he’d been trying to ignore was overwhelming.
“Stop, stop.” She pulled him to a halt and tugged him under the darkness of an overhead tree, out from under a streetlight. “Look, I made a mistake.”
“With…?”
She blew out a loud, exasperated breath. That made him feel slightly better.
“I’m sorry I didn’t do more to crush you at soccer.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and tried to look stern and not as if he were drinking in the sight of her. She looked so damn sexy in her uniform.
“I just… I talked to my dad, and he thinks maybe I was trying to sabotage our relationship.”
“If you want out, you only have to say—”
“Will you shut up? I’m trying to tell you I love you, okay?” she snapped.
He blinked, not sure how to follow that and doing his best not to appear as joyful as a kid at Christmas.
But Cass seemed stressed and unsure because she started pacing in front of him, not meeting his gaze. “I told you before I’m not great with relationships. I like myself, and I don’t think I should have to change to suit anyone else’s needs.”
He started to tell her he’d never asked her to change but instead kept quiet, doing his best to just listen. Something he wished his parents had done instead of treating him like a little boy wanting attention he didn’t deserve.
“But you never asked me to change. The one time I did something that, frankly, bothered even me, you told me to stop and just be myself.” She met his gaze. “For the record, I just wanted you to have fun with the game. I didn’t want you to be mad if I crushed you in front of your friends.”
“I hate to break it to you, Officer Hotness, but I did steal the ball from you at our mud game.”
“Yeah, because I slipped in the mud,” she said drily. “You got lucky because David Beckham you are not.”
He sneered. “And yet you still didn’t win.”
“We tied, doofus.” She walked up to him and put her hands on his shoulders. “I’m sorry, Mack. I got weirded out by what I feel for you. It just snuck up on me. And when I get nervous or—”
“Scared?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Oranxious,I don’t react well. I’m sometimes quick to get angry—”
“Sometimes?”
She talked over him. “Usually think I’m right because I am right, and have a tough time confronting those I love, which is why I keep avoiding you.”
“It’s driving me crazy,” he said and pulled her in for a kiss. He broke away, breathing hard, his whole body one live wire, and leaned his forehead against hers. “God, Cass. I love you so much. I’ve been trying to keep it to myself and not scare you off. I know you’re independent and tough and smart. And any guy would be lucky to have you.” He pulled back to look into her gorgeous gray eyes, swearing he could see the love in them even in the shadows. “But I’m the best you’ll ever get.”
Her lips quirked. “Is that so?”
