Rooorooooo. Puddin’s head went back, and she howled in pure ecstasy—the way she greeted him every morning.
"Get off me," he said. She lapped his face again and panted her doggy breath at him lovingly. Theo reached down and adjusted his raging hard-on. His heart was still pounding, and he ached where he’d been pressed against Amber against the wall.Fuck. So much for that dream.
Pudding looked at him reproachfully and rolled over onto her back. She had never spent even a single night in the crate. That first night she had looked at him just as she was looking at him now, and Theo learned he was a pushover for soulful brown eyes.
"Come ‘ere, girl," he sighed as he looked at the clock. 5:45 a.m., an ungodly hour to be awake, but he had been a runner all his life. Running was one of the only things that allowed him to stop thinking and just use his body.
Puddin’ moaned again, and he gave her what she wanted—the best belly scratch of her life—and thought about Amber at work yesterday. She had done something he’d thought impossible—change an event that had been the same since his grandfather was in office. And Theo was proud to admit, her ideas were good. Better than good.
Cade had thought so too. Theo had overheard him ask Amber to dinner. The relief he’d felt when she had refused had taken the wind out of him. He prided himself on his self-control and rationality, but the thought of Amber with Cade stirred unfamiliar feelings in him. Amber was free to spend her time with anyone she chose, of course, and Cade was a good guy, well-liked and successful. There was no need for him to feel the stab of jealousy about them together, yet Amber affected him differently than any other woman. She got under his skin and made him care about things he wouldn’t normally.
It was ridiculous. He had no claim over her and no right to feel any kind of possessiveness.
After a quick shower, Theo packed the groceries he had shopped for the night before and hit the road. He had no idea what he was going to face at Amber's house, or if she'd even open the door, but he wasn't kidding when he said he would be there at 6:30 a.m. to run.
The idea had come to him when he left her house after taking care of her when she was sick. She looked so despondent, telling him how she was afraid to take risks to go after what she really wanted. He was going to show her that she could do this one thing, even if he had to manhandle her into it.
It was going to be a challenge. He knew how stubborn shewas, but when he put his mind to something, he always won. He took the stairs up to her apartment and knocked on the door. No answer. No surprise. He knocked again.
The apartment door across the hall opened, and Val, with her backpack on her shoulders, poked her dark head out and looked around suspiciously.
Theo had met the teen when she had stopped by Amber's apartment the morning Amber was sick. She had shown up looking like death to check on her friend, and when she found him, she’d panicked, thinking that Amber was going to get in trouble for not showing up for work and told him the whole story. Val was so sick she could barely stand up straight while they talked, so Theo had sent her back to bed with a promise that Amber’s job was safe, but she had given him some very valuable insight into Amber first.
Val’s version of Amber was one he was still coming to terms with. Instead of being frivolous with her time and money, she had been shouldering the weight of another family, paying bills that stretched her own already thin finances even more. And all in secret.
His perspective had been shifting ever since, and combined with Neal’s shitty criticism, had morphed into a profound respect for her in stark contrast to the facade she painted for everyone else. With the exception of Johnny. He’d definitely noticed she was more herself with him than anyone else.
But he wasn’t stupid. He knew Amber wouldn’t appreciate him knowing about something she kept hidden, even from her family. She had too much pride for that. So he had taken the stack of bills she had hidden in her couch of all places, and ordered her a new air conditioner and not said a word. It was the least he could do.
"Are you coming or going?" Val said, squinting at him.
He looked down at the groceries. "I'm here to pick Amber up for a run."
“Shoot. My bus is coming, or I would totally stick around to watch this disaster go down. Good luck," she called, running down the stairs.
Theo pounded again and suddenly a very growly, very scary-looking Amber answered the door. Her hair was tangled around her shoulders, and she wore an oversized black KISS T-shirt that fell to the top of her thighs—no shorts in sight. Theo took a deep breath and steeled himself. He was here to prove something to her. He wasn't here to wonder what she wore to bed at night.
"What?" she said, rubbing her eyes sleepily, which was one of the most adorable things Theo had ever seen. But he knew better than to show a sign of weakness.
Brusquely, he pushed past her and walked to the kitchen with his groceries. "It's six-thirty.” He checked his watch. "You were supposed to be up and ready. We're running today.”
“The hell we are,” she said, yawning. “You can run. I’m going back to bed.” She leaned against the door with her hands behind her back, looking deliciously rumpled and sleepy, as if she’d spent a long night being thoroughly fucked. An image from his X-rated dream flashed through his brain and Theo scowled.
“I told you I’d be here.”
“And I told you, I'm not a runner. Pick another dare." She rolled her eyes. "Do you want me to streak across the village green? I’ve totally done that before, but I’ll do it again. Do you want me to sing karaoke at the gala? I'll do that too," she offered smugly. “But I don’t run.”
"You're running," he said evenly. "I'll give you ten seconds to get into your bedroom and put on whatever you need to run in, or I'm going to help you."
Her chin lifted. "You wouldn't."
He gave her his best stare, the kind that could make a criminal tremble back in his prosecuting days. "Try me. Ten...nine...”
She straightened up slowly, thrusting out her breasts, a gleam of challenge in her eye.
“Eight...seven...” Theo slid a hot gaze up and down her barely covered body, and a flare of lust shot through him. He held her gaze with a silent dare.
Her hands went to her hips.
