While social media wanted to tell men that women only wanted to date six-foot, six-pack, six-figure men, he thought there really wasn’t the same quick formula making its rounds for women.
For him, the triumvirate of winning qualities included kindness, intellectual curiosity, and natural generosity with words and actions.
He had lain in bed last night talking to Tank about what had happened on the river when Rylee was kayaking. Even knowing what she knew from dating a fast water search and rescue guy, Rylee had decided to grab the hand of a decomposing corpse to protect the hearts of a family that she had never even met.
What had it taken to reach into the water with all the ghoulish sights and sensations that could follow?
Selfless.
Brave.
Courage was damned sexy.
He loved it. Loved every second of being with her.
And he thanked the Fates that he had that last phone call with Rose, or he would have missed last night altogether. And that would have been a loss and a shame.
They ate. They cleaned up together. Rylee looked beat, so he drove her home, where he held her hand as he walked her to the door.
But that was it.
That was it because Dakota felt incredibly protective of what might be happening between them, and she was tired. He wanted to make sure that if he kissed her, she wasn’t kissing him back as a way to get it over with, so she could go in and get some sleep. He’d heard one too many of his friends’ stories—and honestly, one was already too many—about how exhausting it was to maintain their boundaries, especially when it came to intimacy.
He was risk-averse when it came to Rylee. He’d do nothing to endanger what he felt when he was with her.
Dakota decided that on his end, gentlemanly behavior was what he’d continue to extend, and if she wanted more, she’d let him know.
The drive back to his house was only ten minutes.
In a city where traffic could make or break a relationship, ten minutes was a good omen.
Last night, he had slept deeply and profoundly, as if his whole body could relax for the first time in a long time.
This morning, he and Tank had an extra good run. Dakota’s hot shower felt amazing. He was a caricature, a comic-strip man, drawn as if he were walking on air. And he couldn’t seem to drop the grin.
In the mirror, he looked like Jasper did when he was looking at Neesa.
Jasper was a good guy; it would be great if he finally found his better half.
Dakota looked outside and saw Fifi pissing on her favorite tree. “Tank,” Dakota’s call was answered with scrambling nails on his hardwood. “Dude, we have to head over to Iniquus. They want you to sniff around their stacks of money, okay? But I’m keeping you with me through this weekend at least, so you get a shot at a date with FiFi. I’ll text her mom and see if you can’t get a play date.”
Tank perked up his ears and tipped his head.
“Would you like that? To see Fifi?”
Tank tipped his head the other way, then ran over to the door and sat at attention, tongue hanging long in anticipation.
As Dakota checked his watch. “Okay, five minutes until Jasper gets here.” He opened the door, and Tank shot over to the fence for their ritual butt sniffing just as Dakota’s phone rang.
He answered with a happy grin. “Morning, Rylee.”
“Good morning. I’m here with Neesa, you’re on speaker phone.”
“Morning, Neesa.”
“Not yet, it isn’t. I’m waiting for the coffee to kick in,” she grumped.
“Yeah?” Dakota was starting to get her salty humor. “Rough night's sleep?”
