“She’s going to need a lot of exercise,” Noah said as they set up her crate in the spare room. “Daily runs, structured play sessions. SAR training will help, but she’s got tons of energy. Just like you.”
Sabrina raised an eyebrow.
“It’s a compliment. You two are perfectly matched in that department.” His grin held an edge that made her pulse skip. “I have a feeling you’ll keep each other busy.”
Finally, everything had a place. Sabrina collapsed onto her couch, suddenly exhausted. Ripley immediately hopped up next to her, laying her head in Sabrina’s lap as if she’d been doing it for years.
“She’s already claimed you.” Noah settled on Ripley’s other side, his arm stretching along the back of the couch behind them. “Look at that face. She knows she’s home.”
Home. Such a simple word, but it squeezed something in Sabrina’s chest. She’d never thought of this place as a home. Her apartment was spare, functional. A place to sleep between shifts. Work had always been her focus.
Now she had dog beds and toys and a cabinet full of supplies. A living creature who would depend on her completely. Never mind that Ripley had ties to her job. It didn’t feel like an assignment.
This was totally new ground. And she didn’t know how to feel about the way Noah threaded through everything.
“You’re quiet all at once.” Noah’s voice held a note of concern. “Did I overstep?”
“No.” She scratched behind Ripley’s ears, smiling as the dog’s eyes drifted closed in bliss. “Just realizing how big of a change this is.”
His fingers brushed her shoulder, the touch sending warmth through her whole body. “You don’t strike me as the type to back down from challenges.”
Even the fact that he knew that about her kind of made the point.
“This is different.” She gestured to Ripley, to the evidence of their shopping spree scattered around her living room. “This is a lot of reality. I paid an exorbitant pet deposit. It doesn’t feel like there’s room for backsies.”
“Scared?”
The question could have sounded mocking. Instead, his tone held simple curiosity, as if he genuinely wanted to understand what she was feeling.
“Terrified,” she admitted. “But also excited. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt that way about anything before.”
“That’s exactly how you should feel about the best things in life.” His hand settled more firmly on her shoulder. “The trick is not letting the fear stop you from going after what you want.”
Their eyes met over Ripley’s head, and Sabrina had the sense again of being on that roller coaster, cresting over the first hill at that point when the world opened up. You could see forever and you forgot for a moment that the bottom was about to drop out.
She should probably grab onto something. The way Noah had blazed into her life, upending everything in the span of forty-eight hours—that probably wasn’t going to stop.
And she didn’t see herself tapping the brakes. Not yet. There was too much to discover here, too much exhilaration to experience.
Besides, Noah wasn’t asking her to marry him. He’d given her a dog. And a potential leg up with the selection committee. Nothing more. She could handle this.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “For Ripley. For all of this.”
“Thank you for not shoving it all back in my face.” He leaned closer, his breath warm against her cheek. “For being exactly the woman I thought you were. One willing to take a chance on something great.”
When his lips met hers, Ripley huffed and wiggled off the couch, apparently done with being squeezed between them. Sabrina barely noticed, too caught up in the way Noah kissed her—like he’d been thinking about it since their last kiss, like he couldn’t wait another second to taste her again.
Like she was exactly what he wanted.
She could get used to this.
CHAPTER 11
Noah’s truck tires squealed as he skidded between the lines and shuddered to a halt in the parking lot at the training course near his house. It was probably time to replace his tires, which he had to do about every six months the way he drove, but oh well.
It was finally Saturday, Sabrina’s day off. And she’d be here for her first SAR training session in exactly fifty-seven minutes.
Yeah, his steps might be a little lighter than normal because of it. So what?
