Yep.
Plaid sleep pants that rode low on his hips.
Dangerously low.
I held in a groan.
“Sorry,” he said, shooting me a tired smile.“I tried to be quiet.Did I wake you?”
I shook my head and flung my hand in the direction of Mildred.“She couldn’t sleep.Neither could I.”
“That makes three of us,” he said.“I was about to get out the bourbon.You want some?”
“No thanks.Maybe some tea.”
“Sit.I’ll make it.”
He looked cute as hell with my small dog in his muscular inked arms.Archer set her down and she trotted to the back door.I let her out, leaving the door cracked so she could make her way back inside when she was ready.
I settled into a chair, my eyes tracking his every movement.
“You’re going to be a train wreck tomorrow,” I remarked as he opened a cabinet and pulled out a mug for me.
“So are you,” he pointed out.
“I’m a New Yorker,” I explained.“We’re designed to run on lack of sleep, caffeine and disillusionment.”
“Well, if that doesn’t tell me everything I need to know about you.Honey?”
“Don’t call me honey.”
He shot me a lopsided grin over his shoulder.“I meant, do you want honey in your tea?”
“Oh.Yes, please.”
Archer chuckled.“Chamomile okay?”
“Yeah.Thanks.”
Mildred came back inside and I got up to close the door, shivering at the cold air that was sneaking into the warm house.
The kettle spout was open so it wouldn’t whistle, and soon steam was shooting out in an angry cloud.Archer made my tea and then brought the mug to the table before grabbing the bottle of bourbon and a rocks glass with ice in it.
I wrapped my cold fingers around the mug and suddenly wished my blonde hair wasn’t a tangled mess.
He took the chair next to me and then poured himself a hefty drink.As he set the bottle of bourbon down, Mildred rose on her back legs and placed her paws against his thigh.He scooped her up and settled her against him.She licked his skin and then closed her eyes.A deep rumbling came from the tiny dog.
“Is she purring?”he asked me in shock.
“Snoring,” I corrected.“Mildred has a deviated septum.She thought about having a nose job, but she realized she loves her original nose.It gives her character.”
Archer looked at me with a raise of his brows.
“What?You don’t talk to the horses you shoe?Or croon to them to make them less anxious?”
“Or make up scenarios about them?”
“Mildred has been my only true companion the last several months,” I said.“We’ve grown attached to one another.”
