"I never should have said that shit to you," he whispers, his lips against my forehead.
"You didn't know."
"Doesn't make it right."
He's right, so I don't say anything.
"I'm sorry, Minnie. I never meant to hurt you." His lips ghost across my forehead and then my eyelids. "It's killin' me that I did."
"I'm okay," I promise, tilting my face up for him to kiss my lips. He places two little pecks on them before cupping my cheek in his palm, staring at me like he's trying to memorize every little detail of my face. "What you said stung for a little bit, but I believe you when you say you didn't mean it."
"I see you, you know," he whispers, rubbing his nose against mine in a move that's far too sensual. All my nerve endings fire, heat pooling low in my belly. "I see how sweet you are, and how smart you are. I see how beautiful you are, inside and out. I see you, pretty baby."
"I know," I whisper back, swallowing hard. "I think that's what scared me most. You see me. I didn't want to get attached to you and then find out that you couldn't handle being with me." I take a deep breath and exhale slowly, holding his gaze. My stomach flutters with nerves, but I reach deep for a little courage and tell him the truth. "But I think it might be too late for that. I'm already attached to you."
"Yeah?" His voice drops even lower than normal, to that growl that makes my panties instantly wet. "You hooked on me, sweet Miranda?"
I nod, speechless.
"You trust me?"
I nod again, my heart thudding hard against my ribcage.
"You fallin' for me, cowgirl?"
"Maybe," I whisper, my mouth so dry the word is barely audible in the sliver of space between our lips. He hears it though.
His eyes light up, satisfaction turning them a brighter blue. "Good. I'm already crazy about you. Have been since you smiled at me." He presses his forehead to mine, exhaling a sweet breath. His entire body relaxes in a way it hasn't before now. Like he's finally at ease for the first time since I met him, like he can finally breathe. "Goin' to keep you fallin' for me, pretty baby. Maybe then I won't want to kill every motherfucker who looks your way."
I laugh softly, warmth shooting through me at the thought that this beautiful man is possessive of me. I feel the same way about him. I don't want anyone to look at him but me. I don't want him to see anyone but me. If that's crazy, then I guess we'll just have to be crazy together.
He kisses me on the forehead and then on the lips before popping his door open. "Come on," he says, lifting me out of the truck and putting me on my feet.
"Where?" I ask…just like I did last night.
He answers the same way too. He grins as he climbs out of the truck, his gaze raking like fire down my body and then back up. "Going to give you your first ride, baby."
Oh. My.
My stomach flutters.
By the time we get my stuff and make it to Jason's, it's dark out. His house isn't what I expected from him. He's so calm and collected most of the time, a man with simple needs and no desire to impress anyone. I guess I thought he'd live in a high-rise full of minimalistic furniture or something. He doesn't. He lives in a gorgeous two-story cabin-style farmhouse at the foot of Signal Mountain. His house is tucked away behind a thick tangle of trees, hiding it from the roadway. The property is surrounded by a wooden fence and the roof of a red barn is visible in the distance.
"You really live here?" I ask, instantly falling in love with the place.
"Yeah. My grandparents left the place to me and Jenna," he says, pulling up in front of the house. "They lived here until they passed away a few years ago."
"It's beautiful. Did they have animals?"
"When they were younger. It was a family farm more than anything." He shuts the truck off, turning to look at me. "Grandpa used to sucker us into picking beans for a dollar. We thought we were gettin' rich off him. Didn't realize how much work it is to pick an entire bushel of the little bastards."
I throw my head back and laugh loudly.
"He did the same thing to my dad and his brother when they were kids. He was a world-class swindler." Jason shakes his head, his eyes light with happiness as he pops the door to his truck and hops out. I start to do the same, but he shakes his head. "Wait for me."
I roll my eyes, but do as instructed, waiting impatiently for him to circle around to help me out.
"Don't want you fallin', trying to get down by yourself," he says, wrapping his hands around my waist and pulling me toward him. He slides me down the front of his body. The contact instantly sets electricity to buzzing all over my skin again.
I think I'm addicted to how much more alive I feel when he's touching me.
I stumble before catching myself.
He smirks like he knows what he's doing to me, and then grabs my bags out of the back of the truck. He kept distracting me with kisses while I packed, so I brought way more than I intended to bring. I have a sneaking suspicion that was his plan. It makes me happy to know he wants me in his space as badly as I want to be in it.
He laces his fingers through mine, leading me toward the front door.
A dog barks, and I jump.
"Easy, pretty baby."
"You have a dog?"
"Mmhmm." He releases my hand to unlock the door.
His dog barks in excitement from the other side. He sounds huge.
"Gomer," Jason calls, his tone sharp. "Ostanovit."
The dog instantly stops barking.
Jason grins at me again and then pulls the door open.
"He's so pretty," I whisper, staring at the dog. He's massive, his paws almost as big as my hands. He's a really pretty mix of brown and black, like a German Shepard, but different. "What kind of dog is he?"
The dog cocks his head to the side, his tongue lolling out as he stares at me.
"He's a Belgian Malinois," Jason explains, putting his hand on my back to lead me inside. "He won't hurt you. He's very well trained."
"I'm not afraid of him," I promise, holding my hand out for him to sniff me.
He sniffs me and then looks at Jason as if to ask who I am.
He says something in Russian, the words rolling off his tongue like he speaks the language fluently. I don't understand him, but the dog seems to. He hops up and prowls toward me. He comes up to midthigh. He rubs up against me and then sits, resting his head against my thigh.
I reach down to pet him.
"He likes you." Jason smiles at me.
"I like him too."
"Good. He'll guard you with his life."
"Is he a guard dog?"
"He was my partner before he retired, a bite dog. He broke his leg chasing a suspect through the woods," Jason says, setting my bags beside the stairs and then striding back toward me to close the front door. "Now he's a bum."
Gomer huffs like he understands Jason.
"Don't huff at me, man," Jason says to him. "You are a bum."
The dog huffs again, butting his head against my leg.
"He's a bully. If you don't want to pet him, just tell him no and he'll leave you alone. Jenna spoils him, so he thinks he can do what he wants."