“Yeah.” I nod, quietly enjoying the way his stubble rasps over my skin. “Just a happy tear, even if I’m still pissed at you.”
“What’d I do now?”
“You didn’t tell me that flying commercial sucks.”
He lets out a gut-busting laugh as we reach the top of the stairs and he sets me down on the landing to the studio apartment. “You drive my luxury car for months and you fly private just once, and your small-town-girl principles disappear. I see how it is.”
I glare back at him. “Are you saying I’m spoiled?”
“No.” He shakes his head and grabs his keys from his pocket. He hesitates and steps toward me, pressing me against the door. “But if you want to be spoiled, I’ll spend every waking hour I can making sure you are.” The corner of his mouth lifts into a hungry grin and suddenly, I feel like I might have more energy that I did just minutes ago.
“I don’t need to be spoiled, just the occasional home-cooked meal and gelato. Oh, and lots of coffee.”
His nostrils flare and that hungry grin widens, putting those dimples on display. “I think I can manage that.”
He turns the key in the lock, and pushes the door wide open. He leads the way in, his arm wrapped around me. That’s when I hear it—the sound of thundering paws against the hardwood floor and a jingling collar.
“Oh shit,” he barks out in a surprised laugh.
I look up just in time to see Felix leaping through the airright at Sutton. Before I can react, Felix plants two paws square on his chest and Sutton tumbles to the ground, taking me down with him. He immediately grabs me and cradles me in his arms as we fall.
Sutton’s eyes flash with worry before he sees that I’m laughing while Felix stands over the two of us, taking turns licking Sutton’s face, then mine.
“I think he missed us,” he says, stilling holding me tight in his arms.
“No, just you. He never acts like this for me.” I roll my eyes in mock annoyance because I can’t blame my dog for being obsessed with the man that takes my breath away every time he looks at me.
Still lying on the entryway floor, I get lost in his eyes—endless blue pools—when a weird, wet, and scratchy sensation on my cheek brings me back to reality.
“Would you look at that? Someone did miss you,” he says, almost cackling to himself.
That’s when I hear the telltale purring sound of Oscar, followed by the pressure of two little paws kneading my shoulder. That silly, tiny, witchy cat is greeting me.
I can’t even pretend to be annoyed with any of them now. Just like the night we met when he snatched me out of the street, I’ve never felt safer and more at home than I do in his arms.
I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this fullness, this much happiness in my life. I’m in the embrace of the man I love, surrounded by our weirdo fur children, and I can’t think of anywhere else I would want to be in life.
EPILOGUE
SUTTON
Five Months Later
Holdingthe door for Felix to walk into the coffee shop, I try to not let the door slam behind us. The bells still jingle softly—fitting since it’s only a couple days before Christmas.
“Sorry. We just closed,” Kelsey’s voice floats from somewhere in the backroom.
I hold a finger to my lips and look down at Felix. “Shh.”
Like the good boy he is, he stays quiet and just stares at me with those soulful brown eyes, like he always does. So I pat him on the head and bend down to wipe the snow off his paws. After taking care of him, I kick the snow off my own boots from another early winter storm, and walk to the counter. I was worried the snow was going to delay my return flight into Jackson, but thankfully, luck was on my side today.
After the way the last couple of months went, I’ll take that luck.
Flying back and forth between Jackson, Seattle, and Sterling Springs has been stressful, but I knew it would be worth it in the end, even if I missed Kelsey every second I was away.That toy she bought definitely helped, but nothing compares to actually being in her presence and holding her close to me.
When the Seattle restaurant opening got delayed, I barely held it together. I had to get more involved than I planned, but now Jade has it running like a well-oiled machine. I kept my deal with Slade, and that chapter is now closed.
There was a similar fiasco with the garage back in Sterling Springs. Thankfully, Dad stayed true to his word and finally hired someone to help, letting me stay out of it. The garage finally seems to be in good shape now too, despite some growing pains.