“Hi, Felix.” The words sound more like wheezing than a greeting.
He seems to accept that though and takes another lick of my face.
“You get enough or do you need more?”
He tilts his head and seems to ponder my question.
“Damnit, Felix. Get off him. He’s mommy’s snack, not yours.”
He must be satisfied with his cleaning job on my face because he finally steps off of my chest. I gasp and suck in a deep breath.
“You know I’d consider myself more of a meal than a snack.” I prop myself up on my elbows and watch as Felix flops onto his back beside me. “I’ll settle for dessert though.”
I look up to find Kelsey looking at me. Instead of rolling her eyes at my joke, she’s focusing on me with equal parts curiosity and concern. Her eyes search my entire body for any sign of injury before she looks back at her dog, who’s still rolling around on his back next to me. Having that kind of focus on me is something I’m not used to, and it feels good to have a woman like her look at me like that.
“Are you OK? I’m so sorry about that. He might look huge, but he’s basically still a teenager.”
I huff a laugh and wipe his saliva off my face. “Yeah. I’m fine. Glad you were right though.”
Her soft laugh makes me completely forget that I was fearing for my life just seconds ago. “About what?”
“That he doesn’t bite.”
She kneels down with Felix still between us. She reaches out and runs the backs of her fingers over mine.
“You don’t have to—” Her voice trails off and I hear the doubt creep in before she looks away. “Stick around? I get it if that kind of ruined the mood.”
I sit up straight and reach over to tip her chin up so that our eyes meet again. Even in the dark entryway of her apartment, her stormy gray eyes steal my breath.
All the subtle little shades of greens and blues hidden in the cloudy gray remind me of the rare storms that would roll in over the vivid mountains back home in New Mexico. Theywere precious to the farmers there, but all I remember is how unique and beautiful those clouds on the horizon were when they’d clash with the different hues of granites and stones of the mountains they engulfed. Even when the rain started to pour, I would sit there and soak up that beauty. That’s what I see when my eyes find hers—stunning, beautiful understated contrast that I can’t make myself look away from—not that I would ever want to.
“Two things, Shadow.” I trace my thumb over her bottom lip. “It would take a lot more than getting tackled by your giant wolf to scare me off.”
The corners of her lips twitch under my thumb and I grin back. “You don’t have to hide that smile from me. I like it.”
She rolls her eyes and blows out a breath that fluffs her bangs. “What’s the other thing, Pretty Boy?”
I close the distance between us and press my lips to hers. Her lips are so fucking soft, but it’s the little gasp when she parts them that makes my heart stutter and my cock throb in my jeans.
I break the kiss and look back into those storm clouds. “I’m not leaving unless you tell me to.”
The column of her throat shifts when she swallows and she practically whispers. “Good.”
“Besides, I don’t have a TV set up at my place and I want to see if Brooke finally leaves Randy.” This time, she doesn’t hide her smile.
She gasps. “Oh my god, you really do watch it.”
CHAPTER 20
SUTTON
After two yearsof being here, I’ve come to accept that I love my apartment in Jackson. Everything about it—from the views to the insanely short commute down to the first floor to the homey feeling of the wood-framed windows and doors—is exactly what I wanted. When it came to designing the layout of the apartments upstairs, my one request was to preserve the floors and as many of the original doors and windows as possible because I wanted to keep that lived-in character. It reminds me of the old house I grew up in—the one that my great-grandparents built and that my parents moved into when they started raising the four of us.
If there’s any complaint I have about the place, it’s the stairs.
Not that I mind exercise or strenuous physical activity. Not at all. I still go to the gym often enough—in town or sometimes at TJ’s. In the winter, of course I get out and ski at the resorts in Jackson. But after a long shift in the restaurant, on my feet all night, this single flight of stairs might as well be a mountain.
Even today, I spent all morning at the restaurant with Slade and then walked around downtown Seattle. Then I gotto the airport just in time to catch my evening flight home and I had to run across the terminal because my gate was changed at the last minute.