“I thought you might be spending the night. Pizza?”
My mouth opened, closed, then opened again. “What kind?”
Hayes raised a brow. “Does it matter?”
“Always.”
“I went straight ahead. One cheese. One pepperoni.”
“You give me the cheese, and I’ll let you in.”
He chuckled and handed me a box. “It’s all yours.”
My stomach rumbled as I inhaled the cheesy goodness. “I thought I would have to settle for one of Tim’s Cup Noodles.”
“I’d never leave you to that fate. Especially after taking such good care of Koda.” Hayes went to peek in the kennel. When he saw that his dog was fast asleep, he turned back to me. “Where do you want to eat?”
I inclined my head to the left. “Break room. We’ll leave the door open so we can hear Koda if he wakes up.”
I walked into the room that felt even smaller than usual. Memories of the last time we’d been in this space flooded my mind. Apparently, I had a penchant for losing it around Hayes, but I had to admit that he handled it well. I wouldn’t have thought the man who’d been so callous at our first meeting could be so kind and caring.
I slid the box onto the table. “Want a soda or a water? We might have iced tea, too.”
“I’ll take a Coke if you’ve got one.” Hayes moved to the cabinets, pulling out plates and napkins.
“That we have.” I pulled two from the fridge and settled back at the table, sliding one across to Hayes.
We were quiet for a moment as we pulled slices out of our respective boxes. He glanced at mine. “So, you don’t like pepperoni?”
“I don’t eat meat.”
“At all?”
I barked out a laugh. “You sound like I just told you that Santa isn’t real.”
Hayes gave a mock gasp, his hand flying to his chest. “He’s not?”
“I’m just breaking hearts all over the place.”
“It really is cruel. I don’t know how you live without cheeseburgers.”
I shrugged. “I don’t begrudge anyone their cheeseburgers, but the longer I worked with animals, the harder it was to eat them.” Hayes’ expression soured. “Sorry.”
“No, I get it. I think growing up on a cattle ranch gave me a different outlook. Mom and Dad have always been sticklers for ethical ranching. No crazy hormones to beef up the stock. Ending life as humanely as possible.”
“That’s good. Most large-scale operations aren’t that way. I just…my heart can’t handle it, I guess.”
The gentle smile that Hayes gave me, hit somewhere in the vicinity of my chest. I dropped my gaze, but he didn’t look away. “You guard that sensitive heart pretty well.”
Heat rose to my cheeks. “Some people take it as a weakness.”
“I don’t. I think letting things affect you deeply means you’re stronger than the rest of the world.”
I broke off a piece of crust and tore it into little pieces. I needed a subject change, something that wouldn’t feel as if Hayes was peering inside my mind and soul and seeing all the things I hid away. “How’d you end up with Koda?”
“He was a K-9 dropout, and I fell in love.”
“Really?”