Willow rushed forward, grabbing Harley’s collar, and yanked the dog away from me. “Sorry, Adrik. You know Harley gets excited sometimes. I think you’re his favorite person. He always gravitates right to you.”
My face hot with embarrassment, I bowed my head. “It’s okay.”
Keeping a firm hold on the dog, Willow sent me a smile. “I truly am sorry. I think he just missed you.”
I refrained from mentioning how much Ididn’tmiss Harley, or any other dog.
Annika’s stare bore into me from my left, but I refused to look at her. I didn’t want to see her pity. And I didn’t want to answer the questions I knew she was dying to ask.
She was the only person in this room who didn’t know what had happened to me, though Tim was the only one in the world who knew I was deathly afraid of dogs. If the Popovs knew of my phobia, they’d probably fire me. Most of the time, I had it under control and I usually managed to hide it well. But every once in a while, if I was caught off guard like I’d just been, it could trigger me.
Sacha stepped forward to shake Tim’s hand, then mine. “That was…interesting. Never seen you get spooked before, Adrik. Harley can be a bit much sometimes. Sorry about that.”
I forced myself to hold his gaze. “It’s fine.”
We all moved into the living room.
Sacha asked us how things were going. I let Tim answer, as I was still shaking from Harley’s unexpected “attack.”
Willow was now talking to Annika, and Harley plopped his butt on the floor, whining as he eyed me eagerly and wagged his tail, obviously wanting more attention.
Trying to keep my cool—even though it was too late, and I’d nearly lost it in front of everyone—I forced myself to confront my fears. Cautiously, I moved away from the wall and stepped toward Harley. I held my hand out to him, trying not to cringe, and prayed he didn’t change his mind and decide to bite me.
Harley licked my hand—slurp, slurp—then bounced in the air, aiming for my face. I jerked away reflexively, stumbling back several steps, and rammed into the couch. Losing my footing, I tumbled backward onto the cushions. I tried to scramble to my feet, but Harley was on top of me in seconds—all sixty-five pounds of him—planting his paws on either side of my head and licking my face again.
I jerked my face away, panic closing in.
My skin grew clammy.
My heart thundered.
This time, I couldn’t stop the trigger, and my brain only registered large, snarling fangs and fierce pain…
Thrust back in time, I whimpered, fear squeezing me in its grip.
The growls.
The terror.
The helplessness.
The screams.
The unbearable pain…
Lifting my arm, I tried to protect my face from the ferocious beast...
I must have blacked out for a second because the next thing I knew, I was falling off the couch and shoving the dog away as terrified sobs emerged from my lips.
“Get him off! Get him off!”
Slowly, I came back to the present as all conversation died around me. My vision cleared, the weight of everyone’s stares sinking into me.
You’re alive. It’s just Harley. He was licking you, not biting. Get a grip, man.
I sucked in a breath.
Oh, fuck.I’d just lost it in front of everyone. I had no doubt they would fire me now. They had to be wondering what kind of bodyguard I would be if I panicked every time a dog ran up to me. Sacha had to think I would be useless to Annika with this phobia. He was probably wondering how the fuck I’d managed to keep it under wraps all these years. Truthfully, it hadn’t been easy. I used avoidance, mostly. I stayed away from dogs.