“Jesus, this dog is going to be the death of me. I think he just likes to give me heart failure,” Truitt mumbled as he held onto his side from the mad dash to try and stop his dog.
I lifted my eyes and my breath caught in my throat. Truitt was looking down at me with a smile on this face. It was in that moment that I knew exactly what I wanted.
Him.
Desperately.
Truitt
SARYN WAS GAZING up at me with a look in her eyes that made my heart speed up and my cock twitch in my pants.
Shit.
“You keep looking at me like that, Saryn, and things are going to happen very quickly that will go against the slow rule we put into place.”
Her teeth dug into her bottom lip, and her cheeks turned a soft shade of red.
“He’s beautiful, Truitt. How old is he?”
“Still a pup, six months old. He’s really good around kids, though, and I know he’ll love Liliana.”
“I’m sure she’ll fall for him the moment she sees him. Let’s head inside.”
I paused for a moment. “He can stay out here.”
Saryn looked shocked. “What? No! He’s coming in. Come on, let’s introduce him to Liliana.”
When she turned and walked into the house, I couldn’t help but take a quick look at her body. Damn. The woman was perfect in every single way. Those curves had a starring role in my dreams last night after sharing a few kisses with her.
She glanced back over her shoulder just in time to see me checking her out like an asshole. I smiled sheepishly.
When she winked at me, I nearly tripped.
“Liliana! I have someone for you to meet!” Saryn called out as I put the leash on Rus in an attempt to keep him under control.
We walked down a small hall and turned into the living room to find Liliana sitting on a white overstuffed cushion on the floor. Her eyes were focused on the TV.
“I see she’s been a casualty of the Frozen movement.”
Saryn turned to look at me. “You’ve seen Frozen.”
I gave her my best wounded look for the second time in the last five minutes. “Excuse me, but Roger and I went and saw it the first day it came out.”
Her jaw fell open slightly as she stared at me. Before she could say anything, I heard a little gasp, and then a scream of delight.
Liliana came running over and dropped to her knees in front of Rus. I was stunned by how well-behaved my dog was being. He’d been around little kids before, but I knew he could feel Liliana’s excitement and he was nearly trembling with his own.
“She loves dogs,” Saryn said as she knelt down next to Liliana. “Be nice to Rus, he’s still a puppy.”
Liliana looked up at her mother and smiled. “Wus? His name is Wus?”
I couldn’t help but smile as I looked down at Liliana. Her face was lit up like Christmas morning.
The moment I leaned down and Liliana saw me, she gasped again and smiled the most brilliant smile I’d ever seen. My chest squeezed tight and I didn’t want to admit that I loved the way she looked at me with such happiness.
“Twuitt!” She jumped up and ran over to me. When she threw her arms around me, there went another piece of my heart.
Saryn was watching with her own grin on her face, but I also saw a look of concern in her eyes. It had to be hard for her to watch her daughter grow so attached to me and so quickly. A man who wasn’t her father. A man who sure as hell hoped he would be a part of their lives. I wasn’t a hundred-percent sure what Saryn wanted, but I hoped we were on the same page.
When Liliana abandoned me for my dog again, I said, “You can give him a hug, just be gentle.”
Little brown curls bounced as Liliana nodded and then very carefully gave Rus a hug. He thumped his tail in delight. Then Liliana reached for his leash in my hand. I gave it to her and watched as the two of them walked away and into the living room. Rus stayed on his best behavior as he walked next to his new best friend.
“Why do I feel like I just lost my best friend?” I asked with a slight frown.
Saryn chuckled next to me and asked, “Is that the same dog that just nearly plowed me down outside?”
“I think so.”
“Truitt, that is the sweetest thing I think I’ve ever seen. He’s such a good boy.”
I smiled. “He’s on his best behavior this evening.”
We both looked at each other and grinned. “Is his daddy also on his best behavior?” Saryn asked, a slight bit of flirtation in her voice.
“He’s sure as heck trying to be, but someone is making it sort of hard.”