The adorable five-year-old wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding how many treats he was giving to Kali under the kitchen table.
He turned to look at her with dark, amber-flecked eyes so similar to his father’s, his expression intent. “I don’t want her to leave me alone.”
The kid was always so dang serious. “Well, I think she’ll play with you whether you give her treats or not. She’s always so excited to see you at the shop. And she’s not like that with everyone.”
Kali thumped her tail against the kitchen floor and actually nodded, as if to reiterate Tegan’s point. She swore that dog was half human some days. Most days.
Dillon grinned widely. “Really?”
“Really.”
Kali jumped up onto Dillon’s seat, placing one paw on his leg and one on the chair. She kissed Dillon’s face, making the boy giggle and wrap his arms around her neck. “Do you think I could have ice cream?” he asked, his voice muffled against Kali’s neck.
The sweet husky was soaking up the attention as usual.
Tegan pushed her chair back and was glad she didn’t feel nauseous. The doctor had said it might be a possibility but other than a low-grade headache she actually felt okay. “Sure. What kind do you guys have?”
“Vanilla and chocolate swirl is my favorite.”
“No ice cream until after dinner.” Aaron’s deep, sexy voice was only mildly exasperated as he stepped into the kitchen. He’d long since ditched his jacket and was wearing dark slacks and a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows—showing off all sorts of sinewy, hard muscles. The man was way too sexy.
“Come on, Dad! Tegan said it was okay.”
His eyebrows arched. “Only because she doesn’t know the rules.”
Tegan inwardly winced, realizing she’d made a mistake. Of course a kid couldn’t just have ice cream in the middle of the afternoon. Or she guessed they couldn’t. He’d need vegetables and stuff like that. Yeah, she wasn’t ready to be a mom anytime soon. Another reminder that Aaron wasn’t the guy for her, because he and Dillon were a package deal, no doubt about it. And she didn’t know the first thing about kids. Other than they were a little terrifying.
“Sorry,” she murmured.
Aaron shrugged, clearly not annoyed if the sexy half smile on his face was any indication. “He still tries it with his uncle Callan and anyone he thinks will give him what he wants.”
“Nana always gives me…” Dillon’s dark eyes widened. “Hey, can we get a dog, Dad?”
Smooth topic change, Tegan thought, fighting a smile.
“We’ll talk about it,” Aaron said to him before looking back at Tegan. “Callan’s going to hang out at Kimmy’s shop the next couple days and keep an eye on the place.”
“Thank God.” Tegan had been worried about that. Just because she wouldn’t be at the shop didn’t mean that someone looking for her wouldn’t come by ready to finish what they’d started. “Maybe Callan will finally work up the courage to ask her out.”
Aaron’s mouth lifted into another one of those devastating half smiles. It was like he’d been holding onto all this sexiness for eight months and was now letting her see a softer side to him. It was irresistible. Almost. Because she had to resist the man. “God, I hope so. Put us all out of our misery.”
She laughed. Callan and Kimmy pretty much danced around their attraction to each other to the point of being ridiculous. Kimmy was a widow and a single mom, so Tegan could understand her hesitance in being in a relationship, but it was pretty clear Callan would do anything for her. She couldn’t understand why he was so gun shy.
“Look, my mom will be here soon. We’ll talk when we’re alone.” Talking about any of this in front of Dillon wasn’t a good idea. She wondered if Aaron knew more from the detective.
After leaving the hospital she’d had a police escort to her place where she’d packed up a bag of clothes, her laptop, and then Kali from her neighbor’s house. From there she’d thought she’d have another police escort but instead someone from the company Aaron worked for—Red Stone Security—had picked her up with Aaron already inside. They’d driven to Red Stone, changed vehicles, then their driver had driven them around for over an hour before stopping at Aaron’s place even though he didn’t live very far from her. Their driver had assured her that no one had tried to follow them. She felt a lot better being here with all the precautions they’d taken.
At the sound of a doorbell chime Kali let out a short yip and raced out of the room, her nails clicking against the tile. Dillon wasn’t far behind her.