David only gave her his smile, the one that had never failed to tempt a return smile from her over the last week. “I can stay out here. Atlas can keep watch inside.”
“No!” Her response was immediate and maybe a little horrified. “Please don’t stay out there. Come inside.”
The last ended on a whisper. Even if it was him, someone outside would freak her out even more.
“Okay.” He stepped inside slowly and shut the door behind him.
Immediately, the imaginary vice around her lungs eased. She rubbed Atlas’s head absently, taking comfort from his weight as he leaned against her leg. Her embarrassment was evolving rapidly into something else and her cheeks burned with shame.
“Hey.” David’s voice was quiet, coaxing. “You don’t need to be embarrassed. And this is all about what will make you comfortable. You’re safe with us and everyone here would go the extra mile to see to it that you feel that way. Nothing you say or do is wrong.”
She laughed then, but even to her ears she sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Maybe this was what hysteria felt like. This unhinged, out-of-control feeling. Like she could lose it at any minute. “I’d really like to forget what made me come out in the first place and what made me lose my mind when I came back in here.”
“Would you feel better staying someplace else?” Another completely rational, patient question.
He was a good guy.
She shook her head. “Honestly?”
“Honestly.”
She lifted her gaze to his face, taking in the solid lines of his jaw and his serious countenance. His expressive eyes and those lips that’d completely scattered every rational thought from her mind not too long ago. “I’d like to go back to how I felt when you kissed me, because that’s the best I’ve got in my short-term memory currently and it was way better than any kiss I remember ever.”
Too much information. Definitely. And embarrassment was taking on whole new levels.
David’s eyebrows rose during her comment and the bastard started to look smug. “There’s a high bar set there. I’m going to need to try to outdo myself now.”
She opened her mouth to yell at him. What she’d say, she wasn’t sure, but she’d come up with something witty on the fly because he was going to be impossible to work with if she let—
He closed the distance between them and bent to capture her mouth. She hadn’t dodged. Her mind had been too preoccupied with generating witty commentary. Which was a lost cause because his lips burned into hers until she gasped and he deepened the kiss until she was drowning. His tongue teased and coaxed her until she responded in kind.
“Foei.”
She was breathless and off balance, leaning into David and blinking to clear her vision. David had an arm around her and the other out, holding Atlas at arm’s length. The big dog had tried to jump on David again but this time David had caught him and held him back, balanced on his hind legs.
“Foei,” David repeated. “That’ll be enough of that.”
There was a long pause as man and dog stared each other down. Atlas finally settled back on all fours, then sat. Lyn had never been caught in the middle of a pissing match between men before, but somehow she imagined it’d be something like this. Probably.
“He’ll be all right sleeping out here,” she whispered. Maybe she was being disloyal to Atlas. All things considered, she’d make it up to him tomorrow with extra-long walks and a whole lot of belly scratches.
Tomorrow.
David nuzzled just behind her ear and caught her earlobe between his teeth in a gentle nibble. Then he brushed his lips over her ear. “Both of us can make do out here while you get some rest.”
“What?” She jerked her head back, almost catching his chin as she did.
He kept hold of her and brushed her cheek with his thumb. “You’ve got a lot going on inside your head right now and you are the definition of vulnerable. I’d be a complete ass to take advantage of you.”
Please. Take advantage.
“I want to re-establish your sense of safety first.” He just had to sound incredibly reasonable. “And then, take you out on a real date.”
“A date.” She repeated the words slowly, rolling the idea over and over in her head. Now that he mentioned it, she’d hated saying no the first time he’d asked. Still, he was being incredibly stubborn at the moment and part of her didn’t enjoy the way he was holding out. Mixed messages.
“I figure I should at least buy you dinner before I try taking advantage of you.” He winked, and there was enough heat in his voice to make it clear he was interested.
Her resistance evaporated. “You are incorrigible.”
He screwed up his face in mock dismay. “Sorry. Can you use a smaller word?”
“Impossible.” She balled her hand into a fist and thumped him on the chest.
“That’s only one syllable shorter.”
“Bad!” She thumped him again. “You are a bad, bad man.”
He laughed and snuck a kiss, which she gave him. And she nipped his lower lip for good measure. “I plan to be.”