“It was,” he said with a nod. “I’ve also patched up a number of cats and dogs over the years, mostly pets that get trapped in house fires. Just to stabilize them until they get to a vet. But the people always appreciate it.”
“Oh, be still my heart,” Makenna said, squeezing his hand. “If I didn’t already…like you, you would’ve totally won me over with your stories about babies and puppies.” She looked out the windshield to the sunny blue sky beyond and hoped he didn’t hear the way she’d tripped over her words. She’d nearly said she loved him. Because the feeling was always in the forefront of her mind these days.
He threw her a wicked grin. “How do you think Bear picks up so many different girls?” Isaac Barrett was a firefighter at Caden’s station, and he was maybe the biggest player she’d ever met. But he was an also sweet and funny and loyal and would give a person the shirt off his back, and Makenna really liked him.
“Ah, so that explains it,” she said.
“Pretty much.” He lifted their joined hands to his mouth and pressed a kiss against her knuckles.
Heat lanced through Makenna’s chest and her blood in equal measure.
Still holding hands, they settled into a comfortable silence. Makenna’s gaze traced over what she could see of Caden’s dragon tattoo, the one he’d gotten to remind himself not to let fear rule his life. She really admired the meaning behind many of his pieces, so much so that she’d been thinking of getting a tattoo herself. A lot. The idea whipped butterflies through her belly. She’d always been such a good-girl rule-follower that she’d never considered it seriously before meeting Caden. But, inspired by how he’d commemorated those he’d loved and lost on his skin, Makenna had been mulling over a few designs over the past couple of weeks.
I want to do this. The thought came firm and sure, and she felt the rightness of it down deep. “So, guess what I’ve been thinking about lately?”
“What’s that?” he asked, his pierced eyebrow arching as he peered over at her.
It made her want to flick at his little black barbell piercing with her tongue. Her stomach flip-flopped as she gave voice to the idea. “Getting a tattoo.”
Caden’s gaze whipped toward her, his eyebrows cranked down over dark eyes. “For real?”
She grinned and bit her lip. “Yeah. I love yours and the more I think about it, the more I want to do it.”
“What kind do you want?” he asked, his gaze dragging over her so hotly it almost felt like a physical caress.
“I’ve been thinking about a Celtic family tree. The one I like best is shaped like a circle and the tree and ground are made of Celtic knots. Some designs of it place initials below the ground or weave them into the branches, and that’s really cool, too. Here,” she said, dragging her finger against the screen of her smartphone. She opened an image she’d saved in her pictures and held it up so Caden could see. “This is one version of it.”
His eyes flickered back and forth between her phone and the road ahead. “I like that,” he said in a reserved tone. “A lot. How sure are you that you want to do this?”
“Pretty sure,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. It was just a matter of what to get. I wanted it to mean something, like yours do. So I thought about what means the most to me in the world, and it’s family. Once I figured that out and found these designs, I was finally sure. But will you come with me if I get it done?”
He threw a blazing glance at her. “If you want to do this, I’d like to take you to my guy. He’s the best there is. And of course I’ll be there. In a heartbeat, Red.”
She grinned and nodded. His presence would help steady her nerves. “Good,” she said. “Maybe next week?”
“You just say the word,” he said. “And I’ll make it happen.”
Makenna unbuckled her seat belt, stretched across the center console, and lingeringly kissed Caden’s cheek, jaw, neck, letting her tongue sneak out to taste him while she was at it. He smelled good, like soap and mint and something spicy that was pure Caden.
He groaned and leaned into her touch. “Fuck, Makenna,” he whispered. “I don’t want you to stop but I really want you to put your seat belt back on.”
She gave his ear lobe a final lick and settled back on her own side. “Sorry,” she said as the buckle clicked. “I was just feeling really grateful.”
He gave a little chuckle. “Well, I’ll definitely take a raincheck on that. Besides, you can’t put pictures in my head of you getting inked and then kiss on me like that while I’m driving.”
“Why not?” she asked, biting on her lip to try to restrain the smile that threatened. And holy crap if the tone of his voice didn’t make her wish he wasn’t driving. Because she could think of some other very good uses for his hands….
The look he threw her—all blatant desire and frustration—shot heat over her skin. “Because it drives me crazy. And I can’t do anything about it.” He shifted his hips in the seat, drawing Makenna’s gaze downward to the bulge forming in the front of his dress pants.