How to Love a Dog's Best Friend : Must Love Dogs

by Cami Checketts

Colt drew in a quick breath. “Don’t do that. I’ve been doing so good these past couple of hours. We’ve got to keep the focus on our emotional connection, or whatever some marriage therapist would call it, or we’ll both be in trouble.”

  “True. Maybe I’ll have to chant that over and over: ‘Emotional connection, emotional connection.’”

  Colt chuckled. “When I hear you chanting, I’ll back away.”

  They walked to their suite, saying good night to new friends along the way. As soon as they got inside, Colt turned to her. “I promise to be a saint tonight, so give me a kiss at the doorstep and then it’s hands off.”

  Brikelle laughed and bit at her lip. “What if I don’t want to kiss you goodnight?”

  “Oh.” Colt’s shoulders lowered. “I guess I’ll just have to exercise my Superman self-control and let you walk away.”

  She stepped closer to him and touched the soft scruff on his face. “You don’t have to be a saint, Colt.”

  “Oh, thank you.” He groaned as he ran his hands over her bare shoulders and around to her upper back. “Your skin is like silk,” he muttered.

  Brikelle trembled under his touch. She cupped his cheek in her hand and rose onto tiptoes, kissing him softly. “Your lips are like heaven.”

  He smiled against her lips, then pulled her tight against him, kissing her with a stored-up passion that stole her breath completely. Brikelle couldn’t think of anything but this man. The kiss became ragged as they both were panting for air. Colt backed her up into the doorframe and trailed his lips down her neck.

  Brikelle could’ve died from how good it felt, but she knew they couldn’t be like this, not in here. She gently grasped his face and pulled him back up until he was looking in her eyes. “Colt,” she whispered. “Stop.”

  He nodded obediently like a whipped puppy. Brikelle just stood there, giving him the time he needed. Finally, he straightened up his shoulders and nodded more surely. “Thank you.”

  She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then slipped from his arms and hurried to the bathroom. Changing out of her dress, she put on a T-shirt and yoga pants, washed off her makeup, brushed her teeth, and pulled her hair into a ponytail. That should cool his ardor a little bit.

  When she exited the bathroom, he was lying on the carpet with one of the pillows under his head.

  “You can’t sleep like that,” she exclaimed.

  “How else do you expect me to sleep?” He cocked one eyebrow at her, and Brikelle knew they were one match strike away from a combustible flame.

  She pulled the fancy, fluffy comforter off the bed, folded it triple, and laid it on the carpet next to the bed. He propped up onto one elbow and watched her.

  “You do realize the yoga pants and fitted T-shirt are every bit as sexy as the fancy dresses?”

  Brikelle pushed out a breath and rolled her eyes. “You’d think I was sexy in a burlap sack.”

  “Yes, I would.”

  Ignoring the husky tone in his voice, she walked up closer to him and yanked the pillow out from under his elbow.

  “Hey!” he protested as he caught himself.

  Brikelle laughed and set the pillow on top of the makeshift bed; then she hurried to the closet and grabbed the extra blanket and pillow that were stacked up high.

  Colt’s breath tickled her neck. “You thought of everything for the guests, didn’t you?”

  Pushing around him, she set the blanket and pillow on his stack, then turned at the sound of his approach. The look in his eyes was like a tiger stalking a rabbit. “You said just the kiss at the doorstep,” Brikelle squeaked out through a suddenly constricted throat. She wanted him as much as he wanted her, but not tonight, not like this.

  Colt stopped and shook his head. “You’re right. Could you smack me across the face and tell me you hate my dog or something?”

  Brikelle laughed at that. She scurried to the bed and climbed under the covers, saying a quick prayer. She didn’t dare get back out of bed and tempt Colt anymore. He walked to the light switches by the door and turned off the light. The tension in the room amplified, if that was even possible. Brikelle listened carefully to his movements. He hadn’t moved from the door, as if he wasn’t sure where he was going to end up tonight. They had to find a way to control this. She had been raised that the trust and love in marriage would be a hundredfold if she could save herself for her husband.

  She could hear his soft breaths and footsteps; then he settled down on the floor next to her bed. She cussed herself. Why hadn’t she set up his makeshift bed across the room by the bathroom entrance?

  Their breathing was the only sound for a few long minutes. Brikelle wondered how she was ever going to fall asleep when all she wanted to do was slip off the bed and into his arms. Then she started imagining doing just that, and she had to grit her teeth, say another prayer, and chant “emotional connection” in her head.

  “Bri?” His hoarse whisper cut through the charged air.

  “Yes?”

  “Can I just hold your hand?”

  Brikelle smiled. Dang, he was a nice guy. She rolled onto her side, facing him, and lowered her hand over the side of the bed. He grasped her fingers.

  “Thank you,” he said. “Sometimes I get scared.”

  “You?” It was hard to imagine someone as strong and confident as Colt ever being scared. “Of what?” She liked lying here in the intimate dark, holding hands and talking.

  “Of losing you.”

  That hit her hard. They weren’t even a couple, not really, but he didn’t want to lose her. “Like you lost Cally?” she asked before she could stop herself.

  “Yeah. That was a hard time. Have you ever had your heart broken?”

  Brikelle shook her head, then realized he couldn’t see. “I’ve never really dated anybody seriously. Always too busy with school and work, you know?”

  “I know how that goes. I’m glad we could relax and play today.”

  “It’s been a great day.”

  “It has,” he agreed. “It’d be even better if I could give you one more kiss.”

  “Colt,” she warned, heat rushing through her body.

  He laughed. “I’m just teasing you … mostly.”

  “Well, stop, I don’t take teasing well.”

  “Yes, you do. Unless there’s a beastly dog involved.”

  She smiled. It was interesting how much she’d relaxed about Ike since Colt had learned her story and become so understanding. “Sorry for calling your dog names.”

  “It’s okay. I’m sorry for calling you bad names.”

  “You didn’t call me bad names.”

  “Oh, did I keep all those in my head?”

  She yanked her hand free, grabbed one of the extra pillows, and threw it at his face.

  He grunted in surprise, then laughed. “I’d come up there and have a pillow fight, but I know you’d say ‘Colt’ in that warning voice that’s still way too sexy, and I don’t think I can handle it.”

  “Good. Then go to bed.”

  “Goodnight, my wife.” The teasing lilt in his tone helped a little bit.

  “Goodnight, my sarcastic fake husband.”

  He chuckled.

  She rolled over onto her other side, closed her eyes tight, and prayed that she could sleep and not dream about him.

  Chapter Ten

  Colt woke to the sun streaming through the cracks in the wood shutters. He kept his eyes shut, surprised he’d made it through the night. Relief hit him so strongly, he had to say a prayer of gratitude. He didn’t know he could do it with Brikelle so close, smelling like delectable peaches and cream, and the tension in the air that had been palpable. The woman was just too attractive to him, but he appreciated her reminder that they were more than the physical. If he wanted a lasting relationship with her, it definitely needed to be more than the physical.

  He peeled open gritty eyes. He hadn’t slept much, but he had finally fallen asleep sometime early this morning. He sat up. The bed was straigh
tened and he could hear the shower running. He forced his thoughts away from that. Folding the extra blanket, he returned it and the pillow to the closet and then placed the other pillow and fancy comforter back on the bed, trying to make all the decorative pillows look good, but that was definitely Brikelle’s arena, not his.

  The shower mercifully shut off, and he waited and waited for the door to open. When it finally did, he muttered, “Oh, mercy.” Brikelle was wearing the flowered shorts he’d bought her that showed off her fit legs and a white, blousy shirt that was off the shoulder. Dangit, he liked her creamy shoulders.

  “Good morning, sunshine.”

  “Is it?” he muttered.

  She grinned at him, and his resolve weakened yet again. He wanted to grab her and kiss her until they both forgot they’d promised to stay within certain parameters physically.

  “You want to shower?”

  “I’d better.” He grabbed some clean clothes and toiletries from his bag and hurried past her to the shower. Within minutes he was washed and ready to go, but he was still slightly ticked off at himself. Brikelle was innocent and probably had no clue how strongly he was reacting to her. He’d never been like this with a woman. It wasn’t Brikelle’s fault, but it was killing him. He couldn’t make it through another night. It really wasn’t humanly possible. He’d have to tell Emma today that they weren’t married and just live with the consequences. Hopefully Brikelle would still get all the work she’d been offered, even if he didn’t.

  He opened the bathroom door to find her sitting on the edge of the bed, tapping on her phone with her legs crossed and a slight smile on her face. It was all Colt could do to not tackle her.

  She glanced up and smiled more broadly. “You look great.”

  “Thanks,” he grunted. He couldn’t return the compliment without revealing how stirred up he was. He’d never been obsessive like this about a woman before, not even Cally. While he remembered finding Cally attractive and enjoyed kissing her, it hadn’t been this strong.

  “What do you want to do today?” she asked, all chipper and sunshiny.

  “Just make it through,” he ground out.

  “Wow, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

  His head whipped up and he pinned her with a stare. “You have no idea.” It was like this awful reversal of how she was so scared of Ike and how he hadn’t understood those feelings. He was fighting to stay in control and there was no way she could understand how he really felt about her. But none of this was her fault; it was all on him.

  “What is going on?” Her cute little mouth drew down in a frown. “I feel like I’ve done something wrong.” She stood up, and with her heels on she was only a few inches shorter than him.

  Colt crossed the room and stopped a foot away from her. “No. You are doing everything right, and it is killing me. Your cute little smiles, your cute little legs. You’re so fun to be around and you’re a sweetheart, but hilarious too. I’m crazy about you, Bri, but there is no blasted way I’m going to be able to make it through another day without ruining the purity you’ve kept for the past twenty-two years.”

  Brikelle’s eyes were wide and she tried to back away, but she was stuck between him and the bed.

  He heaved a weary sigh. “I’m sorry, Bri. I’ll tell Emma today that we aren’t married and we’ll figure all of this out. I can’t do this anymore.”

  She nodded jerkily, still staring at him like she didn’t have a clue who he was. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was affecting you this strongly.”

  “Whereas it’s not affecting you at all.” That made him even madder at himself. She was able to stay in control. Why couldn’t he? He backed away from her a few steps. He was dying over her and she’d slept great and was all chipper and ready to have another fun day playing lame lawn games and lying by the pool getting tan.

  “I didn’t say that. It’s just not … all-encompassing.”

  He forced a smile. They had to get out of this room now before he explained too much and scared her away forever. He loved her innocence and could not let himself push her. He strode to the door and swung it open. “You ready for breakfast?”

  “Sure.” She walked past him and out into the hallway. They made their way down to breakfast, not saying a word to each other.

  Was he going to lose her? After they got through this mess, he’d date her properly and they’d figure out this intense attraction that really was more than physical, but overshadowed everything in this charged environment. He couldn’t lose her like he lost Cally. It would destroy him.

  Brikelle hated the change in Colt and between the two of them. She could feel him withdrawing from her. Though he was still kind and gentlemanly with her during breakfast, he was being stiff and not himself at all.

  She was inexperienced, and like she’d told Colt, she’d never even had a serious boyfriend, but she knew he was special and these feelings between them were unreal. If she was honest, she’d fallen in love with the dog-lover, and though it terrified her to fall so quickly, him being distant and polite was scaring her more than how intense and passionate he’d been last night. Last night she could reach him. Today he was shutting her out.

  After breakfast Emma had an entire spa set up in different rooms in the basement of the house. Brikelle was worried about Colt, and the therapies were exactly what she needed to cut the stress. They stayed side by side but didn’t say a lot to each other as they got facials, pedicures, and massages. The entire house smelled like lavender essential oil and Brikelle felt like she was on a tropical vacation. She tried to tease Colt about being in touch with his manhood to be able to get a pedicure.

  He gave her a pained smile. “Too much manhood when you’re around,” he whispered so only she could hear. Brikelle blushed, but was glad he could joke a little bit with her about how strained things were becoming.

  By the time lunch came, the fabulous spa treatments weren’t even able to counteract the tension between them. How were they going to make it through this weekend? Would Colt decide he couldn’t handle it and tell Emma everything? At this point, Brikelle almost wished he would.

  She changed out of the robe and back into her clothes in one of the basement bathrooms. Colt was waiting for her to walk up to lunch, his grim smile in place. She hated that he just wanted to get through this day like it was a broken arm that simply needed to heal. They weren’t going to heal if he didn’t talk to her.

  Delicious smells of Chinese food wafted from the dining room. As they reached the table, Brikelle noticed Joshua was here with a beautiful blonde. The woman was classy in a business suit with glossy blonde hair and perfectly constructed makeup on her almost sharp facial features.

  “Hi, Joshua,” Brikelle called out to him.

  He smiled at her, but it looked as forced as Colt’s had been all day. Colt had gone still at her side, clinging to her hand like she was the only thing keeping him from plunging off a cliff.

  She glanced at him curiously. His gaze was fixated on Joshua’s companion. “Colt?” Brikelle whispered.

  He either didn’t hear her, or didn’t care, as he kept staring at the blonde.

  The lady gasped and stood quickly. “Colt!” She hurried around the table and threw herself against him. Colt stuttered a step, still clinging to Brikelle’s hand and not returning the embrace.

  The woman pulled back and glanced at Brikelle. She quickly dismissed her with her eyes and focused back on Colt.

  “What are you doing here, Cally?” he asked as if in a daze.

  Cally? It couldn’t be. Brikelle concentrated on the woman. She was beautiful with styled blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and model-perfect features, but she looked hardened. Like she’d been through a lot in her life and it hadn’t made her happy.

  Joshua moved to her side. “She’s with me.”

  “Joshua has hired me to be his designer full time. Do all of Emma’s work and whatever else he needs. I couldn’t get here before now or I would’ve decorated this
house.”

  Brikelle’s stomach dropped. She looked to Joshua. “Really?” They didn’t have a written contract, but he’d claimed Brikelle would get those contracts. He was throwing it away so he could date Colt’s ex-girlfriend? What a slimeball.

  Joshua gave her a miserable look. “There’s enough work to go around,” he muttered.

  “Excuse me?” Cally pinned him with a cold look. “I told you I would only relocate if I got every exclusive I wanted.”

  Colt clung tighter to her hand and stood taller. “Brikelle is Emma’s designer, Cally. I don’t think she’s looking for anyone else.”

  “Who is Brikelle?” she sneered.

  “Me.” Brikelle tilted her chin up and narrowed her eyes at the women.

  “And you are?” Cally looked down her nose at her.

  “She’s Colt’s wife,” Emma said. Brikelle hadn’t even heard the older lady approaching, but she was suddenly by Brikelle’s side. She squeezed Brikelle’s arm.

  “His wife?” Cally’s eyebrows drew together and she teetered.

  Joshua steadied her with his hand.

  The entire room was silent for a few seconds. Brikelle hadn’t even noticed anyone else at the table, but now she realized that quite a few of them were there and they were all watching.

  “How could you?” Cally’s face paled. She glared at Colt like he’d slashed her car tires. “How could you?” Her voice barely carried to Brikelle and she almost felt herself feeling bad for the woman, but thinking of how she’d hurt Colt doused any compassion quickly.

  Colt didn’t react, just stared at her.

  “I came back to this Podunk valley for you. I gave up an amazing career for you.” Her voice gradually rose. “And you marry the first hussie to come across your path?”

  Brikelle wanted to yell at her that she’d ditched Colt five years ago and had no right to him at all. She didn’t even care about being called a hussie because she didn’t have much respect for this woman.

  “Cally,” Colt said sternly. “Stop.”

  “I will not stop! You told me you loved me and would always wait for me.” Tears were streaming down her beautiful face.