Paws for Love

by Mara Wells

  “Got it!” Danielle’s laugh made the hour drive to Homestead worth it. “The girls are not going to believe it.”

  “I’m pretty sure anyone will believe goats are greedy little bastards.” He set the bottle on the top rail of the fence and brushed his hands on the sides of jeans.

  “Knox Donovan, friend to baby goats everywhere.” She waded through her sea of admirers, her own bottle empty, too. She showed him her phone, swiping through a burst of photos of him feeding the white-eared goat. “I will definitely be earning my coffee tomorrow morning.”

  “What do you mean?” He stared at the photos, surprised at how relaxed he looked, like he bottle-fed baby goats every day. The beast really was disgustingly cute with those big eyes and floppy ears.

  “Riley brings coffee to Fur Haven in the mornings. Sydney and Carrie usually bring food. Eliza brings the snark, as Riley says.” Danielle favorited a few of the photos, then pocketed her phone. “My contribution is usually puppy pictures, but they will love these. You don’t mind, do you?”

  Mind how happy she looked right now? “Not at all.”

  Danielle laid a hand on his bicep, covering his Semper Fi tattoo. “This was fun.”

  “Was? You’re not having fun anymore?” He smiled down at her, her big eyes and smattering of freckles making her even cuter than a baby goat. It wasn’t the most romantic thought, but he thought she’d appreciate it. He didn’t try his luck, though.

  She pointed to the empty bottles on the fence rail. “No food, no more love, I’m afraid.”

  “I’m not so sure about that.” His nostrils flared, the scents around them filling his senses. The grass, the goats, Danielle. He couldn’t say exactly what it was—soap, shampoo, perfume?—but she always smelled a little bit like coconut, like summers on the beach and tourist drinks.

  She licked her lips, and Knox was done for. Her pink tongue, the lushness of her lips. He dipped his head and kissed her, catching her soft gasp in his mouth. Breathing her in.

  Danielle relaxed against him, her hand running up his arm to cup his shoulder. Then the best thing happened. She kissed him back.

  So much for just friends. Knox didn’t have time to feel smug. He tilted his head, slanting his lips against hers. She moaned, leaning against him. He gladly took her weight, wishing there was somewhere they could be less vertical. The barn?

  Before he could figure out the logistics, Danielle slipped away from him.

  “Oomph.” She landed on her hip, sprawled sideways on the ground.

  “What happened?” He offered her a hand, but she didn’t seem to notice. Possibly because she was covered in baby goats. “What’s going on?”

  “Off, you wily creatures. I don’t have another bottle.” Danielle pushed up to sitting, two goats nudging against her chest, another against her back. Two more, the white-eared goat included, watched on. The all-white goat butted its head against her chin, and Danielle’s mouth snapped shut.

  “Ow! You stinker.” Danielle grabbed the goat by the neck and roughed up its hair.

  Knox should do something, but it was taking all his discipline not to laugh out loud. He tried offering his hand again, but Danielle was distracted.

  “What’s this?” She pulled the goat’s face closer to hers. “Poor thing, bit of the pink eye, huh? Well, you shouldn’t be out here with the others, that’s for sure.” Danielle used the goat to lever herself to her feet. “Knox? I need to talk to that lady.”

  “Sure.”

  She may not have needed his assistance to stand, but he offered his hand again anyway. She took it, and the rightness of that gesture, of her hand in his, helped calm the blood still raging through his veins from their kiss.

  Danielle was all business now, and when they reentered the store, she quickly explained about finding pink eye in the white goat and recommended isolating it while it received treatment. She ended her mini lecture with the words, “Pink eye is so contagious.”

  “Not again.” The older woman sighed. “Thought we’d gotten the last of it a few weeks back. Don’t worry. I’ve still got plenty of the medicine.” She lifted herself off the stool behind the counter and walked to the front of the store where she flipped the Open sign to Closed. “I’ll be right back. You can wash up in the back, if you like?”

  “Wash up?” Danielle looked down at her mud-spattered jeans and sneakers, then up at Knox. “Why didn’t you tell me I’m such a mess?”

  “You always look good to me, Dani.” He wiped a smudge off her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

  Danielle flushed, freckles merging, and batted his hand away. “It’s worse than I thought, isn’t it?” She swiped at her face with the edge of her shirt, baring a sliver of belly that made him lose the thread of conversation.

  “Knox?” She followed the direction of his gaze and pulled down her shirt with an embarrassed huff. “We should get going. At least it happened at the end of the date.”

  “End?” Knox shook his head to clear it. That belly. He’d follow it anywhere, including back out to the Range Rover. “This was only Phase One.”

  “I can’t go anywhere like this.” She waved down her body. On closer inspection, it appeared the goat at her back hadn’t so much been butting her as gnawing on her shirt. The hem was ragged. A small hole gave him a glimpse of the smooth skin over her spine. He calculated the number of minutes and seconds it would take to get Danielle alone behind the barn—not many—and then closed his eyes against the images his mind supplied about what they could do when they got there. A tumble at the petting farm was not part of the romantic date he’d planned so carefully. Time to get back on mission.

  “Good thing Phase Two is a change of clothes and checking on the puppies.” Knox pulled open the passenger door and resisted offering her a boost up. Touching Danielle right now would definitely spin him off mission, and she’d made it clear earlier that she was perfectly capable of getting in and out of the truck herself. She was so short that it was a bit of a vault for her, but she managed.

  She clicked her seat belt in place. “I’m afraid to ask, but what’s Phase Three?”

  He leaned into the open door with a grin. “Another surprise?”

  “Please just tell me.” She banged her head against the headrest.

  “Dinner.”

  “Thank God.” She motioned for him to close the door. “I’m hungry as a baby goat.”

  He hopped in the other side and started the engine. “Then how about some cinnamon rolls before we hit the road? There’s a famous place a few miles away, and they won’t care if you’re muddy. I promise.”

  “Cinnamon rolls?” Danielle bounced in the seat. “This just became the best date of my life.”

  “Baby goats and pastries? That’s all it takes?” He steered them back down the rutted path to the main road, his eyes on the road but his mind on all the other ways he’d like to please her.

  “I think,” she said, reaching across the console for his hand, “that it takes the right kind of company. But you really can’t go wrong with sugar, can you?”

  Knox was pretty sure he’d be smiling all the way back to the Beach.

  Chapter 21

  Nothing like stepping down from a Range Rover to make a girl feel more like a munchkin than usual. Danielle hid her embarrassment with a smile and accepted Knox’s proffered hand to make it safely to the ground. She wobbled on the heels she hadn’t worn since Bridget’s wedding last year, and he steadied her with a hand between her shoulder blades. She’d curse Sydney for finding them tucked away at the top of her closet and convincing her to wear them, except it was nice to feel the splay of Knox’s warm hand against her bare skin. The backless dress was also Sydney’s choice, another option Danielle had hesitated over and was now glad she’d embraced.

  Yes, Sydney had really come through when Danielle had sent a panicked text from Homestead asking
what to wear. Right after Knox drove away with the promise to be back in an hour and a half, Sydney had shown up with two outfit choices and her bag of makeup and hair supplies. Danielle knew she looked good, better than she could have done by herself certainly, and all Sydney had wanted for payment was pictures the next morning at coffee. Danielle wondered if she’d have better high-school dance pictures if she’d had Sydney for a friend back then, but Sydney had laughed and said, “Girl, it has taken me years to get this good. But we’re friends now, and I will come running any time you have a grooming emergency.” She’d hugged Danielle goodbye, saying Chewy was waiting for her at home, and spritzed Danielle with an expensive perfume before darting away in her yellow Mini Cooper.

  Now at Eliza’s, or rather Knox’s, house, Danielle wobbled up the walkway, still tipsy from the second glass of wine she’d had with dinner. Lights shone in the flanking homes, but Knox’s windows were dark. A sheer curtain in the front window shifted, and a dark nose plastered itself to the window.

  “I can’t keep that window clean.” Knox kept his hand between her shoulder blades while they walked to the front door. Heat spread from his fingers, radiating along her nerves. The curtain shifted again, and there was the sound of dog nails scrabbling on the tile and a lone, loud “Woof!”

  “Hold on, Sarge!” Knox called through the wood and took his hand off her to find his keys. Her skin felt cold without his touch.

  “There are worse problems to have than a greyhound eager for your return.” Danielle folded her hands in front of her, pressing the palms together to calm her nerves. The end of their date had been lovely—dinner at Volga followed by a short walk on the beach. She’d rinsed her feet before putting her heels back on, but she still felt sand between her toes. They’d held hands. They’d walked out on the South Pointe Park Pier and watched a cruise ship maneuver into the channel. They’d kissed to the sound of a ship’s horn heralding its arrival.

  “Will you come home with me tonight?” Knox had pulled back from the kiss, tucking her long bangs behind her ear.

  She’d blinked up at him before reaching up on her tiptoes to cup his cheeks in her palms. She was tired of pretending, of passively accepting what could and could not be. Tonight, she was going to follow her heart. “Yes.”

  He’d been all hustle then, navigating them back to the parking garage and loading her into the passenger seat with so much haste another woman might’ve found it a little unromantic. But Danielle appreciated the urgency. After fifteen years and their months of careful friendship, a bit of urgency seemed exactly right.

  Now, standing on his front step, the motion sensor illuminating them in a circle of light while Sarge woofed his impatience and Knox fumbled the keys, Danielle was way past urgency and right into nervous. If this went where she thought—hoped—it was going, she was about to get naked with Knox Donovan. N.a.k.e.d. No clothes. No bra. No tummy-toning panel to hide behind.

  She remembered how much she’d loved his body in high school, the dips and curves of his muscles, his strength when he held her against him. The years apart hadn’t dimmed her appreciation for all that taut skin over tight muscle, and if anything, he was more ripped and defined than he’d been at eighteen.

  She was not. In spite of staying active, walking dogs and swimming almost daily, the pounds had crept on. She’d never worried much about it. Who was she even trying to impress? Dogs loved her exactly as she was. Her last relationship had fizzled out in her late twenties, and she’d been content enough with her life. She might occasionally envy tall, thin women who didn’t need to wear bras with their strapless dresses, but for the most part, she felt like her body expressed who she was. An active, healthy woman who enjoyed a good Netflix binge with all the trimmings—air-popped popcorn, melted butter, Twizzlers, and Milk Duds.

  Danielle placed a protective hand over her stomach. Was she really going to be one of those women who worried so much about a few extra pounds that she denied herself the real pleasures in life? She let her gaze swoop from the top of Knox’s blond head down to his canvas shoes. Was she going to deny herself all of that? She might never have gone to college, but she was no dummy. She sucked in her gut and breathed a sigh of relief when Knox got the door open. She was finally going to see the whole tattoo that scrolled up his arm. Where did it end?

  Sarge greeted them by barreling into Knox’s good leg. Knox caught him under the chin. “Calm down, boy. I wasn’t gone that long.”

  Sarge’s eyes argued that it had been an eternity, but a few moments of ear scratching and all was forgiven. Sarge nudged Danielle’s hand with his nose.

  “Hey there, remember me?” She dropped into a crouch to give his neck a good rub. Sarge let out a heavy sigh and rested his chin on her shoulder.

  “Can I get you something? Beer? Uh, coffee?” Knox looked from Danielle to the kitchen like he wasn’t sure what to do.

  “I’m good.” Danielle straightened to her feet. “Still full from dinner.”

  They stood in the entryway, Sarge between them, and suddenly Danielle didn’t know what she was doing there. This was a stupid idea. They’d broken up for a reason, and although it had hurt a lot, she’d eventually come to understand that Knox had done the right thing. What would they have done, married at eighteen? It wouldn’t have worked out, and breaking up later would’ve been that much more painful. Sleeping with Knox tonight would be a big mistake. The biggest. It might give them hope that they could recapture their imagined future together, an impossibility now. She should thank him for the date and get out of here. Her muscles tensed for action.

  Knox grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against him. All thoughts of running flew from her mind as soon as his mouth touched hers. Hesitant at first, like he somehow knew what she’d been thinking, then more sure when she opened her lips and invited him in. She stretched up onto her toes to thread her fingers behind his neck. They made out. There was no other word for it. Right there by the front door like a couple of teenagers. The thought made her giggle, and the giggle broke them apart.

  “What’s so funny?” His words were hot breath against her cheek.

  “This. Us. We’re finally old enough not to have to feel each other up through our clothes, but still we stand in the entryway like my dad’s going to walk in on us any minute.”

  “But your dad’s not here.” He waggled an eyebrow at her. “It’s like all my high-school dreams are coming true at once.” He tugged her toward his bedroom.

  She followed, her hand in his, feeling both eighteen and her full thirty-three years. Knox stopped at the foot of the bed and pointed at the floor.

  Sarge whined and flopped onto a large dog cushion situated under the window.

  “He wants to sleep in the bed, but, big guy, there’s not room for the two of us.” Knox’s voice was firm, but his face was guilty. Danielle loved that about him, that he could feel so much for his dog but still hold the disciplinary line.

  “I hope there’s room for me in this bed.” Danielle toed off her heels and stood barefoot on the tile floor. He really needed more than the one throw rug by the window. The tiles were chilly from the AC.

  “Let’s find out.” Knox grabbed her by the waist, lifting her a few inches, and then planted her in the center of the bed. “See? As I suspected, a perfect fit.”

  Danielle stretched her arms overhead, enjoying how he seemed to appreciate the view of her spread out before him. Then something flashed across his face, a fleeting frown, a crease in his forehead that he smoothed away almost as soon as it appeared.

  But she hadn’t imagined it. Something was wrong. She saw it in his eyes, the blue that dimmed as they looked everywhere around the bed but not directly at her.

  “What is it?” She propped herself up on her elbows. Looking down, she saw how the position pushed her belly together. Not her most flattering angle. She sat all the way up, pulling in her legs so she was cros
s-legged on his bed. Maybe she’d imagined the appreciation in his eyes. Maybe those extra few pounds had just hit him, and he was wondering what he was doing here with her. Her stomach knotted, so she crossed her arms across her belly to soothe it. “Is it me?”

  “No.” Knox’s eyes finally found hers. He let out an impatient huff. “I just can’t—” He palmed the back of his scalp, his olive T-shirt rising to show an inch of skin. “I haven’t yet…you know.” He slapped his braced leg. “After this happened, I—”

  Danielle’s eyebrows tried to rocket off her face. He hadn’t had sex since the injury? It made sense, she supposed, at least at first. He’d been hurt, then in recovery. But he’d been home for over a year, and she hadn’t imagined how women checked him out whenever he walked by.

  “Are you serious?” It probably wasn’t the most sensitive thing to say in this moment, but it was all she had. She rose to her knees and knee-walked to the foot of the bed. “That’s what you’re worried about?”

  “Well, yeah.” His hands dropped to her waist, cupping her hips and pulling her against him.

  She fought his pull, keeping enough distance so she could look into his face. “What exactly are you worried about?”

  He swallowed. Hard. “The, uh, mechanics?”

  Oh. She chose her next words carefully. “Was more than your leg injured in the attack?”

  He saw where she was so delicately heading and shook his head fiercely. “No, nothing like that. I mean, my usual moves are dependent on my legs taking a lot of weight, you know? And I don’t know how the bad one will hold up.”

  “Oh.” She licked her lips, hiding a smile. “There are websites, you know. You aren’t the first veteran to come home wounded.”

  “You looked?” His hands slid around, cupping her butt cheeks and pulling her closer. She didn’t fight him this time because she could feel her flaming cheeks. She rested one against the soft cotton of his T-shirt.

  “Maybe? After our first kiss. I didn’t want it to be awkward if we, you know, ended up like this.”