She laughed. “I’m wearing Carhartts.”
“I have fantasies about those Carhartts.”
“Really?”
“Okay, I have fantasies about what you might be wearing beneath them.” He leaned in playfully as if to peek for himself.
“Stop it.”
He grinned. “Admit it, one of these days I’m going to wear you down.”
She smiled, but the truth was he probably could. Like Cruz, he was good-looking, kind and familiar.
But she was tired, oh so very tired of familiar.
Dee smiled as she rang him up. “You can look beneath my Carhartts, Nick. Any time.”
Game, he looked her over. She was ten years older than them but still trim and pretty. And wore a man-eater smile. “You’re not wearing Carhartts,” Nick said.
Dee leaned over the counter, eyes sultry and laughing. “For you, I’d buy some.”
While Lilah waited for them to stop flirting, a jelly-filled donut fell onto her tray, all by itself, joining the two old-fashioned glazes. “Oh, look at that,” she murmured to Toby. “Fruit.” She started in on that one first and moaned in sheer bliss. “God, so much better than carrots.”
“You’re going to start a riot.”
At the low, familiar voice in her ear, she went still, then slowly turned to face Brady.
He was halfway through his own donut-a chocolate-frosted by the looks of it. And good Lord, talk about starting a riot. He was wearing army flight cargoes today and a soft-washed long-sleeved polo that was form-fitted to his toned body.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey back, Crash.”
“Okay,” she said. “I object to that-” But she was talking to air because he’d crouched in front of Toby, elbows braced on his thighs as he offered a hand for the dog to sniff. “How’s he doing today?”
“Good.” She kneeled down as well. “But he’s really skittish, so you need to-”
Toby licked Brady’s hand, then arched up to lick his chin as well.
“Go slow,” Lilah finished on a sigh.
Toby was rewarded by Brady with a behind-the-ear scratching that had the little guy sliding to the floor in a boneless heap of pleasure.
“Ah, good boy,” Brady praised, giving him an all over body rub that left Lilah yearning for the same.
Brady rose fluidly on his feet, and for a beat, she found herself eye to eye with his flat, zero-fat stomach. That he could even have a flat, zero-fat stomach with the way he ate really irritated the hell out of her.
And/or turned her on. She couldn’t decide which. It was early yet.
A small smile curved his sexy mouth as he offered her a hand, telling her that he knew of her battle, and hell if that didn’t settle it. Irritation.
He gestured to the choice on her tray. “Nice.”
She winced, then realized he wasn’t judging her but truly complimenting her choice of breakfast. “I almost got one of those,” she admitted, gesturing to his chocolate-frosted. “But I didn’t eat carrots last night.”
Nodding as if this made perfect sense, he sank strong white teeth into his donut, licking chocolate frosting off his upper lip. “Mmm… ”
Her mouth watered. “I’ll give you a piece of mine for a piece of yours.”
His eyes darkened and he immediately broke off a large part of his donut and offered it to her. She did the same and felt his warm breath brush over her fingers before he sank his teeth into her jelly-filled.
Eyes on hers, he smiled as he chewed and swallowed. “Yeah, that’s good, too. Hey!” He pulled his tray back and looked at the second chunk she’d quickly snagged from his donut.
“Sorry,” she said with an easy grin. She wasn’t sorry. At all. And she might have laughed at the look on his face as he studied what was left, but she was up next at the cash register. She gently nudged Toby forward, as just ahead, Nick picked up his bag and turned to her.
“Hey, I saw your Jeep. I meant to ask what happened.”
“A little fender bender,” she said, extremely aware of Brady behind her.
Brady coughed and said, “Bullshit,” softly in her ear at the same time.
Lilah gave him a little nudge with her hip, knocking him out of her personal space bubble. He might kiss like heaven, and maybe he had great taste in food, but he was far too cocky.
Nick divided a look between them, then settled on Lilah. “I’m sensing a story here.”
“No. No stories, good or otherwise, and it wasn’t my fault.” She paused and sighed. “Okay, it was totally my fault.”
“She has a parking problem,” Brady said.
Nick laughed. “She has a lot of ‘parking’ problems.”
Great. Lilah loved Nick, but he had a big mouth. “My foot slipped,” she said. “No big deal.”
“Uh-huh. Remember our senior year when your foot ‘slipped’ and you drove off the bridge in your granny’s SUV?” Nick asked.
Both men were smiling now, and Lilah took a moment for a deep breath. “We’re not discussing this.” Digging through her purse for her wallet, she turned to Dee.
From over her shoulder a ten appeared. “For both of us,” Brady said.
Dee shot Lilah a brows-up look.
Lilah ignored the unspoken question. “Thanks,” she said to Brady. “I’ll owe you.”
“Donuts,” he clarified. “Not carrots.”
Dee smiled. “So, who’s the cutie?”
Lilah very carefully didn’t look at Brady “Brady Miller. He’s come to visit Adam and Dell.”
Dee cackled. In fact she laughed so hard, she ended up doubled over. “Honey, I meant the dog.”
“Oh.” Lilah grimaced as her face heated and tried to pretend that Brady wasn’t right behind her, looking far too amused.
“You’re right, though,” Dee said, sizing up Brady. “He’s a real cutie, too.”
Lilah sighed. “The dog,” she said firmly, “is a rescue. He’s going to a good home.” And finally, as she said this, she saw Shelly pull up out front. Which made her realize she had only a few minutes left with Toby.
She was well aware that the whole point to running the humane society was to place animals in loving homes. She knew this, but her gut didn’t always get it, and both it and her heart squeezed hard as she looked down at Toby waiting patiently at her feet, so quiet and accepting of whatever fate came his way. Dammit. Every one. She mourned every single one. “I have to go.”
Dee cocked her head, then looked to the door as Shelly entered the bakery. “Aw, honey,” she murmured, covering Lilah’s hand with her own, her voice holding so much sympathy that Lilah’s throat closed. “Never gets easier for you, does it?”
“What?” Brady asked, looking into Lilah’s eyes with a frown. “What doesn’t get easier? You stay up all night studying again?”
“Studying?” Dee asked in surprise. “Studying what?”
Lilah sighed. Her studies weren’t classified information, but neither had she told anyone other than Dell and Adam. And Brady-by accident. Literally. It was just that she’d quit college and come home with her tail between her legs. This time if something happened, she’d rather be a two-time failure in private. “Nothing,” she said, grabbing a bottle of water to offset the donut calories. She fumbled through the bottom of her purse for loose change.
“Oh, don’t worry about it.” Dee patted her hand. “It’s on the house since I know you’re about to get your heart broken.” She smiled sweetly over Lilah’s head at Brady. “I adopted my own sweet Lexie from her last year. She cried for a week. Lilah, not Lexie.”
“I did not,” Lilah said. She’d cried for two weeks. She knew exactly how ridiculous that was, just as she knew how silly she was being over dreading handing Toby off. She’d only had him one night, and he was going to a woman who really wanted him.
“She still comes and visits,” Dee told Brady.
Lilah felt the weight of Brady’s gaze as he studied her thoughtfully, but she couldn’t concentrate on that with Shelly waving at her. She was midforties, with wavy brown hair piled on top of her head and a friendly, kind face.
