Hot Winter Nights (Heartbreaker Bay #6)(88)

“Not if I get to them first,” Caleb said, his eyes flashing absolute fury, though his voice remained low and calm. “Okay, forget finding your owner,” he told the dog, squatting low again as if trying to get his six-foot-plus frame as nonthreateningly small as he could. “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”

The dog imitated a turtle for a beat but finally figured out how to roll to her feet, still keeping her distance.

“It’s okay,” Caleb told her. “We’re together now, for better or worse, even if you’re going to kill me.”

“She wouldn’t hurt a fly, much less kill you,” Sadie said.

The dog had listened to all this intently and then slowly scooted back towards Caleb, head down but her hind-end a little wiggly. Sadie’s heart pretty much exploded in her chest as the dog crawled into Caleb’s lap and set her oversized head on his broad shoulder.

With a sigh, he wrapped his arms around the dog and hugged her close.

“Yeah, that’s some killer,” she said.

“I’m allergic.”

He said this so nonchalantly, she blinked. “Is that some sort of a euphemism for ‘I hate dogs?’”

“No.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” she asked.

“Look, If I pass out, the Epi-pen is in my pocket. I’m trusting you to use it before I die. If you don’t, at least make up something really good for my funeral, okay? Like I died heroically saving your sexy ass, and not because a sweet dog like this one hugged me.”