Page 46 of Just One Silver Fox

She shook her head. Of course, she hadn’t had a pet. She had a crazy sister and had been unhappy. A dog would have been just the thing, in Nate’s opinion.

“There’s this happy bark they make,” he explained. “It’s high and different from a here-comes-trouble bark. Best sound in the world. I was down on one knee, rubbing Rex and he was licking my face as the kids watched. The wife came out to see what was going on and I told her why I was there. She asked me in and we had a coffee, and I told her what little bit I remembered. I patted the dog the whole time. Then I shook hands with their kids, let the wife give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, gave Rex one last ear rub and headed home. The wife told me to visit anytime, but I never went back.” He nodded and repeated his own words. “It was all good.”

There was silence for a long moment. “Have you thought about getting a dog yourself?” Sonia asked.

“Not now. They need a pack and company, not to be left alone in an apartment all day.”

“Kids to play with,” Sonia said.

“Right. One day, maybe.”

Probably not soon.

That wasn’t the most optimistic realization, but that didn’t make it untrue. They stayed there in the darkness for long moments, probably both of them reviewing his story.

“Thank you,” Sonia whispered finally.

“For what?”

“For telling me a story.” To Nate’s surprise, she reached up to trace the shape of his mouth with her fingertip again. Her gentle touch sent tingles through him, made his toes curl and turned his thoughts in a predictable direction.

“What are you doing?” he asked softly, knowing exactly what she was doing.

Sonia braced herself on her elbow and looked down at him, her eyes shining. “Isn’t it technically morning?” She smiled and Nate checked his watch, then smiled back.

“One-thirty,” he murmured.

“That counts.” She held his gaze for a long moment then slowly bent and replaced her fingertip with her mouth.

Nate made a little sound of satisfaction, then rolled Sonia to her back, deepening their kiss and tangling his fingers in her hair. He claimed her mouth with a kiss and held her close, knowing there couldn’t be a better cure for a nightmare in the whole world. There was no way he was going to take a pass on what she was offering.

And he’d definitely make it worth her while.

* * *

Nate wokeup to sunlight sneaking around the edges of the drapes in Sonia’s apartment. It was otherwise dark and she was sleeping beside him. The building was quiet, but then it was Sunday morning. He checked his watch. Just seven. No wonder everyone was still asleep.

He was wide awake, though.

Of course, she’d turned off the fairy lights before she removed her nightgown at one-thirty. She’d put it back on again right afterward, keeping those mysterious scars hidden from view. Nate had felt them, though, and still couldn’t explain them.

He could have peeked while she was sleeping, but he didn’t. That was her secret to share or not—and seeing them more clearly wouldn’t explain them anyway.

She was keeping her secrets, while he was spilling his guts to her. He couldn’t believe he’d told her about Rex.

He’d almost told her about Trish.

For someone who was committed to one-and-done with no emotional entanglements, he wasn’t doing a good job of keeping his own emotions out of it. Sharing war stories in the dark wasn’t exactly keeping his distance. Sonia was a sympathetic listener but confiding in her wasn’t the right thing to do.

Nate stayed there for a minute, weighing his options. It was comfortable to be with her like this, their legs entangled, her breath on his shoulder. But as soon as Sonia woke up, Nate suspected he’d be seduced into another round. Then she’d want him to eat something before he left and he’d be caught in that conflict of knowing he should leave but not wanting to disappoint her. It could easily be noon before he was on his way.

If not later.

It would have been easier if he hadn’t liked her so much. It would be so easy to keep prompting her smile—and encouraging her to make that addictive little sound—to talk to her and cook with her and just hang out together. Nate knew he could fall hard and fast for Sonia, because he was already on his way. And then the guy of her dreams would show up, proving that Nate was Mr. Right-Now with no chance of being Mr. Right, and he’d be dumped all over again.

A person, Nate was convinced, should try to make different mistakes instead of returning to the same ones over and over again. He’d been in love alone once before and he was never going to do that again.

Period.

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