Page 43 of Pretty Wild

He holds my gaze for a few moments before dropping down and picking up a stick, severing our connection completely. He gives it a toss, sending Buddy sprinting after it. We both watch the dog grab his prize and run back through the water and dirt, leaving puppy footprints in his wake.

When Buddy drops the stick at his feet, Marcus scoops it up and gives it another toss. As the dog takes off to retrieve it once more, the man beside me gives me his full attention. “Kissing usually means intimacy. I don’t usually do much of that.”

Now it’s my turn to be confused. “Really?”

“Nope,” he replies, picking up the stick and tossing it a third time.

“Ex-girlfriends?” I ask, trying to figure him out. He’s like a one-thousand-piece puzzle and you don’t have the box that shows you the picture.

He shrugs his shoulders and watches Buddy return with his stick. “A few. I work a lot. The hours I keep can be hard for a woman to deal with.” He meets my gaze and says, “When you run your own repair business and have the only tow truck in the area, the hours can be long. Women tend to find coming in second hard to deal with.”

His words are heavy and eye-opening. My job can be difficult and stressful, the day is long, but there’s always a break somewhere. For Marcus, he’s at the mercy of everyone else. After working long days, he could also have to work long nights, something I’ve never had to do.

“That’s kind of sad,” I state honestly. “You’re really good at it.”

The corner of his mouth curls up. “Yeah?”

“Definitely. I like kissing you,” I find myself confessing, feeling a tad vulnerable in the moment.

He steps toward me, placing a big, rough hand on my hip. His fingers hold a touch of pressure, but not enough to hurt. “I don’t seem to mind kissing you either,” he says, his eyes burning darker than I’ve ever witnessed.

“Then, perhaps we include kissing in whatever happens, even though it’s intimate and you don’t do that. I mean, our time together has an expiration date, right?”

“Correct,” he replies, pulling me toward him so my body is pressed to his. “I can handle it if you can.”

“I can,” I confirm, dancing my fingers up his rock-hard chest. “One more thing.”

“Yeah?”

“You mentioned something about using your tongue forotherthings. When do we get to that?”

His slow grin turns wolfish. “Whenever you want, Princess.”

“Well, I seem to have a little time now.”

His sudden movement almost causes me to fall on my face, because instantly, he’s no longer standing in front of me. He grasps my hand and all but drags me back in the direction we originally came. Marcus whistles for Buddy, who instantly falls in line beside him.

“I can’t believe how well he listens to you. You’d think he’s been your dog for years, not days.”

“Yeah, I realized pretty quickly he’s well-trained, which is why I can’t believe someone just tossed him out.”

I move quickly on the pathway, careful to avoid sticks and anything else I could trip over. “You don’t think he’s just lost?”

Marcus glances down at the dog. “I don’t think so. He doesn’t have on a collar, and as skinny as he is, he’s been on his own for a bit. Plus, Pine Village is a really small town and none of my friends recognized him or recalled seeing a missing dog flyer around. Honestly, I think he was dumped, probably from a neighboring town or maybe even by someone who visited the Bluff Preserves National Park.”

“I can’t believe someone dumped him,” I say, my heart breaking for the dog who most likely has experienced a rougher life.

“Me either. We’re going to the vet tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll have some more answers then.”

“Are you going to keep him?”

We break through the pathway into the yard surrounding Marcus’s gorgeous cabin. He looks down at the dog, who seems to be smiling up at his new owner. Even without Marcus responding, I know the answer to my question. I can see it in his eyes.

“Yeah, I think I will.”

We reach the porch and jog up the steps together. Before he opens the door, he spins around and pins me with a look. “Before we go in there, I need you to know you can stop this at any point. And we don’t have to do anything when we get inside.”

“You don’t want to?” I ask, my heart starting to gallop with both anticipation and dread. Is he breaking this off before it begins?

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