Page 44 of If This is Love

“I told you to be mean to him, Ruth.” That one dimple pulled into Gabe’s cheek with a smile that lasted a single second. Sometimes I felt like he wastryingto be grouchy or at least didn’t like to let on that he was happy. Or maybe being happy made him uncomfortable because he’d probably been happy about a lot of things in life only to be disappointed, and I could certainly relate to that. “Don’t ask him to sit. Tell him. He thinks we’re playing right now, so he’s playing with you.”

I put my hands on my hips and raised my eyebrows playfully. “That was not a question. Did you hear a question mark, Staff Sergeant?”

“Yes, ma’am, Idid,” he returned, full of snark but with a little tiny quirk of his lips. “Say it like you mean it. He’s not taking you seriously. Dogs respond to commands, not suggestions. Try again.”

I clicked my tongue and then revved up so I could pretend like I was capable of beingmeanto this big baby. “Jax.Sit.”

Jax promptly plopped his butt on the grass, and I clapped my hands together, then reflexively grabbed Gabe’s arm and squeezed it. “Ha! Now who’s playing, neighbor?”

A quick but full chuckle shook his shoulders as he took a step to stand behind me—quite closebehind me for that matter—and then clasped my hand.

“Up,” he clipped, and Jax stood. Gabe lifted my hand to the level of my shoulder and said in a low, graveled timbre, “If you can’t control the question mark in your voice—”

I had to laugh. “There wasnoquestion mark.”

“Fine, there wasn’t.” Gabe turned his face toward mine, and I gulped, not daring to even glance sideways for fear of seeing exactly how close he was to me right now. It was about fifty-five degrees outside, but this little corner of the yard suddenly felt like the surface of the sun. “So, if you can’t be mean enough to him, use your hand.”

It sounded like he was suggesting I smack my dog, which wasn’t happening. I didn’t think he was serious anyway, but I lost all ability to formulate words with his overwhelmingly male, overwhelminglysexyscent all around me.

“Oh,” was all I managed to articulate, and it came out on a quiet, shallow breath.

His thumb was pressed in the center of my palm, his index and middle fingers firmly holding the top of my hand, and he turned my wrist in a slow, graceful scoop that flipped my palm upward.

Jax promptly sat, and I sucked in a tiny gasp of shock.

“Just like that,” Gabe said, voice still low and graveled.

“Right.” Lord, I was in so much trouble with this man. Temptation abounded, and I was losing self-control. We were just in the backyard, and he was just teaching me stuff to help me be a better dog parent, and none of it should have been the least bit sexualat all—and yet it was.Potently.

Several beats of silence dragged along, and Gabe was still right behind me. Still holding my hand.

“Thanks for checking on me the other day,” he murmured.

I turned my head to look at him, and my words felt the need to come out as a whisper. “Thanks for letting me sit with you.”

He bounced his gaze between my mouth and my eyes, and whatwasthis?

It was heat, and deafening heartbeats, and shallow, rapid breathing, and his scent that was getting me drunk.

“I spoke to law enforcement,” he added, eyes still flicking between my eyes and my mouth. “A forensics team is going to attempt to identify her. Hopefully find her relatives. Hopefully, she’ll get a proper burial.”

It was the last thing in the world I expected him to say, but I expected the aching warmth in my chest even less, and my eyebrows knitted. “You have such a good heart.”

“I was going to say that about you. You were kind. I wasn’t. You stayed anyway. I appreciate it.”

“You weren’t unkind, and you don’t have to deal with hard things on your own, Gabe. You helped me, too. I was really upset.”

“I know you were.” His hand was still holding mine; his gaze still traveling between my eyes and my lips; his scent and presence still drowning me. “It was…” He paused like he was searching for the right word. “Nice. Not the situation at the property, but being able to sit with you and calm down afterward.”

My heart surged with deeper warmth—as did a number ofotherplaces in me, which was a problem that was getting bigger every second—and I smiled. “It was nice.”

Gabe’s eyes were now locked on mine, and our faces were so close that I could see every fleck of black, blue, and green in his steely, pewter eyes, but also tenderness and warmth that made something inside me want to do all kinds of things that I really shouldn’t.

His free hand brushed the back of mine at the side of my thigh, and my fingers hooked around his. I didn’t mean to do it, but I also couldn’t seem to stop myself. In excruciatingly slow motion, his chin tilted down toward mine, while my own completely out-of-control mouth inclined upward toward his.

He brushed my cheek with his thumb, and panic came out of nowhere and took over.

“Oh my lord, I can’t kiss you, I’mmarried.”

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