Page 56 of Anything for You
“Do you regret our picnic?” he asked, no more steely grit in his voice. Only concern now.
“No. Not at all. Even if Hawk was being a creep and spying on us, which—” I shivered, genuinely troubled by the thought. “—I don’t regret it.” With another breath, I summoned the courage to ask, “Do you?”
He let out a soft laugh. “No, Dove. I could never regret a single moment with you, let alone that day.”
Shimmering, glittering, wondering elation bubbled up inside me. “So you really must like me, huh?”
He chuckled, then cupped my cheeks with his delectable hands. “I really do. I’m sorry this happened, but you stood your ground. You told him no, and I think he got the message you’ve got reinforcements.”
I gripped his wrists, holding him in place. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”
“Don’t apologize for your brother again, Dove. You aren’t responsible for him.” He slipped his hands from my cheeks down to my shoulders and leaned down, resting his forehead against mine.
My heart ached from the touch. “Thank you.”
“I’m glad I was here. And I think we need to call the chief and report this.”
We pulled back, and I slumped but nodded. “Yeah. We better. I’d honestly been hoping he’d distanced himself from this kind of thing, but I’ve had a bad feeling ever since that phone call.”
Brothers didn’t just go around accusing their sisters ofawful things without some sense of self-righteousness, at the very least. But that feeling came from being a part of a culture that had poisoned him against women and society at large.
If I let myself sink down into the grief and anger this reality caused, I’d probably never get back up. Being here with Dorian helped, though. Facing Hawk with him, not on my own… that helped, too. I hated he’d gotten hurt, but if I’d been at the house I’d lived in with Nan, the house I’d just sold, it was so unlikely anyone would’ve been there to help, let alone someone I trusted like I did Dorian. And of course, sweet, ferocious Bear had kept me safe, too.
This was the crux of so many of my thoughts lately. I trusted Dorian in ways I’d never trusted any manever.
What this meant, I wasn’t sure. But I knew that first kiss, the closeness I felt with him, the desire I held for him that seemed to expand out with every breath I took… I couldn’t help but feel it was leading somewhere significant.
While I’d been mulling over these things, Dorian had been making calls. Here again was an example of how much I trusted the man. I was used to being the doer in any given situation. Something’s wrong, I’ll figure out how to fix it. Someone’s sick, I’ll figure out what they need. A task needs to be checked off the list? Sign me up.
Caretaking had been bred into me quite literally, but it was one part of the culture I didn’t look back on with frustration. I loved how my tendency toward caring for others had led me to a profession I loved—even now when I was in a slump with it.
What I couldn’t remember doing for a long, long time was letting someone else take care of me or anything I needed to do. But here I was, sitting on a barstool twiddling my thumbs with deep thoughts while Dorian handled themess. Bear paced back and forth, brushing by my legs with each pass. I let my hand drag over his back, the soothing sensation of his fur and his warmth easing my rattled nerves.
He hung up his phone and rested his hands on the countertop. “Chief and the sheriff will be over in a few. Since it happened here, this is on Silverton land and Chief will take the statements, but Sheriff Ryan wanted to hear what happened. I thought he should. He’s helped me deal with some of the problems I’ve had with the commune, and this seems important and possibly pertinent. That okay?”
“Makes sense. I’d rather they both know what’s going on, especially if there are issues for anyone else. I assume this is just about me since I’m related, but…” I shook my head, not wanting to let my thoughts stray to some of the things that’d gone wrong in New Mexico. I remembered girls, scared and dirty, piled into one small cabin next to the leader’s house. I remembered them crying all the time, and my mom refusing to talk about them. She never said it, but I’d sensed relief when the compound had been raided and we’d had to move.
Hawk wouldn’t be involved in something like that, would he? Could his mind be so warped by now?
“Do you mind frozen pizza?” he asked, tapping on his oven to preheat it.
“I don’t at all. I love a good frozen pizza. Though I am surprised the king of homemade deliciousness would deign to eat frozen pizza.” I gave him a playful smile, wanting to distract myself from the upcoming stress of having to recount what’d happened.
Couldn’t I just pretend it’d never happened?
No. I couldn’t. But I could rib Dorian about eating frozen pizza.
“Do I act like I wouldn’t? I might like to cook, but sometimes, a cheap frozen meal hits the spot,” he said, his brow furrowed in a way that said he might actually be troubled by the thought that he came off as too fancy for a frozen pie.
Unable to resist, I leaned over and pressed my hand over his where it rested on the counter. “No. You don’t act like that. I just can’t imagine wanting to eat anything but my own food if everything I cooked and baked was as good as your food.”
His slow smile made my stomach swoop low.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
By the end of the night, we’d both given our statements to Chief Whitacker of Silverton PD, and Sheriff Ryan of Juniper View had been there to listen and ask a few questions. Both men had been patient, kind, and to the point, but by the time it was done, I was absolutely exhausted. Dorian walked me to the door with our fingers laced and kissed my cheek, then my forehead.
I wanted him to press me into the door and kiss me until my mind fizzled out, but I kind of loved that in the wake of a hugely emotional afternoon, he hadn’t pushed for anything. He’d taken some of the burden, what he could anyway, and he had given me comfort.
