Her face heated. This time she didn’t bother to state how she and Curly weren’t anything to each other, so they probably wouldn’t be hanging out. She was too busy being amazed at how sweet and kind these gruff-looking men had been to her when her ex-husband’s polished and perfect-on-paper friends had never been anything but judgmental snobs. Some had been downright antagonistic. And had her husband ever made her feel included, important, or wanted?
Hell no.
He’d laughed along with his friends when they questioned her taste, made fun of the small town she’d grown up in and whispered behind her back.
But it wasn’t the time for a trip down memory lane.
“Guess I better get going as well,” she said when the last man had filed out the door. A loud rumble of motorcycles kicked up. Her eyes widened, which made Curly smile.
“Beautiful music.”
With a laugh, she shook her head. “Guess you get used to it.”
“You come to crave it.”
She’d have to take his word for that one. Just as she was about to call Ray to her, Curly opened the fridge and pulled out two more bottles of beer. “Sit for a bit. Wanna make sure you’re good with all this.”
“Oh, I, uh…”
I should not stay.
She was already blurring the lines by being attracted to him, listening to him open up about his past, and letting him help her.
I should definitely not stay.
“Okay, I’ll hang out for one more beer.”
“Follow me.” He flashed her a sexy grin complete with sparkling blue eyes that basically had her trotting after him the same way Ray shadowed her.
Once in his den, she perched on one end of his couch. He took the other. “Make yourself at home,” he said, so she forced herself to relax against the worn cushions.
She curled up, tucking her feet underneath her bottom, then pivoted to face him. He sat angled in her direction as well, with one ankle propped on the opposite thigh. Ray sidled up to Curly and rested his head on a small spot next to the man.
Traitor.
This was the first time she’d seen him with his mop of curly hair pulled back into a man-bun, and she’d be lying if she didn’t admit it looked sexy as hell. Longer hair on men wasn’t her thing, but it fit him so well, and every time she thought of it, she couldn’t help but want to feel it sliding through her fingers.
“I got your background check,” she blurted, then winced—way to kill the relaxed mood.
“Ahh,” he said as he rubbed the soft spot between Ray’s ears. Her dog’s eyes drifted closed in bliss.
Double traitor.
“I’m guessing that’s why you brought this guy along?”
Was it her imagination, or was that a note of disappointment in his question?
If she were as bright as she professed to be, she’d say yes. Let him think he alone was the reason she’d brought her dog along. But it’d be a lie. At least a partial lie. Picking at the label on her bottle, she shook her head. “Not entirely. It was more that I don’t know you at all and I was going to your house alone in the evening. I’d have done it with any man.”
“Smart,” he said to which she shrugged. “So, am I getting that puppy, or did my past change your mind?”
Aside from his past, everything checked out. He’d been thorough on the application, listing a veterinarian, agreeing to shots, and spaying the pup. He’d agreed if there were any reason he became unable to care for the dog, he would contact her before rehoming the pup himself. He owned a home with a fenced-in yard—all the checks in all the boxes.
Aside from the outlaw motorcycle club history. Despite that fact, she knew deep in her bones he’d make an amazing dog parent.
Brooke met his gaze, and they held like that for a solid twenty seconds before she nodded.
He tilted his head to the side. “Is there anything you want to ask me?”
Only somewhere around a million questions. But none of it was her business. What right did she have to ask him about a history that had nothing to do with her? None at all. So she shook her head. “No. No questions.” Probably best not to know. Otherwise, she’d lie awake all night obsessing over his past and why she was still attracted to him. Because no matter what he confessed, she’d still feel this out of character pull to him.