me and wraps me up in his body. “Are you warmer now?” he asks as he runs his hand down my arm to warm me. “I mean… you do realize you’re the one that turned the air on arctic, right?”
“A little bit,” I realize. “But Bear was panting when we came in and then you made me all hot and sweaty after my shower.”
He kisses my neck as I lean into him. “I might take the blame for that. What about at least breakfast in bed? I’ll take Bear out to the bathroom and grab some donuts and coffee from that little bakery we passed last night, and you keep my spot nice and warm.”
“I do love donuts.”
“Deal,” he says as I realize that I now have to let go of him, which I don’t want to do.
“Wait… you have to get up for this?” I ask.
“I do. Bear’s probably ready to burst. We never took him back out last night.”
I look down at the snoozing dog. “He says he’s good.”
Shepherd snickers. “I’m sure he does.” He kisses my forehead before getting out of bed and heading into the bathroom. I hug his pillow to me, sad he left me but kind of excited about the donuts he’s promised.
Once ready, he heads out with Bear, so I grudgingly get up and turn the air down and get semi ready before flopping back down on the bed and turning on the TV. The news is on, so I go to turn it before I hear my name.
“…the missing son of Chief William Oliver, who disappeared six weeks ago. The police found proof that Killian Oliver had been held hostage at the factory, but the young man is still missing.”
Then it cuts to a video of my father. “It’s a very sad day. I thought I was finally getting my son back but he’s still missing. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please let us know immediately. There is a reward for any information. I just need my son home again.” He covers his face as he turns his back to the camera. “Excuse me.”
God, he’s such a fucking liar. He wants me back because he knows I have enough information to tear him down. And still, no word about Tony, telling me that my father is refusing to throw Tony’s name out there in case it gets out that Tony and my father worked together. Hell, half the fucking cops in that city worked with Tony.
The door opens and Shepherd steps in, so I quickly turn the channel. I don’t want that bullshit to put a damper on my day.
“What were you watching that you had to turn off so quickly?” Shepherd asks.
“Porn,” I say.
“Ah, sounds lovely.”
“Oh, my father just going on about how much he needs me home. He now has a reward out for any information about me.”
Shepherd sits down next to me and leans against the headboard. “Reward, huh? How much is he handing out? I might just know a thing or two,” he teases.
“You would pick a reward over me?”
He seems to think about it for a moment. “Depends, really. How big is it?”
I glare at him, but all anger dissipates when he pulls out a donut covered in chocolate. “You are a magnificent man.”
He grins at me. “Thank you.”
“I have an idea. And if that idea doesn’t work, maybe you can hand me over for a bit of money.”
“That’s also a good idea.”
“But you’d come back for me.”
“Oh… I… I didn’t know about that. I just thought I was giving you up for the money.”
I grab the whole bag of donuts as I glare at him. “I want to be pampered. I wanted you to shout, ‘I would never hand you over for money!’”
He stares at me. “So… you want me to start our relationship off with lies, do you? I thought we decided no more lies between us.”
“Fine, no more lies between us,” I agree. “So then I have to tell you the truth about how loud you are in the morning when it’s like seven and I just want to sleep and you’re ready to move a mountain.”
He starts laughing. “So you want to sleep in longer?”
“Until eight at least.”
“Fine. Then I get to tell you that your cooking… needs work. Way too much salt.”
That isn’t what I’m expecting but I’m not at all upset about it. “Oh yeah, I thought it was horrible too but you seemed happy with it, so