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Bessie snorted They all knew Dell was about as un- up," Dell said "So don’t bother locking ot a key"
"I’ through your sweatshirt"
Adam entered the loft and shut the door harder than necessary He strode directly to the s bowl of water and food Then he headed to the bathroo as he went He cranked on the water, and while waiting for it to heat up, checked out the back of his shoulder in the quickly foggingto kill hih the o tossed all the various hanistan: the anxiety pills, the antidepression pills, the sleeping pills He’d never wanted any of the thes worse
All he had in there noas a bottle of aspirin and a razor Since he’d never been one for slitting his own throat, he shook two aspirin into his palm and then added two more This was definitely a four-aspirin type of situation Sing them dry, he stepped into the shower and hissed out a breath as the water hit his abused body
While scrubbing up, he found an assort he’d suffered much, much worse, he let the hot spray soothe him until the water cooled He turned it off and heard the irabbed a towel and his first-aid kit and left the bathroom Milo had eaten and was curled up in the"And then I’le eye but didn’t appear concerned On duty, the dog was attentive and polite Off duty, he was lazy as hell
Another knock Milo just lay there, not a growl or even a heads-up "No, don’t get up," Adaet it"
The yellow Lab rolled to his back, his head landing onto Adaan to snore
The knock came a third time, much harder and firmer now "What the--" He reached for the door "Since when do you knock--"
Not Dell
The leggy blonde in front of him wore a pale blue down parka, painted-on jeans tucked into knee-high leather boots, and a tight frown
Holly Reid, looking city hot and as untouchable as ever It was her shield, that sophisticated New York air, and she was exceptionally good at using it Adam knew this He expected this Which in no way explained why his heart did a slow roll in his chest at the sight of her He thought of all the long nights he’d spent so if he’d ined a h
Whenever he played that particular ame with himself, it had always been Holly He didn’t know the i about her and wasn’t sure he was up for knowing, anyway "Let ainst the doorja his arolden retriever puppies he’s fostering for me are on your last nerve"
She flushed at the reling puppy beneath each ar Two are fine," she said, and nudged hi on it, not that he was noticing, and entered his loft
In those high-heel boots, she clicked her way across the wood floors to the all of s that overlooked the property, which at theat the remote beauty beyond
Pretty much like the woman in front of him
She wasn’t particularly fond of hiue with that Adam wasn’t particularly fond of hi here, it was pissing her off
She turned and faced hiry at all
She was scared
Two
Holly’s heart was pounding against her ribs, hard and way too fast Her stoht have been the fast food she’d grabbed for lunch on the run Or the fact that because of said fast food, her jeans were a little too tight
Nor in control, but that control deserted her completely now that she stood toe-to-toe with the tall, dark, and attitude-ridden Adam Connelly
She’d faced him before, of course Just last month she’d seen him here at Belle Haven, a memory burned in her brain He’d been outside in the yard surrounded by a pack of dogs all suited up in their S&R vests
Adah their paces on an obstacle course The anis and cats and various other four-legged and not-so-four-legged creatures co session, and yet the S&R dogs’ attention never wavered from the calm, confident Adam
He’d obviously built a relationship with each of them based on trust and respect, and Holly re theainst the cold, and five-o’clock shadow on his jaw He’d looked good Too good
Now he stood in front of her in nothing but a towel and a feater drops Sweet baby Jesus, he was built As a teenager, he’d been lanky lean, alh even back then the breadth of his shoulders had indicated he hadto do
He’d coht places, leaving his body as good as a body could get, born from a life of outdoor, physical labor Dark eyes, dark life
Adam had been her first crush Her first dance Her first date Her first kiss Her first everything And once upon a ti troublehteen-year-old heart She’d have done anything for him and he’d known it
He’d chosen to rip out her heart and storown up the hard way, and so had he By all accounts, the military had beaten back the wild, reckless part of hiuarded Stoic He wasn’t the same, and neither was Holly She reht of him
Focus, she ordered herself She wasn’t here for a walk down h to come to him
Unlike her, Adah he was the s so it was hard to tell He stood there quiet, cal her with that always-aware-of-his-surroundings air he had
A battle-ready soldier
And the best tracker she knew Actually, the only tracker she knew, other than her brother Griffin But Grif was on the other side of the world, still in Afghanistan
"I need your help," she heard herself say, her voice not nearly as strong as she’d have liked
Adained that hat ," she said "He went hunting three days ago and didn’t return"