Suddenly Dean’s in my space, knees cracking as he crouches beside me, one hand tented in front of him. The other two dogs come barreling into his side, jumping on him until Dean falls flat on his ass.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so attractive in my life.
The guys at work are nothing but sleaze-balls with a shiny and expensive veneer in the form of suits, ties, and expensive shoes. I’ve heard the stories about some of them, and I just end up judging the rest with the same brush. The pretty exterior is perfectly coiffed, and impeccably dressed – a representation of what could be, if only you don’t look too closely.
Dean’s flat on his ass on the ground beside me, in a ratty shirt and rattier sweats, with his three dogs now surrounding him, dishing him love and affection and all he does is laugh and smile and give them bear hugs.
My breath comes in a painful inhale, somehow crushing my ribs, spearing into my heart. All four heads swings towards me, assessing me. The dogs look away first, content to enjoy the company of their master, while I just watch helplessly and get swept away by memories I thought I had burned away with time and enough denial that they’d never be remembered.
Dean thumps the German Shepard on his flank, the dog barking in what I hope is happiness, or else Dean’s going to miss a very important part of his anatomy that I’m partial to.
“Katie, why are you here?” He tilts his head to the side, and his voice has gone soft and quiet. The kind of voice that makes you want to trust whatever that person has to say. The kind of voice that makes you believe in the impossible.
I lick my lips, and ignore the way his eyes zero in on the movement.
“I… I wanted to know if you would like to do me a favour…” Fucking shit, it sounds so stupid coming out of my mouth like that. Who lets me make my own decisions? I’m going to kill Sera – she should have kept me locked in her love-nest.
“Me? Do you a favour?”
I frown. “You don’t need to emphasize the ‘you’ part so much, alright, Carter? I get it. I’m the last person you wanted to see knocking on your door. Let’s move it along, shall we?”
Dean gives me a lazy shrug. “You’re the one that came here. You’re also the one who hit me with your car. Seems like I’m not the one owing favours.”
I lift my hands, palms out. “Just hear me out. I need to make it up to you, what I did, all those years ago.” If my voice sounds stilted and a little unsure, Dean keeps his trap shut about it.
Good man.
“You have made it up to me. By forgetting you ever existed for ten years, until I had the unfortunate opportunity to be hit by your car.”
My head snaps up. “I said I was sorry for that.”
Dean shakes his head slowly, disbelieving. “I saw what you were doing, Katarina. You were looking in your mirror, and you didn’t even see me.”
I clench my fists tight enough that my knuckles crack. He did not just go there.
“Hold the phone, Carter. You telling me you saw me not looking at the road, and you still decided to cross the street? Have you lost more brain cells since the last time I saw you?” I yell, straightening up from my crouch. I love being taller than him, I love making him feel small.
Dean plants his hands on the floor behind him, leaning his weight back. He looks up at the ceiling either for deliverance or divine intervention. He was an atheist back in high school, but I notice he’s wearing a crucifix around his neck on a delicate gold chain – the kind a woman would wear.
Oh.
“Are you with someone?” I ask.
Dean snorts, and his eyes cut to me. I know what those eyes look like when he’s inside me.
“Never were one for subtlety. Don’t know why I would think ten years would change that about you.”
I roll my eyes, cross my arms over my chest, rock my weight onto my left hip. “Still waiting for an answer over here.”
“What do you care?”
I sigh. All this has become so exhausting. I just need some good luck in my life – it shouldn’t be this hard to get what I want. It really, really shouldn’t.
“I kinda want to know because if you’re expecting another girl to come up here, and I’m here, well, I’m not in the business of making another female question if her man is cheating on her. Was that okay enough of an explanation or should I look for easier words to use?”
It takes two blinks for Dean to stand upright in his rightful place where he completely towers over me. But I know I can mesmerise him into leaning down, down to close the distance between us and drive him wild. I’ve always been able to do that, and I don’t think that’s changed, no matter what his girl situation is.