Page 30 of Beware of Dog (Lean Dogs Legacy #6)

While she was drying her hair the next morning, Cass was struck by the unsettling sense that yesterday had been one long dream.

That once she stepped out of the bathroom, dressed and ready for her day, school bag on her shoulder, once they crossed the flat’s threshold and locked the door behind them, some spell would be broken, and she could never again return to the panting and the laughing and the quiet whispering of the clean white sheets they’d shared yesterday.

But then she stepped into the living room, and Shep was standing there, waiting for her, in his jacket and cut, Twix bar held out in offering and a rather goofy look on his face. “We overslept, so we don’t have time for breakfast. Here. A nutritious start to your day.”

She thought her own face did something equally goofy, and was relieved to realize her hair-drying fears had been unfounded. They were still going to be them , in or out of bed.

“Where are you off to today?” she asked, when they were in the hall and he was locking up. “Dog duties?”

“Yeah. I’ve got some things Mav wants me to check on, and then I’m gonna hit the gym.” He pocketed his keys, and they fell into step toward the elevator. “What time do you get out of class?”

Her heart gave another of those swoops like it had over and over yesterday; it could turn into a cardiac problem, she thought. Did this mean he wanted to see her after class? That he might even swing by and pick her up from class?

“I mean,” he continued, voice touched with a faint brush of nerves, “I don’t like the idea of you staying in your dorm right now, and I figure you don’t either.”

“No, I don’t.” And that wasn’t just about spending time with him. Aside from gathering her things, she didn’t care if she ever saw the inside of that dorm again. “My portfolio’s there, but I’ll get it on my way to class.”

He nodded as they reached the elevator and he pressed the button. “Call me if anyone gives you hassle.”

“What will you do? Punch girls for saying mean things to me?”

“No, but I can give ‘em the look .” He demonstrated, and she burst out laughing. The look went wry. “Shit. I’m losing my touch.”

“No,” she assured, and stroked a hand down his chest. His gaze flicked down to follow the motion, and his mouth twitched in an interested way. “But I’m afraid I’m immune. My favorite brother is the Charlie Fox after all.”

“Jesus.” He gave a theatric shudder. “Don’t remind me.”

The elevator arrived, and they stepped on with a harried woman juggling a toddler and a briefcase.

“Hello, Landon,” Cass greeted. She spent so much time in the building she’d begun to learn the tenants’ names and occupations, something Shep staunchly refused to do.

“Hello, Mary, can I hold him for you while you fix that?” The briefcase was open and threatening to spill its contents to the elevator floor.

“God, yes, thank you.” Mary handed over the baby, and Cass caught a glimpse of Shep over in the far corner, eyeing her in an odd way.

Cass made chitchat with Mary, who was smiling and more relaxed-looking by the time they reached the ground floor and exited the elevator. “Thank you, Cassandra, I owe you.”

“No trouble!”

Out on the sidewalk, where the day was shaping up to be cold, gray, and speckled with mist, Shep sent her another of those odd looks, halfway between a smile and a smirk. “You actually like kids, don’t you?”

“Yes. What’s wrong with them?”

“Uh, lots .”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, darling , but there’s lots wrong with you, too.” Belatedly, she realized she’d said darling , and her face heated.

He didn’t seem to notice, stepping up to the curb, glancing down the busy street and lifting his arm. “Yeah, but I know it, and I admit to it. Kids just think they’re hot shit.”

“What are you doing?”

His brows lifted. “What’s it look like I’m doing?”

“Why on earth would you hail a cab?”

His gaze dropped to her waist. Lower . “Don’t be a hero, sweetheart,” he said, “you can’t get on the bike today.”

Would a real old lady get into a cab? No. And neither would she.

She folded her arms.

“Uh-oh,” he said, but was clearly biting back a grin.

She cocked her hips for good measure. “Do you honestly believe your cock has the power to keep me from sitting on the back of a motorcycle today?”

“Uh…yeah.”

“Oh, you’re an asshole.”

“You knew that before you begged me to fuck you.”

“I didn’t beg.”

“Oh, there was lots of begging. And for the record, I’m trying to be a gentleman, here. You were a virgin, and we hooked up twice yesterday, and you’re gonna tell me you’re not crazy-sore?”

“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation on a sidewalk.”

She watched him war with, and conquer, his laughter.

Her face was hot, but her own laughter was bubbling in her chest. Arguing with Shep was fun . It was one of her favorite things in the world.

“Put your arm down, you look stupid,” she told him.

He did put it down, and stepped up toe-to-toe with her. “We wouldn’t have to have this conversation at all if you weren’t so stubborn.” His jaw was set, his eyes were dancing. He loved this, too.

He loved her , she remembered, with a sudden, wonderful drop in her stomach. He’d told her so.

“Shep, come on. Are you going to let me take the cab by myself to school?”

“No,” he said, with an implied duh .

“Well, what sense does it make for you to take a cab to NYU, and a cab back here, and then take your bike to run your errands? It doesn’t. Let’s just take the bike now, you can drop me off, and go do your own thing after.”

He frowned. “You’re—”

“Sore, yes, admittedly, but I can handle it. If not, we’ll get a cab then.”

His frown deepened. “You take the Tylenol I left out this morning?”

“Yes, doctor, like a good little patient.”

He huffed a sigh through his nose, but tipped his head and turned for the parking garage. “Alright. I tried.”

He got on the Harley, she buckled her helmet, and things were fine until she swung her leg over. “Ah!” She froze, hand gripped tight on his shoulder.

Shep twisted his head around, unamused. “I told you!”

“No, no, I’m fine, I’m fine.” And she was.

Technically. She hadn’t been careful, and the initial impact had been…

not good. But once she got her feet up on the pegs, and tilted her pelvis back, the first burst of pain tapered off into something manageable.

It wasn’t an injury, more like pressing on a bruise. And not even a bad bruise!

She slid her arms around his waist. “I’m good, let’s go.”

“I’m gonna say one more time,” he said. “That I warned you.”

“Yeah, you did, good job, let’s go .”

“Fine, brat.” He started the bike.

Physically, it was the least comfortable ride of her life.

But she was snugged up against Shep’s back, and she could tell that he was taking all the turns and stops and starts far more carefully than normal.

The cold wind stung her face, and she ducked behind his shoulder and breathed in the old leather of his cut, its top rocker patch rough against her cheek, and she smiled more than she winced.

He knew without direction which building she needed to get to on campus— stalker , she thought lovingly—and pulled right up to the curb, five feet from the door that would lead her to her first class.

He killed the engine when he parked, which meant he heard her little hiss as she dismounted.

His face, beneath his shades, was unimpressed.

“Worth it?”

She smiled at him as she unbuckled her helmet and fluffed her hair. “Definitely worth it.”

She couldn’t see his eyes, but his mouth flattened, then pursed, then flattened again, and his cheeks pinked high along the bone in a way that had nothing to do with the cold morning.

Her smile widened. “Thank you. See you when I get out?”

“Yeah.” His voice was gruff, and he cleared his throat. “I’ll be here. Call before if—”

“I need you?”

“Yeah.”

She leaned in to kiss him. She meant it to be a quick, teasing peck, because she had no idea how he was going to feel about PDA.

He’d held her hand in his pocket yesterday, but that wasn’t the same as kissing.

Some of the Dogs got obnoxious and over-the-top, wanting the world to know their woman was theirs.

Others played it lowkey, looking more like bodyguards than lovers in public.

But to her happy surprise, Shep caught her by the back of the neck before she could draw back, and deepened the kiss. Slipped her a little tongue. She was flush-faced and breathless when she pulled back.

He smirked. “Have a good day.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Then he sat and stared at her.

“You’re going to wait until I’m inside the building, aren’t you?”

“Yep.”

She smacked one last, fast kiss to his cheek, and turned to go, his gaze warm against her back the entire way.

~*~

Shep felt drunk. Not bad drunk, the kind when you wanted to go home and fall face-first into bed.

He was right in that sweet spot, when you’d had enough to laugh long, and loud, and maybe get up and make a fool of yourself on the dance floor, when all the colors smeared in a fun way, and you weren’t ready to puke yet.

That euphoric, floaty feeling that you could do anything. That you could be anyone.

Today, he was the lucky shithead who Cassandra Green wanted, and what the hell had he done to deserve that ?

A small, nagging voice in the back of his head insisted that this was too good to last, and that he should brace himself for impact, because good things didn’t happen to him. People didn’t like him, as a general rule. He didn’t need anyone to like him if Cass loved him.

But she had a big, fucked up family to tell, and he had the club, and things were going to get…complicated. Maybe messy. Maybe even… bad .

He wasn’t going to think about that today.

He arrived at his first stop of the day, an apartment block where one of their dealers had been getting hassle, ready to crack a few skulls, and paused on the curb for a minute to fire off a text.

U get inside ok?