I shake my head and wiggle my fingers in the air. “See? Totally fine.”
He laughs again, and I’m struck by how much I like being the reason. “Those were some pretty half-assed jazz hands. You gotta stand and gimme the full twirl for dramatic effect. Really sell it to me if you want me to let you leave here without dragging you back to my place to check you out.”
He takes my hand and stands, pulling me to my feet while I half contemplate faking a broken bone, because taking me home to check me out? Sign me the fuck up.
“Wanna know what’s funny, though?” He gestures at his dog. “His name is Bear.”
I smack my palm off my forehead as it all comes together. “Oh, duh! I thought you were warning me about an incoming bear.” I give his shoulder a playful shove. “So it is your fault I wound up in the dirt.”
He winks. “C’mon. There’s a creek just up ahead we can get you cleaned up in.”
I know where the creek is, of course. Piglet and I wade through it after lunch every time we’re here. She loves to splash, and wading in ankle-deep water is one of the ways I’ve been slowly working myself back up to—one day, hopefully—swimming.
But I don’t know this man, and somewhere in these bushes is a dog, hiding scared, because she doesn’t know him either.
“I can’t, actually, but thank you.” I find the tail end of Piglet’s leash, lost in all the commotion. It leads me around a rock, and I find my sweet girl cowering. “Hi, beautiful,” I whisper, crouching to her level and ditching my backpack. She creeps toward me, tail between her shaking legs. I look at the man behind me, watching us curiously. Every line in his face softens as Piglet nestles into me. “Piglet’s a dog from the shelter I work at.”
He looks down at Bear. The compassion in both their gazes warms my heart. “Did we scare you, girl? We didn’t mean to, buddy, did we?”
“I found her tied up out front early one morning a few months ago,” I explain. “She was scared and anxious, and she snapped at a few of us. We don’t know what happened to her, but she was severely malnourished and had a few cracked ribs.” I rub the spot between her eyes, and she leans into my embrace. “She’s just a sweet snuggle bug, but she’s still learning to trust people. She’s especially scared of men.”
His frown deepens, blue eyes etched in sadness. He and Bear share a long look before sinking to the ground behind me. Bear rests his head on his paws, watching Piglet.
“I’m Adam, by the way.”
My cheeks heat, no doubt turning the same color as my name. “Rosie.”
“Rosie,” his deep voice murmurs, dazzling eyes slowly roaming my face as his smile erupts into a breathtaking grin. “I like that.”
I hide my warm face and a smile that’s equal parts shy and giddy as I stroke Piglet’s fur.
Adam picks a blade of grass, twirling it between his fingers before he tickles Bear’s nose with it. “Do you like hiking with Rosie, Piglet? I bet you don’t knock her down like big, ferocious Bear, here, do you?”
Piglet lifts her head off my lap and cocks it, blinking at Adam.
“Oh, you’re a pretty girl, aren’t you? Just beautiful, and I bet your heart is too.”
I smile down at her as she looks from me to Adam. “You don’t have to sit here with us. I know it’s not very fun. She just needs a little patience.”
“We don’t mind.” He nudges Bear. “And we can be patient, too, can’t we, buddy? Except when it comes to cheeseburgers.”
Bear woofs, and when I giggle, Piglet slowly inches off my lap, sliding along her belly, a little closer to the boys. Bear’s ears perk, and he looks to Adam for instruction.
“Patience,” Adam reminds him gently.
Bear lays his head back on his paws, waiting. Slow as molasses, Piglet moves closer, one inch at a time, her body raking across the ground, peeking back at me after each movement to check that I’m still here.
“I’m with you,” I assure her, trying to keep a handle on my excitement.
Cautiously, Piglet climbs to her feet. Bear stays still as she roams his side, sniffing his ear, his neck, down his back all the way to his huge, fluffy tail, twitching with happiness. When she moves back toward his face, that tail starts a steady thump against the ground.
Piglet lies down in front of Bear, nose to nose, two pairs of chocolate brown eyes staring at each other, and I clutch my chest, right where my heart is bursting. I look to Adam and blush when I find his smiling eyes set on me.
“You’re so cute right now,” he whispers, chuckling at my flapping hands as I look back at the dogs.
“Me? They are!”
Right on cue, Bear opens his mouth, tongue dipping out, swiping right across Piglet’s nose, and I bury my entire face in my hands so I don’t accidentally squeal.
And then the most amazing thing happens. My sweet, brave Pig stands again, turning her attention to Adam. Her tail tucks low for only a moment, but as he sits still and lets her smell him, it lifts again. She sticks her nose in his face, making him chuckle, and the soft noise sends her tail wagging through the air, swiping me across the face.
“Can I pet her?” Adam asks. “I understand if it’s too soon. I don’t want to undo any of your progress with her.”
Before I can answer, Piglet drags her tongue from Adam’s chin right up to his forehead, where those curls spring free when she knocks his hat off his head.
“Pig!” I snicker, rocking forward. “At least take him to dinner first!”
My snickering takes a turn for the worst when Piglet climbs aboard Adam, straddling his lap and going to town on his face, and I accidentally snort. I clap my hands over the noise, but Adam’s too busy laughing, trying to fend off the German Shepherd in his lap who seems to have claimed him as her own, and Bear decides we’re missing out.
He scurries around me, nudging my shoulder, my head, before finally giving up and bulldozing me straight into Adam’s lap. Piglet leaps off him as I claim the space, flopping onto her back, paws in the air as she and Bear start rolling around.
“Bear!” Adam scolds playfully, grasping my wrists as I try to right myself between his legs. “You knocked Rosie over again!”
“I’m sorry,” I sputter, climbing to my knees. I grab his muscular thigh, way too close to the lump between his legs, and my eyes widen when I realize. My hand slips, and I fall forward, my chest mashing against his, sending him tumbling backward with me on top of him. “So sorry, Adam, I swear.” I claw at his chest, trying to push away while he keeps laughing. When I finally sit up, flushed and sweaty, I realize I’m straddling a total stranger.
I look down. Down at his broad body, his T-shirt pushed up, exposing that exquisitely carved slab of marble, and are those—? Holy forkballs, they are. Thick, popping veins, one on each side of his torso, running below the waistband of his shorts, which I actually can’t see, because I am actively sitting my crotch right on top of this man’s cock.
Oops.
“Ah !” I shriek, throwing myself off his lap. My foot catches on his leg, and I stumble backward, still shrieking, waiting for my impending death via falling off a mountain.
Adam simply reaches up, catching a handful of my T-shirt, tugging me back to safety. I land back in his lap, hands on his chest, my breathing staggered and heavy. My heartbeat drops between my legs as those blue eyes hold mine and he whispers, “Don’t go dying on me, Rosie. I’m not ready to let you go yet. We’ve only just met.”