Page 62 of Puppy Kisses

“Why didn’t we have the conversation? Well, I presume it’s because there was no need. I mean, it’s obviously not something you’re ready for. Not,” she added quickly, “that I’m judging you for it. You’re an attractive, virile man. I’d be more surprised to find that youdon’thave hordes of women lining up to take advantage of you.”

It was just like her to say something so easy and generous, but Adam forced himself to brush that part aside. What he wanted to know—what hehadto know—was why she’d put all other men aside for him.

“No, why haven’t you slept with anyone else?” he asked. His voice didn’t sound like his own, but at least it didn’t sound how he felt. Wild.Desperate.

He felt her shrug next to him before she began tapping a random beat on the steering wheel. “I didn’t want to.”

“Why?” he persisted. He had to know. He had to understand.

The tapping stopped. “Because you’re enough.”

All of the air left his lungs at once. It was such a simple thing for her to say—such a normal collection of words—that emptiness shouldn’t have been his first reaction at hearing them. If anything, he should have been filled, buoyed, delighted.

He wasn’t.

The woman he loved thought he was enough. The woman he loved wanted only him.

The woman he loved was categorically, devastatinglywrong.

“Oh,” he said flatly, fearful of what would happen if he loosened the rein on his emotions even a little. “That’s nice. Thank you.”

“So…are we good?” Dawn’s voice was equally flat, equally controlled. “We’ll keep using condoms, keep this conversation in the wings where it belongs?”

“Yeah. That’s probably for the best.”

He almost crossed his fingers in an attempt to draw as much luck around him as he could. He needed Dawn to put the car in drive. He needed her to take them to town, where the shiny new cattle bander would force any and all thoughts of intimacy out of their minds. Otherwise, there was a good chance he’d tell her what he was really thinking.

You’re enough for me, too.

It was an easy enough sentence to say—full of meaning yet promising nothing—but he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop there.

Dawn was enough for him. She was everything to him. She was the first thing he thought about in the morning and the last thing he dreamed of at night.

And he couldn’t, shouldn’t,wouldn’task her to share in a life as small and demanding as his. Not because he was afraid she’d say no, but because there was a chance, however remote, that she’d say yes.

“Well, that felt good, didn’t it?” Dawn asked, her voice bright. She also did all those things he’d been hoping for—buckled her seat belt and got the car moving again. “Not as good as a quick fuck on the side of the road, obviously, but I wish you could have seen the look on Murphy’s face when you threatened to tattle to Sheriff Jenkins.”

Adam relaxed into his seat and gave himself over to the familiar comfort of Dawn’s playfulness. He should have known that she wouldn’t fall into maudlin tears or berate him for not saying what was in his heart. This feeling of complete and utter heartbreak might be new for him, but she’d seen enough of this world and its inhabitants to be able to move on with her life.

And moving on with her life was exactly what Adam needed her to do. Not for his sake, but for hers. She was a woman who deserved to reach incredible heights, to experience everything this world had to offer with joy and enthusiasm.

He couldn’t be the reason she settled for anything less than extraordinary.

“I didn’t tattle,” he protested, his tone matching hers. “I threatened in a highly masculine and intimidating way.”

She laughed before pressing her foot heavily on the gas and shooting them into traffic. “Well, whatever you call it, it was a glorious thing to behold. I’ll always consider you my white knight, Adam Dearborn.”

He made a face. “Please don’t. If there’s one thing I can promise you, it’s that I’m not the hero you’ve been looking for.”

She paused. The exigencies of traffic might have been demanding her attention, but Adam had the feeling there was more to her silence than that.

“Don’t worry,” she eventually said. “If there’s one thing I know, it’s that fairy-tale endings are never everything they’re cracked up to be.”

Chapter 13

It was just like Dawn’s sisters to know exactly when to show up with fun surprises and serious distractions.

“It’s about time you got home!” Sophie yanked open the front door to the home they’d once shared just as Dawn was about to slip her key in. Her sister had a bottle of champagne in one hand, her whole body vibrating with some unknown excitement. “We were about to give up and start drinking without you.”