Handle Me

“How long will you be in town?”

There was a part of her that didn’t want to ask. Didn’t want to know when he’d be returning to the same dangerous place that had taken her brother. But the rest of her needed to know just how long she’d have to deal with the tension stringing her body so tight she was afraid she might snap.

“I’ve got two weeks. I figured I’d stay here for a bit. The town council asked me to ride with Kaia as marshal in the Fourth of July parade.”

Great. They’d asked her to as well. Not that she’d expected to avoid him the entire time, but she was hoping to minimize their interaction.

Van just nodded, keeping the information that she’d be there, too, to herself. Maybe she could find a way out of it. If he was there, what did they need her for?

It was bad enough that they were going to be honoring Ryan. She wasn’t sure she could deal with the pain of it all again. Losing him was still too raw.

“I’ll see how you and Kaia are coming along with your training. If you guys are good then I might head to a beach somewhere for a few days before I go back.”

“Training?”

A frown creased the spot right between his blue-gray eyes. She’d always been fascinated with them. The color was so...unusual. And it changed depending on what he wore or what mood he was in.

When she was younger, she used to make up excuses to loiter in the same room as the boys, pretending to read a book or watch a movie. In reality, she’d observed him. Noticed how he guarded himself with everyone—except her family.

As a teenager, she’d watched him go through girls, and fought against the jealousy she couldn’t quite conquer. He’d take them out. Treat them like queens. But never really give them anything of himself. No girl lasted more than a few weeks.

In high school, he’d gotten a reputation for being aloof, but stellar in bed. Details she really hadn’t wanted to know—because it only made her fantasies about him worse—but couldn’t quite escape. Van had gotten sick of being the go-to girl for information and advice on how to catch him. Everyone seemed to think she held the code.

And maybe she did. She had to admit, it’d felt amazing to have him come up to her during a football game, sling his arm around her shoulder and include her in whatever conversation he had going.

As far as she knew, he’d never had a long-term relationship. Not that his career really offered the opportunity to find love.

That was a laugh. Because neither did hers. Eight years of college and medical school, four years of residency. Long hours in the ER and plenty of stress. She’d tried dating in her mid-twenties. Had a solid relationship that lasted about eight months.

Ty shifted, his hips sliding against the counter behind him. God, he looked good. But, then, he always had. His biceps bulged against the tight sleeves of the faded T-shirt he’d thrown on this morning. Ink snaked down his right arm, stark black against the golden tan of his skin.

His thighs were huge. She’d bet she couldn’t wrap both hands around the circumference of one. She’d kill to see him in a pair of running shorts, the ropy muscles bunching and straining with movement. She was definitely a leg and ass girl.

“I had to sign an agreement, on your behalf.”

It took Van several seconds to realize what Ty was talking about. Oh, yeah, they were discussing the dog...and not Ty Colson’s fine physique.

“Kaia can no longer be used for security or patrolling, but she knows plenty of commands, most of them you shouldn’t need. Since I’m here, I wanted to teach you the few that would be useful.”

Van’s eyes went wide. Honestly, when her parents had first told her Ty had contacted them about adopting Kaia she hadn’t known how to feel. Conflicted was really the only choice.

She’d heard Ty tell friends and family at the funeral about how Kaia had stayed with Ryan at the end, draping her body over his in a valiant attempt to shield him, despite her own injuries. She was a soldier, willing to die, and deserved to be rewarded for her service.

But every time Van’s gaze met Kaia’s, taking in her dark brown, watchful eyes and missing leg, a blast of grief shot through her chest. The dog was going to be a constant reminder of Ryan’s death. One she wasn’t sure she was strong enough to endure.

She’d actually been talking about getting a dog for months. She was out of her residency and established in her new career. Tired of coming home to an empty house. She’d mentioned it to her parents, knowing she’d need their help on the days she worked long shifts.

She’d been ready to pull the trigger, but her plans had been put on hold when they’d received word that Ryan had died. And since then it just hadn’t felt right.

But now, how could she say no to taking Kaia? Just thinking about it had made her feel guilty as hell.

Although, if she’d known agreeing would include training sessions with Ty, she probably would have worked harder to find a reason to refuse.

If looking at Kaia had her conflicted, looking at Ty was so much worse.

She hated him. She cared about him. She wanted to hurt him the way she was hurting. She wanted to make sure he was okay.

Honestly, she had no idea what to do with the man and the jumble of emotions he made her feel. It was so much easier just not to deal with them...or him.

But that plan wasn’t going to work for the next couple weeks.

Shit.

“Fine. I took a couple weeks off work to get Kaia settled. I’m sure we can find some time to go over things. Why don’t you give me a call after you’ve checked into your hotel and we can set something up for tomorrow.” Might as well get this over with.

Ty nodded, a soft curl of dirty-blond hair flopping over into his eye. Her fingers tingled with the need to reach over and push it out of the way. Instead, she tightened her grip on the counter.

Silence pressed in on the moment, uncomfortably filling the space between them.

Words she didn’t want to say crawled up the back of her throat. But she swallowed them down. They wouldn’t change anything. Wouldn’t bring her brother back. Couldn’t purge the anger and grief, frustration and accusation. Or the unwanted desire and hot memories that had been haunting her dreams for the past four months.

So, as always, she stayed quiet, bottling it inside until the emotions were one big swirl of confusing sludge sucking at the center of her chest.

After several minutes, Ty said, “I’ll go get Kaia’s things,” and turned to walk away.

Van heard the front door open and close. Kaia’s ears pricked, but she didn’t move from her sentry position beside the doorway.

God, it was going to be a very long two weeks.

3 (#ulink_b6533c12-5aaa-5e41-a4df-370882d1f95f)

“AGAIN.”

Ty watched frustration pinch Van’s mouth. Given any other set of circumstances, the expression might have been endearing. It wasn’t often that Savannah Cantrell struggled with anything. She was a brilliant ER doctor and one of the most intelligent women Ty had ever met.

She’d always been better, smarter than he was. Hell, too wrapped up in his own anger and shitty life, he’d barely graduated high school.

The problem was, she wasn’t the only one suffering.

Kaia, already struggling to compensate for her missing limb, was desperate to prove herself to her new owner. But Van kept giving the poor dog mixed signals. Kaia wasn’t sure what Van wanted...mostly because Van didn’t seem to have a clue what she wanted the dog to do, either.

Van’s bangs flopped against her forehead as she blew a stream of frustrated air from her mouth.

“Let’s be honest, Ty, I don’t think doing it again is going to help.” He watched her expression, now wary and guarded, flit over Kaia. “Maybe taking her isn’t such a good idea.”

Nope. He had to shut that train of thought down.

Stalking across Van’s sunny backyard, he stopped several feet from Kaia. Gaining her attention, Ty lowered his voice and issued a single command. “Heel.”