She nods, frowning. “O-okay.”

  Resting my elbows on the table, I massage my temples. “Before… before you lost the baby, did you see it on one of those machines?”

  Her lips turn down, her bottom lip trembling silently. She turns away before answering. “No. My ultrasound was due two weeks after I lost her. I did hear her heartbeat though.”

  I sit forward, feeling my throat tighten. “What was it like?”

  Her eyes glisten. “A miracle. It sounded like a miracle. Describing it doesn’t even come close to the actual experience. There’s nothing more perfect than the sound of a life growing inside of you. It was fast, a constant thump, thump, thump. I didn’t want the midwife to turn it off,” she tells me wistfully.

  And I missed it.

  “You said she… Did you know the sex of the baby?”

  She wipes the tears that manage to escape. “I didn’t. It was too early into the pregnancy to tell. I just pictured a little girl every time I thought of her. I named her Avery in my head,” she murmurs with a faraway look.

  “Avery,” I whisper, testing the name on my lips. “I like it.”

  She gives me a watery smile. “Me too,” she says, before breaking down into tears. Not equipped for this kind of thing, I do what my mum would do and get up. I walk around the table, pull out the chair next to her and take a seat. She covers her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking with her cries.

  I pull her out of her chair, lifting her into my lap. She protests at first, but settles down as I strengthen my hold and rock us back and forth gently. “Shh, I got you,” I tell her, resting her head on my shoulder.

  She clings to me, gripping my shirt. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. You didn’t even get to experience her heartbeat. I feel like I’ve taken everything from you.”

  “Not everything,” I whisper, kissing the top of her head. “Your brothers let slip that you nearly died miscarrying. I didn’t lose you, so you didn’t take everything.” I holder her tighter, remembering the confrontation I had with her brothers last night after leaving her mum.

  She looks up at me through wet lashes, her nose bright red. She opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. Instead, her hazel eyes lock on mine, and I feel like I’m drowning in them. Her lips part with a gasp of air as I draw closer, needing to taste her, feel her. Her hands linger on my chest, her fingers twitching before slowly moving upward. I inhale, closing my eyes at the rush of emotion just one touch can cause.

  Only a mere breath away, my eyes flutter open. She’s staring up at me, doe-eyed, and her tongue darts out to lick her bottom lip.

  “Fuck,” I groan, leaning in to take her mouth with mine.

  She turns her head at the last minute, clearing her throat. Startled by what is happening, I don’t fight her as she gets off my lap.

  “We’d better get going if we want to get some work done,” she says impassively.

  “Paisley,” I call out, reaching for her. She steps away before I can touch her.

  “I just need to grab my bag,” she evades.

  “Paisley,” I call out, louder and harsher.

  She turns when she reaches the kitchen door. “I won’t be long. It’s just in my room.”

  I sigh when she walks out of the room. I’ve royally screwed up. I look at the watch on my wrist. I still have eight hours to turn this day around.

  *** *** ***

  I was lying when I told Paisley she needed to be here to choose her door. I knew exactly what door she was looking for after seeing her designs for the bed and breakfast. She wants it to be warm, inviting, and to go with the dark mahogany wood she has throughout the entire building.

  I just wanted to spend time with her. Now, I’m regretting my decision. This is worse than going to strip club with my cousin/ best friend.

  She bends down again to look at another price tag before snapping back up, causing a groan to rumble from my chest. Her arse in the air like that is giving me ideas, and if she’s not careful, I’ll be dragging her down a quiet aisle and pulling that skirt up around her hips before sinking slowly into her.

  “I don’t know,” she mumbles.

  “Can you just pick a door already,” I demand dryly.

  She looks over her shoulder at me, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “But there are so many. And it’s like you said, I need to pick the right one.”

  She’s playing with me. I see it in her eyes, hear it in her sweet tone.

  “You are evil,” I tell her, taking a step towards her.

  “Whatever do you mean?” she says sweetly, batting those eyelashes innocently at me.

  Another step closer.

  “You know exactly what I mean.”

  She squeals when I narrow my gaze at her and goes to make a run for it. I grab her around the waist, pulling her back against my chest. I nuzzle her neck, breathing in her sweet perfume.

  Giggling, she tries to wriggle free. “Put me down.”

  “No!”

  “What do you mean, no?” She pauses when I start walking. “Wait, where are we going?”

  “Back to the door you should have picked over an hour ago,” I tell her, unable to keep the annoyance out of my tone.

  She sniffs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t liked any.”

  Lies. I watched the way her face lit up when we saw a double mahogany frame with the decorative glass on display.

  When I drop her right in front of the display, she sighs. “Okay, I really did love this one. But how did you know?” she asks, turning to face me.

  I roll my eyes. “Your expression kind of gives away your feelings.”

  A light blush fills her cheeks, making me inwardly grin.

  “Hmm. I’ll have to remember that,” she says absentmindedly. “But you have you admit, you kind of deserved it for making me come with you.”

  “Or you really just wanted to spend some alone time with me,” I state, giving her a pointed look.

  She blushes, looking away. “Let’s just order the door. I have a million things to do.”

  Hoping those million things to do will be inside the bed and breakfast, I nod and wave down an assistant.

  *** *** ***

  My mind is back on Paisley as Charlotte and I walk through the building where Faith keeps her cats. Paisley was quiet on the drive home from the DIY store, and the second I pulled the truck into park outside of the bed and breakfast, she was out of the car in a flash. I thought we were making progress from that morning. She seemed to relax around me, even spoke up more.

  “But, Faith,” Charlotte whines, sounding devastated, which snaps me right out of it.

  Blinking out of my fog, I notice Faith shift nervously on her feet, looking anywhere but at Charlotte.

  “Isn’t Katnip enough for the time being?” Faith softly asks, looking down at the beige and white kitten.

  Charlotte lovingly strokes her, and the cat hisses, swiping her paw out. I step away from the thing, eyeing it carefully when it turns to look at me. Its big green eyes are all too knowing for my taste. It hisses at me.

  “Maybe you should pick another one,” I suggest, eyeing the thing with distain.

  “No, I think she likes me,” Charlotte says, rubbing her cheek against Katnip’s head. It goes mental, clawing and hissing whilst trying to escape.

  “Are you sure?” I ask dryly, clicking my tongue.

  She beams at me, nodding before turning back to Faith, her eyes round and pleading. “Please let me have the last one. She’ll be all alone if I don’t.”

  Faith looks close to tears. “They don’t get along, Charlotte.” She’s telling the truth, and as I look back down at the cat digging its nails into Charlotte’s arm, it doesn’t take much of a guess to know who the problem is.

  “Why don’t you have the other one?” I try again.

  “I want this one. I walked right up to the cage and she came straight at me, lifting her paws,” she gushes.

  “Or trying to claw your face off,” I mutter under my breath.

  “What was that?”

  “Nothing,” I lie, eyeing the evil cat once again.

  “Why can’t I take her sister?”

  I sigh, because there is no way I’m being partly responsible for two fucking cats. And if it means she goes home with the devil spawn, I can live with it—as long as she doesn’t come back with two. Faith is two seconds away from giving in. “A little unfair on Katnip, isn’t it?”

  Charlotte watches me questioningly. “What do you mean?”

  I shrug, like I’m not bothered. “I mean, she picked you, and you picked her, but then you go and pick another? She will probably think you don’t love her.”

  I feel like a dick when her eyes glisten with tears as she looks lovingly down at Katnip. The cat hisses, digging her claws in further. I wince when I see it’s drawn a little blood, wanting to grab it by the scruff of its neck and put it back.

  “Oh, but I do love her,” she tells us. “Maybe just having Katnip will be for the best. I don’t want her to feel like that.”

  I don’t think that cat gives a fuck, but I don’t voice that out loud.

  Faith claps her hands. “That’s settled then. I just need to go check on one of the puppies before I hand over the paperwork for her. Is that okay?”

  “Puppies?” Charlotte asks, her eyes glowing.

  Faith winces. “Yes, it will probably be best if you put Katnip into her carrier.”

  Charlotte nods, hurrying to put her in. Katnip hisses, moving to the far end of the carrier. She walks around in a circle, hisses, then flops down, licking her paw.

  Licking the blood from her latest victim.

  We follow Faith into the second building, and I have to say, I’m impressed with what she has accomplished in such a short amount of time. Already, her practice can treat and house more animals. She’s hired three more vets and run the shelter side here on the farm. Any strays that come here are treated and viewed until they are ready to be rehomed.

  Beau, her fiancé, has been helping her get funding for the strays from all over the UK. It was his dedication to get it that cemented him into the family on my part. If some fucker can deal with them pompous arses for a woman, then he must love her. It doesn’t hurt that we know he’d die for her. Faith deserves nothing less.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Charlotte asks, bringing me out of my thoughts. I hadn’t even realised we’d stopped.

  At the back of the cage is a black and gold German Shepherd, quivering in fear.

  Faith sighs, bending down to empty the still full food bowl and replacing it with some fresh food. “He was found tied to a tree in a park by a couple walking their dog. We’ve tried to bring him into the house, but he’s scared of Roxy, even though they’re the same breed.”

  I don’t know what compels me to do so, but I bend down, wanting a closer look. He lifts his muzzle, sniffing the air, and our eyes meet. A bond snaps into place, and an overwhelming feeling of being needed and wanted hits me. For some reason, I know this dog has had his fair share of loss and pain, but most of all, he knows what it’s like to be abandoned. Which is exactly how I felt after Freya died.

  His nose twitches as he warily gets up on all fours. “That’s weird,” Faith whispers.

  “What is?” Charlotte asks, peering over my shoulder.

  “He never moves… Oh my gosh, he’s coming out of the cage,” she says in astonishment.

  I watch, feeling a piece of my heart mend as the dog walks up to me. His wet nose nudges my hand, and I let him sniff it before running my fingers through his dark, thick fur.

  “Hey, buddy,” I whisper, smirking when he begins to whine, standing up on his back legs. Chuckling, I lift him to my chest and stand up with him in my arms.

  “Oh my gosh,” Faith gushes, her hand to her chest.

  “You got food for him that I can take with me?”

  “You’re taking him home?” she asks in bewilderment.

  “Yeah,” is all I tell her, reaching back down to stroke the little guy.

  “He needs training, a lot of training,” she says slowly, like that will change my mind.

  I shrug. “I don’t care. He’s coming home with me.”

  She narrows her eyes. “If it weren’t for the fact that this is the first time since he arrived two weeks ago that he has stopped shaking, I’d say no. But I can’t bear to see him suffering any longer.”

  He licks my face when I stop paying him attention, and I chuckle. “Just bag up enough supplies for the night and I’ll get the rest tomorrow.”

  “What are you going to call him? We’ve been calling him Shepherd.”

  I scrunch my nose up in disgust. “No wonder he’s been fucking shaking in the back of the cage. I’ll call him Rex.”

  “It took me days to name a cat, Landon. Maybe you should think about it. What about Brandy or Buttercup?” I slowly turn around to face Charlotte. She looks away, biting her lip at my expression. “It was just a suggestion,” she sighs, her shoulders slumping.

  “It’s Rex,” I state, then look down at my dog. “You like Rex, don’t you?”

  He yaps, licking my face, and I chuckle.

  “Yep, he likes it,” Faith says, giggling when he doesn’t stop. “Charlotte, I don’t have any supplies in at the moment for the cats. Our delivery doesn’t come until the morning.”

  “It’s okay, I already have everything. It’s why I met Landon here. I forgot to get a scratch post from the pet shop, so I went to pick it up. Dad and Mum are coming over after to meet her.”

  More like check up on her. Little do they know it will be Charlotte who needs watching over. That cat is evil.

  “Can you drop me off at Lily’s? She wants me to look over Willa and it saves Beau dropping me off. Mum said she’ll bring me back.”

  “Yes, of course I can. Is Willa okay?”

  “Hopefully. Lily said she’s bumping into stuff more than usual, so I might have to bring her to the vets for a check-up.”

  “I’ll meet you out front to grab the stuff off you,” I quickly tell Faith, who nods.

  I rush to the front of the house, where I find Beau, this time out of his uniform and drinking a cup of coffee.

  “Cute dog,” he mutters as he watches me approach.

  I don’t say anything. Instead, I stare him dead in the eye. “You’re coming to movie night with the Hayes family.”

  He chokes on his drink. “Are you fucking crazy?”

  I tilt my head, then shrug. “Maybe.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  PAISLEY

  Pushing my half-eaten food away, I begin to regret volunteering to help Mum on the farm today.

  I want to blame Landon for the rash decision, but it would be unfair. It’s me who has the problem controlling my hormones around him. Every touch, every twitch of his lips that threatens to pull into a smirk, get to me. They affect me so bad all I can picture is jumping him. And his eyes… My God. Those freaking eyes could cause women to walk into lampposts.

  “Maybe you should come back to work until Carter has finished with the bed and breakfast,” Jaxon suggests, his expression hopeful.

  I narrow my gaze on him. “No.”

  “I don’t want you around him,” he grumbles.

  “I don’t want you sticking your nose in my business; we can’t have everything.”

  Mum claps her hands to interrupt up. “Let’s get the snacks for the movie ready.”

  Picking my plate up, I say, “Sounds good to me.”

  “Are you on your period?” Reid blurts out.

  I slam my plate down on the table before slowly turning to him. “Are you being serious?” I ask, feeling my face heat.

  He tries to act laid back as he lazily shrugs, but then his eyes dart around the room and he begins to rub the back of his neck. “You’ve been pissy since our argument. You were never bitchy or moody before then.”

  “Much,” Wyatt adds.

  I keep staring as Jaxon steps in, digging their graves deeper. “I think what he’s trying to say is that you’re snapping all the time. It’s not like you. You’re usually quiet—”

  I hold my hand up, stopping him. “You mean obedient? Have you ever thought you might’ve pushed me to my breaking point? Before, I let you get away with your crap because it never hurt me. It never cut through my soul. Putting your nose in my business, saying those hurtful words to me… that broke me. Now, I’m not taking shit from you or anyone else again.”

  “So, you aren’t staying away from Landon?” Reid asks, looking confused.

  Give me strength.

  “I’m going to say this once and once only, so do not mention it again. Landon only wants to be friends.” I give each a pointed look as I take a deep breath. I don’t tell them about the mixed signals. “I don’t know what I want, and when I do, I won’t be telling you,” I tell them heatedly.

  Jaxon goes to open his mouth—no doubt to argue—but Mum pushes her chair back, getting up. “Where the hell are the twins? They said they’d be back for dinner.”

  Shaking his head, he pulls his gaze from me to Mum. “They said they were doing a science project for school.”

  Isaac looks up from finishing his food, his eyebrows drawn together. “No, they ‘ent. They were messing with the petrol for the mower in the barn.”

  Mum’s eyes widen with horror. “If they are selling that again, I will ring their necks.”

  Luke chuckles. “Nope. I think they made something and need it for that.”

  Mum still looks doubtful, and Eli, third eldest, gets up from his chair. “I’ll go get them. They can finish whatever it is tomorrow.”

  He heads out the backdoor, ducking his head as the rain begins to pour. It looks miserable out, and I’m kind of glad Landon managed to finish the doors today. I saw two people turn up to help, but I was too much of a chicken shit to walk over.

  The bell to the front door rings. We all glance at each other, yet no one moves.

  “Who is it?” Reid asks.

  “The tooth fairy,” I reply sarcastically, moving to go answer.