Chapter Nineteen #2
Her eyelids fluttered closed as she processed. “I do want that, but Zero—”
“Then you’re hired,” he told her succinctly. “But I have a very strict policy about dating my employees.”
Her brow furrowed. “What policy is that?”
“I only date the ones who call me Mr. Renshaw. Can you do that?”
A smile spread across her face, one with a side of wickedness and a hint of a smirk. Exactly the one he liked the best, because it meant she was about to give as good as she got.
“Constantly,” she affirmed and didn’t move a muscle as he closed the gap between them with a slow saunter meant to convey she should watch out. “In fact, I don’t see why I can’t start right now, Mr. Renshaw.”
She caressed every syllable with a tremor-inducing silk that instantly made him want to hear it again. Because this was what it felt like to be himself. Not the self he’d been before, but the man she’d always seen when she looked at him. The man he could only be with Delilah.
Thank goodness. He’d finally gotten his head out of his rear end long enough to figure out what he wanted.
“Glad we’re on the same page,” he murmured as he crowded into her space. “Just for the record, we should get a few other things straight as well.”
He didn’t hesitate, did not pass go. Just swept her up in his arms, then kissed her with every ounce of pent up everything. She responded instantly, throwing her arms around his neck and holding on.
His world had righted. Finally. All it had taken was a mountain of angst and a recognition that he couldn’t possibly stop what was happening between them.
Nor did he want to. Rob would have understood, and Sheridan…
she’d turned a corner, smiled a lot more.
With Delilah back on the ranch, Will Turner would be fully trained as an emotional support dog.
They’d all get through this. Thanks to Delilah.
Nothing stood in his way except his own fears and he’d already tried letting Delilah go as a mechanism to deal with them. That hadn’t worked. The only thing that would? Exactly what he was doing now.
She kissed him back with so much intensity he felt his knees turn to jelly. He was here for it.
Eventually he came up for air, nuzzling her hair where it covered her ear. “Normal is overrated.”
She pulled back, shock zipping through her eyes that had indeed turned a greenish color when he kissed her. “What is this madness? Zero Renshaw is not interested in normal? Next you’ll be telling me you’ve tossed all your calendars in the garbage.”
He laughed, and it cleared out the cobwebs from his soul. This was what he’d needed. Not order or schedules, but the lovely brand of chaos that came wrapped up in Delilah Kersey.
“Maybe we have our own brand of normal. I’m looking forward to seeing what that looks like.” A shadow passed over her face that had him doing a double take. “What?”
“I’m not so good at normal,” she confessed with a tight-lipped frown.
“And I do eventually have to go back to college. We both know it’s not going to take long to finish training Will Turner and then what?
Winging it may not be your speed, but it’s mine, and I’m not sure where we’ll go from here.
It’s a lot easier to sign up for no expectations and knowing you have none when our future isn’t so certain.
We can joke about tossing calendars in the garbage, but that would give you hives. ”
No, it would give him hives to lose this woman again. This was where he needed to put the stake in the ground. To earn his right to be happy. Otherwise, they’d be dancing around each other forever, neither of them willing to stick their neck out.
Because at the end of the day, she might have left, but he’d pushed her out the door.
“What if I offered you a more permanent position?” he asked as thrilling, half-formed plans spilled through his heart, gaining traction as he opened himself up to possibilities. “A long term one. As the lead dog trainer of the Flying Pig.”
A strange, baffled expression replaced the distraught one of a moment ago. “I’m almost out of dogs. Unless you’re talking about letting me buy you a couple more to herd the cattle, like I suggested.”
“No.” It was all so clear now. Why he’d never gotten as excited about the cattle as he did about seeing the Captains herd them.
Why he constantly thought of the Flying Pig as his grandpa’s ranch, instead of his when he owned it and worked on it every day.
“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about you training dogs.
Emotional support dogs. New ones that we go find from…
somewhere. That’s your talent, where you shine.
You haven’t seen Will Turner with Sheridan yet.
You’ll feel that connection in your bones, I swear, and you did that.
That’s not something you learn. You were born to do this. ”
The look on Delilah’s face—cautious hope and a dawning sense of awe—nearly gutted him.
“Are you being serious right now?” she breathed. “You’d consider letting me train emotional support dogs on the ranch? Other than Will Turner? Like as a job?”
He smiled as his heart thumped once and turned over to resettle in a new place, a better place as he embraced the truth. “Not considering it. I’m saying the Flying Pig isn’t a cattle ranch. It was never supposed to be. That was my grandpa’s dream. It’s time to talk about what I want. My dream.”
“What’s that?” she whispered as he pulled her closer, sinking his fingers into her hair.
“You,” he murmured. “The dogs, the ranch, our family, all of it. I want to see what chaos looks like, and I can’t think of anything closer to heaven than having a dozen dogs running around this place as we figure out how to build a business training them to help others heal.”
The way Delilah had helped him heal. Without even realizing it. He owed her so much. The least he could do was give her everything.
“Tell me more,” she pleaded as he laid his lips on hers, desperate to feel that connection with her that he’d been fighting for so long.
“We can use the ranch. The barn can hold a lot more dogs,” he said, his excitement mounting. “We can work together. Every day. On purpose. Helping dogs and people become their best selves. I’m going to ask Sheridan to work with us, to helm the business side.”
Sheridan’s degree in business administration couldn’t be a more perfect fit. And if she didn’t want to jump into this crazy idea, he’d find another way to make it work. But he had a feeling she’d be on board.
“Training emotional support dogs?” she repeated as if dazed. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
He could already see it in his mind’s eye. Though in his version, he did a lot of corralling Delilah into a dark corner for some very hands-on coffee breaks.
“Yes. For veterans and their families.” This was what his grandpa’s ranch should be used for. He knew it instantly, immediately. It was a fitting tribute to Rob’s memory, one Sheridan would appreciate. This felt more right than anything he’d ever done.
Other than giving himself permission to live again. To love.
“What about college?” she asked, throwing a damper on his euphoria.
“Delilah.” He pulled back and framed her face with his hands. “If art is what makes you happy, then you should finish your degree. I want to do this with you, but I can find another dog trainer. This is your choice.”
“My choice,” she repeated softly and blinked, gazing up at him. “This all just sounds so permanent.”
“Yeah.” That’s what he wanted. With Delilah. But she had to want it, too.
“But you and I, we’re still on a trial basis,” she pointed out, rightly so. “How do you know this is something I can do? We still need to have some check-ins and weekly follow-ups to make sure we’re on track.”
She meant their relationship. And dog training, too, probably. He could see the self-doubt in her gaze, feel her hesitation and probably a good bit of fear. Which he fully understood and sympathized with. She needed to hear him say what was in his heart.
“We’re on track,” he growled and kissed her again for good measure. “You get the role of someone I could fall for. Because I already have.”
Delilah had helped him become his best self, helped him heal. This was what peace felt like.
“That’s a relief,” she said with a wide, misty smile that eased the knot in his gut. “I was worried about beating out all of the competition.”
“There is no competition,” he murmured and tapped his heart. “Not in here. That’s all you. Delilah, I’m in love with you. I love you. It doesn’t get more permanent than that.”
And it bothered him not one bit he’d offered her everything with no guarantees it wouldn’t fall apart. That man who’d been afraid to live? He didn’t want to ever meet up with that guy again.
“I’ll be more careful with it this time,” she said softly and covered his hand with hers, right over his heart. “I’ll do my best to earn your trust every day this time. Because I love you, too.”
Therein lay the beauty of giving them a second chance— he didn’t have to go back to the shadows of life. Not with Delilah by his side. If he did it right, that’s where she’d stay forever.
He liked the sound of that.