Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
R iley sighed and leaned back in her office chair. Smoothing back her hair, she tried to get the knots in her shoulders to relax, but they were wound tight and it would take a little extra work to make them release their hold.
Resting her head back, she tried to breathe slowly and bring down the headache that was pulsing in her temples, but it was no use.
Today had been a horrible day, and her body was feeling it.
“Think about something else,” she whispered to her empty office. Immediately, the image of Antony’s tortured face as he leaned in to kiss her came to Riley’s mind.
The moment would’ve been perfect if he hadn’t been so upset about himself. Why he felt like he wasn’t good or that he wasn’t good enough for her was a mystery.
Struggling after an accident like the one he experienced was perfectly normal. Most people would experience depression, anger, bitterness, and being lost. There was nothing unusual about it. Just because Riley had decided it was time to help him past it didn’t mean that there was something wrong with him.
Her brows pulled together even as her eyes stayed closed. How could she help him see that? What did he need in order to feel whole again? In order to feel like he had something to contribute?
A warm touch landed on her forehead, and Riley nearly jumped out of her seat.
“Antony!” she gasped, falling back in her chair and putting a hand on her heart. “I think my heart literally stopped for a second.” Her head jerked toward the door, which was now wide open. “How in the world did you get in here without me hearing?” she demanded.
Antony’s lips were twitching as if he was trying to keep from smiling but he was losing the battle. “The door was cracked.”
“Yeah, but—” She cut off, but Antony finished for her.
“But you should’ve heard my crutch?” He lifted it up and studied it pointedly. “I wasn’t trying to be sneaky.” Shrugging, he put it back down on the floor. “You must’ve been thinking pretty hard.” Laying his free hand on the desk, he leaned down, crowding Riley in her chair. “Which was evidenced by the line between your eyebrows.” Tilting his head, he watched her carefully. “What’s bothering you, sweetheart?”
His term of endearment did interesting things to the rhythm of her heart. Antony was always calling her nicknames. Some of them were flashbacks to when they were kids, but this one? This one was new, and she wanted more of it.
“Say it again,” she whispered before she could stop herself.
Antony frowned. “Say what?”
Riley bit her lips between her teeth. She shouldn’t have said anything. Dang her lack of filter. Things were still brand new between them. She shouldn’t assume anything?—
“Sweetheart.”
Her eyes landed on his. Or more precisely, on his smirk.
Antony leaned closer. “Was that what you wanted to hear?”
Slowly, Riley nodded, her eyes closing as Antony came down farther and kissed her gently. It wasn’t the passion filled exchange of last night, but the tenderness he showed her was just as exhilarating, leaving her feeling light and almost giddy .
After pulling back, Antony left a kiss on the tip of her nose and then her forehead. “I guess all those names I’ve been calling you since we were kids are out, huh?”
Riley laughed at his echo of her own thoughts. Lifting one shoulder in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner, she smiled at him. “I suppose you can call me what you want, Tone.”
He chuckled and looked back before dragging her guest chair around to be closer to where Riley sat. Her heart hit her ribcage when he took her hand and began playing with her fingers. “How was your day?”
Riley’s smile drooped.
Antony stiffened. “What? What happened?”
Riley shook her head. “Nothing, it’s fine.” She went to pull her hand back, but he held on.
“It’s not nothing if it’s causing premature wrinkles.”
Riley gasped and jerked her hand away. “Premature wrinkles! What?”
Antony looked a little too pleased with himself as he leaned back, folding his arms over his broad chest. “You’re beautiful, you know that. But still…you wouldn’t have been looking so worried if things were fine.” His hair spilled across his cheek as he tilted his head to the side. “Spill it.”
“Who made you my keeper?” Riley grumbled, poking out her bottom lip in a decidedly unladylike pout.
“Me. When you agreed to my kiss, you agreed to my keeping.” Antony winked, and Riley couldn’t help but laugh softly.
“I never planned on being a kept woman.”
Antony shrugged. “Get used to it.”
Heat flared in her tummy, and Riley’s smile couldn’t be contained. “I don’t even remember what bothered me,” she said.
“Liar.”
Riley’s eyebrows shot up.
“As I recall, you called me that once.” Antony tilted his chin down and stared her down .
Reluctantly, she nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” Taking a deep breath in through her nose, she pushed her lips to the side. “It really is going to be fine, but sometimes government red tape drives me crazy.”
He took her hand again. “What happened?” This time his question was soft, and Riley couldn’t help but respond.
“I have to send a few animals out.”
His eyebrows went up.
“I’m a small facility,” Riley continued. “When I get an influx of animals, I have to send some of the ones that have been here longer on to other shelters.” Her eyes dropped to her lap. “Sometimes the only places with room are the ones that I try to avoid.”
“The ones who euthanize,” Antony said flatly.
Riley nodded. “Yeah.”
“And that happened today.”
She swallowed hard and nodded again. “Yeah.”
“Aw, Ri…” Antony tugged on her hand, and even though Riley tried to resist, she didn’t last long, eventually letting him pull her out of her chair and into his lap.
“It’s fine,” she murmured, laying her head on his shoulder. “It happens. It’s part of the business.”
“But it still stinks,” Antony retorted. “We can acknowledge that bad things happen without giving them more power. Losing your animals stinks. Not having enough people willing to take them in stinks. Not having enough room for them also stinks.” He ducked his head until their eyes met. “It’s okay. You can say it.”
Riley gave him a sad smile. “It stinks.”
Antony nodded and rubbed his hand up and down her back. “Yes, it does. I’m sorry it had to happen.”
“Me too.” Riley felt herself relax as his warm arms stayed wrapped around her. She snuggled in a little deeper. “This helps make up for it.”
She was so good. Antony shifted against the hard chair, careful not to disturb Riley. He’d never thought about that aspect of her job. Helping animals only to lose them. It had to be heartbreaking.
His mind drifted back to Griffin, who had stayed home today. Despite Antony’s best efforts, he’d become attached to the mutt. Riley had been right. Griffin was a good dog. He stayed by Antony’s side. He followed orders. He didn’t cause a ruckus or bark unnecessarily.
Really, he was the perfect dog.
And it was more than likely due to the fact that Riley had spent so much time training him for Antony.
Antony’s arms tightened. That dog was just another gift from her that Antony would cherish no matter what happened in their relationship.
She jolted a little, then sat up. “I never asked why you came,” she said apologetically. “I’m sorry.” Shaking her head, she played with the collar of his polo. “Here I am worrying about my dumb stuff, not once wondering why you came to the office.”
Antony put his hand on top of hers, stopping it against his chest. “I came to see if you were getting off work soon. I thought maybe I’d take you to dinner.”
RIley raised her head. “Really? Like a date?”
Antony chuckled. “Yeah. Like a date.” He tapped the end of her nose. “I think that’s usually the order people do things in, right? Date, then kiss?”
“In that case, you were backwards,” she teased, standing up and stepping back to her desk.
“Nah.” He wiggled his eyebrows when she looked at him. “I think we did it just right.”
Riley rolled her eyes, but that beautiful blush stole across the bridge of her nose, letting him know she was enjoying the flirting.
“Besides, I don’t know what you call hauling me out of the rain like a rag doll, but I definitely count it as a date.” His grin spread when she pretended to be indignant .
“That was not a date,” Riley argued. “That was you doing something stupid, and Griffin had to save you.”
“Call it what you will,” Antony drawled. “But a beautiful woman appeared in the rain and put her hands on my bare skin. Sounds like a pretty good date to me.”
“You’re terrible,” Riley said through a laugh.
“And yet you’re stuck with me.” He reached for his crutch and stood when she shut her computer. “What would you like to eat?”
Riley paused, scrunching her nose. “Um…I’m not sure. Ideas?”
“I’m sure we could find fish and chips somewhere if we tried real hard.”
Riley shook her head and smacked his shoulder. “You know I hate fish.”
“And yet you live in Oregon.” Antony tsked his tongue. “That should be a crime.”
Putting her nose in the air, Riley walked toward the door. “Who wants to eat something that swims in bacteria-infested water all day long?”
“Who indeed?” He stumbled along beside her as they walked out of the shelter, fighting the frustration trying to catch hold in Antony’s gut as he realized that walking and holding Riley’s hand were going to be nearly impossible.
If he put her on his free side, he could hold her hand, but then it would be jerked around with his weird gait and he sometimes needed to shift for balance, which would only throw Riley off.
Clenching his jaw, he held back a growl. He’d been so eager to come see her after last night. They were less than twenty-four hours into a real relationship, and already he was seeing how difficult it would be.
Women liked it when men held their hand, right? It seemed so ridiculous that he couldn’t even give Riley something as simple as a very natural, normal touch.
His hand clenched and unclenched as he walked, trying to stay steady and calm. This anger that still churned inside of him needed to go. Riley had helped a lot, but whenever he ran into an obstacle, it was like a toddler throwing a tantrum. He knew it needed to be dealt with, but Antony wasn’t quite sure how to get rid of it.
He still had no idea what to do with his life, and he hated how his body wasn’t his any more. His eyes darted sideways as Riley walked calmly with a soft smile on her face. She must’ve felt his attention because she turned her head and met his gaze, then dropped her eyes and her smile widened.
She didn’t seem to mind his mess, and it helped the anger float away. Antony faced forward again, musing on how much of an effect she had on him. It was weird, and awesome and something he never would have imagined in all their growing up years.
“So…” Riley hedged. “Food?”
Antony stopped just before they left the building completely. “Do you want something lighter? Like sandwiches? Or should we hit a greasy spoon and then walk it off?”
She huffed a laugh. “Sandwiches sound great as long as they have soup.” She rubbed her arms. “It’s chilly today. Feels like winter is right around the corner even though it’s summer.”
“Soup it is.” Antony pushed open the door and waved Riley through. “I, uh, didn’t keep my mom’s car after she dropped me off, so we’ll need to walk.”
“I can drive,” Riley offered. “But I’m fine walking.”
“Even though it’s cold?” Antony did his best to keep the embarrassment off his face, but the back of his neck was definitely feeling overly heated.
Pinching her lips between her teeth, Riley reached out and took Antony’s free hand. “I’m sure you’ll find ways to keep me warm,” she whispered hoarsely.
Okay…now the heat was through his whole upper body. Dang, this girl had him off balance. Instead of letting her know just how flustered he was, however, he grinned and squeezed her hand. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.” Tugging her close enough fo r a short peck, he teased, “My mom always did say I was a heater. Something about it being a boy thing.”
Riley laughed in kind, and they headed down the sidewalk. The shelter was on the outskirts of town a little, so it would take them several minutes to get to main street, but if Riley trusted him to take care of her, then Antony was absolutely going to do his best. His messed up, broken best, but his best, nonetheless.
Their arms swung between them and Antony kept checking to see if the awkward gate bothered her, but Riley looked serene and happy, something he hoped he would always see on her face. It suited her, and she deserved every piece of goodness she could handle.
“So,” Riley hedged, giving him the side eye. “What did you spend the day doing?”
Antony tried to shrug, but it didn’t work very well with the crutch under his arm. “I cleaned the bathroom.” He turned to look at her. “After all, it’s been a couple weeks since you came in and blasted every germ to oblivion. I thought maybe a few might have moved back in.”
Riley laughed. “I suppose they have, especially with a dog in the house.” She tilted her head back, looking at the darkening, gray sky. “Did you run?”
“No…I rolled.”
Her smile grew, and she turned it in his direction. “You know what I mean.”
He did, but it still didn’t feel right to say he “ran.” Which was just another point that bothered him about his life. Words he’d always taken for granted didn’t apply to him any more, and it rankled.
“Griffin and I had a nice workout this morning.” Antony flexed the arm she was holding onto. “We’ll try not to spit gravel at you when we whiz by at the race.”
Her laughter lifted some of the weight from his shoulders, and if his gait grew a little smoother and a little lighter as they walked, well…no one could blame him for basking in the joy that was Riley Sumner.