Chapter 9 #3
The dog park sat on the north edge of town, tucked near a walking trail with a view of the foothills and enough open space for Blue to turn himself into a speckled missile.
On a Sunday morning, the place had a handful of regulars: two golden retrievers chasing a tennis ball with religious devotion, a corgi barking at a shepherd as if size were a mere technicality, and an elderly terrier sitting beneath a bench judging everyone.
Blue entered like royalty returning from exile.
Holly unclipped him inside the gate, and he shot across the grass toward the goldens, ears flying, tail high.
For a few minutes, she let herself watch him run.
Blue knew nothing about murder or old cases or men who left before morning.
His whole world was scent, speed, grass underfoot, and the possibility that every dog might become a friend or a herding project.
She envied him.
Reid stood beside her near the fence, hands in the pockets of his jacket, watching Blue make a dramatic turn around the shepherd.
Sunlight caught in Reid’s dark hair and along the edge of his jaw.
He didn’t look tired or rumpled in any obvious way, but it showed in small details: the faint shadow under his eyes, the stiffness in his neck from sleeping at her breakfast bar, the way he rolled one shoulder as if his body had a formal complaint with the night’s arrangements.
Holly should have told him to go home and sleep. Instead, she said, “About last night.”
His attention came to her, steady and careful. “The kiss?”
Trust Reid to walk straight into the burning building.
She glanced back at Blue. “I was going to ease into it.”
He blew out a breath. “Okay. I can backtrack and pretend I don’t understand.”
The faint humor helped, but not enough to keep her heart from kicking against her ribs. She folded her arms, then unfolded them and gripped the top rail of the fence. “I feel like I should apologize.”
“For what?”
Her face warmed. “For putting you in a bad position while you’re here because of a job.”
“I don’t follow.”
She risked looking at him. “You’re working for SPS and protecting me while investigating a murder case tied to my shop.”
“And?”
“Then kissing you wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made.”
His mouth curved slightly, but there was heat beneath the restraint in his eyes. “Objection, Your Honor. I disagree”
The warmth in her face spread to the rest of her, and she looked away before he could see too much. “Reid.”
“I’m not taking it lightly.”
“No?”
“No.” His voice quieted. “I’m glad you kissed me.”
The simple admission stole every practiced response she might have used. Holly watched Blue chase one of the goldens in a wide circle, her fingers tightening around the rail. “I’m not sorry I did. I’m also not sure what to do with it.”
He watched the dogs too for several beats of her heart. “You don’t have to decide today.”
She let out a breath that shook more than she liked.
“Two days ago, my life was perfect. Not perfect in the sense of every detail, but I loved it. Now, everything is out of whack.” Especially since you walked through the door.
“I’ve spent years making Sanctuary into something steady with routines and rules.
I made a place where people could come in and know what they were getting from me—coffee, warmth, a smile if they wanted one.
I thought if I built enough steadiness around myself, nothing could knock me too far off center. ”
Reid didn’t interrupt.
“Now the shop is tied to murder, three people are dead, Nell’s in a coma, and Hopper might be a killer.” She swallowed hard. “And you’re back. You’re under my skin, and I don’t know what to do with that.”
Reid was quiet long enough that Blue completed an entire lap around the park and returned to check whether they were still alive. He bumped Holly’s knee with his nose, then darted away again when the shepherd invited him into a new game.
“Maybe you don’t need to do anything with it yet,” Reid said. “Maybe it gets to be true without becoming a decision.”
Holly stared across the grass. She’d brought up the kiss because she couldn’t bear ignoring it like it was a mistake she needed to keep hidden.
That’s how it had felt after her one night with Reid had ended up all those years ago, and he’d left without a goodbye—as if he’d had to keep it hidden because he was embarrassed by it. By her.
But now, she felt exposed and vulnerable. Which was exactly the reason she’d built Sanctuary—she never wanted to feel like that again.
Across the park, Blue dropped into a play bow, barked once, and launched himself after the corgi. The corgi accepted the challenge with pure confidence, a creature who had never once considered his legs a limitation.
Holly watched them run and wished, just for a little while, that the world could be as simple as grass and sunlight and a dog who believed joy was a task worth doing thoroughly.
Reid stood beside her, close enough that she could feel his warmth. The kiss waited between them, unfinished and impossible to tuck away, but he wasn’t pushing for more and he wasn’t pretending it hadn’t happened.
Maybe that was what made it dangerous.
The problem wasn’t only that Reid had come back, or that she still wanted him. The problem was that some foolish, frightened part of her was beginning to believe he meant to stay.