Searching for Always (Page 85)

“Except Nate,” Kate said. “He said you were worse than any man.”

Kennedy beamed. “Well, I gotta make him work for it, don’t I?”

“Guys, I don’t know what to do. When we started this thing, we agreed it would be about sex. Then we moved it a bit into companionship, and you convinced me to invite him to the wedding.”

“Which went famously well, I thought,” Kate said. “He was a big hit. Slade loved him.”

“So did Nate.”

“I know, but now he did something terrible and ruined the whole affair thing.”

“What?” Kate demanded.

“He fostered Pinky for me. And fell in love with her. And he hates dogs, because he got bit by a pit bull years ago, but he took in Pinky as a favor and now he carries her around with him because he refuses to leave her alone, and he has this great big heart, and he wrung, like, a million orgasms from me that night with the ice, and I fell in love with him. And if I tell him, he’ll run and refuse to look back, because he doesn’t think he can be in a relationship because of all these excuses he believes are true.”

Kennedy let out a breath. “Dudette, this is crazy. How many orgasms? Did you like the ice?”

“Focus!” Kate snapped. “We can’t talk about the sex now.”

“Sorry. Umm, okay, most men run at the idea of the word love being thrown around. Maybe he needs some time to get used to the idea.”

“You think?” Arilyn murmured. “He’s been divorced so he’s bitter, and he says he’s a workaholic, and I know we’re opposites, but there’s something about us that just fits.”

“Slade was divorced,” Kate said. “We had a lot of ups and downs, but eventually he came to realize just because it didn’t work with his ex doesn’t mean it never works at all.”

“I think he’s using excuses to keep him from admitting the truth,” Arilyn said softly. “I know it’s only been a little while, but I swear he has all these emotions inside to give. There’s a connection between us. The way he looks at me, touches me. He just hates talking about feelings.”

Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Men like to work out their emotions in bed. It’s the simpler way of communicating. I think he calls for a bit of patience. Cops are bristly, hard-core cases.”

Kate chimed in. “I agree. Give him some time to discover it on his own.”

“So I shouldn’t tell him I fell in love with him?”

“No!” they both said together.

“At least, not yet,” Kate clarified. “Slade freaked out. Kennedy did the same. So did Wolfe when Gen finally confessed her love. We don’t want you to go through the same thing. If you give him a bit more space, he’ll figure out he’s madly in love with you and you’ll get your happy ever after.”

“Probably,” Kennedy said.

“Definitely,” Kate said.

Arilyn sighed. Her friends were right. She’d gone from refusing to spend time with him, to liking, to passion, to love. How could the poor man keep up? The knowledge of her feelings ran deep and true. This was no transitional or recovery period. Stone Petty was the man she was meant for, and the last one on earth she’d ever look for.

Fate was a tricky bitch.

“Okay. We’ll finish up the course, and I’ll keep my revelation to myself. See how it goes. Thanks, guys.”

“No problem. I’ll be home soon, but keep me updated with texts,” Kate said.

“I will. Love you.”

The phone clicked off and Kate’s image disappeared. Kennedy patted her shoulder. “I know this is hard, A. But just remember: men are limited. We need to work with them in order to catch them up to speed. Now, I want to hear all about the ice.”

Arilyn laughed. Then told her.

ONE WEEK LATER, STONE wondered what was happening.

His life was usually easy. Mapped out. He worked every spare moment, slept, played pool, worked out, and went drinking with the guys. Sure, there were dates and some sleepovers in the middle, but mostly his freedom was key, and he relished the open road, even taking the bits of loneliness in stride.

Now, things had . . . changed.

He got into the habit of bringing Pinky to Arilyn’s house after work. After the first sleepover night, Pinky stopped howling every time Robert got close. The second night, Arilyn put their food bowls and beds closer together, still keeping a safe distance but forcing Pinky to see Robert in her space. The third night, they ate side by side without communicating. Almost as if Robert knew Pinky was delicate and needed to move things on her own. Oh, they watched each other, and sometimes Robert looked over with pleading need and adoration, wanting to play with a friend, but he kept chill. Stone fell hard for the pit bull, with his smarts and gentle soul. He even learned how to hook up his scooter and helped Arilyn take care of him when Patrick couldn’t get over there in the afternoon.

Arilyn and Stone’s relationship had also changed. What began as annoyance and attraction and then melded into hot sex and passion had now morphed into more. Affection. Tenderness. Comfort. Stone didn’t know when it had transitioned or at what moment he realized that he was enjoying having dinner, going to the movies, or hanging with her and the dogs just as much as being in bed.

Well, almost as much.

He never experienced such intense liking before. Sure, he enjoyed women and took them out on dates, but when he was alone, he never really missed them unless he had a hard-on. Never thought about them during the course of the day. Maybe because Arilyn was wrapped up with him in the anger management course, he’d gotten used to seeing her on a daily basis. That had to be it. Because the alternative was impossible. He didn’t lose control of his boxed-up mess of emotional crap, because it never worked out. Being honest was the best he could give.