Page 47 of A Snowy Escape

Not that I really thought anything bad would happen to me in the middle of the gym, but the door is right there. If these guys were dangerous, they could drag me out into the parking lot, and I wouldn’t have a chance in hell at fighting back.

Damn.

Maybe I should ask Bryant if he does self-defense lessons?

Tommy would have told me I was being dramatic.

Maybe I am?

No.

I think it’s reasonable to want to know that I can protect myself if the need arises.

Lawson stomps across the room with Echo. I peek between the men, marveling at how she keeps pace at his side. She never seems to lunge at or drag him the way she does me.

Then again, Lawson is a total vibe.

I wouldn’t want to disappoint him either.

She keeps her head tilted, like she’s watching his face and waiting for her next command. It’s impressive how much he’s taught her in such a short period of time. It leads me to believe that she must have been bored out of her mind when she was lying around Tommy’s house all day and night.

Lawson comes up, circling around the men while growling, “Move.”

Their heads whip up as they jolt.

I shouldn’t be so smug about how easy it was for him to make them jump, but it’s satisfying. I don’t even care if that’s weird.

“Hey,” I say, smiling brightly. “Are you two headed out?”

Seeing him take such good care of Echo only manages to make me more attracted to him, maybe because it’s easy to imagine how well he would take care of me and any theoretical future children.

Wow.

I am an obsessive freak.

“Yeah, we’ll wait for you over at the apartment.” Lawson looks almost shy as his head bobs.

My stomach flip-flops with butterflies.

He’s so cute, which might sound strange when describing a six-foot-four alpha, but it’s true.

Bryant steps over and ushers the men away.

Lawson’s lip curls, a little like Echo’s does when she doesn’t like a command, and he glares until the guys are out of our orbit. “I didn’t like how they were crowding you,” he says, scratching his thick beard with the hand not holding Echo’s leash. “If I paid each one of them a visit with my brother and Bryant, we could see how they like being cornered with a three-to-one ratio.”

“They probably wouldn’t.” I laugh and stretch a hand over, resting it on his forearm. “They were mostly harmless. I’m used to it. Anyway, I appreciate you coming to get her.” I nod to Echo. “She wasn’t barking or anything, at least not that I could hear. Are we disrupting your day?”

“Not a bit. Luka mostly runs Maxwell’s. I just pop in when he wants a break.”

“I’ve noticed you aren’t there a lot, but I assumed it was because you were helping out with Echo,” I admit. “I know she can get loud when I’m not around to tell her to hush.”

“That’s normal, though it might get better with a little extra training.” His massive shoulder bounces. “It also might not. Some dogs are naturally more vocal, but a little barking never killed anyone.”

“Yeah,” I agree as my stomach flutters.

It really is easy to imagine how calm he would be with a fussy baby. I’ve always wanted kids and a big family, but I’m usually not so quick to project random thoughts onto other people.

Yikes.