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A yap sounded from inside the cab and Dolly’s inquisitive face appeared, fogging the glass already smeared from her wet nose.
Grace tilted her head and something he couldn’t put his finger on passed across her face. Relief?
“Dolly?” Her voice was faint, as if all her energy was invested in keeping her standing upright. He needed to get her into the warmth and soon.
“Dolly’s a bit anxious with strangers, but she won’t hurt you.” He opened the cab door, reaching in to grab Dolly’s collar, but she was too fast for him. She fired out of the cab like a bolt from a crossbow.
Damn. “Dolly.” Caleb spun. The last thing they needed right now was a dog drawing attention to their location or freaking Grace out with her hyperactive anxiety. “She’s harmless, just takes her a while to get to know?—”
Grace sank to her knees as Dolly bombarded her with affection, licking her face and nuzzling into her neck. No yapping. No crazy frenzy. What the heck?
Grace threw her arms around Dolly’s scrawny neck and ruffled her ears. “Hey Dolly,” she murmured, her voice steady despite everything she had just been through. “You’re such a good girl, aren’t you?”
Dolly responded with a contented whimper, as if she’d known Grace forever. Dolly, his anxious scaredy-cat dog who used to cower from delivery drivers for the first six months she’d lived with him.
“Well—” Caleb scrubbed his chin. “This is new. I’ve never seen Dolly act like this.” Ever.
Grace gave Dolly one last affectionate pat before standing up, a faint blush of color returning to her cheeks. “What were you saying?”
Dolly settled at Grace’s feet, gazing up at her with adoring eyes, as if she had found her new best friend.
“Dolly can be wary of strangers.”
Grace scratched behind Dolly’s ear, a smile tugging at her lips. “I think we’ll be fine.”
Yeah. You are. Caleb opened the passenger cab door. “Come on, Dolly. In you go.”
Dolly tilted her head at him and gave a low whine, but she didn’t move.
Caleb stifled a sigh of exasperation. “Dolly. Get your ass in the truck.”
His dog cast a pleading look at Grace.
Caleb sucked air between his teeth. “I think…I think she wants you to go first.”
Grace met his gaze, a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes, her brows drawing together. Her lips parted, revealing the tip of her tongue. What would it feel like to run his thumb along that lip, to slide his other hand to the back of her neck, to hold her against him?—
Caleb looked away, carving a hand through his hair. What the hell was up with him? Now was not the time for distraction, even with a woman who made his skin tingle and his thoughts divert in a way they hadn’t for…years.
He reached into his back pocket, flipped open his wallet so she could read his ID and full name. “I work for the Coast Guard.”
She handed the creased leather wallet back after studying the ID. It might have been his imagination, but he would have sworn the stress lines at the corner of her eyes softened a little. Grace rubbed her arms as he returned his wallet to his hip pocket. “You’ve been kind. Thank you. Perhaps you could drop me at the local garage?”
“It’s the middle of the night.” Caleb sliced a no with his head. “You can stay at my place till morning. Then we’ll get you some help.”He shot a pointed look at his uncooperative dog. “Dolly?”
This time Dolly stood up, trotting over to the truck where she sidled into the back seat with a soft yap.
Caleb sighed. “Dolly’s waiting for you.”
Grace exhaled sharply. “Okay. But you should know I’m skilled in self defense.”
He did his best to appear non-threatening, raising his palms in surrender. “I hear you.”
“Right.” She slid her backpack from her shoulders but hesitated at the high truck step.
Caleb slid his hands around her waist and boosted her into the cab. She weighed damn near nothing.
She gasped as he set her down in the seat. “I can step up fine mysel?—”
