Page 39 of Tamed By His Touch

Riley looks surprised. “Really? Most people find him overwhelming at first.”

“He threatened to have me stabbed if I hurt you.”

Riley chokes on the sip of my beer he’d just stolen. “He what?”

“It’s fine. I respect it, actually.” I squeeze his thigh. “Shows he cares about you.”

Riley shakes his head, but there’s fondness in his eyes. “Bobby’s always been… protective, in his way.” He studies my face. “But you really like him?”

“I do,” I assure him. “He’s nothing like you on the surface, but underneath? You’re definitely brothers.”

Riley relaxes against me, his shoulder pressed to mine. “Good. Because it’s important that you two get along.” His voice softens. “You’re both important to me.”

I turn to look at him properly, taking in the sharp line of his jaw, the tired shadows under his eyes from a long day of saving people, the way he looks at me like I’m something cherished instead of something dangerous. “What are you saying, doctor? That you like me?”

Riley’s hand finds mine under the table, fingers intertwining. Then he leans forward and kisses me. Not a quick peck like when he arrived, but deep and claiming, right there in the middle of the bar. When he pulls back, his eyes are dark.

“I really do,” he murmurs against my lips.

Something blooms in my chest, warm and expanding. A few weeks ago, I never would have imagined being here, being this version of myself. The man capable of gentleness, of love.

Because that’s what this is, I realize with sudden clarity. I love him. I love Riley Shepard with his steady hands and unshakable calm, his ability to see through my walls, and his willingness to meet me exactly where I am. For the first time in my life, I’ve found someone who doesn’t want me to be smaller, quieter, less. Someone who sees all of me and stays anyway.

I don’t say it out loud. Not yet. But I think he already knows.