Read Nyght's Eve for Free Online Page B

a fighter. It was
an intriguing contrast to the studious dedication she knew he must have to be a
doctor.
    She blinked as she realized that he had
spoken again, but she had no idea what he said. “Wh—what?”
    A slow smile spread across his handsome face
and she felt lightheaded.
    Damn
it. Focus!
    Taking a deep breath as she cleared her mind,
she met his knowing gaze despite her embarrassment at being caught all but
ogling him. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
    “Thanks. For the food.”
    “Oh, it was nothing.”
    He shook his head slowly, not breaking eye
contact with her. “Naw. It was appreciated, considering I barely had enough
energy to make it to the kitchen, let alone cook myself something.”
    She smiled at him, relaxing a little. “I’m
just glad to see you got some sleep. I stopped by Kali’s bakery again this
morning when I was running some errands and was going to drop off a few things
at the boarding house, but—”
    “What things? Pie? Did you get pie?”
    Startled by the vehemence in his tone, she lifted
a brow. “Yes, I noticed that was the first to go.”
    Dare’s face darkened considerably. “That
wasn’t me.”
    Evie let out a laugh. “Ah, I see. Hunter got
to it before you did. He does have a thing for Kali’s pie.”
    “He’s a damn pie thief,” Dare muttered as he
looked down at the four dogs wandering around his legs. Evie laughed and felt
something inside her shift as he reached down to rub one of her dogs’ heads. He
did so with a firm rub and scratch that sent Lancelot’s tail wagging with glee.
Evie gave a subtle nod and hand gesture to the dogs, and the others immediately
started to vie for his attention.
    It had pleased her to see him at the center
today, and watching him had given her a little insight into his character.
Whenever she observed people working with her animals, she could tell things
about an individual’s personality. Were they kind and patient, or temperamental
and prone to complaining? Dare seemed to be at ease with whatever situation he
was in. She’d been told by several people how he had treated a little girl’s
skinned knee with the utmost care, and she’d witnessed little Carly’s exuberant
expression when she had waved to him outside the center.
    Evie bit her lip as she held back a laugh
thinking about the way Dare had started running away from the little girl as if
the hounds of hell were chasing him. He might not be comfortable around
children, but he had gained four admirers today whether he liked it or not.
    He was something she hadn’t expected.
    Dare bent over and took his time greeting all
four of Evie’s big dogs while trying to will down his unruly erection that had
popped up out of nowhere. All Evie had to do was smile at him and his body
reacted. He’d never experienced such a strong case of lust at first sight.
    And it made her dangerous to his self-control.
    Her sunny hair was pulled back in a ponytail,
allowing him a clear view of her beautiful face, and she was wearing jeans and
a simple white shirt that clung to her curves. And her scent...man, she smelled
like fresh peaches again. A spark of anger swept through him. She shouldn’t be
able to affect him like this. He told himself there was nothing special about
her, but knew instantly that was a lie. There was something about her that drew
his interest, and made him want to know more about her.
    Trying to distract himself, he focused on her
four dogs. They really were beautiful animals. Two of the dogs were German
Shepherds, but Dare recognized that the other two as Belgian Malinois, a variety
of shepherd dog he was very familiar with from his time overseas. Because of
their acute sense of smell, the Belgian Malinois were often used by the United
States Armed Forces as work dogs that helped detect odors of explosives,
accelerants and even narcotics in the field. He could see why Evie would have
two of them as her personal pets, considering the search and rescue work