Free Sheltering His Desire by Allyson Lindt

quickly. Technically they wouldn’t be live
until tomorrow. Advertising would go out then. The social media
campaign would start up.
    But it was a donation. How was that bad?
“Yay.” She hopped to her feet, giddiness flooding her, and spun to
Tate. She tossed her arms around his neck. “It worked.”
    His hands rested on her back, and he
squeezed. “Congratulations.” He didn’t let go.
    Heat flooded her as the seconds ticked away.
His pulse hammered a beat against her cheek, and she extracted
herself from his embrace, not able to meet his gaze. She really
needed to get over this.
    “Hey.” He placed a finger under her chin and
raised her head until she was looking him in the eye. “Enough. We
both had fun last night, right? I know I did.”
    It was okay to admit to that. Fun had been
part of the point. “I did too.” Alyssia felt a touch of relief
being able to say it aloud.
    “I don’t regret it. Not in any way.” His
expression was soft, attention focused completely on her.
    She didn’t either. She just had to say so,
and things would go back to the way they were. So why couldn’t she
say the words?

Chapter
Eight
    Tate’s heart froze for the briefest moment
when Lys didn’t reply.
    “No regrets.” Her words were a reassurance he
didn't know he needed.
    “Good.” He intertwined his fingers with hers,
and tugged her out of the room. He knew what his problem was. He’d
been over-thinking everything since last night. He needed to step
back, get an objective perspective, and just let instinct drive.
“Let’s go celebrate.”
    “What did you have in mind?” Lys paused by
the front door long enough to slip on a pair of sandals, and grab
her purse.
    The one thing they always did. Something
nagged at the back of his mind, asking how they had an ‘always’
anything. He shoved it aside. It’s just the way things were between
them. It didn’t mean anything. “We grab a pizza and head up to the
lake.”
    “Sounds perfect.” Her grin latched onto
something inside him, and send a wash of need over his skin.
    Apparently he hadn’t reached that objective
point yet. He’d get there, though.
    “You drive.” She tossed him her keys.
    He snagged them without missing a beat. The
Bentley was nice for freeway and city driving, but Lys’s ancient
Suburban would handle the off-road lake paths a lot better, and he
was more familiar with the route than she was.
    An hour later, they’d found a quiet spot of
trees, and a clearing with no one else around, and backed the SUV
up several feet back from the lake. They finished the pizza and
discarded the box half an hour after that, and then sat next to
each other on the tailgate. Lys swung her legs in a lazy arc, and
Tate leaned back, palms resting on the upholstery behind him. Once
upon a time, Lake Lanier had been one of his least favorite places.
His parents had a summer home that was really more of an excuse to
show off than a reason to vacation. They’d sold it when the area
got too crowded.
    Spending time with Lys up there, though,
helped him discover an appreciation for the beauty again.
Especially when they could find an isolated spot of land and just
unwind.
    “Remember that night we came up here to study
for my finals?” Her question blended into the calm of the
night.
    “Which time?”
    She leaned into him. “Every time. I doubt I
would have made it through undergrad without your help.”
    “I was zero help for vet school, so I guess
that evens everything out. What about the time you ran away?”
    “Oh, God.” She scrubbed her face, laughter
spilling through her fingers. “I don’t even remember why I did
that, but I know it was childish. I’m still grateful you never told
them you found me up here.”
    “Right. Because I was going to tell J—anyone
you hitchhiked to the lake.” Tate wasn’t sure why he stalled on
Jared’s name. Something told him he didn’t want to ruin the mood
that way.
    She tucked one leg under the other knee,