Against Me (Cedar Tree Book 3) by Freya Barker Page A

balls to the wall on this and fuck knows, I don't want to put that kind of pressure on you, but I figure with the blows you've been dealt, you're probably better off knowing where I stand than dealing with another set of uncertainties."
    "Wow. I'm scared, and excited, and very freaked out right now because I don't know what to say. But I really, really wish I could fucking stand so I could get a hug. I really need one."
    I have her up and out of her chair and clinging onto me like a monkey in two seconds flat. Her arms around my neck, mine around her back and under her butt, holding her off the ground and tightly against me.
    "If I could get these frickin' legs to move, I'd wrap those around you too," she mumbles in my neck, making me chuckle.
    "Tease," I whisper back, lowering her body slightly so she can feel the instant and very hard effect she has on me, pressing against her stomach. A low groaning comes from my neck area.
    "Mmmm, who's the tease now," she purrs in my ear.
    I'm already scanning for a place where I can get us horizontal and fast, when a loud crash comes from just outside.
    Dropping Katie down in her chair, we both approach the barn door from opposite sides. I have to bite my lip not to motion Katie back to safety, but the truth is, she’s as much a trained operative as I am. I have a small handgun from my ankle holster at the ready, and Katie somehow found a discarded broomstick she has across her lap. She holds up just inside the closed door, brandishing the stick in a way that would take out the knees of anyone coming through that door. With her eyes on me, she simply nods for me to make a move and I slip through scanning the surroundings immediately for movement, which I see, but I don't shoot.
    In front of me stands the mangiest, biggest dog I've ever seen. The thing is ugly, but seems to be harmless and clumsy since he knocked over an old wheelbarrow that’d been resting against the side of the barn. Not scared either, it just stands there and looks at me.
    The light crunching of wheels on the ground alerts the dog to Katie's approach and his eyes zoom in on her approach.
    "It's a puppy!" Katie squeals behind me, startling the dog into taking a step back.
    "That rangy dog can hardly be called a puppy, sweets. I'm thinking mutt is a more appropriate description."
    "Don't be mean. He's a puppy, aren't you boy? Such a good boy." She patting her knees and damn if the dog's tail isn't slowly starting to sway from side to side.
    "Where'd you come from? Is there a tag on him, Caleb?"
    I just finished tucking my gun back in my ankle holster and look up to see if there’s anything dangling around his neck.
    "Can't see anything, and I'm not too sure he'll be happy if I walk up to check closely. Probably just a stray or a reservation dog."
    "Reservation?"
    "We're not too far from the Ute reservation here. In fact, most of what you can see out the back doors is reservation land."
    The dog seems to have forgotten all about me and is tentatively inching his way over to Katie, tail furiously wagging.
    "Careful. He's a big boy and we don't really know him."
    Katie rolls her eyes at me and continues to coo at the pooch.
    With the earlier heated scene a vague memory by virtue of our unscheduled visitor, I figure I might as well close up so we can head back to town.
    Doesn't take long for me to tidy up the plans and shut the back doors. When I come out, the sight before me stops me in my tracks. A big smile on her face and her head bent down is Katie, softly talking to the big mutt whose head is resting in her lap, obviously enjoying the ear scratching he’s receiving. I'll be damned.

CHAPTER TEN
    "S o your neighbor never mentioned anything about his family? No indication of his life before he came to Larchwood?" Gus is asking for the third time.
    "Like I said before, I knew he had family because it was mentioned to me, but he never elaborated about his life before, and he just seemed like a sad old man. Confused