Page 59 of Beau

“Don’t give up now,” Beau urged. “How about Pink, Cher, Adele or Lady Gaga?”

The dog’s eyes opened, and she lifted her head to stare at Beau.

Aurelie touched Beau’s arm. “One of those names got her attention. Say them again, only do it slowly.”

“Pink.” Beau said.

The dog tipped its head to the right.

“Cher,” he said.

She tipped back to the left.

“Adele,” Beau said.

No response.

Beau tried the last name. “Lady.”

The little dog let out a sharp bark and wagged her tail.

Aurelie smiled. “Is that it? Is your name Lady?”

As if she’d been rescued all over again, she licked Aurelie’s face, her tail wagging so hard her entire body moved with it.

Aurelie laughed and hugged her to her. “Lady, it is.”

Beau shook his head and smiled at Aurelie. “The family isn’t getting that dog back, are they?”

Aurelie pulled Lady closer. “Over my dead body.”

“So, now I’m a bodyguard to a woman and a dog?” Beau shook his head. “I didn’t sign up for this.” He sighed. “Come here.”

Aurelie didn’t move from where she spooned her body around the bedraggled pup.

Beau got up, moved the blankets and pillows and settled behind Aurelie, spooning her body with his. “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,” he said as he rested his hand on Aurelie’s hip.

She smiled, warm and secure in his arms. She still didn’t trust him, but he had helped her rescue Lady. A man who stuck up for the underdog couldn’t be all bad.

Maybe, just maybe, she’d give him a second chance.

CHAPTER 12

Beau woke the next morning, his arm numb and his hip sore from lying on his side on the hardwood floor. Aurelie snuggled up against him, the pup curled in the crook of her arm.

As sore as he was from sleeping on a hard surface, he wouldn’t change a thing.

This woman had captured his interest and possibly his heart from the moment he’d met her. Making love with her had been magical and something he wanted to do again and again. He could be perfectly content to make love with her every night and wake with her snuggled up against him every morning for the rest of his life.

But maybe on a mattress instead of the floor.

He had it good.

Too good?

How had he been lucky enough to come home when the members of his Ranger squad hadn’t been so fortunate?

Beau’s euphoria threatened to fade as he remembered the faces of his fallen battle buddies. His mental therapist had encouraged him to look for the reasons he had been miraculously spared. The entire time he’d worked as a mercenary, guarding general contractors in Afghanistan, he hadn’t seen any reason why he should have lived while his friends and brothers had died in the crash.