“Oh, there are benefits to you getting your hands on me?”
“Yes. So many benefits, the chief one being you can’t talk to your mother if you’re too busy kissing me.” He leaned over, coming close. “We’ll be that couple everyone avoids because we can put on a show, if you know what I mean.”
“I’m going to regret this, but I’ve been thinking about us.”
He liked the sound of that. He hoped. “What have you been thinking about?”
Her hand came down, but she moved toward him. “I’ve been thinking about that night.”
“Are you ready to talk about it?” He reached up and smoothed back her hair, his arousal tamping down a bit because the emotional stuff was more important. And even thinking that made him wince inwardly, but he soldiered on. “Because I think about that night a whole lot.”
“I don’t know there’s all that much to talk about, but it was good,” she started before her phone rang. She reached into her pocket and then she was walking away from him. “Hey, boss. I’m glad you called because I have something I need to . . . Oh, so you’ve heard. Yeah, I can explain . . .”
She moved around him, walking back to the stairs.
So close and yet so far away.
Daisy whined. Zep looked down and the dog was staring up at him. He fished a treat out of his pocket. He would have to grab some things from his place if they were going to stay here for the week.
“She was talking about sex.” He sank down to Roxie’s couch. Daisy was immediately on top of him, snuggling down and turning over for a belly rub. At least one female in his life was paying attention to him. “I think we’re going to have to work on this, girl. You like it here?”
Daisy’s eyes had closed and her body had gone still as though she would do absolutely nothing that might disrupt her belly rub.
“Yeah, I do, too, but it’s not going to be easy to get her to let us stay.” He was talking to a dog, but then he’d spent an enormous amount of his life talking to animals. Luckily none of them had talked back, except that one time he’d tried Herve’s wine. “You do your thing. Look real cute and give her completely unconditional love. I’ll handle the rest.”
They were going to finish that conversation. Tonight.chapter four“Do you think Daisy’s okay?” Roxie asked as Zep pulled into the parking space. The lot in front of Guidry’s Bar and Grill didn’t have actual lines on it. Spaces were more suggestions, which meant people parked like hell, and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. But then it was about more than the crazy parking. She kind of wanted to ticket the golf cart that was parked on the grass in front of the playground. That thing couldn’t possibly be street legal.
“I think she’s miserable in her crate because she wants to be with people all the time, but she’ll get used to it,” Zep said, putting the truck in park.
She really did like his truck. She also liked Guidry’s, but her family was in there and she was about to find out if this insane plan of Zep’s was going to work. “She’ll get used to being miserable?”
He turned in his seat. “No. She’s not miserable in the crate. The crate is way more luxurious than your apartment. You basically bought out the pet department. She’s comfy.”
They’d driven into Houma and found a big-box store. Zep had tried to tell her Daisy didn’t need much, but it had been a long time since she’d had anyone to spend money on. It had felt good to buy Daisy a crate, a fluffy bed, way too many squeaky toys, and some cute bowls. And treats and food. And a collar, and then she’d had to make one of those little engraved dog tags.
“The reason she’s miserable,” Zep continued, “is that she’s worried we won’t come back.”
Well, the poor puppy had been staked out and left for dead. Of course she was worried. At the store they’d been able to scan Daisy for a microchip. She hadn’t had one. They’d stopped by a vet and had her checked out. Beyond being a bit underweight, she was healthy.
“Once she realizes we’ll come back, she’ll calm down and she won’t howl like that. Eventually she’ll see her crate as a nice place to rest,” Zep promised. “The important thing is we always come home and let her out. It will take time, but she’ll learn to trust.”
Maybe she and Daisy had a few things in common. “I don’t know if I should keep her. I work long hours.”
“Do you want to keep her? If you don’t, then you just spent a ton of money on a dog you don’t want. Are you worried the owner is going to show up and want her back?”