“Wait! Slow down.” Something that looked like panic flashed across her face. “We don’t offer dog sitting. Solo walks only.”
“It’s snowing. They are forecasting more. What if you’re not able to get here one day? I will lose my job and my home. And where would Madi and I live then?”
“Are you trying to guilt-trip me?”
“Whatever it takes.”
“You’re seriously suggesting I stay here?” She said it slowly, as if she couldn’t quite believe what he was asking her to do.
He couldn’t quite believe it, either.
“Yes, and believe me that’s not something I do lightly.” He made the joke but she didn’t laugh. She looked anxious and undecided.
“I c-c-c—”
Can’t.
Dammit. He’d stressed her. Again.
She shook her head in frustration. “No.”
He noticed she’d chosen a different way to say the same thing. It was a common strategy among people who stammered. One word sticks, lead with a different word.
“You’re not comfortable staying in a stranger’s apartment, particularly when the stranger is still there. I get that. But this is an emergency. You’re looking at a desperate man. I cannot be my best self at work if I’m up all night with a howling dog. And I’m not a stranger. This is our third meeting. Our relationship has already lasted longer than some marriages.” He was relieved to see her smile. “For the sake of my sanity, my sofa, and most of all for Madi, please move in. You can bring whatever you need to run your business here.”
“Again, no.”
“Harriet, I’m begging you.” On impulse he bent and scooped up Madi, trying not to drop her as she wriggled and tried to lick his face. “And, more importantly, Madi is begging you too.”
“That’s manipulative.”
“It’s the truth. Will you do it?”
CHAPTER TEN
SHE HAD TO be crazy, Harriet thought as she packed her things into a large suitcase the following morning.
She could have stayed in the comfort and security of her apartment. It was what she wanted. Christmas was approaching. She wanted to make the place cozy and festive. Decorate. Put things in place to make sure she felt comfortable and able to enjoy herself. Pad her world with comfort to keep out the psychological chill of spending the holidays without her family.
She didn’t want to stay in a stranger’s apartment.
Which was exactly why she was doing this.
Spending a few nights with Ethan Black would be the ultimate challenge, which was why the first thing she stuffed into her suitcase were three of her favorite books. She had a feeling she was going to need the comfort.
Resisting the temptation to call him and tell him she’d changed her mind, she added sweaters, several pairs of pants and a couple of shirts.
She removed a dress from the hanger and then paused.
Why would she need a dress?
She was going to be walking dogs. Doing what she always did. She wasn’t going to need a dress.
She was putting it back on the hanger when her phone rang.
It was Fliss.
“Hi there.” Harriet tucked the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she thrust the dress back into her crowded closet space. “Everything okay?”