“Fine, take it,” he says and feeds his pastry to her, but at least he’s smiling. Correction. He was smiling, until his gaze finds me.
Mabel, my friend, comes rushing outside. Something I don’t recognize moves over her face as she takes in the way I can’t seem to keep my focus off Mr. Pothole. Wiping her hands on her apron, she says, “Josie Moser, meet Brody Tucker.”
“We already met,” we both say at the exact same time, and Mabel’s grin grows wider. Miss
Mabel gobbles the bear claw, and proceeds to lick Brody’s hand, and my insides tighten as Brody’s gorgeous blue eyes lock on mine. My God, his gaze hits like a warm caress, touching me in all my girly parts—parts that have been dormant for a long time now.
It’s wrong to feel this way.
I grab Miss Mabel’s leash and tug her off. She turns, sees her namesake and once again goes crazy, jumping up for more goodies. “You’ve had enough treats,” I scold. I turn back to Brody. “I’m so sorry. I’ll replace your bear claw, and your clothes. I can wash them or dry clean or whatever.”
He sits up, and puts his arms on his knees, like he’s in no hurry to move. “That was some great payback.”
“It wasn’t payback,” I explain quickly. I’m not the kind of girl who believes in revenge, and I don’t want him, or anyone to think I am. “It was an accident. I promise.”
I hold my hand out to help him up, but he refuses it and really, can I blame him? I brace myself, waiting for him to be as ungracious to me as I was to him.
“I got it,” he says, pushing to his feet. “You’ve—”
“Done enough, I know.” I swallow down the guilt pushing into my throat as my cheeks heat, undoubtedly turning a bright shade of pink. Seriously though, I deserve everything he’s dishing out.
He stands in front of me, and I have to lift my head to see his face. I’m average height, but Mr. Pothole—Brody—is tall. Wide too. Solid. Yeah, I guess if I tried to tug him to his feet, he’d only end up pulling me down on top of his yummy body.
Yummy body?
Good God, who am I? I don’t know, but I’m just glad he refused my hand. Falling on him would be horrible, make a rough day even worse, and I am not going to spend one second imagining what it would be like to be on top of him, or underneath him. Nope, not going to spend a millisecond picturing his arms wrapped around me, those big hands on my back, fingers splayed wide, heating me from the inside out as he explores my body. I gulp.
Get it together, girl!
“What I was going to say is, you’ve been through enough already. You know, with me soaking you, earlier.”
“It was an accident,” I say.
He glances at Miss Mabel. “I won’t hold it against her.”
“No, I mean—”
Before I can get the words out, apologize again and let him know I realize he didn’t soak me on purpose, Declan steps outside. His gaze bobs between the two of us and he backs up an inch, like he just stumbled upon a street fight or something.
“Uh oh.” Sweet Miss Mabel jumps up when she sees he’s holding a box full of treats. “Whoa.”
I grab Mabel at the same time Brody does, and our hands touch, not unexpectedly. But you know what is unexpected? The zap of heat that travels through my arm and settles between my legs. I quickly pull my hand back.
“Let me help,” Brody says. “She’s still a pup and doesn’t know her own strength.”
He gets hold of Miss Mabel’s collar, and kneels on the ground. Since he’s already wet, he doesn’t need to worry about dampening his knees.
“Hey girl,” he says in a low voice that Miss Mabel instantly responds to. “Aren’t you pretty.” He runs his hand along her head and when he reaches her hindquarters, he gives a push. “Sit, girl.” She instantly sits and he smiles up at me. “She’s a good girl. She’s just excited, and in need of direction.”
“What are you, the dog whisperer?” I ask, and even though I’m being very serious, everyone bursts out laughing. Another wave of heat moves into my face, and I’m about to backtrack when Brody turns serious.
“You could say that.” He pets Mabel and she sits like a good girl, leaning into him. “I love all animals.”
“Miss Mabel seems to love you, too.” Mabel says as she glances at me, a new kind of twinkle in her eyes. Good Lord, if she’s trying her hand at matchmaking, she can forget it. I am not interested in a relationship with anyone, especially a hockey player who’s probably only in town for the holidays. I don’t care how good looking he is, or how broad his shoulders are. A guy like him probably knows he’s God’s gift to women, and no doubt wears it as a badge. I’m just going to do myself a favor and steer clear. “Doesn’t she, Josie?”
“What’s that?” I ask. Shoot, I’d lost myself in his broad shoulders for a moment…err…I mean I lost my train of thought for a second.
Mabel’s grin widens. Dammit, busted. “Miss Mabel seems to love Brody, don’t you think?”