“Why don’t you tell me more about Tucker while we finish eating?” I suggested.
She glowed with happiness as she returned to her spot on the bench seat, then she turned to her other side and dug through her purse until she unearthed her phone. After tapping a few times, she handed it to me. “Here are some pictures of Tucker.”
I looked through them while she told me a little more about the dog. Then while we ate, we talked about the process and how we would work things out with our schedules. I was thrilled when she requested that we meet four times a week. Hopefully, I’d quickly be able to talk her into spending all of her free time with me as well.
Even after our dinner and dessert plates were clean, we sat there and talked for a couple more hours. We didn’t leave the restaurant until Dove kicked us out, and I walked my girl out to her car.
I kissed her thoroughly, then helped her into her car and watched her drive away.
I’d tried to think of a way that I could convince her to come home with me, but I knew it was likely too soon for Annalise. Even if I was ready to jump into this thing between us, she might need a little more coaxing. Not that I intended to wait very long.
As I ambled toward my own vehicle, I was shocked to realize what I truly meant by that. The next time I shipped out, I intended to have Annalise bound to me so I knew she’d be there when I got home.
If that meant putting a ring on her finger and a baby in her belly…well, that sounded perfect to me.
5
Annalise
Ihad been on cloud nine since my dinner with Kade last night. A meal that had felt more like a getting-to-know-you date than a meeting to talk about fostering, even though that was the reason he’d given when he asked. And the perfect excuse for me to agree when I would have probably hesitated if he’d outright said it was a date that he wanted.
But our dinner had definitely turned into a date, which I just now realized I’d actually called it when I’d teased him about not wanting to end our night because my family was Air Force and he was Navy.
“Are you going to stand in the middle of the room all night? If so, I’ll leave the lights on for you.”
My head jerked to the side as I finally noticed that I wasn’t alone. “Huh?”
“I’m getting ready to lock up, unless you’re not ready to go?” My boss lifted her hand to jiggle her keys.
Glancing through the glass door, I realized it was already dark outside. “Whoa, I didn’t realize it was this late already. Time really flew today.”
“You’re in an unusual mood.” She tilted her head to the side as she scanned my face. “Anything going on that you want to talk about?”
I pressed my lips together, trying to stop smiling so big, but it didn’t work. I was too darn happy. “I, um, met a guy yesterday.”
“Aah, that explains the distractedness and mushy look in your eyes. Men can throw even the most dedicated women off their stride.” She grinned at me. “I’ve never understood why someone hadn’t snapped you up already. A girl like you deserves to be wooed.”
“Thanks,” I whispered, touched by the sentiment since her opinion meant a lot to me.
She wagged her finger at me. “This guy better see how beautiful you are on the inside, or he won’t just have your dad and brother to deal with.”
“I don’t know him that well yet, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about.” With how he’d accompanied Simon to his appointment with me and the way he’d teased back and forth with his teammate’s sister, I didn’t have any doubt that Kade was a good guy. Plus, something about him told me I could trust him. That he’d never do anything to hurt me.
“Good.” Her gaze dropped to the folder I was holding. “Do you still have work to finish up before you leave?”
“Yeah, sorry.” I flashed her a sheepish grin. “You were right about me being thrown off my usual stride today.”
“No worries, I have no doubt you’ll finish whatever still needs to be done. I’d offer to stay and help, but I’m meeting the hubby for dinner. Lock up for me before you go?” she asked as she tucked her keys back in her purse.
“Sure.” I looked at the clock behind the reception desk. “Kade is actually supposed to meet me in a little bit so we can talk about him fostering Tucker since his original placement fell through.”
My cheeks heated at her knowing look. It wasn’t unusual for trainers to schedule a meeting after hours when that was more convenient for a potential foster, but that wasn’t the reason I had picked this time with Kade. His schedule had been flexible today, but I had liked the idea of it just being the two of us without any potential distractions from my coworkers.
“Don’t work too hard.” She winked at me before heading out, making my face get hotter even though I wouldn’t do anything inappropriate while at work. Or at least I was pretty sure I wouldn’t. Kade was awfully tempting, though.
Hurrying to the back, I finished some paperwork that was due in the morning. Just as I was closing the filing cabinet, the dogs started barking. All of them, at the same time, which was highly unusual.
Hurrying toward the kennel room, I came to an abrupt stop when I found a man crouched down to unlatch Tucker’s door. His kennel was the closest to the other door, which led to the hallway. I’d used the connecting one from the small office where we kept our training records for the dogs, so I was on the opposite side of the room.