She felt Rob’s posture stiffen next to her. He put his arm around her shoulder as if to claim her. She looked down at Maverick. The dog seemed to smile. It was all she could do to avoid rolling her eyes.
“Sounds good, Derrick. It’s nice to see you again. I’ll tell Nick to call you.”
“Oh, then I’d better give you my cell number so that you can pass it along.”
She handed over her phone and Derrick called her. “There, now you’ve got mine and I’ve got yours.”
As Derrick walked away, she elbowed Rob in the side. “What the heck is the matter with you?”
“I’m sorry. Maybe I overreacted. I didn’t like the way he was looking at you.”
She let out a sigh. “Oh, good grief. Save me from possessive males. Between you and Maverick, you made your feelings about Derrick very well known. It just so happens that he’s an old friend of my brother’s. I knew him in high school. He’s always been a flirt. He doesn’t mean anything by it.”
Rob muttered something that sounded like “wanna bet,” but she ignored it.
“Listen, he’s your neighbor. You should probably be nice to him.” She pulled away and threw the frisbee for Maverick. Once again he caught it on the fly. “He’s amazing. I can’t believe how high he’s able to jump!”
“Yeah, he’s great. This breed has amazing capabilities.”
“I had to remember my Italian to get him to let go of the frisbee, and to calm down when he saw Derrick hug me.”
“He hugged you? And Maverick reacted?”
“Yeah, he growled.”
“Good boy, Maverick,” said Rob, stroking the Malinois’ head. “I’m glad he’s paying attention. Trevor wanted him to protect you, you know.”
“I know, but I don’t need protection from Derrick.”
“Well, don’t underestimate Maverick’s instincts about people. He knows when someone doesn’t have good intentions.”
She slapped her hands over her face and shook her head. “Stop. Derrick is harmless. He’s not somebody I’d want to go out with, anyway. I remember only too well what he was like in high school—he thought he was God’s gift to girls. Not my type at all.”
“What is your type?” Rob raised an eyebrow and smiled at her.
She shrugged. “I guess it’s somebody with more substance than Derrick. Somebody who respects me. Somebody who does things for others, rather than being conceited and self-absorbed. Somebody who believes in me and brings out the best in me. Somebody who bothers to get to know me.”
She stole a look at Rob out of the corner of her eye. His expression was serious, as if he were taking it all in.
“I get it,” he said. “A man like Trevor.”
She didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t been thinking about Trevor. She’d been thinking about Rob.
Chapter Ten
After spending a few hours in the park, throwing the ball for Maverick, teaching MJ to get the canine to heel, and taking MJ through a series of commands, Rob dropped her off and made plans to get together on Sunday afternoon. He watched as she waved from the front door before closing it.
He’d offered to grill the steaks he’d bought this morning, but she’d turned him down, telling him she had a gender-reveal baby shower to attend. Although he was disappointed, he couldn’t monopolize all her time, even though he’d like to.
He smiled about how far she’d come. The Italian phrases weren’t second nature to her yet, but she could use the country accent with ease when she gave them. Although he didn’t think of her as having much of an accent, she could speak with the twang necessary to match Trevor’s.
Sadness hit as it usually did whenever he thought of his buddy. “I’m doing what I can,” he said aloud. “I’ll teach her to manage Maverick, but it should have been you with her, not me.”
He couldn’t help feeling guilty over being able to spend time with MJ. He loved her laugh. When she and Maverick were playing “keep away,” she’d laughed uproariously. She was a sweet woman. He stopped himself. He couldn’t get attached to her, much as he’d like to.
He wasn’t a guy who had ever planned to settle down. He’d convinced himself he’d spend his life dedicated to the military rather than a woman, but somehow, spending time with Mary Jane Van Buren made him yearn for something he’d never wanted before.
He shook his head to clear his mind and looked into the rearview mirror at the panting Malinois staring back at him.
“You like her, don’t you, buddy? I do, too. Wish things could have been different for all of us.” Maverick leaned forward and rested his head on Rob’s shoulder, his hot breaths panting against an exposed neck.
“Good boy, Maverick. I love you, buddy. Leaving you will be one of the most difficult things I’ll have to do. Tough enough losing Trevor, but I’ve become attached to you. And your new owner.”
Maverick turned and licked Rob’s cheek, making him laugh. “Yeah, don’t rub it in. I know you own her heart.”
He pulled into his driveway. Derrick’s truck sat off to one side. He let Maverick out and urged him to heel. He needed to be more friendly to his downstairs neighbor.
He knocked on Derrick’s back door, and the man immediately opened it.
“Hey, Rob, what’s up?”
“I thought if you weren’t doing anything, I’d grill some steaks and we could drink a few beers and get to know each other.”
“Sounds like a good plan. I’m leaving tomorrow morning for an area sales conference, but packing won’t take me very long. What time were you thinking?”
“I want to go take a shower. I’ll
