“No.” I frown. “What makes you say that?”
“Because you look unhappy.”
“I always look unhappy. I have resting bitch face,” I try to joke.
He pushes off the wall and takes a step closer, leaning his forearms on the counter. “Did I get this wrong, Audrey?” he asks me again.
Only … I feel like he’s also asking me something else, but I’m not sure exactly what that is.
So, I answer the one question I know for sure he asked me.
I shake my head. “No, Jack. If anything, you got it too right.”
“Here we are.” Shelly’s voice comes from behind me along with the sound of claws skittering across the hardwood floor.
I turn and see the two cutest dogs ever.
One is a Weimaraner, and the other is a gray-and-white Siberian husky with the brightest blue eyes that I have ever seen on an animal before. They actually remind me of Jack’s eyes.
Both dogs are wearing luminous vests that say Adopt Me on them.
How anyone could ever abandon these beautiful dogs, I will never know.
They’re both eager to come over to us, but Shelly has a good handle on them, considering they’re strong dogs.
I get down to my knees as they approach, giving them both strokes and fusses, getting face licks in return, making me laugh.
I like animals so much better than people.
Well, maybe except for the guy standing beside me. But I’m not even allowing my thoughts to go there. Not right now anyway. I can figure out my tangled-up feelings for Jack later—when I’m alone and away from his charming self.
“Sorry to drop and run,” Shelly says, handing the leads over to Jack. “Ronnie has just brought a dog in. Needs my help.”
“Go,” he tells her. “We’ll be back in an hour or so.”
She nods and disappears back to where she came from.
“Ronnie?” I ask.
“Her husband. They run this place together.”
“So, which doggy is mine to walk?” I ask him.
“You choose. But I’ll tell you, Pork Chop is a puller.”
“Pork Chop.” I laugh. “That might be the best name I’ve ever heard. And Pork Chop is which dog?”
“The Weimaraner.”
“I’ll take the husky then.” I grin.
Chuckling, Jack hands me the husky’s lead.
“So, what is my doggy called?” I ask as we begin walking to the door.
“Gary,” Jack says.
“Gary!” I burst out laughing. “I expected him to have a super-cool name, like Storm or Loki. Not Gary.”
Jack laughs as well. “Gary is cool … kind of.”
“Said no one ever,” I joke. “Aw, Gary, bud.” I pat his head. “Thank God you’re gorgeous because you got shafted in the name department.”
Not that Gary gives a fudge what I’m saying. His sole focus is on the door and getting outside. Can’t blame the little dude. I’m sure the people here are good to the dogs, but they probably also spend a lot of time in their cages, waiting for someone to take them to their forever home.
It makes my heart hurt for them.
Jack opens the door. He tries to let me through first with Gary, but Pork Chop is not having any of it and yanks Jack through the door.
Laughing, I catch hold of the door with my hand, letting Gary through first.
I have a feeling this walk is going to be a lot of fun.
We set off in the direction of a walking trail close to the center.
“So, you do this often?” I ask Jack.
“As much as I can.”
“You’re a good guy, Jack Canti.” I smile at him.
For the first time since I’ve known Jack, I actually see a look of shyness on his face, his cheeks reddening a touch.
If I wasn’t already half-gone for him, I would be now.
Jack tries to shrug it off, like the cool guy he is, but I know better. “I like to walk, and these guys need walking.”
“How come you don’t have a dog?” I ask him.
“One, I don’t think Eleven would be happy if I brought one home. And two, dogs demand more time than I can give to one right now. But it is nice to do this, to help the dogs out in this way.”
“I get that,” I tell him. Doing something for others leaves you with a sense of worth. “So, tell me the rules for walking these guys.”
“Okay, so no letting them off their leads unless in a designated area where you can do so. No letting them chase wildlife. And always scoop the poop.”
My face scrunches up at that thought. “Okay. Do you have poop bags?”
He taps his jacket pocket with his hand, grinning. “Yep. Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention … Pork Chop might be the puller, but Gary is the shitter.”
“What do you mean, he’s the shitter?” My eyes narrow, and Jack’s grin widens.
“Gary likes to save all his shits up for his walks. Minimum he’ll take on a walk is two.”
“Two craps is the minimum!” I stare down at the dog. “What is wrong with you?” Then, I look back to Jack. “What is wrong with him?”
Jack is howling with laughter by this point.
“It’s not funny!” I gesticulate. “Right, that’s it! We’re swapping dogs.” I hold Gary’s lead out to Jack. “I’ll take Pork Chop the puller, and you can have Gary the pooper!”
“No can do.” Jack wipes his laughing eyes. “You’ll hurt Gary’s feelings if you switch now.”
“What?” I look down at Gary again. He’s staring up at me with those gorgeous Jack eyes, and now, I just feel mean. “Fine,” I huff. I keep up the pretense of being annoyed, but seriously, how can I be with this cutie staring at me? And I am talking about Gary, not Jack.
Or maybe I do mean them both.
“Bring me on a date and have me picking up dog crap.”
Jack chuckles. “Baby, it is nothing but the high life with me.”
“Hmm,” I grumble, steadfastly ignoring the way he just called me baby and the way my body reacted to it. “You’d better feed me good after this. Well, that is, if Gary and
