“Yeah, you should be sorry, you little fucker.” Hescratched Ford’s soft ears, and the dog trained crossed eyes on him, pinktongue flapping in time with his panting.
Natalie returned, took Ford’s leash, and paced him aroundwhile T.J., muttering colorful curses under his breath, cleaned up and triednot to retch.
Finished, T.J. leaned against the car to watch Natalie workthe dog.
“Sit,” she said, and Ford obeyed. Just like that. “What agood boy you are!” Ford wagged his seriously long tail.
“He seems to listen to you.”
“Because he’s had some training.” She handed T.J. the leash.“He’ll listen to you too.”
He took the leash and reeled Ford in. “Have you told him that?”The dog cast a longing glance at Natalie. T.J. couldn’t blame him. “Hey, Istill need to pay you for today and the next three months.”
She tilted her head. “Much as I’d love to take your money,let’s hold off on the three months until Ford’s met Annie and Meathead.”
“What about your dog?”
“I don’t have a dog.”
T.J.’s jaw dropped. “How do you not have a dog?”
She slid her gaze to the side, her hands twisting herponytail. “Well, I sort of had a dog, but you might say I lost her in ajoint custody kind of thing.” Her whiskey-colored eyes rose to his.
The statement nearly rocked him backward. “You weremarried?”
“It didn’t get quite that far. And she wasn’t mine to startwith, but I still miss her. The way I see it, though, splitting up with Codyand losing out on his dog spurred me to be a dog-sitter, so good came from it.”
A picture of a stud cowboy rodeo star poked at T.J., andjealousy surged, unsettling him. He shook it off. It was none of his damnbusiness anyway.
She slipped her hands in her back pockets. “Now I get tolove on other people’s dogs without actually having a dog, and I getpaid to do it. It’s like this other business I’ve toyed with starting—a littlefantasy of mine.”
She’d had his attention before, but now his focus sharpenedto a pinpoint. “What kind of fantasy?”
“I call it Bucket of Puppies. You work with a shelter andborrow their puppies to rent out for a half hour on specialoccasions—birthdays, anniversaries, proposals. Insteadof flowers, picture someone offering their sweetheart a basket of squigglypuppies—maybe there’s a ring tied to a bow around one puppy’s neck.Irresistible. How could anyone say no to that?” As she spoke, her eyes flashedand sparked as though tiny diamonds were catching the light and firing it back.“You’d help the shelters by exposing the pups to potential owners, and folkswould get a puppy fix without the work. Win-win.” She sighed. “Trickylogistics, though. Like I said, a fantasy.”
“Sounds like a great idea to me.”
She shrugged, a little blush pinking her cheeks. “Take Fordhome, let him get adjusted, and in a few days when the other dogs are here,bring him back for a playdate, and we’ll go fromthere.”
“And in the meantime, I can call you whenever I have no cluewhat I’m doing, right? You’ll be my dog-whisperer on retainer?”
A smile tugged one corner of her pretty mouth. “You won’tneed my help. You’ll do just fine.”
He pulled his billfold from his back pocket. “Still notconvinced.” As he flipped it open, the condom mishap seized his brain, and hewas suddenly awkward, no longer cocksure. Gingerly, he slid out a hundred andoffered it to her.
Surprise flicked over her features. “What’s this?”
“For today.”
“I don’t think I have change.”
“I wasn’t expecting change.”
Eyes widened. “A hundred bucks for a few hours? That’s alittle extravagant.”
Her words hauled his mind to a different kind of service,and he tried not to chuckle at the double entendre. Yeah, of course his mindwent there. “You were totally worth it.”
She gave him a blank stare. He shook the bill at her, cantedhis head, and grinned. “For today and your retainer. I figure this buysme one call.” His mind now leapt to her on the other end of a sexy phone call.He rubbed his hand over his jaw, enjoying the flirting—even if it wasone-sided.
A dark eyebrow arched. “And if you need more than one?”
Now it was his turn to stare, tongue-tied, as whatshe said and the way she said it traveled straight to his crotch. Was sheflirting back? Hope soared.
Her brows furrowed in confusion, and he realized he wasreading way too much into the conversation. His attempt at silver-tonguehad just nose-dived and settled him on the scale somewhere between “lame” and“awkward.” Smart girls did that to him, and this one was smart and so out ofhis league. Yeah, dumbass, and don’t forget there’s at least one boyfriendin the picture. A letdown any way you sliced it.
She wrapped her arms around herself. Was she cold? As if inanswer, a snowflake landed on one of her long lashes. He cleared his throat ashe cleared away his dirty thoughts. “Uh, if I have to call you more than oncein the next twenty-four hours, then you get to pick the payment. Cold, hardcash or … service.” What the hell does that mean, Shanny?
“What does that mean?” she echoed.
Hell if I know. “Say you need,” he glanced over hershoulder, “a leaky toilet fixed or a lock changed or some other householdrepair. A service for a service.”
Was she fighting a smirk? Yeah, no doubt.“So you’re saying you’re good with your hands?”
He nearly choked. “I guess I am. Saying that.”
“I’ll keep that in mind … if I need anything fixed.”
Please. Do. He loaded Ford into the backseat, and shewaved at the dog. “Bye, Ford. Try not to give your dad too much troubletonight.”
Dad? Yeah, no.
T.J. flapped his hand at her. “Pfft.I got this.” His voice broadcast a bravado that was definitely missing.
“Okay. Then I won’t expect to hear from you.” With an impishsmile, she spun and hurried inside her house.
He slid behind the wheel and glanced over his shoulder. Fordsat on his haunches on the less-pristine leather. The mutt
