At eight-thirty, just when she was beginning to think he’d either forgotten or was intentionally avoiding her deadline, she spotted him coming up the street. Archie, of course, made a dash for him. For once she saw no point in reprimanding him. From here on out, Archie was Aidan’s responsibility.
Tail wagging, the dog happily followed him back to the porch, then dutifully sat down as Aidan settled into a chair next to Liz.
“You ready to become a pet owner?” she asked, smiling.
He glanced at her. “Do I have a choice?”
She frowned at the glib response. “Of course. If you really, really hate the idea, Archie can stay here,” she said, then turned to the dog. “But look at him.”
Archie was regarding Aidan with that familiar look of pure adoration. “Can you really turn your back on that?” she asked.
Aidan instinctively reached out to pet the dog’s head. “No, of course not, although I think you’re underestimating his attachment to you.”
“Of course he loves me,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve been feeding him and taking care of him. You’re the one he’s truly bonded with, though. I think he knows you’ll take him on runs and give him treats from the table that he shouldn’t have.”
Aidan laughed. “Exactly what I intended.”
His expression sobered as he studied her. “You seem better today. It’s not just because you’re losing a houseguest, is it?”
Liz wasn’t sure she was ready to get into this, but she did shake her head. “I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the things you said the other day. I’m not sure what I intend to do about it yet, but I can admit you made a couple of valid points. I have been stuck in the past.”
She deliberately held his gaze and opted to be pushy for once. “Have you considered taking your own advice?”
He seemed genuinely startled by the question, but then his expression shut down. “No idea what you mean,” he claimed.
“Of course you do,” she said, calling him on the deliberate evasion. “I don’t know what your secrets might be and you certainly don’t have to share them with me, but I do know they have as firm a grip on you as mine do on me.”
“And how did you reach that conclusion?” he asked, his tone disparaging. “I thought Will Lincoln was the only professional shrink in town.”
“True. He has a degree and actual office hours,” she replied, refusing to take offense. “But I have a woman’s intuition and sometimes that’s just as good in certain circumstances. I caught your expression during that pretty little speech you made to me on Sunday. It suddenly dawned on you that you’re carrying some burden you’re keeping secret, too. When you realized you were being hypocritical, you couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”
She managed to catch his gaze and hold it. “Can you honestly tell me I’m wrong?”
For a minute it seemed he might not answer at all, but then he sighed heavily. “Not really,” he confessed.
“Care to share?”
“Not really,” he said.
A twinkle came and went in his eyes so quickly she might have missed it if she hadn’t been watching him so closely. She couldn’t help feeling pleased with herself for pegging his likely reaction.
“Then I guess we both have some thinking to do and some decisions to make,” she said quietly. “It’s actually kind of nice to know I’m not the only one who’s not an open book.”
He gave her a long, serious look, then chuckled. “I wonder if we both wouldn’t be much better off hanging out with people who can’t see right through us.”
Liz laughed with him. “What would be the fun in that? I like people who keep me on my toes.”
“Only up to a point,” he suggested.
This time she was the one whose expression sobered as she sighed. “Yes, but only up to a point.”
It suddenly seemed as if this habit she had of trying to solve riddles was about to drag her even more deeply into a sea of complications. Lately, though, since she’d met Aidan, it seemed it might be worth going there.
* * *
After thinking about that disconcerting conversation with Liz for most of the day, Aidan really needed to work off some steam. Since vigorous sex was definitely off the table, he decided to see if the guys were playing basketball anytime soon.
“Come on, Archie, let’s go for a walk,” he said, grinning when the dog immediately found his leash and brought it to him, tail wagging.
As he hit Main Street with Archie already tugging on his leash and eager to run, Aidan caught the gloating expressions on Shanna’s face and on Bree’s when they caught sight of the two of them. Obviously they shared Liz’s sense of triumph over getting him to adopt the dog. Susie was the next to step outside when she saw them. She stood in the doorway of the management office, a grin on her face.
“New addition to the family?” she inquired with a cat-that-swallowed-the-canary look.
Aidan nodded.
“You do know that there’s a No Pet clause in your lease, don’t you?” she said solemnly.
Aidan came to a complete stop and stared at her. “You can’t be serious?”
She nodded. “Oh, but I am.”
“And you never thought to say a word about it before now? I know you were well aware that Liz has been trying to pawn Archie off on me.”
“I assumed you’d read the lease,” Susie said innocently. “Seems to me that’s the first thing a man who really didn’t want a pet might have done.”
“Well, I obviously never read the fine print,” he grumbled. “Are you going to be the one to tell Liz I can’t keep Archie?” He looked at the dog, whose attention was going back and forth as if he knew he was the topic of
