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How much he liked her.
Now she was wondering why. Any of the paparazzi photos she saw of him always showed him with slender, glamorous women. Ashley was not his usual type.
Why her? What did she offer?
“Don’t do this, Ash.”
“What?”
“Overthink it.”
She couldn’t help it. Ideally she would like a man to be attracted to her in a normal fashion, not because she had something he needed (a reference for a judge, a need to satisfy a big girl fetish, the accidental mother of his child). This smacked of a little too much fairy tale thinking.
Ashley was far too sensible for fairy tales.
Surreptitiously, Ashley watched Dex from the entrance to the dog yard. He was on his knees outside Bandit’s cage, holding out a squeak toy to the pup who was studiously ignoring him.
Or was he?
Bandit sniffed at the ground but whenever Dex moved a few feet away or turned his back, the dog took a quick look, his eyes filled with such hunger! But then as soon as Dex paid him any mind, he found his inner moody teenager.
This went on for a good ten minutes. Ashley felt a movement at her side. Gillian, one of their volunteers, stood there, her kohl-rimmed eyes soft and shiny.
“That’s pretty adorable.”
“Yeah. I probably should photograph it, shouldn’t I?”
Gillian nodded. “Evidence of his good deeds. Definitely.”
Ashley snapped a few photos with her camera then filmed about fifteen seconds of video, just enough to catch Dex shaking his head in mock exasperation. He turned and caught her filming, and because he was obviously used to the attention, out came the kill-her-dead smile.
“Mama likey,” Gillian murmured.
This mama agreed, but she couldn’t say that aloud. She was supposed to be a mentor-type to Gillian, not that she’d ever asked for it. But aspiring-to-middle-aged frumps couldn’t be seen drooling over younger himbo hunks.
She lowered the phone. “Have you had a chance to sweep out the cattery?”
Gillian raised a diamond-studded eyebrow. “On it, boss.”
“I’m not the—” But Gillian had already sauntered off, leaving Ashley worried she might have offended her. It just seemed strange for them both to be standing there watching Dex, and for some reason, she couldn’t be the one who walked away first.
Now, she had no excuse. She had work to do, invoices to file, schedules to create, an Empty the Shelters event to organize, and yet, here she was placing one foot in front of the other as she headed toward Dex.
“Hey there,” she said softly.
He turned and grinned at her. “Hey, yourself. You look lovely.”
She might have put a little more effort into her appearance this morning, but the compliment still threw her. Warmth toasted her cheeks; she managed to murmur “thanks,” then, “How was the card game?”
“Good. Really good.”
“And how’s Bandit today?”
“A tease.”
She chuckled. “Let’s take him out.” Dex had walked him a few times on a leash in the play area, but Ashley thought he might be ready for some more unstructured interaction.
With his cage open, Bandit still held back and had to be coaxed out to the open. Ashley attached his leash and handed it off to Dex. “Your move, hotshot.”
