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“Hey! You’re going to spoil her dinner!”
“I’m sure she’ll eat just fine.”
“Oh my god, you’re going to be that dad who spoils his kids rotten, so they become little jerks.”
His brows furrowed at the idea. “Well, since I’m never having any, we don’t have to worry about that.”
She didn’t know why his answer that he wasn’t ever going to have kids bothered her as much as it did. It wasn’t like they were going to have children together.
“Anyway,” he continued, “you can hardly equate me giving my dog a treat for being a good girl to spoiling her. It’s rewarding her for being a good girl.” He leveled his gaze at her when he said, “I like to reward good girls.”
Holy hell. Is it hot in here?
Utah swallowed hard at the innuendo but didn’t address it. Instead, she returned to the safe topic of Phoebe.
“She needed a nap after our walk through the neighborhood. She got to meet some of your neighbors, so now if she somehow gets out without her collar, they’ll know who she belongs to.”
He let her sidestep the sexual insinuation and chuckled at her comment. “Who’d you meet?”
“The man two houses over. I think his name was Don? He was out pruning his rosebushes.”
“Yeah, that’s Don. Did he talk your ear off?”
“It was fine. He was sweet.”
Liam opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of Modelo, pausing at the drawer next to the fridge to take out a bottle opener.
“I’ll bet it made his day when you stopped to talk to him.” He tossed the cap into the trash and took a pull from the bottle before asking, “Who else did you meet?”
“A few ladies a couple streets over. They said they saw you this morning jogging with Phoebe.” She felt a sly smile form on her lips. “They were quite interested in who I was. They weren’t even subtle when they tried to get the tea.”
That made him bark out a laugh. “Oh, I’m sure. What’d you tell them?”
“I just said I was a volunteer with ARF and was helping you get Phoebe settled into her new digs.”
He took another drink and swallowed quickly when he shook his head and said, “Yeah, they didn’t buy that.”
“What? Of course, they did.”
He shot her a look. “Baby, I guarantee they were burning up their group text last night with speculation about whose car was in my driveway. And the fact that it was still there this morning when they went on their group walk? They were gulping down that hot tea.”
“Well, what should I have said?”
“Exactly what you did. It’s none of their damn business who you are.”
“I’m sorry—I don’t want you to be the topic of neighborhood gossip because of me.”
He set his beer on the counter and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I couldn’t care less what they’re gossiping about. You know what I do care about?”
She shook her head. “No. What?”
“How much time do we have before dinner’s ready?”
Utah glanced at the timer on her Fitbit. “Thirty minutes. Why?”
He moved his hand under her t-shirt, sliding up her belly and reaching inside her bra to cup her breast.
“Because I’ve been thinking about tasting your honey all day, little bee.”
