“I am still terrified of dogs,” I say, holding up the hand that isn’t clasped in his. “Don’t get me wrong about that—I am no fan of dogs. But, Rex is cool. I like him, too.”
“Maybe Rex has already found the person he wants to be his forever human…”
“What? No.” I shake my head, taking my hand back and nervously fixing my ponytail. “No way. I can’t adopt him.”
“I mean… you could…”
“No. No way.” A nervous laugh falls out of me. He’s delusional. Maybe he got sick in the rain and isn’t thinking straight. “Besides, I don’t fit the adoption criteria. I don’t have dog experience, no big yard for him to play in, no routine schedule to take him on his walks because my job has me going all over the place all the time?—”
“You know the adoption requirements?”
“Of course I do.” My shoulders straighten. “I’m your event planner. I’ve read your entire website and know everything about you.”
“You know everything about me, eh?” That sly, sexy, stupid flirty grin of his returns for the first time in a long time.
I roll my eyes. A sudden memory hits me—the last thing he said before the phone cut off. How do you tell a gorgeous man you don’t have a boyfriend when he thinks you do for some reason, but it’s been hours and a treacherous rainstorm and lost dog after the fact?
“You’re the best, Charlotte. I can’t thank you enough for rescuing him like this.” Caleb stands, taking a thin leash out of his pocket. He calls Rex, who sleepily walks over and lets Caleb clip the leash to his collar.
“I’m just glad I was in the right place at the right time,” I say. The moment is over. There’s no use bringing it up now. It doesn’t really matter if he thinks I have a boyfriend.
“You’re my fixer,” he says. He reaches out and wraps both arms around me. His chin rests on top of my head as he sways back and forth, capturing me in a bear hug. Rex walks around us, wrapping his leash around my legs and pulling me even closer to the man in front of me. He smells… like rainwater and mud. But it still finds a way to make my entire body all tingly. “You fix all my problems. I don’t even know how you do it.”
“It’s all in a day’s work.” I smile up at him as he slowly releases me, leaving every muscle in my body longing for more. “Maybe I should charge you an overtime rate for tonight…” I grin mischievously.
“I will pay any amount. Hell, can I hire you to fix the rest of my life?”
I walk him and Rex to the door. “I don’t think you can afford that.”
“Thanks again,” he says, and I swear his eyes linger on my lips. My breathing feels shallow. I wish he would just do it.
Just kiss me.
My cheeks flush at the thought. Okay, maybeIgot sick in the rain and I’m delusional.
“Let’s go,” Caleb tells Rex. The dog lets out a whimper, looking back at me.
I scratch underneath his chin. His tail wags. “I’ll see you later,” I tell him.
Caleb leads him out the door and Rex just stares at me the whole time.
“Goodnight, Charlotte. Get some sleep.”
I barely register what Caleb says. I can’t take my eyes off the dog.
chapter twenty-two
Caleb
The gala is four days away. Every morning I wake up a little more anxious and excited than the day before, but today is much worse. The local news channel is here after speaking to Ethan about doing an interview with us. We spent the last two days cleaning up debris from the storm and making the place look as professional as possible. I bought an entire new roll of chain link fencing to replace Rex’s kennel run and he hasn’t tried to escape again…for now.
“How do I look?” I ask out loud as I step off the stairs into the living room.
“Wayyy too overdressed,” Max says, giving me a lip-curled look of judgement.
“Yeah, bro—that’s not working,” Leo says.
“What? Why?” I turn to the mirror over the fireplace. I’m wearing black dress slacks and a blue button up shirt. “It’s professional.”
