Hastily, I add, “I mean, if you have time. On occasional days. Or whatever you have the bandwidth for. I’m just happy to help with her in any way I can.”
“I can drop her off here during the day. You sure you don’t mind?”
“I’ve always dreamed of having a shop dog. I’d love to.”
He nods. “All right. We’ll do it.” He glances at his watch. “I guess I better go get some pet supplies. You wanna come?”
Attempting to temper my obvious eagerness, I glance down at my embroidered cowboy boots. “Sure, I can take a break.”
From beneath the checkout counter, I grab my purse. “Sarah,” I call out. “I’m running out for an hour. I’ll be back by two o’clock. You want anything while I’m out? One of those cupcakes you like?”
“Only if they have the chai caramel flavor…” Her voice trails off as she peeks out of the backroom. Her eyes are laser-focused on Slade.
She looks like she’s seeing her favorite boy-band member in the flesh for the first time. Hearts might as well be floating up from her eyes.
“Oh, wow,” she whispers. “You’re… hi.”
Slade nods politely, but barely spares her a glance. Instead he holds the door open for me. “After you, Lila.”
I can feel Sarah’s eyes practically singeing my back as Slade’s hand lands lightly on it to guide me through the door.
I have a feeling I’m going to be interrogated when I get back.
“Feed store’s right at the end of Main Street,” he says. “You been there before?”
I shake my head. “I’ve only lived in Marble Falls for six months. Haven’t had the occasion to need the feed store in my line of work.”
We start walking down Main Street. Without a word he moves to the outside of the sidewalk, stepping smoothly around me so his body is between mine and the road.
It’s at this point I also realize he’s opened every single door for me from the moment we met. When he’s around, I don’t touch a door handle.
This whole old-fashioned country boy manners thing is entirely new to me. I could really get used to it.
It’s a gorgeous autumn day, cottonwood leaves shimmeringlike gold flakes as the breeze shakes them loose. As we walk, Slade asks me about my business. I tell him I started working at various small design firms across the country. On the side, I started sewing pillows and selling them, which expanded to doing my own private consultations, and now, finally settling on a place I want to live and starting a full-service design firm.
“You’re pretty young to have your own business,” he says.
“Twenty five.”
“That’s young.”
I know from my rabid internet searching that he’s a decade older than me. I can see the first hints of silver threading through his hair and it looksgood.
He interrupts my silent admiring to say, “Sorry you missed your event last night.”
“It’s okay. We ended up doing some good for one particular animal at least, right? And, um…” I feel a little weird bringing it up, but how can I not? “Someone bid on a date with me last night. Ten thousand dollars.”
I look for a reaction.
Slade’s got a flawless poker face though. He doesn’t bat one dark eyelash.
“Sounds like money well spent,” he says.
“Except the bidder was anonymous. So they can’t collect on their date.”
I’m waiting for him to admit it was him. Hoping to give him the opening to ask me out for real, if it was him and he just didn’t want his name plastered all over.
But all he says is, “Ten thousand dollars buys a lot of dog beds, I bet.”
