Page 5 of Puppy Love

“This is all my boss’s fault,” Harrison said. His words were abrupt, his movements even more so. “I didn’t even want a dog in the first place.”

“It’s a tricky business, matching people and puppies,” Lila said, trying to soothe. “Every temperament is different—even we don’t always get it right on the first try. Do we, Soph?”

Sophie knew that her sister was only trying to make up for this intrusion, including her in the conversation so she wouldn’t loseallher professional footing in front of the client, but she couldn’t help but feel miserable. What Lila really meant—and what Lila would never say—was thatSophiedidn’t always get it right on the first try.

She managed a weak smile. “No, it’s not always easy.”

“There. You see?” Lila extended her hand toward Harrison. “Come inside. We’ll be more comfortable having this conversation in the kitchen.”

“No.” He jerked back as though Lila had shot a lightning bolt from her fingertips. “I mean, no thank you. I’m leaving. That puppy can’t… There’s no way I…”

He paused and took one of Sophie’s deep breaths, a thing she might have appreciated if not for the look of painful reproach he shot her as he did it.

“This was a mistake,” he said curtly.

And that was all. Turning on his heel, he made for the back door to the kennel.

Sophie wanted to say something to stop him—apologize maybe, or beg him to give her another chance—but he was already swinging through the door by the time she found her tongue.

“Well.” Lila was the first to break the silence that followed Harrison’s sudden departure. “Oscar wasn’t exaggerating about him, was he?”

When Sophie didn’t respond, her eyes still fixed on the gentle sway of the door as if waiting for Harrison to reappear, Lila softened her voice. “That was a pretty nasty scene I walked into. You okay, Soph?”

It was exactly like her sister to ask that question. Given the way things had turned out, Lila could have dumped any number of reproaches on Sophie’s head, including the fact that she hadn’t wanted Sophie to take on this case in the first place, but of course, she didn’t. She never would.

Money meant nothing when compared to Sophie’s happiness. Work was secondary to making sure Sophie was taken care of.

Which was why Sophie shook her head. She wasn’t okay, not by a long shot. She felt humiliated and ashamed and, well,small—but more than that, she felt a strong compulsion to meet Harrison Parks on neutral territory once again. At first, he’d looked at her the way everyone always did, but then, when she’d pushed back, there’d been a spark in his eyes she desperately wanted to see again.

“I’m a little rattled, to be honest,” Sophie said. “He’s not like anyone I’ve ever met before.”

“No,” Lila agreed. “Some men are just like that, I’m afraid.”

It was on the tip of Sophie’s tongue to ask what Lila meant, but she stopped herself just in time. She already knew what Lila was thinking, because it was the same thing she’d thought when Harrison Parks had first knocked on the door.

This is a man who doesn’t like to be told what to do. This is a man to be wary of.

But Lila hadn’t seen that smile. Lila hadn’t been there when he’d quaked at the mere thought of touching such a precious, golden-haired lump as Bubbles. Lila hadn’t felt the surge of exhilaration that had come from confronting him…andwinning.

“And he wasn’t necessarily wrong,” Lila added. Her hand touched Sophie’s shoulder. “I did warn you that Bubbles might not make a good service dog, sweetie. Not every puppy is cut out for this kind of work.”

Sophie glanced down at the animal under consideration, a pang of mingled frustration and disappointment filling her gut. Okay, so Bubbles wasn’t the most impressive puppy to come under their care—she was small and soft and had lingering issues from the trauma of the puppy mill—but that didn’t make heruseless.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lila continued softly. “There will be other cases. One unhappy customer won’t make or break us. I’ll call Oscar and get everything straightened out.”

“No, don’t.” Sophie spoke sharply, using the same tone that had snapped out when Harrison had initially refused Bubbles. At her sister’s raised brow, she hastily amended it with, “I’ll talk to him. It’s my responsibility. I’m the one who mishandled the situation.”

Lila’s brow didn’t come down, but she accepted Sophie’s decree with a nod. “Sure thing, Soph. Take the rest of the day off. Go see Oscar. He always makes you feel better.”

Sophie offered her a tight smile but didn’t say anything. Oscardidalways make her feel better, but that wasn’t what she meant. She didn’t want a day off. She didn’t want someone to hug her and placate her and tell her everything would be all right.

What she wanted—no, what sheneeded—was to get her client back.

Glancing down at the Pomeranian, who was staring at the back door as if she too expected Harrison to come waltzing back through it at any moment, Sophie decided that was exactly what she’d do too.

Even if it was only so she could feel that sudden spark of battle coming alive inside her again.

Chapter 2