Page 60 of Lavender and Linebackers

“Okay, folks, now for a fun pose.”

Without thinking, I scoop her up into my arms bridal style, and she throws her head back and laughs. I do my best to keep my eyes off her chest and neck, both of which are fucking tempting. I’d love to run my tongue right over them both.

“Ryder, put me down!” She’s amused.

I do. Slowly. And most definitely where her body drags over mine. Her eyes flash, and they are a clear, dark brown. They are beautiful.

“Come on, let’s go bid on some things.” She grabs my sleeve and pulls me as we’re being ushered away. When she lets go, the back of her hand brushes against mine. What I wouldn’t give to lace my fingers with hers. To really walk around this event and have everyone know she’s with me.

“Do you come to these types of events often?” she asks, looking up at me.

“No. Just a couple over the years, and usually I’m entertainment, not as a potential donor.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like tonight, I’m here as a representative to the Tarpons. I’m not here to spend a lot of money.”

“Well, maybe we should.” She grins at me while looping her arm through mine.

“Maybe you should. I’ll give a donation, but there’s nothing here that I want.”

“You don’t know that,” she teases.

“Yes, I do. I looked over the auction items earlier today.”

She pulls back a little to look at me. “And you didn’t find anything?”

“There are puppies.”

Her jaw drops, and her face lights up. “No. Way.”

“Yep.” I grin back.

“Oh, we have to go see them.”

“That’s what I thought you would say.”

Walking into the separate room, themed “Oh, the Places You’ll Go,” we slowly make our way by each item as we head toward the far corner of the room. There’s already a crowd, so to squeeze in, I pull Alice in front of me. I want to place my hands on her shoulders, but touching her isn’t really allowed.

She gasps in delight at the three different furry golden puppies.

“Would you like to hold one?” a volunteer asks. Alice nods. “Yes, please.”

The lady in the enclosed area scoops up the smallest one with the light pink collar and gently passes it over.

“Her name is Holly. She is an FB1 medium golden doodle. She has hypoallergenic qualities, doesn’t shed, and will grow to about forty pounds.”

“She’s the sweetest,” Alice coos, cuddling the dog and tucking her face down. The puppy squirms a little and then looks up at her. It gives her a tiny lick on the cheek and then settles in.

“I can see why this would be a huge hit at an auction,” I say under my breath.

Alice glances over her shoulder and smiles. A true, genuine smile, not one of the fake ones that she gives others.

“Me too,” she whispers, turning so she’s kind of cuddling the puppy against my chest as well. Of course I pet it. How could I not? And when my fingers happen to touch hers, neither of us moves away.

We never talked about owning a dog. Is this something she would want one day?

Handing my phone to the person next to me, I ask them to take a photo of us. We need pictures for our own social pages, and this is as good as any.