Page 17 of Wag More Bark Less

Stop fucking staring.

“You left the gate open.”

The terse words fell out of my mouth before I could pull them back. Something I regretted as the bright expression on her face evaporated in two seconds flat. Why was jackass my default setting around this woman?

“I haven’t even been outside until just now,” she said. “It looks like you left the gate open, Officer.”

“I’m not on duty,” I pointed out, stashing the pink sock beneath my thigh for reasons I didn’t even want to attempt to deconstruct. “Just call me Luke.”

“I know how this works. You’re always on duty.”

“You a cop or something?”

“Or something.”

It was clear she wasn’t going to elaborate. It was sheer stubbornness that kept me from asking, because the rest of me wanted to know the answer. I wanted to know how she took her coffee, what she was running from, and how many layers were missing beneath that hoodie.

So naturally, I chose to double down. “Make sure you keep the gate locked.”

“I didn’t open it.”

“Right,” I mumbled, focusing on my plate so I’d stop fucking staring at those bare legs.

“C’mon, Ellie. We’re not welcome here.”

“I didn’t mean—” By the time I looked up from my plate, both Maggie and Ellie were gone.

The sliding door next door opened and shut, and then, silence.

SEVEN

MAGGIE

The sight of Luke Mason shirtless and covered in tattoos should be illegal.

“Ellie, you traitor,” I said, pulling the sliding door closed and dropping to the floor right there in the kitchen. My pup crawled over my outstretched legs, and I hugged her tightly against my chest. It was literally my favorite thing about having adopted her. She gave the world’s best hugs.

“He’s the enemy, remember? He doesn’t even like you.”

Except, clearly he did. I caught him sneaking chunks of bacon to her, and nearly turned into a puddle right there in the doorway. Had I not announced myself, I was two point three seconds from bursting in, crawling into his lap, digging my fingers into that beard, and kissing him until I was breathless—or until he arrested me for trespassing.

Where did that impulse come from? Oh, right. I was horny.

Despite having lived with my fiancé—ex-fiancé—for the past three months, we never actually got to be intimate with one another once I moved in because Monster-in-Law arrived on the same day to help with wedding plans.

“Temporary my ass,” I grumbled.

It was no wonder I was hot for the guy next door, even if I wanted so badly to dislike him. I hadn’t been with a man in nearly eight months, since Jason and I met up in Hawaii. The trip where he proposed.

Maybe grumpy and covered in tattoos was my new type.

Or maybe it was my rebellious side emerging after upending my comfortable life only to find out I would always come second to Jason’s mother. Luanne made a huge fuss over my one tattoo. I bet she’d have a small heart attack if she saw me near a man covered in them. Which, of course, only made the temptation to be completely reckless stronger.

“I really need to get a grip,” I mumbled against Ellie’s fur. “Under no circumstances can you let me do something stupid like sleep with him. Mkay, Ellie Belly?”

Not that he even liked me anyway. The man barely tolerated me.

Damn him for being sweet to Ellie. There was clearly a teddy bear trapped inside Officer McGrumpy—somewhere deep, deep beneath the layers of defined muscle and ink—and it was scrambling my brain.