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“I’ve only been a dad for a short time. I’ll fix it.” He reached outside and opened the door, clambering out and nearly landing on the bag of leaves. He missed it and hit the grass on his hip.
I peered over the car do
or. “Are you okay?”
“Fine. Just my dignity.” He flipped his hair back.
“So, I can go?”
“No. I need your help upstairs.”
I squinted at him. “You look fine.”
“Upstairs, woman.”
“That’s not how you get help.” I turned to Mrs. Newsome. “Sorry about this. He and his best friend decided day drinking was a good idea today.” I didn’t know how the cop fit in. I probably didn’t want to. “He hasn’t been a pet parent long either.”
“Oh, child. I’ve seen far worse from my Henry. You two go on up. We’ll take out our hearing aids.” She was surprisingly spry as she hurried into the house.
“Hear that? We can be as loud as you want.” Lucky laughed and dropped onto his back. “I’m too fucking old to drink like that.”
I got out of the car and stood over him. “If I help you up, are you going to pull me down there?”
He sighed and flung his arms wide as if he was going to make a snow angel in the very unsnowy grass. “No. You can leave me here. I’ll make it up there eventually.”
I crouched beside him. “C’mon, I’ll make you my hangover specialty—depending on what you have in your fridge.”
He opened one eye. “A bottle of tabasco sauce and eggs?”
“I can make do with that.”
He lifted his hand to a lock of hair that had slipped out of my bun. “Damn, you are beautiful.”
My chest tightened, and my belly did a little flip. Damn him. People didn’t say those kinds of things to me. I wasn’t ugly, but men often found me intimidating.
Not this one, and I couldn’t figure out why.
I sighed. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I vote for keep me.”
“Incorrigible.” I stood and dragged him up. Kind of. He really was a damn redwood. But between us, we somehow managed to get him upright. And when he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, I caught him trying to cop a feel.
Before I could kick his ass about it, he tightened his grip and squashed me against his chest. I pinched his side. “You stink.”
“Sorry about that. I didn’t get to go home before I went over to get Butch.” He rubbed his face with both hands. “I can’t believe I abandoned my dog. What will she be like as a teenager now?”
I snorted. “I’m sure she’ll be a delinquent. C’mon, let’s get you all cleaned up.”
His shoulders hunched as he climbed the steps to the wreathless door. I held the screen door open for him. It was an old house with a narrow staircase to the second floor, and he still pinballed his way up the stairs. I resisted the urge to grip his ass and keep propelling him upward.
It wasn’t the time for that.
“C’mon, Thor. Don’t feel too bad. You’re still new at the dad thing.”
“I know. But I went over there to pick her up and I did, but then I got drunk and left her behind. Oh, and I almost got a ticket except Brady took pity on me and my girl troubles. You troubles,” he said over his shoulder.
I winced. “Now’s not the time to talk about that.”
