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“I’m happy to see you too,” I said with a laugh as her tail wagged a thousand miles an hour. “Thanks for not knocking me over.”
“She was trained by her owners to sit when she wants attention, so she didn’t accidentally knock their kids down,” Mark said from near the sink, his grin wide and friendly, happier than I’d ever seen on his normally dour face. Today he was dressed much like Leo, in a pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt, though his was black instead of Leo’s gray.
Not having seen him earlier, I turned my head so I could smile at him, still cuddling with Honey, who was a total love hound. “Hi, Mark. Thanks for bringing her home.”
His smile brightened as he looked at the dog, who’d now flopped on her back and was in the throes of ecstasy while I rubbed her smooth belly. “She’s a great dog. Smart, sweet, and will be easy to train. Honey is a perfect name for her, because she loves just about everyone she meets.”
“Mark,” Leo added with clear pride for his friend in his voice, “used to train dogs for the Detroit Police Department.”
Taking in my man’s relaxed demeanor and friendly smile, I mused that someone was in a good mood today. Then what he said sank in, and I turned to Mark with no doubt wide eyes. “Really?”
Mark nodded. “Yep. Leo asked me to train Honey, if that’s all right with you.”
“What are you talking about? Honey is Leo’s dog, you don’t need my permission.”
“Wrong,” Leo said after he gave me a quick kiss. “She’s our dog.”
I flushed, wondering what Mark thought of our hyper-speed relationship, then whispered to Leo, “Really, she’s your dog, you don’t need my permission for anything.”
“Really,” Leo whispered back, “she’s our dog, and I want you to be okay with Mark training her.”
“Of course I’m okay with it.”
Mark leaned against the counter and watched us pet Honey. “I’m going to introduce her to the other guards.”
“Other guards?” I glanced over at Leo. “How many guards do you need?”
He exchanged a glance with Mark, who appeared unhappy, before returning his attention to me. “I’m a wealthy man, Hannah, and there are people who’d love to take what I have away from me. The grounds are constantly patrolled by at least four guards. You may see them occasionally, but they’ve been ordered to give us privacy so you probably won’t interact with them much. There are two guest houses, Mark’s and the one the guards use. Mark’s home is the adobe-style ranch we passed on the way in. I had it built after I bought the land so I could always have him nearby. He’s not only my bodyguard, he’s my assistant, and we do a lot of work for the Cordova Group together.”
I tried to remember the house, but was distracted when Mark crouched down next to me, rubbing Honey’s neck as he said, “The nice thing about always having someone here is that Honey will never be alone. She’ll have plenty of people to spend time with, which a dog like her needs. Folks think pit bulls are some kind of man killers, but they’re actually very people friendly and they pine away for human contact if left alone for too long. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to teach her to attack a person on command, it’s not in her nature, but I’ll be able to teach her how to alert you to danger.”
“Danger? What kind of danger?”
Leo quickly said, “There are snakes on the property, and the occasional coyote. I own ten acres and most of it is kept as wilderness.”
“And scorpions.” I made a face as I shivered. “I hate those things. One stung me once when I was a kid and my foot swelled up so bad I couldn’t wear shoes for a week.”
Mark chuckled. “Well, I supposed I could train her to sniff out scorpions as well, but I’m pretty sure Leo has this place sealed up tighter than Fort Knox. I doubt even a scorpion would be stupid enough to show its face here.”
Honey rolled to her feet and began to sniff around the kitchen, her tail wagging so hard her butt swayed back and forth with a big old doggy grin. “She looks happy.”
Pulling me into his arms, Leo rested his chin on top of my head. “She is, and you can play with her later, after you study.”
I groaned, practically flopping in his arms in protest as I whined, “I don’t wannnaaaaa.”
Both men laughed as Leo supported my overly dramatic limp form. “I told you that your education is important to me, Hannah, and I don’t want our relationship to have a negative impact on your grades.”
“You’re no fun,” I grumbled.
His hot breath, lightly scented with coffee, whispered over my ear, “Oh, I’m lots of fun, baby girl, you just have to earn it.”
