AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pick up the dog’s head and angle it toward Suzie. “But look at me, I’m soooo cute.”
“Darn it. She is adorable.” Suzie kneels down to pet her, her foot slides forward and she falls on her ass. “Oomph!”
I giggle. Being best friends with Suzie is like having a full-time clown at your disposal. Always funny, but sometimes scary. Don’t laugh. Clowns can be scary. “Twice in one day. Must be some kind of record.”
“I wish,” she mumbles under her breath before reaching over to pet the dog.
Aiden is done waiting for me to quit playing with the dog. He reaches underneath my arms and hauls me to my feet. “Hi, honey,” he whispers before he kisses me. I chase his lips. His kiss was entirely too short. He chuckles. “We need to talk.”
“You want to talk here where Suzie is obviously listening in or go to my office where she has to eavesdrop through the door?”
He grabs my hand and walks to my office. Eavesdropping it is! “Lola, come.” The dog stands and trots behind us.
Suzie starts humming Layla from Eric Clapton. I shake my head. “It’s Layla, not Lola, you dork.”
“Are you sure?”
“Google is your friend,” I tell her as I shut the door.
Aiden points at Lola and tells her to sit. She immediately listens to him. “For not being your dog, she sure is obedient.”
“She’s the pet of a colleague of mine. Or she was. His wife had triplets and as it happens one of them is allergic to dogs.”
My eyes widen. “Oh no. Poor Lola. Have they found a home for her yet?”
“Yep, you.”
I must have heard him wrong. “What?”
“She’s yours. I claimed her for you.”
“Oh my god!” I shout as I clap and jump up and down. Lola joins in with a bark. “I’ve always wanted a dog.”
“I know.”
Really? I raise an eyebrow at him. “How do you know?” I’m sure we haven’t talked about pets before. To be honest, there hasn’t been a whole lot of talking in our ‘relationship’ that hasn’t been about my stalker. Damn. Forgot about stalker dude for a minute there.
“Seriously? Don’t you remember those t-shirts you used to wear in high school?”
Face meet palm. Those t-shirts he’s referring to were horrid, absolutely horrid. Pops’ idea to make up for me not being able to have a dog was to buy me dog paraphernalia. T-shirts, stuffed animals, keychains – you name it, he bought it. Except for an actual dog, of course. He refused to buy me a dog when we lived in an apartment downtown with no green in the vicinity.
I kneel down to give Lola some loving and maybe hide my face, which is probably twenty shades of red by now. “What kind of dog is she?”
“She’s a Chesapeake Bay Retriever.”
“Sounds expensive.”
He ignores me to explain the features of this breed of dog. “They’re loyal and energetic and make great guard dogs.”
Aha! He didn’t buy me a dog because I’ve always wanted one. He bought me a guard dog. I stand and put my hands on my hips as my eyes narrow. “I don’t need a guard dog.”
“Dogs are a great deterrent for thieves and other criminals.”
He’s not even trying to deny he bought me a guard dog. “I can’t have a dog anyway. I’m never home.”
“And? You own your own business. Look.” He points to Lola who is now curled up in the corner of my office. “She can come to the office with you.”
“I don’t spend much time in the office.”
