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“True.” Smiling while shaking her head, she stepped aside to make space. “Get in here.”
Their fingers brushed as he entered the house, the air between them charging from the simple contact. Every cell in his body demanded more. He wouldn’t get more—wouldn’t get anything other than a friendly smile—until much later. Leigh had labeled him an in-the-moment guy and she wasn’t wrong. But for her, he’d have patience too. As much as it took.
“Lennox is in the backyard with the puppy,” she said, leading the way.
One step into the living room and he stopped. Not because of his newfound abundance of patience. “She knows about this, right?”
“That you’re coming over, or that we’re dating?”
“Yes and yes.” A grown man shouldn’t need reassurance about meeting a kid. Especially one he’d technically already met. Tell that to the knot at the top of his gut. “Maybe I should grab the gift.”
“She knows about you, Sam. It’s sweet that you want to win her over, but you won’t do that with whatever you stowed in my garden.” Leigh slipped her soft hand along his and threaded their fingers together. “She’s going to like you for you.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I’m always right,” she said, treating him to a cheeky smile. “But you’re smart enough to know that already.”
He was spared the need to respond by the appearance of a full-throttle careening puppy.
Lennox followed in hot pursuit, her level of zing only marginally less than the dog’s, due mainly to having half the amount of legs and a higher center of gravity.
Legs paddling in every direction, the bug-eyed black puppy skidded across the hardwood floor, hitting Sam’s shins with a surprisingly solid thud for such a small dog.
Lennox avoided a similar crash entrance by diving over the arm of a nearby chair. “That’s Ladybug,” she said, popping up from behind the gray upholstery. “She heard your voice and had to come see you. You can pick her up if you want. She’ll like you better if you do.”
He’d prefer advice on how to make the talkative little girl like him better, but he’d start with the dog. He released Leigh’s hand, then crouched to collect the wiggling puppy. “Hello, Ladybug.”
Leigh laughed as the puppy returned his greeting by depositing a swath of dog spit across his cheek and eyelid.
“That’s how she kisses,” Lennox said.
He didn’t need to be told what to do next. Kiss the dog, obviously. Which he did, peppering the puppy’s head and face with kisses while accepting more face washing in return.
“Cute puppy,” he said, straightening again.
“You like her more than Mommy does.” A matter-of-fact statement from Lennox that pulled the knot in his gut a bit tighter.
Maybe he’d overdone it. He certainly hadn’t meant to upstage Leigh. Two minutes into this and it was already harder than a personal-best deadlift.
Ignoring Lennox’s remark, Leigh pointed back and forth between him and the girl who’d rolled out of the chair to join the puppy at floor level. “Sam, Lennox. Lennox, Sam.”
“Hello.” Lennox waved up at him. “Do you want to meet our cat too?”
He shot a glance at Leigh, who countered with the world’s most subtle head shake. Mindreading abilities would be great right about now. “I’d like to meet all your pets.”
“There’s only a cat and a dog.”
“Only.” This time, an eye roll accompanied Leigh’s pronounced head shake. “Two is enough.”
“Mommy doesn’t want any more responsibility.” Lennox directed the comment toward him, as if he needed the explanation. “That’s why she doesn’t want more kids either.” Her attention didn’t drift from Sam for a blink. In fact, she may not have blinked at all, the kid was that damn focused. “I hope you don’t want babies or more than two pets if you’re going to be her boyfriend.”
Leigh choked on a laugh, but said nothing. Just let him hang there without a safety net.
“I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.”
The answer seemed sufficient to Lennox, who nodded while rising from her cross-legged position. “I’ll go find Smokey. He’s the cat. He doesn’t like kisses as much as Ladybug, just so you know.”
He’d never match the kid’s monotone bluntness, but he managed to keep his amusement in check. “Thanks for the tip.”
