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“Now you know it,” he said.
“I do. And I like it. Just like I like you.” Her eyes were moving over his face. “So...how do we play this?”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Do we keep it quiet? I’m okay with that for now. But I don’t want you to take offense and think there is a reason for that. Or that I’m embarrassed or anything.”
“None taken,” he said. “Every time I visit my grandmother she has to make some comment about me being single. Last time Jolene showed up and asked if I was spending time with a woman and that is why I’m not around much.”
“She’s famous for just slipping things in there like that. But everyone is onto her and she thinks we aren’t. My brother, Liam, and Margo. That was hilarious. My aunt was all about thinking she set them up, but she had no idea they’d known each other years ago.” She leaned in. “Margo confided in me that she and Liam had a brief thing.”
“A brief thing?” he asked.
“A one-night stand. She didn’t want me to think poorly of her. I didn’t. Liam isn’t like that so I figured there had to be something more going on, but I never asked much. Years later they run into each other and my aunt is all about thinking she had a hand in it, but she didn’t.”
“And she believed it?” he asked.
“Probably not. But they did tell her they knew each other before and my aunt insisted that it was fate she brought them back together. My other cousins, Devin and Ivan. Both of their significant others work for Fierce and my aunt helped to interview them.”
“I’d heard she does that,” he said, shaking his head.
“All of the spouses work with or for Fierce. I’ve been waiting for her to find the perfect employee for me and I was going to tell her it’d never happen.”
Which again made him wonder if he already had one shot against him. Then he told himself to let it go. This was just one date. It’s not like he was looking for much. He never was.
“You’ll have to let me know if that happens if we want to have a second date.”
“I do,” she said.
“We haven’t even gotten out of this one,” he said. The smile he had was probably going ear to ear.
“I don’t need to know much more than Fred likes you. Fred doesn’t like anyone. I can’t get my aunt to understand that either. She doesn’t like Fred. He’s not allowed at the house.”
“That’s mean,” he said.
“Not really. I shouldn’t say he’s not allowed. That is wrong of me. No one in my family has pets. I’m the only one. So it’s not like I’m going to bring Fred to family gatherings. Everyone knows about him, but as you know he’s a really big dog.”
“He is. But trained well.”
“Because he is so big.” She waved her hand. “Anyway, it’s never been offered and I’ve never asked and wouldn’t. My parents do let me bring Fred to their house though and that is good enough. I’ll do that on Christmas morning so he’s not alone.”
“He’s alone during the day though, right?” he asked. “Or do you bring him to doggie daycare?”
Faith smiled. “That is so sweet you are asking about Fred. Not many do. He’s home alone. I don’t know if you noticed the dog door. He can let himself out to do his business and sit in the sun and play in the yard. It’s fenced in for my section. When I come home we cuddle to give him love since he was alone all day. I’ve thought of getting him a sibling, but two of them that size on my bed might be too much.”
He lifted an eyebrow. Guess he had some competition there too.
“As you said, he’s your companion and he protects you. He’s part of your life and that means if I don’t like him or question that, then I can’t be a part of it.”
She made a face. He couldn’t figure out what it meant. “So you are only asking for that reason?”
“Do you think I would have gone to the dog park five times hoping to see you and then petting your dog if that was the reason? Fred came to me and I was glad of it.”
He wasn’t sure why he was volunteering that information either but didn’t care at this point.
“I’m glad he noticed you too. His eyesight is better than mine. I’d been looking and had no luck.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. Who needs your aunt, right? Guess all we needed was a mugger and a dog.”
