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“Me too,” he grunted. I could have sworn he moved even closer to the dog, almost protectively. “My neighbors moved, and turns out, the assholes left this little thing tied to a tree in their backyard.”
I sucked in a sharp gasp. “What? No!” My heart squeezed violently for the poor little pooch as I scooped her up into my arms and stood, clutching her close to my chest. “Those rat bastards!”
“I found her there a few nights ago. She’d been barking so much it was damn near impossible to sleep. She’s kind of been glued to my side ever since. She’s not a big fan of being left alone, and the sheriff’s fine with her tagging along just as long as she doesn’t use the bathroom inside the station.
I didn’t want to think about how freaking hot Holton was, carting this tiny dog around on a bright pink leash, or how sweet it was that she clearly adored him, but I just couldn’t help myself, damn it.
“That’s really nice of you,” I said hesitantly, struggling to give him credit when I was still mad at him, not only for what he’d done the night after we hooked up, but also because I still wanted him despite it. Every time he was around, I felt a jumble of emotions so intense I didn’t know what to do or how to act.
He shrugged but didn’t say anything else. Instead, he just stood there, those sexy sunglasses pinned on me, and even though I couldn’t see them, I could feel his gaze piercing right through me, seeing deeper than I wanted him to. I couldn’t help but stare back, feeling trapped in the tractor beam of his gaze.
Fortunately, the tiny dog I was holding let out a bark, unhappy that the attention was no longer on her, and broke the moment. I blinked, giving my head a shake before shifting my focus back to her.
“Aw, I’m sorry, cutie,” I cooed at her. “We didn’t mean to ignore you. You’re just a little thing looking for some love, huh?”
“You want her?”
My head jerked up at Holt’s unexpected question. “Huh?”
He tilted his chin down at the dog. “She’s up for adoption. You want her?”
“Wait. You aren’t keeping her?”
“I’m not really a pet kind of person.”
I looked down at the dog I was still holding. “What’s her name?”
“Churro. Why?”
I had to take a second to keep from laughing. “Well, first of all, I think the fact that you’re a grown man who’s willing to call a teensy little puppy Churro instead of changing it proves that you might be more of a pet person than you’re giving yourself credit for. That, and the pink collar and matching leash, not to mention you’re taking her around with you while you’re on duty because shedoesn’t like to be alone.”
This guy could deny it all he wanted, but I wasn’t a fool. He was a total sucker for this dog.
He crossed his arms over his chest, his plump lips falling into a straight line. “So that’s a no on the dog adoption?”
I laughed and passedChurroback to her reluctant daddy. “That’s a no, deputy. But thanks for asking.” I turned and pulled my door open, climbing back into my car. “I’ll see you around.”
His hand came down, holding my door so I couldn’t close it all the way. “Nice try, sweetheart, but I’m not letting you leave here without a ticket.”
Son of a bitch!
I’d hoped that we’d been talking about his dog for so long he’d forgotten what we were doing there in the first place. But of course, I wasn’t that lucky. And my boobs had zero effect. That was a real kick to the pride.
Releasing my hold on the door, I resumed my earlier pout—telling myself that I no longer found him and his dog adorable together. It was a lie, but I was totally fine with lying to myself.
“You know what? I hope Churro poops in your bed.”
* * *
Later that day,I pulled the door open at Hot Java, a local coffee shop on Main Street, and stepped inside, scanning the crowd for Deva. She’d called earlier to ask if I wanted to meet up for coffee, something of a recent obsession for her.
She’d grown up part of a community that called themselves the Fellowship of the Enlightened. Enlightened they definitely were not. It was actually more cult than community, and the family she’d been stuck living with since she was a little girl were abusive assholes. There had been so much she’d never experienced because it was against their beliefs, coffee just being one of those things. Now she was an addict, and not the least bit sorry about it.
It was adorable, really. She had at least two fancy coffees a day, each one different because she felt like she had to experience them all before she could choose a favorite. She was working her way through the menus of every place that served coffee in town, and I was more than happy to be a part of her experiment. Well, every place but one in particular. French Press was a coffee shop that had been blacklisted by our circle of friends. I didn’t know the full story, only that the owner had been incredibly mean to our friend Lark, but that was reason enough for me to boycott it for life.
Deva waved from her place at a table in the middle of the restaurant.
“Hey, honey.” I greeted, walking into her open arms and returning her embrace.
