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“Yeah, I think we got it all.”
She breathed out a long sigh. “Thank goodness. What a nightmare. Sorry about all that.”
My clothes were wet, I was tired, and I probably smelled like dog. But oddly enough, I wasn’t annoyed.
“It’s fine. I’m just glad we found him.”
“Me too.”
She rubbed him down with the towel and he shook again. We both did another sniff test, just to be sure. All I could smell was the lavender from the dog shampoo.
“Okay, Max, that’s enough adventures for one day.” She opened her sliding door and shooed him inside. “In you go.”
He ran in and she shut the door most of the way, leaving just a crack. With her hand on the handle, she met my eyes. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
For a second, she didn’t move. Then she stepped closer and hugged me.
Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around her and drew her in tight.
Fuck me, that felt good. She was soft and warm and her hair smelled good. Her body pressed against mine, stirring up all kinds of things I wasn’t prepared for.
She moved back and, almost reluctantly, I let go.
“Goodnight, Josiah.”
“Night.”
And with that, she disappeared inside her house, leaving me with an ache in my chest.
CHAPTER16
Audrey
My morning could not have been morechaotic.
I slept through my alarm and for once in his life, Max didn’t wake me up. By the time I rolled over and realized what had happened, I had all of twenty minutes to get ready for work.
The coffee machine wouldn’t turn on, despite being plugged in, and I didn’t have time to figure out why. I took Max outside to do his business, then came in and discovered I was out of dry shampoo. No time for a shower and no way to make my hair presentable meant it was a do-my-best bun sort of hair day.
My shirt had a stain I hadn’t noticed and my favorite pair of slacks were dirty, so it took a couple of harried tries to put together an outfit. Finally, I succeeded. No caffeine or breakfast, my clothes may or may not have matched, and I hoped it wouldn’t be obvious my hair needed washing. But I was ready to head out the door with two minutes to spare.
“Let’s go, Max. Time to go to work.”
The sound of my phone ringing startled me and I almost dropped my purse. I thought about ignoring it, but it was odd to get a phone call this early in the morning. That meant it might be important.
It was the number for Happy Paws.
“Hello? This is Audrey.”
“Hi, Audrey, this is Missy at Happy Paws.” Her voice sounded hoarse and she paused to cough. “Sorry. I woke up sick and I can’t be there today. I tried to find someone to fill in at doggie daycare for me, but we all seem to have gotten the same thing. I’m sorry, I know this is really last minute.”
I let out a breath and my shoulders slumped. It was that kind of morning. “That’s okay, Missy. I hope you feel better.”
“Thanks. Hopefully we’ll have coverage for tomorrow, but I’ll keep you posted.”
“Sounds good, I appreciate that. Get some rest.”
