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Though she was secretly thrilled at the thought of training with Pink again, she pretended to mull over his offer. “Are you going to follow it up with a real date afterward?”
“Oh, come on! You love our training sessions. Just admit it already,” he cajoled. “I know for a fact you’re no longer rabidly allergic to sprint intervals.”
“Whatever,” she grumbled, pretty proud of the fact that she could hold her own now during their warmup exercises. “I still hate them.”
“Hey, uh, there’s something else I’d like to ask you.” He handed her some doggie treats to share with Pink. Next, he held out a handful for both Rook and Bishop and allowed them to eat out of his hand. “Any chance you’d be willing to start taking Pink to work with you, goat lady?”
She snorted out a laugh at his reminder that she’d dealt with animals at work before. “Goat lady,” she repeated, still chuckling. “I’m dating such a classy guy.
“That’s not an answer.”
Her smile faded. “You wouldn’t be asking me that if you weren’t worried about me.”
“The sheriff and I should’ve never taken you with us to the Paddocks.” He sounded so regretful that her indignation was roused.
“Really, Shep?” She dusted her hands against her jeans. “I thought we were partners.”
“We are. You’re also the woman I love.” He glanced away from her, jaw working with emotion.
“I have a counter-offer.” She stepped up to him to curl an arm around his middle.
He grimaced down at her. “I wasn’t aware this was a negotiation.”
“Consider yourself informed,” she retorted. “I’ll take Pink to work with me, so long as you agreenotto shut me out of what’s going on. Though I don’t wear a police uniform, I’m in the perfect position to gather information that could prove helpful to the case.”
He flicked a finger against her nose. “Is that your final offer?”
“I believe it is, Deputy Whitaker.” She tossed her braids behind her shoulders.
“Deal.” He swooped down to hover his mouth over hers. “A pretty important one. We should probably seal it with a kiss.”
“Not a bad idea,” she sighed against his lips. “Mmm, I really, really, really like negotiating with you.”
“The feeling is mutual, Doc.” He deepened the kiss, tugging her to her tiptoes in the process.
The phone in the back pocket of his jeans buzzed with an incoming message that he’d bet his bottom dollar was from Adriel Montana.
Chuckling breathlessly, Prim withdrew his phone for him and slapped it playfully against his chest. “Something tells me our negotiation is over.”
“Yeah.” He took the phone from her and read the message. As expected, it was from Adriel.
Guard shack.
Shep sent him a thumbs up, appreciating his brevity. It was safer that way, considering what they were about to discuss.
“He’s ready to meet, but I’ll follow you home first.” He whistled for Rook and Bishop to return to their kennel, an enormous wire enclosure that was roughly half the size of the home he shared with his uncle. It adjoined the east side of the cabin and doubled as their home security system.
Pink remained sitting in front of Prim, awaiting her next command.
“Impressive,” Prim murmured.
“Let’s practice having her follow you into the house.” Shep motioned toward the same back door that his Uncle Caleb had disappeared through earlier.
“So she can watchdog over him?”
“Just until I get back.”
She cast an anxious sideways glance at him. “Shep, I’m starting to get the feeling that you’re more than a little worried about this case.”
