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Jesse backed me up. “He’s right, Billy. I had terrible luck with men before I met Harris. He saved me…in so many ways. But if I hadn’t been open to trusting him, I wouldn’t be married right now.” He held up his left hand and smiled at his ring. It was something he did several times a day.
“Well, I’m open to it.” He held his arms wide open and grinned. “Come on, universe! Bring me a kind and loyal chubby chaser.”
Just then, Kona went running across the building and started pawing at the front door seconds before it opened and Axel walked in.
He scooped her right up. “Hey, sweet girl. You behaving?” He glanced at all of us, just standing there and staring. “Uh, sorry for interrupting…whatever you’re doing. But I finished my job early so I figured I’d pick her up on my way home.”
Jesse and I both glanced at Billy before he immediately spun on his heel and headed out to the yard.
“Is he okay?” Axel watched Billy disappear outside. “Should I have called first?”
“No, of course not.” I shoved Jesse as I passed him, hoping he’d get the silent memo to close his mouth. “You’re always welcome to drop in at any time. We were just chatting and you surprised us. Anyway, Kona’s been off her foot about…fifty percent of the time.”
Axel laughed. “That’s a hell of a lot more than I expected.” He held her up and scowled at her. “You need to listen better, missy. For that, we’re on strict bed rest for the rest of the day.”
“As I was just saying to Jason, good luck with that,” Jesse said.
Axel tucked her under his arm. “She’s actually a totally different dog when it’s just us. She knows who her Daddy is. See ya tomorrow.”
We both just stood there in shock as he walked back out. In sync, we turned to look for Billy.
He was peeking out from behind a wall. “That was just a coincidence, right?”
I grinned and looked at Jesse. “I think we need to have that chat about our little project sooner rather than later.”
“What project?” Billy walked toward us. “About me?”
“No, something else. And it’s not a done deal yet, so we’ll tell you about it when we know more. It’s just a little renovation thing. Anyway, let’s get back to work. We’ve got puppies to play with.”
20
JASON
Six months later
“I’m home.” I unlatched Peaches’ leash and put my coat on the rack.
“He’s home. Bye.” Tony slipped his phone into his pocket and then turned to me with a smile. “Hey, sweetheart. You’re early.”
“Am I?” A wave of unease rippled down my spine, but I tried to ignore it. “Who was that?”
“What?” He looked around the room then patted his pocket. “Oh, on the phone? No one. I mean, nothing. I mean, that was Harris. He was asking about a prescription.”
“A prescription?” I narrowed my eyes. “Is he sick? Jesse didn’t mention anything about it to me. And he tells me everything.”
“No, nothing like that.” He looked around again as if the answer would just appear on the walls of our family room. “He just wanted to know if he could take an antihistamine with ibuprofen. Allergies, you know. Anyway, how was your day?”
“Good.” I let him pull me into his arms because I needed him to love me, even if he was hiding something from me. Even if it was something important.
“I was thinking we could go out to dinner tonight.” He took a step back and held my shoulders. “What do you think? Maybe Thai Orchid?”
My stomach roiled, and I had zero appetite, but I couldn’t help grinning. “Like our first date?”
He smiled and cupped the side of my cheek. “Like the best first date of my life.”
But was it your last first date?My grin dropped into a frown. “I’m not sure I’m up for it tonight.”
Tony ran his thumb across my jawline. “I love you so much, sweetheart. I’d really like to take you out tonight.”
