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“I don’t think the certain someone is sorry about being a distraction.”
“Of course she’s not. She likes knowing that I’m staring at my phone all day.”
Ginny snorted and pressed her mouth to the corner of his. “Butsheis happy to help with whatever you need.”
“You sure?” Gavin asked, dragging a hand through his hair. “Because I’m okay with us going home and being lazy too.”
“I love being lazy, but I’m too amped up for that now. So let’s get to work!”
Even though she’d been through the Cages before—the day of the tour and when she adopted Copper—Ginny was still blown away by how large the space was. Copper and Cedar had been left in the office, curled up around each other on the couch, while Ginny helped Gavin check on the older dogs. Watching Gavin connect and bond with the dogs was a whole experience she would never forget. First, he would open their cages and spend a good long time talking to them, coaxing them out of their beds and safe havens. Then while he instructed her in the same soothing voice, Gavin would check the dogs for infections and ticks.
Despite never having done something likecleana cage before, Ginny found the work pretty straightforward and calming. While she wasn’t a dog person, every time she finished cleaning a cage, she’d sit with Gavin to meet the dog before they went back into their tiny little homes. She’d never imagined that she would spend a Sunday afternoon cleaning cages and hanging out with dogs. But Ginny also never imagined that she’d see Gavin Rhodes again and be stealing kisses between chores.
When they finished up—which included filling all the water and food bowls in the Cages—Gavin brought beers and they sat there surrounded by happy sleepy dogs and talked.
“The other day, my favorite old man was adopted,” Gavin told her, gesturing to one of the empty cages up front. “This cute kid came in and fell in love with Boots. He and his dad are new to Wildes, so when they came back a few days later, Iknewthey were taking him home.”
“Aw, honey, you miss him.”
Gavin chuckled and shrugged. “I’m happy he’s got a home and the dad sent me a picture of Boots in bed with the kid.” He showed her the picture of a large hairy dog taking up most of a kid’s bed with a tiny little human body peeking out from all that fur.
“Are you sure that kid’s alive?” He laughed and swiped to show her another picture of the kid hugging the dog. “Man, that is a cute kid.”
“Do you want kids?”
“Whoa.” Ginny leaned back to look at Gavin, eyes wide. The answer wasyes, obviously, but his question came out of nowhere and she was a little caught off guard.
“Just a question, there’s no right or wrong answer.”
Narrowing her eyes, Ginny took a sip of her beer and watched Gavin for a moment. “Doyouwant kids?”
“Fuck yeah. I don’t like other people’s kids very much, because they’re badly behaved all the time, but I love being an uncle and sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be a dad.”
Uncle?Her brain was whirring with all of these answers and responses, Ginny was trying to catch up. “Oh, Simon’s kid! Your mom showed me a picture that day at lunch.”
“Arlo, he’s going to be so spoiled by four doting uncles.”
“Lucky kid,” Ginny mused, leaning against him as she peeled the label on her beer bottle. “And yes, I do want kids. Someday.”
“Good to know.” Gavin smirked and kissed the top of her head.
* * *
It had been almost a week since that day with Gavin at the shelter, and the only contact they had was via texts. Even those were scarce, because both of them were suddenly very busy. Copper was at work with her every day, and on the off chance she had to beout, she made sure someone in the office could keep an eye on her kitten. As much as she wanted to drop her off with Gavin, there was so little time between all the running around she was doing.
As predicted, Revati and Dhruv—of the big fat Indian wedding she was excited to plan—were the neurotic kind of bride and groom that wanted to have everything ready right away. Even though their wedding wasn’t for another year. That also meant that Ginny was run off her feet finding vendors and calling caterers to block dates. She had to admit, though, doing all this work for an Indian wedding was a lot more fun. Ginny just wished she had a little more breathing room.
And the day shedidget time to herself, Copper was causing havoc.
“Copper! You release that wire right now, young lady,” Ginny told her kitten as she lay tangled up in all the wires in her studio room, chewing on one with absolute gusto. The only reason Copper was even in the studio was because when they got home from work the day before, Ginny had opened the room to put a box that came in the mail on her desk. And ever since she discovered the wonderful world of wires and chewable props, Copper had settled into the studio without a care in the world.
Ginny’s plan was to take a few pictures, plan content for the upcoming week and then pick up Gavin. She hadplansand all of it was time sensitive. Copper was a rebel, making eye contact while continuing to do whatever she pleased—nibbling on another section of the wire. Ginny put her hands on her hips and stared her kitten down. Copper finally released the cable, but didn’t move from where she was twisted in the wires.
“You done?” Copper mewled and hopped out of the wires to wind her way between Ginny’s bare feet. “Thank you. Now, can you sit here—” she scooped her up to set her on the cushion she’d placed on the window ledge “—wait until I finish, okay?”
Copper stretched in the beam of sunlight and Ginny went back to sorting through the box of things she needed to wear for the photoshoot. An upcoming plus size lingerie brand had reached out to Ginny months ago, asking if she would help them with their launch. Ginny was always skeptical and nervous about partnering with plus size brands, because they weren’t as inclusive as they claimed to be.
Then she met the founders—two plus size women who had had enough of the lack of choices in sexy lingerie for their sizes—and Ginny knew Curved Lace was a brand she wanted to be a part of.
