Page 76 of Interference

Anthony chuckled as he loaded some eggs onto his fork. “I walk them by myself all the time. Bear will get all of us tangled up in his leash, but Moose is easy, so I manage.”

“Why am I not surprised he gets tangled up?” I glanced at Bear. “He just seems like furry chaos.”

Anthony almost choked on his eggs. “You’re not wrong. And he’s mellowed since he was a kitten, so…”

“Oh my God. Tell me you have videos.”

“Hundreds of them.”

“I want to see them. All of them.”

“Deal.” He pointed his fork at Lily, who was dutifully sitting beside me. “Does she like going out for walks like that? I mean, it doesn’t distract her or anything?”

“Nah. She stays pretty focused on me. And even when she’s working, it’s still good for her to get out and move.” She’d been enjoying the hell out of Anthony’s yard, but a little change of scenery and some exercise would do her some good. Not that she’d been lacking in exercise—when she and Bear got the zoomies, it was a sight to behold.

“What about—” Anthony hesitated, cheeks coloring a little. “I usually take them along the Slough and then the Burke-Gilman Trail. It’s… I mean, it’s a long hike.” He swallowed. “Is that okay for you?”

I didn’t need to be psychic to know why he was asking. And I appreciated the consideration, because some people definitely forgot that, hello, even with a good working prosthetic, an amputation was still a disability.

“I’ll be fine.” I poked at my eggs. “Just, um… Might need to stop and sit now and then, if that’s okay?”

“Of course it is.” He relaxed a bit. “Any time you want to stop, say so. Because I’ll get in a groove and just…” He gestured like something flying away.

I chuckled. “I’ll let you know.”

After breakfast, we trooped out to the garage with my dog and his cats, and we arranged everyone in the back of the Land Rover. Once they were all clipped in, the animals looked like three kids sitting across the backseat. Moose was eyeballing Lily as if to demand an explanation about why she was in his car. Lily was staring at us like, “Dad, I’m stuck between two kitties—what do I do?” And Bear…

“What is he attacking?” I tried to twist around, but he was behind my seat.

Anthony turned around, and he laughed. “There’s a shadow on the seat from the trees outside, and it’s moving.”

I snorted. “Oh my God. He really is—”

We both froze.

We’d started to face forward again, but we’d paused mid-turn, and we were suddenly really close.

Oh, fuck me. Those eyes were gorgeous from far away. From this close up? Wow. And those beautiful full lips were impossible to ignore.

By some miracle, I stopped myself from licking my own lips. I could only imagine how awkward that would make this.

Fortunately, before I could find a way to ruin the moment, Anthony broke the standoff, returning fully to the driver seat and starting the engine. “So. Uh.” He cleared his throat. “I was thinking we could start in Redmond on the Slough, and just go from there?”

“Sure. Yeah. That’ll…” I went to put on my seat belt, but realized I’d already buckled it. “Sounds good.”

I pretended not to notice the blush on his cheeks. I hoped he didn’t notice the one I could feel burning on mine. What the hell was that all about?

Well, best thing to do about it—ignore the ever-loving fuck out of it and focus on something else.

I drummed my fingers on the armrest. “So, where all do you take them? Like, just to parks and trails, or do you take them hiking?”

“Oh, we hike.” He glanced in the rearview, probably stealing a look at his boys. “It can be a little tricky when we go up into the mountains or something, though.”

“Why’s that?”

“Mostly because Moose wants to go, go, go, and Bear wants to inspect or attack everything that moves.”

I laughed. “So it’s like having one person who wants to get to the destination, and someone else who has to take an artsy photo every three feet?”

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