Page 27 of Caught Stealing

“Goblin seems to like Ginger. That’s good.” He stuffs his hands in his pockets and averts his gaze. There’s an odd disappointment to his tone that’s misplaced if he’s happy, but I remind myself that I don’t know anything about him or his tones yet. Not past our first date interactions and all of five minutes on a call last night.

“Yeah. They seem to be having a lot of fun. Want to walk around and show me the whole park?” Maybe if I put the offer out, we can pick up where we left off the other night. I liked where the date was leading. I like that he’s flirty in a subtle way, letting me know he’s interested but not pushing too hard. He’s comfortable and doesn’t seem to be putting on a front to make me like him; something that’s not real, a veneer that will fade in time. This is Andrew, and so far, I like him.

“Sure, though there really isn’t much else to see. Over the hill is the road that leads to my house. You can actually see it from the top.” He pulls his hands from his pockets but doesn’t reach for mine. Instead, he lets them fall to his sides. I’m not entirely sure this is an invitation, but I seize it anyway and slip my fingers between his. He squeezes my hand and slams me with that cheeky grin.

“I think that grin means something,” I tease.

Andrew tugs me a little closer and I inhale the scent of him. I mentally add grass to the running list of things that smell like Andrew while he takes me by surprise and loops his arm over my head, catching me against his chest as we walk.

“Is this okay?”

“Mmm-hmm. So, are you going to tell me what that grin means or will I have to let my mind run away trying to figure it out?”

He chuckles. “Might mean trouble, might mean I’m nervous. Maybe a little of both.”

“Nervous? You don’t seem nervous to me.” Not a chance. There’s no way this uber confident, gorgeous man is nervous around me. What about me is even mildly intimidating? Nothing. Nada. I’m meek and mild and, if I’m honest, a little bruised up from my last relationship. Maybe that’s the scary part?

“I am. You’re beautiful and sweet and confident. You like dogs and long walks. You’re funny, too.” That same disappointment creeps into his tone again.

“Why does that sound like a bad thing when you say it like that?”

Andrew inhales long and slow before pausing. “Because I need to tell you something about me you might find a complete turn off.” His gaze flitters toward me, then away in a blink. He is nervous, that part was true. But I can’t unhear what he said. I don’t know what it could be, but if it’s making him this unsure of himself, I’m worried.

“So, I tried to tell you this last night but Ginger did what she did and you had to go.” It seems physically painful for him to get the words out. Taking a calming breath does not help my fast-beating heart. I don’t want there to be a deal breaker. I don’t want to not like something about him. Sure, there will be some things I don’t care for, but I’m not ready to write this off only a few days after it’s started. I’m already disappointed, and he hasn’t even told me what he thinks will turn me away.

“It can’t be that bad,” I say, my voice catching. My palms are sweaty. I don’t want this to end in the middle of a dog park while our dogs run around like…I pause and glance around. I don’t see either dog anywhere. I spin in place and Andrew releases my hand. “Um, where are the dogs?”

He turns on his heel and points back toward the entrance. “Probably on the slide. Goblin loves…Oh, they aren’t there.” After a few spins of his own, he gets a wild flame in his eyes. “Uh, can Ginger jump?”

“I mean, she’s a boxer. She’s like a spring, but if you’re asking me if she can jump an eight foot fence, then probably not.”

“Goblin can. He probably jumped it when I wasn’t watching.”

My heart leaps and I break into a run back to the entrance. I’m panicking, because my dog has the survival skills of a toddler, and there is every reason to believe she might get hit by a car if she followed Goblin over the fence.

Andrew beats me to the gate and throws it open. I barely get it closed before he’s in the parking lot searching for our dogs.

I don’t see any other cars, so I assume he walked to the park with Goblin. “Want to take my car?” I shout and unlock it. “Actually, you know the neighborhood. You drive.” I toss the keys at him. He catches them and falls into my driver’s seat without hesitation.

Andrew maneuvers out of the parking space and we’re moving through the neighborhood, checking in every yard. I watch one way while he watches the other, but neither of us speaks. I’m too worried about Ginger to talk, but I am still thinking about what deal breaker he has to tell me.

“This neighborhood is massive.” I roll the window down and brave the heat to call out for Ginger. “Ginger! Here girl!” I whistle a few times but, as expected, she doesn’t appear.

We go through the entire neighborhood, check with people walking, and even head back to the park. Goblin and Ginger are nowhere to be found, but we decide to check all of the play equipment just to be sure.

“He usually hides in here when he’s mad at me,” Andrew says and peers through a curving tunnel. “Can you crawl in that end in case he comes out?”

“Sure,” I say and kneel down, contorting myself until I can ease into the tunnel. Andrew crawls through the entire thing until he meets me at my end. He frowns and makes eye contact with me.

“We’ll find them. I promise,” he says.

My confidence wavers but I nod and ease out of the tunnel. There are a few other places they could hide, but I don’t believe for a second either of them is in the park area. Ginger would have come out to me by now. I shield my eyes from the sun that slowly dips beneath the trees. It’ll be dinner time soon. I have to find my girl before it’s dark. “Maybe we should go door to door? Could they have jumped into someone else’s yard?”

Andrew stands straight after peering into a little plastic tent and smacks his forehead. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that sooner.”

“Going door to door?”

Andrew jogs by and grabs my hand. “No, going home. I’ll bet you he took Ginger to his playset. Come on.”

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