Page 17 of Unexpected

“I like meat,” I responded, and the words leaving my mouth sounded too dirty. Luke chuckled, and I willed my cheeks not to blush. When that didn’t work, I hurried and hopped out of the car and into the chilly evening air.

Luke retrieved Sadie from the back, who had made a miraculous recovery after our short drive to the restaurant.

“Told you she was being dramatic,” Luke announced. He led us into the patio area, and we took a table near the back corner and a giant heater. I was thankful for the warmth and after I sat down, I scooted my metal chair closer to the heat source.

Luke tied Sadie’s leash around the table, but I didn’t think she was going to go anywhere. She plopped comfortably on the concrete floor and laid her head on her paws the moment we sat down. It wasn’t even a second later before her eyelids grew heavy and I thought I heard her snoring even over the sound of the other restaurant patrons.

Luke took the chair next to me—I noted that he didn’t try to sit across from me—and pulled out his phone. A few moments later, he passed it to me. “Look over the menu and let me know what you want. I’ll go in and order if you can stay with Sadie.”

It didn’t take me long, and I was all too aware of Luke watching me as I scanned the short menu. “Just a regular cheeseburger, but with no onions. And sweet potato fries instead of regular fries.”

“Really? Sweet potato fries instead of regular fries? They have the best fries in Austin. You’re going to be disappointed if you don’t get them.”

I rolled my eyes. “If you were going to argue with what I ordered, then why did you let me look at the menu in the first place?”

“Okay, okay. Sweet potato fries it is, but I’m getting you a beer.”

Before I could argue, he was striding into the restaurant and out of sight. I took the opportunity while he was gone to check my phone. I still hadn’t received a response from Michael and prayed he wasn’t upset that I hadn’t fixed the damn bike. He’d been gone for so long, and I wanted a happy Michael when he got back.

“I don’t even want to know what happened to make you make that face,” Luke commented while placing a beer in front of me and a number tent on the table.

“It’s nothing,” I said before taking a sip of the beer to have something else to do.

Luke nodded, but his eyes inspected my face like he didn’t believe me. He shouldn’t, because it was something, but I didn’t give him any reason to doubt me.

He continued to study my face as I took a longer-than-necessary sip of the fruity beer. I felt exposed with his eyes on me, like a large neon sign—similar to the one above the door—was hanging above my head, alerting him that I was worried about my fiancé’s return home.

“So, I made a promise to Sadie while we were on our way to the vet,” I began, trying to change the subject and interrupt his perusal of my face.

“You’re promising my dog things?”

“Yes,” I said. The wind picked up around us, so I huddled closer to the heater and, subsequently, closer to Luke. “I promised her that I would kick your ass for letting her get out again.”

He threw his head back and laughed heartily. “I would like to see you try to kick my ass. Actually, I would pay to see you try.”

I scoffed. “I could give you a run for your money. Just because I’m small doesn’t mean that I can’t pack a punch.”

“I believe you,” he said, then paused like he had more to add. “You know I don’t intentionally let Sadie get out, right? I’m a good dog owner.”

“I’m sure you don’t intentionally do it, but she’s either Houdini reincarnate, or you slip up often enough that she winds up rolling around in my front yard at least once a week.”

He took a long sip of his beer, and I found myself watching his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. The dark scruff along his jaw was too long to be called a shadow but too short to be called a beard and was trimmed neatly along his neck.

“It’s Josh.”

I tried to connect the dots and how that comment made sense in our conversation. Luke must have noticed the confusion on my face, so he clarified, “Not sure if you remember, but the first year or two we lived next door to each other, Sadie didn’t get out once. But when my brother moved in, that’s when she began escaping. He’s a little careless with doors and gates. But he also doesn’t check before letting her out. Someone left the gate open the other night, and she took the opportunity. She is also a little escape artist, but I’m beginning to think it’s because she likes you.”

For my sanity, I ignored his final comment. But the time line added up, and I guess I probably should have also blamed the other Shepherd brother living in the house. But since she was Luke’s dog, I just blamed him.

“Wait, so you let me just blame you and give you crap about it for the past almost two years without once telling me it wasn’t true?”

His only response was a shrug.

“Hmm,” is all I could come up with at the moment.

“What does that mean? ‘Hmm’?” he mimicked in a higher pitch.

Our food arrived before I had a chance to respond. When the young waiter pushed my food in front of me, wafting the freshly grilled burger scent toward me, I realized how hungry I was. It was my first meal of the day, and I had to hold myself back from scarfing it down like a starving animal.

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