Page 27 of Sexy Bad Valentine

“Please. I’m not above begging like a dog.” I give her the best puppy dog eyes I can manage.

“Okay. I’ll try.” She rolls her gaze to the roof of the car as we take off.

“Do you know who you’re going to pick yet?” I ask nervously when we get back to the office and her car. It’s all I’ve been able to think about on the short ride back.

“I don’t know,” she says. “I’m not sure how I’m supposed to make a decision when...” She goes quiet.

“When what?” I put my hand over hers on the edge of her seat.

“It’s just one date isn’t it? That’s all.”

“Just one. A short one,” I agree. Too long, if you ask me.

“Because I don’t have time to get involved with anyone, really. That was the whole point, wasn’t it? It’s all so non-committal.” She scrunches her brow as she stares at me.

I want to clasp her face between my hands and kiss that pouty look off her mouth. I want to tell her she found commitment in me from the first time I saw her, when I didn’t even know it existed in me at all. “Yes, it is. You don’t have to see them again after the date at Nova Greco. You don’t even have to exchange phone numbers.”

“Maybe that’s all it should be.”

I hope that’s all it is, because I don’t have a dog in this race without her choosing me over them. I squeeze the steering wheel with both hands. “One more week.”

“That’s true,” she muses before twisting to face me. “You know, Max, you’re not at all who I thought you would be.”

She presses her lips to my cheek and climbs out of my car, shutting the door before I can ask her what she means by that. A minute later her coupe backs out in front of me and takes off.

As I drive out of the parking lot to take Maloney back to his owner, my phone chirps. I put it on speaker. “Hello, Dee. What can I do for you?”

“You can explain to me why you’re still pretending to be a dog walker instead of a CEO. I swear, if you’ve ruined this campaign for us because you were skirt chasing I won’t stand idle on my threat. I expect you at the house in twenty minutes.”

“Oh you’re back in town then?”

“I told you I wanted to be back in time to see this ad campaign come together.”

“On my way, Dee. Just have to drop this dog off first.”

From the backseat Maloney barks twice.

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