Page 6 of Sexy Bad Valentine

Barclay yips and whines loudly at not being allowed to sniff the cat, which makes Evie stop and turn around. She takes in the sheepdog pup, all eighty pounds of him, before her gaze lands on me. “Oh. It’s you.”

“Max. And you’re Evie?” I hurry to catch up to them now that we’ve been spotted. The cat gingerly licks its paws while it watches the goat buck in the snow, and the little girl starts scraping the white stuff into a pile while the duck supervises. Oddest grouping ever.

“Right,” Evie agrees, frowning.

“Abby called you that.” Thrusting my arm out, I engulf her hand with both of mine up to the wrist though I can barely keep my footing with Barclay tugging on his leash, desperate to play. Our breaths come out in big puffs of white air. “Do you live in the neighborhood?”

“You could say that.” She glances at our hands and then back to me.

“Could?” I ask, in no hurry to let her go just yet.

“Well, my employers live here. I’m just the live in nanny.” I release her hand when she slowly pulls away to continue after her charge. “So I suppose for all intents and purposes I do live here.”

“Nice to know.”

“Is it?” She gently tugs at the bottom corner of her mouth with her teeth.

My sister would kill me if she knew my sudden decision to stay at her house was due to one of her neighbors, but the girl did clarify that she only lives here because of her job, and Deanna didn’t say anything about not flirting with her neighbor’s help.

“Do you live close by?” Evie asks as I fall into step beside her.

“No. I’m house sitting for my sister. This monster is hers.” I jerk my chin in the direction of the massive fur ball still hauling on the end of the leash.

“Monster?” Her pale brows pull together into a low line above her eyes. “Should I take it you don’t like dogs?”

Is she disappointed that I’m not a dog lover? Ahead of us the duck begins a quacking frenzy as it speed waddles toward a yard. Perhaps the one where their walk originated? The cat scampers off and disappears behind some bushes on the other side of the road. “Don’t like? That’s a strong statement. But this guy’s an evil destroyer. You should see what he did to my apartment.”

Evie stops in front of the house into which the rest of her companions, except the cat, have disappeared. She drops to one knee in the snow and scratches Barclay behind the ears until he gives her his big goofball grin and starts wiggling to get her to pay attention to the spots he wants her to. “He’s just a boisterous puppy.”

“Boisterous. Evil. You say potato.”

Barclay moves in for the kill, proving my point as he draws that wet pink tongue up the side of her face. Evie squeals, but hugs him anyway. Is it wrong that for a second I’m jealous? That is until he rolls onto his back, exposing himself like an overwound tube of pink lipstick.

“You’re a little bit excited, aren’t you?” she coos at him, standing up. “You big baby. Is your sitter not paying you enough attention?”

“Woof,” he agrees.

Great, the two of them are in cahoots. Lucky dog. I doubt rolling onto my back and unzipping my pants would have the same effect. At least not on Evie. There’s something sweeter about her than I’m used to. More down to earth. Our target audience would eat her up with a spoon. “I’m feeding him and walking him, but I do have a life. A job, which actually I need to get back to.”

“Me too.” She glances at the house.

“Would you...Do you think you...” Usually asking a woman to spend an evening with me is easy, but my tongue feels swollen and clumsy around Evie.

“What?” She tilts her head to the side, waiting.

Barclay whines at her feet.

I thrust the leash at her. “Could you watch him until I get back from work so he doesn’t have to be alone?”

A slow smile breaks across her face that is so warm I could bask in the glow. She takes the lead from my hand. “What time do you finish?”

“I’m not sure.” I scratch the back of my neck, until it hits me that I couldn’t have planned this more perfectly. “But you could give me your number.”

“Okay,” she says as I hand her my phone. “Call me when you’re ready to collect him. Abby is going to be so excited to play with him.”

---