Page 68 of See You at the Finish Line

Adam finally turns around and his eyes widen a little before he shifts his attention to the big mass of russet brown fur heading his way.

Q zooms past me and almost launches herself at Adam.

“Hey, none of that,” I tell her, and she slows down. “Sit.” Her giant butt reluctantly plops down. “Good girl. Now stay.”

Adam looks back up at me. “May I?”

“Sure.”

He smiles and my heart catches as he gets right on his knees in front of Q. Brave man.

“Nice to see you again, Q,” he says, letting her sniff him before he reaches out a big hand to stroke her.

I swallow involuntarily and try not to get jealous of my dog.

“You are beautiful, aren’t you?” he mutters to her and she melts.

I do not melt. My cold heart stays firmly in my chest and my brain does not fight the urge to drop my robe. I am unaffected. Completely unaffected by seeing Q climb into Adam’s inviting lap like it’s her new favourite place in the world.

My mouth is dry. Is that a side effect of lying to myself I didn’t know about?

“She likes you,” I say through gritted teeth, and he beams at me.

“You hate that, don’t you?”

“A little.” My teeth grind together.

He laughs and the sound fills my apartment with life. Turning his attention back to Q, he whispers something in her ear that I can’t hear.

“Didn’t you say you brought her something?” I say to distract myself.

“That I did.” He tries to manoeuvre to reach into his bag, but the 110-pound Newfoundland dog is not making it easy for him. He laughs again as she starts sniffing around. Finally managing to undo the zipper, he takes out a squeaky stuffed orca.

Q goes wild and immediately jumps out of his lap to sit in front of him, her tail wagging ferociously. She’s so excited that a big glob of drool drops down onto his pants.

“Wow,” he says, surprise in his eyes as he looks up at me.

“Yes, asshole, I do train her.”

“Do you want me to do anything before I give it to her?”

I don’t miss a beat. “Sometimes she doesn’t know how to play with toys so I have to demonstrate for her,” I tell him with my most serious face.

“Really?”

I nod, fighting the urge to laugh when he looks at Q and then at the whale. I see him debating before he moves to his hands and knees and places the orca between his teeth, shaking it back and forth.

The cherry on top is the little growl he lets out. And I would be turned on by that sound if it wasn’t so funny. Q looks absolutely baffled, taking a step back when she turns her head to look at me like, “Who the hell did you let into our house?”

I can’t help it. I burst out laughing and Adam stops to stare at me, toy still in his mouth. He slowly takes it out and sits back down.

“That was cruel.”

“That was hilarious,” I say, wiping my eyes. The movement shifts my robe open. Almost involuntarily, Adam’s eyes fall to the strip of exposed skin revealing some of my chest before he catches himself and looks at Q, who’s still watching him curiously. I pull my robe closed.

“You can give it to her now,” I say, breaking the suddenly tense silence.

“Your mom is mean,” he says in a low timbre voice, the sound sending a shiver down my spine. He reaches out and presents Q with the toy, but after his display, she’s a little more cautious. She sniffs it.

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