Page 63 of Housebroke

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Hazel paced the length of the makeshift kitchen / living room area in the main house, all five dogs pacing back and forth with her. Linc had been out most of the day buying supplies for the house, which had given her time to get Mitzi in and settled.

The dogs had immediately surrounded Mitzi and sniffed her, and surprisingly, Mitzi had been very patient about the ordeal, then had fallen in order with the pack, following them around the house while Hazel had given her a tour. She loved the backyard, especially the shady trees, just like Gordon. In fact, Mitzi seemed to like Gordon the most, just as she suspected.

“Linc’s not going to be mad, kids. He’ll be fine with this.” She wrung her hands together and hoped her stress wasn’t vibrating off of her in waves. The last thing she wanted was to make the dogs nervous. She was carrying enough anxiety for all of them.

“Maybe I should have talked to him before I made this unilateral decision.” She pivoted, looked at the dogs, who had all stopped and stared up at her expectantly, as if she always carried a handful of treats in her pocket. “No, this is not something to talk about on the phone. I need to see his face, to gauge his reaction.After all, this is his house and I just brought another dog into it. That wasn’t part of the agreement.”

She started walking again, stopping to look out the front window as she made her way into the living room before pausing again. “But, I had five dogs when I met him, then Boo got adopted, and now I have five dogs again. So it’s not like I added additional pups. It’s simple math, right?”

Mitzi cocked her head to the side, and Gordon left the group to go lie on a pile of towels in the kitchen.

Hazel rubbed her hands together. “It’s all going to be fine. Totally fine.”

And if he threw her out, she’d manage. It wouldn’t be the first time her world had fallen out from under her.

Except it would be different because she cared about the man who would be throwing her out.

She jumped at the sound of the garage door opening. Her heart thudded in her chest. Lilith growled and Mitzi started barking.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay, it’s just Linc. Everyone calm down.” She opened the back door and let the dogs out, where they ran to bark at him at the gate, then she closed the door.

Linc walked in and laid several bags down in the kitchen, casting the kind of smile at her that lit her up. He headed over to her and immediately pulled her into his arms, surprising the hell out of her by planting one seriously hot kiss on her lips, making her momentarily forget her pent-up anxiety. She curled her fingers around the nape of his neck, letting them linger in thesoftness of his hair while she relished the feel of his body pressed against hers.

He pulled back. “Hi.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “Hi yourself. What was that about?”

“Missed you while I was gone. Where are the beasties? I thought I’d be attacked the minute I walked in.”

“They’re out back. I figured your arms might be overloaded with stuff.”

“Nah. I’m good.”

Before she could say anything or prepare him, he was out the door, and there were the dogs, including Mitzi. Linc immediately crouched down to pet them. Hazel held her breath.

“Hi, babies. I missed you, too. And I see we have a new member of the pack. Who are you?”

Hazel kneeled down next to him. “This is Mitzi. I got a call from the head of the foster agency this morning. Mitzi’s human passed away and none of the other family members would take her.”

“That’s rough. Hey, Mitzi. You sure are cute.”

Mitzi’s tail whipped back and forth and she whined to be held, so Linc scooped her up and cuddled her to his chest. She settled in and laid her head against him, looking up at him adoringly. Obviously, it was love at first sight. Not that Hazel could blame her. Linc had a very nice chest. Among other things that were very nice about him.

“She’s older?” he asked, as he stood and pulled Hazel up as well.

Hazel nodded. “Fourteen. Which makes her the oldest of this pack.”

He looked at Mitzi and stroked her back. “I guess you’ll be trying to lead things before long. If Lilith allows it.”

That was it? No yelling, no recriminations? “I meant to say something to you, but I knew you were busy and I didn’t want to talk to you about it in a text.”

He laughed. “It’s fine, Hazel. Don’t worry about it. She’s cute. And we were one dog down, anyway. I’m gonna grab a beer. You want one?”

“Uh, sure. Thanks.”

He walked toward the guesthouse, still cradling Mitzi. The other dogs followed.

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