Page 65 of Housebroke

Linc was doing noisemaking work today, so Hazel gathered up the pups and told him she had things to do and places to go, so they’d be out of his way for the day. In actuality, she’d had zero plans, but she always knew she could count on Sandy’s hospitality. Plus, she wanted Sandy to see how well Mitzi was adapting to her new pack.

Sandy had been divorced twice and was fifteen years older than Hazel, though she still looked like she was in her thirties, dammit. She might sport a few more wrinkles around her eyes, but she had amazingly toned muscles, no doubt earned from keeping this place up nearly on her own. It was one of the reasons Hazel admired her so much.

Sandy looked out over the yard. “How’s Mitzi adapting?”

“She’s doing great. She’s settled in, gets along with all the dogs, and even Li—well, everything’s going super.”

Sandy cocked her head to the side and gave her a rather keeninspection. “You left something off that sentence. Care to elaborate?”

“Not particularly.”

“This is about a guy, right?” Sandy took a long swallow of her herbal tea. “It’s always about a guy. It’s not your rotten piece of shit ex again, is it?”

One thing Hazel liked about Sandy was that, no matter what, she always took Hazel’s side. The benefit of the two of them knowing each other for years.

Now Sandy had this sprawling five-acre ranch that was overrun with dogs, cats, chickens, goats, horses, cows, and any other fragile creature in need of love and rescue.

Basically, Sandy was living Hazel’s dream. And doing it well.

“It’s not about my ex. Thankfully, I’m unaware of his whereabouts. Hopefully, he’s fallen off some cruise ship or something, never to be seen or heard from again.”

Sandy snorted out a laugh. “That’s my girl. So who’s the guy?”

“Linc. He’s this guy I’m living with—temporarily. He owns the house. It’s... complicated.”

“Complicated how?”

Hazel popped a grape into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “We sort of bumped into each other in the kitchen of the house one night. I tried to kill him with a cast-iron skillet, and he intended to throw the dogs and me out on the street. Instead, we came to an understanding and a mutually beneficial agreement.”

Sandy arched a brow. “You’re not—”

Hazel laughed. “Of course not. I cook for him so he doesn’thave to eat junk food, and in return he pays me a salary, and the dogs and I have a place to stay until we find something else.”

“Sounds like a pretty great deal. So what’s the issue?”

“We’ve gotten... close.”

“Ah. So you are having sex.”

“Yes. The mutually consensual kind. He’s pretty hot, Sandy.”

“If you’re both open to it without sacrificing the biz end of your deal, I don’t see the harm as long as both sides get what they need and want out of it.”

“Except...” She let the sentence trail off, unsure of where she was going with that word.

Sandy arched a brow. “Except that now you’re developing feelings for this guy?”

And there was the sentence she was afraid to say out loud. “I don’t know. Maybe. I like being around him. Beyond just the sex part. He’s awesome to talk to, he listens, and the dogs all love him.”

“Dogs are stellar judges of a person’s character, ya know.”

“Yes, I know that all too well. Remember when I brought my first foster home, when I was still married to Andrew?”

Sandy got up and wound her way around her cat, Plato, who was lying on his back sleeping in a patch of sunlight on the kitchen floor. She grabbed an empty water bowl on her way to the sink, refilled it, then brought it back and set it down. Gordon got up from his nap, stretched slowly, and made his way to the bowl, taking a few delicate laps of water before heading back over to Mitzi and curling up beside her for his next round of naps for the day.

Sandy brought over some chips and salsa and set them on the table. “I will never forget you calling me crying, telling me how angry Andrew was because you, and I quote, defied his orders and brought a dog into the house.”

Just the memory of it made a knot form in her stomach. “Yeah, he was a real peach.”

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