Page 125 of Indiscretion

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Sunday afternoon I took Leo to the park for off-leash hours. The minute I closed the gated area and unhooked his collar, he took off with a Pomeranian. Unfortunately, being here reminded me of the last time I was here. With Dawson. He’d asked me to be his girlfriend that day, and we’d talked about introducing our “children,” Leo and Sheldon. How we’d gone from that to today still utterly confused me. Until now, I hadn’t let myself think about the fallout from our decoupling. While we weren’t officially broken up, maybe it was time I took the hint. Could I continue to work for him? I loved the job, and it paid well. Lord knows it had taken me forever to find someone who would even hire me, so I wasn’t exactly anxious to start pounding the pavement again. But…seeing Dawson every day? How would I feel when he inevitably started dating, and women called or stopped by the office? Even the thought of it turned my stomach.This is why you shouldn’t mix business and pleasure.

I closed my eyes.

God, I’d made a mess of my life once again. Myfresh starthad turned into asour ending. Busy feeling bad for myself, I realized I’d lost track of Leo and his little friend. So I got up and went to see what trouble he could be getting himself into. Women sometimes put their purses on the ground next to them, which was an invitation my dog and his unpacking addiction couldn’t refuse.

“Leo!” I walked through the dog park calling his name. “Leo!”

I finally found him in a quiet corner, humping his stuffed turtle. Except as I walked closer, I noticed the color of the shell was darker than Leo’s. And I hadn’t even brought his toy! Great.He’s humping someone else’s. I really hoped some three-year-old wasn’t watching this go down, being scarred by my dog violating his favorite stuffy.

“Leo!Stop that!”

Of course he ignored me and went right on humping, standing on his two hind legs.

I reached for the poor stuffed animal, but quickly pulled my hand back and gasped. Leonardo wasn’t humping a toy; he was humping a real, live turtle. “Oh my God!”

But it definitely wasn’t God who answered.

“It’s fine. Sheldon’s head is still out, so he doesn’t seem to mind.”

My head whipped around. “Dawson?”

I hated that my heart started to race wildly just seeing the man. He smiled sadly. “Hey.”

“What are you doing here?”

He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. “I came to talk to you. Took a chance you’d be here.”

My body may have been excited to see the man, but my head wasn’t in agreement. I suddenly got very angry and felt my face heat. “You don’t need to take chances on where to find me. I’ve been the same place every day for the last two weeks: at the office. You know, the place you’ve been avoiding.”

Dawson dragged a hand through his hair, and I took a closer look at his face. He looked terrible—annoyingly handsome, yet still terrible. Dark circles rimmed his blue eyes, his normally tanned skin looked sallow, and his face was covered in what looked like two-week-old, ungroomed scruff. His clothes were also wrinkled, when he wasalwaysdressed crisp. “I have been avoiding you. I’m sorry.”

I turned away. “Just say whatever it is you came to say and get it over with.”

He stayed quiet for a long time, but I could feel his presence. “Do you think we can sit and talk?”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Fine. Whatever.”

Dawson walked around me and lifted Leo. It pissed me off that he looked adorable holding him. So I plucked my dog from his hands. “I can carry him myself.”

Dawson frowned and gestured to a park bench under a tree. “Why don’t we sit over there? I’ll move Sheldon.”

We sat side by side on the park bench. I kept my focus forward, watching Leo, not ready to look at the man next to me.

“How’s Frannie?”

My lips pursed. “Fine. It’s very nice that you’ve taken such an interest in my sister’s health, but it would be great if you gave a shit how I was, too.”

I felt Dawson’s eyes burning into me, but I still didn’t turn.

“Naomi,” he whispered. “Look at me.”

“Why? Do you want tosee mecry when you dump me?”

“I never want to see you hurt, Naomi.” He paused. “Pleaselook at me.”

I gave him my best icy glare, but when I saw pain in his eyes, it melted.

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