Page 14 of Pretty Puppy

Ash gulped. “Totally.”

Shane clutched his iPad as if it were a bar of gold and regarded Ash with a stern gaze. His mouth was set in a severe line and a tiny crease had formed between his eyebrows.

“How are you faring? I caught a few minutes of the beginning of the session, and you seem a bit…” Shane rubbed his chin. “Unsure of yourself. Is there an issue with the workspace, or something else concerning you?”

“No, not at all. I’m just…” Man, he thought he’d have at least a week or two before anyone noticed how pathetic he was as a trainer. “It’s my first time working with a group in forever.” He grinned with as much teeth as he could manage. “What with working with the Sheikh’s pup one on one and all that.”

The furrows of Shane’s brow deepened. “I see. Will that be a problem? Other than the one private session each pup gets during their training week, it’s all group sessions.”

“Nope.” Ash rocked on his heels, his hands tightly clasped together in front of him. “No problem. Just getting my sea legs. Err… pooch legs.”

He laughed, whacking Shane on the side of the arm. Shane’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the spot Ash had smacked before back to Ash again. He regarded Ash in silence, the seconds stretching on into what seemed like eternity. The pressure was too much. He couldn’t deal.

Right as Ash was about to blurt out that he was a huge phony and was lying through his teeth, Shane spoke.

“Well. I suppose switching gears like that might be jarring for some. However, I’m sure you understand that Mr. Petrvosky’s name and reputation is tied in with this event, as well as meaning a lot to him personally. We need to make certain that none of the participants feel disappointment in their training then convey that to other future attendees.”

Ash nodded with great seriousness. “Absolutely. Couldn’t agree more.”

Shane looked him up and down, then gave a sharp nod. “Mmm hmm. Well, I have much to attend to. I’ll see you later.”

Ash smiled and waved as Shane made his exit. The second he was out of sight, Ash fell on one of the nearby folding chair with shaky legs.

He had to call Owen immediately and force him to talk no matter what. If he couldn’t pull himself together, he was going to have to worm his way out of his self-imposed predicament.

Tears burned in his eyes. In other words, ruin any chance he’d ever have of getting back with Lee.

Chapter Seven

Lee finished leaving a message for his designer, then shoved the dreaded carpet samples aside. The decision was made on which one he preferred and that was that. He was so determined to put a cap on the particulars for the new hall that he’d gone over all the other questions the designer still had. He was tired of thinking about it.

But that wasn’t the only thing he was tired of thinking about.

Lee sighed and ran a hand across the top of his head. Ever since he saw Ash a week ago, he hadn’t been able to get him out of his mind. It didn’t help that every once in a while, Ash would suddenly be there waving at him from across the lobby or flashing him a smile in the staff break room. Lee had taken to avoiding both locations like the plague.

This is all staged.

Whatever Ash’s agenda was, Lee had no clue, but there was intent behind his actions. He’d taken the job for a reason, and it wasn’t due to his so-called passion for training pups. When Lee questioned Shane about Ash the next day, he’d been told that a friend of a friend had suggested him for the job. Since Shane didn’t know who the original friend was, he couldn’t swear there was funny business going on, but if he dug deeper he was willing to bet that the ‘friend of’ had a name that began with the letter O.

However, he didn’t investigate further into the matter. The confused expression Shane had given him was enough to get him to back off. Most of the staff in his immediate circle had no knowledge of his ugly break-up with Ash, and he didn’t want to have to explain why he was so overly interested in a particular employee for the event.

A hearty knock sounded at the door. “Yeah, come in.”

His eyes darted up and met Shane’s. “Do you have a few minutes, sir? I need to discuss something about the event that’s concerning me.”

They hadn’t spoken for a few days, so he’d assumed everything was going fine. After Lee made it clear he trusted Shane to run things, he’d figured the matter was closed. Other than the weekly progress reports, Lee didn’t need to know all the details. That was why he’d hired him in the first place.

Lee had the sense he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear. He rubbed his chin and eased back in his chair.

“Sure.” He gestured to the chair on the other side of his desk. “What’s up?”

“This might not be any of my business, but I need to know if you’ve dealt with Ash before.”

Oh God. He supposed dealt was one way to put it. “Can I ask why you need to know? As I said, I trust you to handle the management of the staff for this event, along with your other managerial duties. I can’t imagine what my involvement with Ash has to do with that.”

“I see. So youwereinvolved with him? Because I sense he’s…well…not what he purports to be. That his reason for being here has little or nothing to do with Pet Play by the Lake.”

Lee held in a groan. This was exactly what he’d wanted to avoid. But he’d convinced himself that he could leave Shane in charge of anything to do with Ash and completely put his ex out of his mind.

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