Page 7 of Pretty Puppy

Micki squeezed his shoulder. “I’ve always known you two were meant to be together, so I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

“Aww…” He gave her another quick hug. “That’s so sweet. You know, I don’t think I would’ve had the nerve to give this crazy scheme a try if it wasn’t for your encouragement.”

She chuckled shakily. “Um, yeah. But keep that to yourself, huh? If this all blows up, I had no idea what was going on.”

Ash nodded sagely. “Absolutely. They can torture me, threaten to steal my designer shoes, but I’ll never let on that I knew Lee was unattached.”

She brushed the back of her hand across her forehead. “Phew. That’s good. Not that I thought you’d try to get me in trouble, but just a reminder to not let anything slip.”

Ash glanced around, assessing his surroundings. He had no idea what the event manager looked like—or what he might know about his and Micki’s relationship. How far would they take things? Would he have to pretend they’d never met before? What if Lee was around him and Micki at the same time. Lee knew all about their friendship, so how could he pretend?

“Oh boy,” he muttered.

“Huh?”

Ash chewed on his lower lip. “I was so busy getting ready to leave and tying up loose ends, I didn’t think about getting our stories straight.”

She screwed up her nose. “There’s another story?”

Ash was about to respond, but her eyes went wide as she stared past his shoulder, and she straightened her blazer.

“Hi, Shane. I was just welcoming Ash. He said you’ve hired him to be one of the trainers for the event?”

Ash whirled around and almost choked on his tongue. Staring back at him was a gray-eyed, fierce looking man, towering over him like an army drill sergeant. He was built for days and could snap Ash like a dried up, brittle twig. If he figured out that Ash was full of shit… Ash whimpered. He couldn’t bear to ponder the possibilities.

Shane shot out his hand. “Good to meet you, Ash.” His gaze darted to Ash’s bags then back up again. “I take it you haven’t been shown to your quarters yet?”

He regarded Micki with narrowed eyes. Already Ash felt guilty for dragging her into his subterfuge.

Ash let out a shaky chuckle. “Oh, uh, that’s my fault. I know Micki from years ago, but didn’t realize she was working here. I was so excited to see her that I got carried away asking her how she was doing.”

Shane’s eyes narrowed further. “That’s quite the coincidence.”

Ash arched his eyebrows. “What is?”

“That she should just happen to be working here.”

Ash let out another chuckle that sounded like a cross between a strangled mouse and a choking cat.

“Yeah. How about that.” He shrugged, giving Shane the sincerest grin he could manage. “Small world.”

“Hmph.” Shane pressed his lips together then turned his attention to Micki. “Do a temporary staff check-in then have Arnie show him to his room.” He turned back to Ash. “You have the day to settle in then we have orientation in the morning. Micki will give you the new employee packet.”

“Awesome.” Ash kept his smile plastered on. He could only hope it didn’t appear too maniacal. “I’m looking forward to working the event.” He cleared his throat. “You know, since training pups is my passion and I’m so…awesome.”

Ash swallowed hard as Shane stared him down. Holding it together and keeping his scheme alive was imperative. If he got busted before he had the chance to win Lee back, the devastation would be real.

“So I’ve heard. I’ll see you in the morning.”

With that, Shane marched away, and Ash let out a long, relieved sigh. He shook out his hands to release some of the tension he’d been holding then faced Micki again.

“Oh. My. God. That was brutal. Is he always like that, or does he just totally hate me?”

She winced. “Always like that. Might hate you anyway. Hard to say. No one can read the man, so we all walk on eggshells around him. Fortunately, he’s only here for a couple months out of the year for the event.”

“What does he do the rest of the time? Run a paramilitary training group?”

She shook her head. “No. He’s a hair stylist Although, he prefers to be referred to as a hair design engineer. “

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