Page 41 of Tamed to Be Messy

Before getting in, he leans down and looks at me. “Don’t you need to tell your parents goodbye?”

“Nope. I already did.” I flash him a very satisfied smile.

He shakes his head and gets in. “Unbelievable.”

“Trust me. You and Bandit will have a blast together. He’ll help fill all that free time of yours.”

Nick starts the engine and pulls away from the curb. “Where to first?”

“The pet shop. You need a dog bed, a leash, a collar, and some dog food.”

And a lot of patience. But I won’t tell him that yet.

CHAPTER 15

Nick

Ican think of worse ways to spend the rest of my Saturday. And I’d never complain about more time with Hannah, which may or may not be the best thing for me. But I don’t want to worry about that at the moment. I’m going to enjoy the day hanging out with her. If this is the limit of our relationship, I’ll take it, at least for now.

Besides, what if taunting Graham was her way of testing the waters to see what would happen if we wound up more than friends? That’s another reason to spend some time with her and test those waters for myself. They could be choppy or smooth sailing.

Am I a fool to hope for a little of both? Because I gotta say, bringing out that bossy side of her is way more entertaining than I expected.

With Hannah, life would never be dull. I can tell that much. And I enjoy how she challenges me, although I’d never tell her. Not yet, anyway.

I navigate my truck into a spot in front of the pet shop. For a Saturday, the place doesn’t look too busy. Liam’s shop isn’t like one of those pet superstores. It's more like an oversized boutique. Like the other stores in this part of downtownSarabella, the building used to be an old house—one of the larger ones.

Hannah hands me a fabric handbasket from the stack just inside the door. Guess I’m her side-kick and grocery boy for the day. I follow her to the first aisle on the left and stop next to her as we stare at a wall of collars and matching leashes.

Seriously. They all match. And they’re cute.

“Let’s see. What would suit Bandit?”

I lean my head toward her. “I doubt he’ll care.”

“You’d be surprised. I treated a dog once who only liked this one particular bright pink towel.”

“You think she preferred pink?”

She snorts. “He. And no, silly. Dogs are color blind. He liked it because he was a short hair dog, and the texture felt good on his coat when I dried him.” She tugs a bright teal collar off a hook. “This one feels soft. Not too stiff.”

I grab the matching leash and add it to the basket.

Hannah lifts a brow in question.

“You want him to match, don’t you?”

For some reason, this sends her into a fit of giggles down the rest of the aisle. Guess my other role today is a comedian. And I seem to be on a roll.

She points at me and then starts laughing again.

I hold my hands out. “What?”

She shakes her head as she tries to compose herself. “I didn’t expect you to care so much.”

I snicker. “Us dudes have to stick together.”

After finding a bed—I argued for the gray one because it would match my furniture better, but Hannah insisted on the bright green one—and some wet and dry dog food, we make our purchase and load it all into my truck.

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