Page 22 of Hard To Leave

He snaked his arm out,effectively pulling me against him. “She definitely has a way with words.”

“And don’t forget weird,”I threw in and wrinkled my nose in distaste.

His eyes grewsoft with affection. “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

I skimmed my hands down his chest and tipped my head back to look into his eyes. “You mentioned that when you greeted me at the door.”

There was a twinkle of humor his blue eyes. “Is that so? I guess my old age is catching up to me. It looks like I’ve been repeating myself.”

“Old age?” I arched my eyebrow. He seemed amused and ridiculously fucking charming, which only made him sexier in my eyes. “How old are you, Jack?”

“A gentleman never tells his age.”

Our playful, easy banter reminded me of simpler times and of the kind of girl I used to be. It was nice feeling a small, familiar piece of me emerge after so many years of being dormant.

“The dog is out back. I’ll just let him in, and then we can go.” I walked over to open the sliding glass door and the second Smuckers saw Jack, he charged right for him, and jumped on his legs. I ran over and tried to pull him off by the collar. The damn dog needed to go on a diet. He had to weigh almost a hundred pounds.

Jack just laughed while patting Smucker’s fatty hips. “You missed me, didn’t you?”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, noticing the dog fur all over Jack’s blue sweater. I really needed to get this dog in for a grooming appointment.

Jack looked up at me and then down at his sweater. He dusted himself off like it was no big deal. “Don’t be. I think he likes me.”

He’s not the only one,I thought to myself.

After running my fingers across his chest—to make sure all the dog hair was gone, of course—I grabbed my purse off the counter. “Only because you fed him leftover Chinese when you thought I wasn’t looking.”

He laughed, reaching for my hand. “Guilty. Now let’s go. I’m starving.”

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