Page 21 of Unbelonging
I'd finally have enough money to cover a security depositandother expenses. When my stint at the Parkers' ended, I could get my own place.
No more house-sitting, no more tiptoeing around in someone else's domain. No more sleeping on my Dad's godawful couch. I'd have a place of my own, even if it was low-rent.
It was just before noon, and I wasn't scheduled to waitress that night. It made for an almost perfect day, and when I left to walk Chucky, my steps were lighter than they had been in a long time.
Sometime that night, a warm front had moved in, lending the hint of Indian summer to the fall air. Chucky and I were walking the usual route when I saw a familiar figure lounging outside the gate of Lawton's estate. The form was unmistakable: the long legs, the tousled hair, the chiseled features.
It was Lawton. He wore jeans and yet another black T-shirt, this one with long sleeves. As Chucky and I walked closer, I almost forgot to breathe. He looked like a heavenly demon, fallen from some other world just to give girls like me something to fantasize about when their ordinary lives grew unsatisfying.
Not that I was unhappy to see him, but what was he doing just standing there? Enjoying the weather? And if so, shouldn't he be lounging by a pool or something?
The sky was clear, and the air felt almost balmy, at least compared to how it had been. I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. I'd figured out too late it was too many clothes. At least I wasn't alone. As far as I could tell, Lawton had made the same mistake.
Chucky was even more hyper than usual, and hustling to keep up with him made me wish all over again for shorts and a tank top.
When were just a couple blocks away, Chucky went nearly berserk, yapping and straining at his leash and dragging me at an unseemly pace toward Lawton, who watched the spectacle with a look of amusement in his dark eyes.
I was half out of breath by the time Chucky dragged me toward him. And that's when I noticed it, a shiny bag in Lawton's hand. The bag looked familiar. Too familiar.
I stopped a few paces away and narrowed my eyes. "Are those doggie treats?"
"This?" He held up the shiny bag. It was already open, and it made a crinkling sound as he shook it. "Yup."
Chucky went nuts, straining at the leash and yapping like crazy. The man was too devious for words. I couldn't help but laugh. "Trying to get me killed?"
"No," he said. "Trying to get you to stop."
By now, Chucky was jumping up on Lawton's jeans. He was yapping more ferociously than before.
"Care if I give him some?" he asked.
"At this point," I said, "I think you'd better – unless you want to get eviscerated." In truth, the only thing Chucky was capable of eviscerating was a pile of bacon, but it seemed undignified to admit it.
Lawton squatted down and gave Chucky a couple of the treats. He ruffled the fur on Chucky's head as the treats disappeared in record time.
When he stood back up, Lawton gave me a heart-stopping grin. "Want some company?"
The offer took me off guard. From everything I'd read and seen, he wasn't the kind of guy who'd be caught dead doing anything so normal as walking a normal, if hyper, dog, around a normal, if upscale, neighborhood. What was going on?
When I didn't answer, he pointed at his feet. "Look," he said. "Shoes."
I laughed. "And a shirt too."
He grinned. "Just for you."
"Really, you shouldn't have."
I said it as a joke, but I wasn't totally sure I was kidding. Sure, he looked great in a shirt, but he looked even better without it. Not that Ireallywanted him to walk around the neighborhood shirtless. True, I liked looking at him. Who wouldn't? But sometimes there's a fine line between sexy, and well, weird.
Of course, ninja penguins were weird. So was a paper bag full of breakfast snark. If I were lucky, we'd never speak of it again.
Lawton held out a hand for Chucky's leash. "Want me to take him?"
It was a tempting offer, but walking Chucky wasn't the easiest job in the world. I was a semi-professional. Lawton had probably never walked a dog in his life.
Even with little dogs, it wasn't half as easy as it looked. Between tangling the leash around street signs, trees, and anything else we came across, and lunging after squirrels, Chucky always made it a lot trickier than it should've been.
I handed Lawton the leash. "You can try," I said. This should be good for a few laughs.
