Page 28 of Tempting as Sin
“Blackestmuzzle,”Lily said. “And he’s young, clearly, which is why he hasn’t grown into his paws yet. Wait, though. Hang on.” She dashed out to the back porch again and came back with a cardboard package. “Flea and tick pill. I almost forgot.” She held out a pill on a flat palm and told Chuck, “Gentle.” He didn’t have that one exactly down, but he didn’t bite her in his eagerness to get the pill. She told Rafe, “You need to vacuum in here anyway. Throw the bag away afterwards, that’s all. You might also want to wash this rug.”
“Brilliant,” he said. “Wonderful. I’m going to be scratching. People are going to think I have lice.”
“And as for whose he is,” Lily said,notlaughing, “Bailey and I were just about to make a plan. A dog plan. Oh, dear, Bailey. You aren’t supposed to be in the house. Sorry, I forgot.”
“Why not?” Rafe asked. “Never tell me you have fleas, mate,” he told Bailey. “I won’t believe it. Don’t let her give you a pill.”
Bailey giggled. It was the first time she’d sounded like a girl. Was every creature with ovaries destined to respond to the werewolf? Probably. Lily said, “Of course she doesn’t have fleas. She shouldn’t go into strange houses, that’s all.”
“Ah,” Rafe said. “You’re right. We could sit on the porch.”
Or, Lily thought, she and Bailey and Chuck could leave. That would be the logical, rational, plan-appropriate answer. But, of course, they didn’t. Instead, they sat on the cabin steps in the dappled afternoon sunlight, after Rafe had brushed off the fir cones for her in an absolutely gentlemanly fashion to which she hardened her heart, she didnotlook at his body—at least, hardly at all—and Chuck flopped down on the ground below with a satisfied sigh, put his head on his paws, and closed his eyes.
It was all very…peaceful. Very sleepy, after her morning’s efforts in the garden and her afternoon’s efforts with Chuck. She stuck her legs out in front of her, considered the sorry state of her attire, let it go, and said, “Dog plan. Bailey’s grandma doesn’t like dogs in the house, and Chuck’s been sleeping under their trailer and not getting much to eat, so I thought he could sleep at my house, and eat there, too. And still be your dog,” she hastened to tell Bailey. “Like…”
“A foster kid,” Bailey said. “Like when the social worker picks you up, but your grandma can’t take care of you, so you go to a foster home. I don’t want Chuck to be a foster dog, though.”
Lily didn’t feel like laughing about this one. “I told you,” she said, “this is a different plan. A dogsharingplan, not a foster dog plan. Chuck is a lot of dog for one person, and neither of us can do it alone, but we could share. Part of my yard is fenced, for the deer, but I don’t trust Chuck not to try to dig his way out. I’m also not sure he’d do great in my store, at least not until we teach him his manners. Maybe…how about if I took him in there in the morning, and you could come by and get him, and bring him back to me in the afternoon? He might be all right for a little while.” Although she doubted it, and unless Bailey was away from her grandma’s trailer all day long, how could the girl keep Chuck with her? This hadn’t been the most brilliant plan, but what else was there to do? And for that matter—whataboutwhat Bailey was doing all day? She sure hadn’t had a sandwich with her today. Which wasn’t Lily’s responsibility, and she knew it. But…
“You have a store?” Bailey asked. “Like a grocery store? Because I think Chuck would eat the groceries. He loves potato chips. That’s his favorite. Or hot dogs. He can eat right through the bag. Heeatsthe bag. I don’t think that would work.”
“It’s not a grocery store, fortunately,” Lily said,notlooking at Rafe. “It’s a lingerie shop.”
Beside her, Rafe went still. The silver-blue eyes were locked on her, and it was an effort not to shiver.Damnhim.
“What’s that?” Bailey asked.
“Underwear,” Lily said. “Nightgowns.” Rafe was a sophisticated man. He could hear the wordlingeriewithout getting excited, and she could say it to him without getting excited, too. Absolutely.
“Oh.” Bailey considered that. “How can you have a whole store just for underwear?”
“You have lots of different kinds,” Lily said. “That’s how. You can come by and see. Youwillcome by, because you’ll need to get Chuck. The shop’s called Sinful Desires, and it’s on Main Street. I think it’s the prettiest store in town, but I could be prejudiced because it’s mine.”
“Oh,” Bailey said. “The porno store?”
Rafe laughed, the jerk. Lily glared at him and said, “It’s not a porno store. Everything I sell is beautiful. There’s no porn involved.”
“I sense a field trip,” he murmured, and she tried to glare some more, but couldn’t quite manage it, because the smile he was suppressing made her want to laugh.
“Oh,” Bailey said. “Everybody says the porno store. I could come get Chuck, I guess. Or you could just let him go out. He likes to go around and see things, but he always comes back to sleep under the trailer, so I bet he’d come back to your house to sleep, too. Especially if his food was there.”
“No wandering around,” Lily said. “Animal Control will pick him up eventually, and he’ll be in a shelter. That’s not happening to our shared dog. You’ll come help me out with him, and I’ll go to the pet store and get him his own bag of food—a big one—and dishes, and a collar and leash, and a bed and so forth, we’ll make a vet appointment for him, and then we’ll…”
“Bring him to me in the mornings, on your way to work,” Rafe said. Smoothly, like the smooth guy he was. “And if Bailey wants to come get him, she can. The only thing I’m doing is taking some riding lessons. Other than that? I’m running, I’m working out a few times a day, and I’m working on a…on some work. Chuck could keep me company while I do it. Not much harm he could do here. Jace’s cabin isn’t much like a lingerie shop. No silk nightgowns or stockings or…other fragile things.” His eyes lost some focus at the end there, even though Lily had never been this much of a grubby mess around a man in her life, let alone a man she was interested in.
Well, notinterestedin. Because she wasn’t. Interested. Even though he was still wearing only a T-shirt and gym shorts, and he still had those crinkles around his eyes when he smiled. Also dimples, the manly kind that were more like “creases.” They’d been hidden in the scruff before, and now they weren’t.
Bailey said, “What kind of riding lessons? Like a motorcycle?”
“Nah, mate,” Rafe said, switching his gaze to Bailey as if it were an effort, and forgetting his accent yet again. “I know how to ride a motorcycle. This would be horses.”
“Cool,”Bailey said.
“Yeah,” Rafe said. “We’ll hope so. I need to learn how for a job I’m doing. Practice until you get it right, that’s the idea.”
“Anything worth having,” Lily said, teasing because she could, “is worth working for? That the idea?”
“Yeah,” Rafe said, and smiled. Slowly. Eyes. Mouth. Everything. “That’s the idea.”
