Page 28 of Hound Dog
I did my best to hide my grimace. They weren’t friends… they were clients. Almost every Hound Dog client so far had ended up adopting a dog after we’d finished working together. And it was usually the dog I had paired them with.
“Yeah. Well, I keep running into friends while I’m walking your dogs.” I cleared my throat and looked down at the paper to reserve Sampson for Greg. I’d never been all that good at lying, but I was getting really damn good at it now.
“It’s such a shame that Yvonne is changing the volunteer walking policy,” Kim said, snapping the leash onto Chewy.
I froze mid-stroke of the pen. “She’s what?”
When I looked up, Kim was stepping out from behind the counter, setting Chewy down on the floor by my feet. “Yeah, it’s something with the insurance. If one of the dogs bites or scratches someone while they’re not on the property, she leaves herself open to be sued. Unfortunately, Chewy’s your last walk for a while.”
Mother. Fucker.
My entire business hinged upon being able to take these rescue dogs out for walks. What the hell was I supposed to do now?
“I hope you’ll still come by, though. Even just to visit with the dogs.”
“Yeah, I will,” I said. And I meant it. I liked helping out here. I just wouldn’t be able to come as much now.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Shit. I had that client meeting…now. I grabbed Chewy’s leash gently from Kim.One thing at a time. “C’mon, Chewy. Let’s go for a walk.”
I spun to leave, pushing the door open and crossing to sit on the bench in the parking lot, when I nearly walked right into someone.
Not just someone… but Haylee.
She caught herself as she stumbled back a step, and I reached out, catching her elbow.
When she managed to steady herself, she huffed a sigh and stared at me with crossed arms and a knowing gleam in her eyes.
Shit.It can’t be. “No,” I said. “You’renotmy twelve-thirty meeting, are you?”
Her smile slipped into a grimace that looked like she smelled something rotten. “Thisis your second job?”
Chapter Six
Haylee
This was just my luck.That the animal shelter employee I had to schmooze and convince to take on the fourteen dogs currently living in Aunt Meryl’s three-bedroom house was none other than Finn Evans.
If the way his shoulders tensed was any indication, then his dread at having to deal with me again mirrored my own feelings about the situation.
I sighed and flipped open the lid of the cupcake box with a roll of my eyes. “Well, I guess these are foryou, then.” I didn’t exactly realize we had an official “meeting” scheduled when I’d called the shelter about my predicament and said I’d come in on my lunch break.
As he leaned over the box of cupcakes, a small laugh slipped through his lips. Lips that were way too pouty and sexy to fairly be on any man. They might have looked feminine—full and wet—if not for the five o’clock shadow and the sharp, masculine lines of his jaw and nose that framed them.
“You bought me cupcakes for this meeting?” he said through his laugh. “Cupcakes that you didn’t realize I mademyselfat three in the morning today?”
“Well, obviously, I didn’t realize I was meeting withyou.”
“You have to admit, that’s pretty damn funny.”
His grin was so infectious, I found myself smiling despite my sour mood. He grabbed one of the dog cupcakes from the box before jerking his head toward the bench in front of the building. Wrapping the dog’s leash around his wrist, we took a seat, side by side. His tanned bicep brushed against me sending an earthquake of shivers jolting down my spine. With a sharp inhale, I found myself wishing that it wasn’t accidental.
Even sitting down like we were, Finn towered over me like a redwood. Thick, broad, and rough.
“So,” Finn said. “Let’s get on with this, shall we? Tell me about him.”
“Him?” Did he mean Ben? My heart skipped a beat, then I realized, he must want to know about the dogs.
My heart leapt into my throat. “Does that mean you’ll help me?”
