Page 50 of Hound Dog
I smothered my laugh as Haylee’s jaw dropped. “Aunt Meryl! That doesn’t mean what you think it means.”
“What?” she blinked innocently at both of us. “You think I’m too old to own a vibrator?”
This time, I didn't bother suppressing my laughter.
God, I loved Meryl.
Haylee, on the other hand, did not seem to love that comment. With her little dog still in her arms, she pivoted to the coffee maker. “I’m out,” she muttered, grabbing the carafe, and filling her mug.
The little dog gave a quiet, gruff yip in agreement.
“Hold on one second,” I said and ran back out to the backyard. I grabbed the leg scooter my sister had used when she broke her foot and brought it inside.
“Here. If you want to move independently, this will help. There’s even a little basket to put things into so you don’t have to try to balance them likethat.”
“Oh!” Meryl squealed in delight as I gently rolled the leg scooter closer to her and took the crutches from her. She eased her leg onto it. “This is perfect! Look, I can slip my coffee mug and my cupcake right in here.”
“Just be careful, okay?” Haylee said.
Meryl pushed off with her good foot down the hallway. “Weee!” she cried in delight.
Haylee shifted the dachshund to the other hip. “Thank you for that. That was really… thoughtful.”
“I’m a thoughtful guy.”
She pursed her lips together but said nothing in return. “I thought you weren’t coming over until after lunch. Isn’t the client meeting at one o’clock?”
“Yes,” I said. “However, not only do we need to choose the next dog for my client,butI also couldn’t let your little guacamole comment from last night go. I think we need to have a guac-off.”
“A guac-off?”
“That’s right. You think you can challenge my award-winning, Superbowl party approved guacamole? That’s a serious accusation. One that I don’t take lightly.”
Not to mention, I couldn’t stop thinking of Haylee since last night.
Hearing her sing again ignited something in me. Even though I knew she had a boyfriend, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something unresolved between us. And I think she felt it, too.
She quirked a brow and pulled a slow sip of her coffee before answering me. “Superbowl approved, huh? Well, let’s take this one step at a time. Starting with choosing a dog for today’s client. Luckily, I have a few dogs that are Meryl approved. There’s Ellie, of course. And Rosie is kind of yappy, like Yippers, so Meryl agrees she would do better in a house with a cat preferably and maybe no dogs.”
“Aw, hey there, Rosie.” I put my hand out to the dachshund in her arms, but Haylee quickly jerked the dog away from me.
“First of all, this isn’t Rosie.That’sRosie.” She gestured with her chin to a Chihuahua that was barking at Jake, lying peacefully in the grass. “This ismydog, Freckles. And I wouldn’t pet her if I were you. She doesn’t always like strangers. Especially men.”
“Huh. Sounds a little like her mama,” I chuckled, but my joke only earned me a scowl. “I bet I can get her to warm up to me.”
“Then you’re doing so at your own risk.”
I held out my fingers, close enough that she could smell me, but not so close that I was invading her personal space. “She’s a pretty little thing, isn’t she?”
Haylee’s tight expression softened, and she kissed the dog’s head. “Yeah? Ben says she looks like a melted piece of saltwater taffy.”
Ben sounds like a dick.“No way. Look at those markings. She’s beautiful. And that long hair? She’s really unique.”
I wiggled my fingers and Freckles stretched her neck toward me, sniffing them, then gave me a quick lick.
Haylee’s gasp was faint, but it made my heart quicken. “She likes you,” she whispered. “She doesn’t likeanyman she first meets.”
I shrugged. “What can I say? I’m good with the ladies.”
