Page 16 of My Grumpy Sweetheart
“You little…” He stopped, shaking his head before grumbling something into his beard that sounded a lot likemenace. I’d been called a lot worse — by former boyfriends, nonetheless.
Also, my little menacecould totally be a cutesy nickname. We just needed to work on adding the my-part.
Dakota started picking at his meal, and I did the same, deciding to just enjoy this experience as much as I could. And, to my surprise, the first course was amazing — apples and all. And the cider…
“This is really good,” I said, raising my champagne flute filled with the bubbly cider.
“It’s… not bad.” Out of Dakota’s mouth, that was probably the closest thing to a heartfelt compliment.
Grinning, I raised my glass a little higher, clinking it against his. “To a great date-weekend.”
For a moment, I could swear his look turned sour, but after the blink of an eye, his face was back to his grumpy-frown I’d came to like. “To a nice weekend.”
We broth took a sip of our cider and then polished our plates quietly.
“Tell me something about you,” I prompted when Dakota placed his cutlery on his empty plate.
“What do you want to know?”
Giggling, I carefully eyed the hand he’d placed on the table. Usually, I’d see that as a sign that he wanted me to take his hand, or at least offer his hand. But with Dakota, I wasn’t sure. And I didn’t want to screw up by being too forward again.
People always told me I was a lot, and yeah, I got it. I just refused to tone myself down for others. Been there, done that, and all it got me was a year of therapy.
“I want to know whatever you’re willing to share with me.”
It’d seemed like a good idea, right up until the point where he raised his brows and his lips turned downwards into a frown. “Well…” He started stroking his beard, his eyes glossing over a little. “I… like dogs,” he finally admitted, making it sound like it’d cost him a lot of bravery and energy to get the words out. “I’m actually in the process of getting one.”
“I love dogs!” I blurted. “What kind of dogs do you want?”
Something flickered in his eyes, a brightness I hadn’t seen there before. “I, uh… I wanted to get a German Shepherd. I’ve found a breeder already and was on the waitlist to adopt one of her puppies, but… It looks like her dog got away when she was in heat, and the father is definitelynota German Shepherd, so I apparently will be adopting a German Shepherd and Golden Retriever mix. The pups were born two weeks ago. The breeder said I didn’t need to take one since it’s not what I signed up for, but in the end, I want a dog. Besides, the little rascals will have it hard enough to find a good home without them being pure-bred.”
“That sounds like an adorable combination. Do you have photos?” I couldn’t help but wiggle in my seat. Puppies were the cutest. As were kittens. And kits, and… well, probably all baby animals.
“Sure.” He pulled out his phone, tapped the screen a couple of times, then handed it to me with a completely serious expression.
How he could stay so serious faced with the cuteness on the screen, I didn’t know. Four small puppies in varying shades of brown and gold were in the picture, cuddled up against the mommy.
I wanted one. Scrap that, I wanted all of them.
“Oh my god,” I gushed, looking at Dakota with big eyes. “I want them all.”
He hummed. “You can’t have them all.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure, you’ll get one, but look at them. They’re the cutest, most adorable creatures I’ve ever seen.”
“They’re all right.”
“All right?” I huffed. “They’re pure sugar. They’re so sweet they’ll give me cavitiesanddiabetes.”
He snorted, grabbing his phone before I could get another look. “They’re living, breathing beings. Having a puppy takes time and effort. They’re not cute accessories you buy and throw out once they’re over the adorable-puppy and into exhausting-teenage-dog state.”
The way he said it sounded like he’d already had experience with people giving dogs away, so I just nodded.
“I know. I wasn’t serious about taking them all in. I mean, I totally would if I could, because seriously, have you seen them? How can you not melt into a puddle of goo looking at them? But I can’t. In theory, I can work from home, and I do so once a week, two times, if I’m lucky, but I have a lot of meetings, and I can’t take a dog into the office… I think. I’d have to ask. Still, it wouldn’t be fair for a dog to be cooped up in an office for a whole day. And there’s the commute, which is kind of a pain in the ass.”
“Commute?”
Ha! He’d asked a question. Well… he’d said a word, but he’d made it sound like a question.
