Page 70 of Swept for Forever
I searched the clearing. She’d been up the hill when we jumped in.
“Lulu!” Autumn called out.
Nothing. Not even a paw print.
I sighed. “Go on, you get back to the house and get dressed. I’ll find her.”
Autumn hesitated, but I nudged her toward the path leading back to my place. “You’re dripping, sweetheart. You’ll catch a cold.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s not how colds work.”
I just smirked and sent her on her way.
Then I went hunting for Lulu, calling out her name.
I found her near the edge of the riverside park, barking her head off at a man.
With his cap pulled low and sunglasses on, he crouched and stretched a hand toward her. She held her ground, still barking. The man rose. Something was off about his neck. Spinal fusion, maybe?
He tried again, edging closer to Lulu.
“Hey!” I called out, striding over. “Leave my dog alone!”
The guy startled, lifting his hands. “Sorry. Thought she was mine.”
My jaw ticked. “That so?”
“Yeah,” he said, nodding too quickly. “I lost my dog a few weeks ago. Thought maybe she’d come back.” His eyes flicked down to Lulu. “Lulu, you said her name was?”
I didn’t like how he said it, or the way his nostrils flaredbefore he forced a calm breath. I wasn’t about to give him anything.
Without another word, I grabbed Lulu’s collar and turned away, leading her back toward the house.
I was still running through that weird little exchange in my head when I heard Autumn’s voice at the door.
“There you are!”
She was waiting just ahead, her hair tied up in a messy bun. Lithe, golden, and impossibly tempting. If I hadn’t just run into a guy who set off every alarm I had, and if she hadn’t hesitated in the water, I would’ve had her on the floor by now. Laid out, legs open, mine to worship.
Instead, I forced a grin. “Yeah. Naughty dog. She just walked right up to a stranger and barked her head off.”
Autumn frowned, glancing at Lulu. “Huh.”
I clocked the shift in her expression.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. Maybe we shouldn’t have left her on her own again.”
That sat heavy between us for a beat.
Then I shook it off, unwilling to let some random guy ruin what had been a damn good day.
“Hey,” I said, slinging an arm around her shoulders and tugging her against my side. “You hungry?”
Autumn’s face lit up. “Starving!”
That’s my girl.
