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And yet, no matter how much she called out to him or how desperately she tried to keep up , she just wasn’t able to get a hold of him.
Damn dog. Trust her to love a deranged furbaby like him to the moon and back.
But she couldn’t stop. There was still too much garden left for her dog to wreck. She ignored the fire in her muscles; she couldn’t catch her breath, and the stitch in her side was truly going to kill her. Yep. She was going to die right there, as soon as she stopped running. She might as well go lay herself down in Mrs. Keller’s patch of geraniums, cover herself in some dirt, and start the decaying process.
And then she saw it. And so did Horse. He actually had the audacity to turn around and goad her for a second with his sparkling brown eyes, red lace still draped from his muzzle, before he spun around and charged forward at full speed.
No. No. No.
Please no!
Adrenalin soared through her. She ran faster than she had ever run in her entire life, certain that some superhuman strength would spill into her veins and she’d catch her dang dog before he reached a stunning white gazebo, the octagon shape held up with graceful columns wrapped in wisteria, where the lovely Mrs. Keller, her landlady, was hosting a tea with three tall men in dark bespoke suits.
In her mind’s eye, she saw herself catching Horse moments before he vaulted into the gazebo and upended everything into chaos.
It didn’t go as she envisioned, and soon both she and her dog unleashed their brand of chaos in equal measure. There was no coming back from this. Ever.
Now would have been a perfect time for the earth to open up and swallow her whole… but no, she couldn’t die.
Who would take care of her crazy dog?
Chapter Two
Everything happened in the blink of an eye and a waft of very expensive men’s cologne.
“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Keller. I’m so, so sorry.” Allison apologized repeatedly, aware that the older woman’s grumpy guests were looking at her as if she had descended from the planet Bonkersbula.
She couldn’t tell if her pounding heart was a result of them or the diabolical exertion she had put her body through chasing her dang dog. Were they really that gorgeous, or did her running after Horse make her blind?
No time. She had a dog to catch.
Horse zigzagged his way under the chairs like it was an obstacle course. Allison lost every bit of her pride as she half-crawled and half-stumbled after him, not under the chairs but around them, hoping she could get a hold of him once and for all, her apologies echoing around her as she made a complete and utter spectacle of herself.
Why, Horse? Why?
He emerged from under the chairs, and Allison finally got a tenuous grip on his fur. Thank freaking gosh. She wasn’t going to let go, despite Horse using all his power to shake her off. She pulled herself to her feet, still apologizing profusely, despite being catapulted right off her proverbial feet at their commanding heights as two of the men now stood from their chairs, while the third pushed his chair back and watched. Three sets of forest-green, chestnut-brown, and azure-blue eyes continued to stare at her as if she were an alien.
Right, Planet Bonkersbula. Her hometown.
She was just too glad she managed to commandeer her doggone dog before he really did some damage.
But, as usual, it was not to be.
As if everything were happening at twice the speed. Horse bucked like a bronco and threw her off. Unconsciously, she grabbed the end of a napkin for some strange reason to break her fall. Ordinarily, she would have landed smack on her ass—she was just engineered that way, if there was a fall to be had, she was going to take it, unprovoked or not—but with some mind-boggling and rather awkward acrobatics, she not only maintained her footing but also rescued a perfect meringue pie that had been placed on the napkin from crashing to the floor of the gazebo.
However, her stunned glee at saving the pie was short-lived.
Horse wasn’t done yet. He made a U-turn, charged toward her playfully, and knocked her off her feet. This time her brain completely left her body when she upended the pie against a suit that cost more than her salary as a librarian. Dear god in heaven.
“I’m so sorry,” she cried, trying to wipe the cream off his suit with her hands. But that wasn’t all. Horse came around for a second time to knock her over, and well…
In her defense, if the hard flooring had been her only option to land her ass on, she would have taken it. It wasn’t. She was going to fall butt-first into the lap of the third man, who was still seated, and he didn’t look happy about it at all.
For some other warped reason, she decided to take hold of the second man’s tie, nearly strangling him as she fought to keep herself standing. Oh, flip, she was murdering him.
“Crap, I’m sorry,” she blurted. She let go immediately and plopped into the third man’s lap. Hard muscle met her body, and oh dear, the bulge in his pants nestled against her ass.
He sprang up from the chair and set her aside as if she were a speck of fluff he did not want on his clothes.
