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After I cross the street, Rosie runs behind The Garden. I call for her again and make an embarrassing attempt at whistling. Neither works, but I find her by the dumpsters in back of the restaurant. She’s too busy sniffing around them to run away.
“Hey, girl.” I squat down and hold out a tiny piece of the pork. She keeps sniffing around the garbage, which is completely ridiculous considering how much better my offer is, so I inch closer. “Come on, Rosie. You’re better than that garbage.”
Apparently, she believes my lie. She eyes me, then turns her football body and bounds toward me. I don’t have time to move. She snaps her mouth over my entire hand before I can drop the treat. I yelp and jump up, mostly out of surprise, but also a little disgust. She didn’t hurt me, but I don’t love having dog slobber on my hands.
At least she didn’t run. I shake off the drool and glare at her. She stares up at me with big brown eyes and her tongue lolling to the side, totally quiet except for her panting.
“You like that?” I tear off another piece, and she lets out one happy yap. I crouch down again, but this time I drop the meat before she can get anywhere near my hand. She gobbles up that piece too, then sits and puts her paw on my knee.
And I’ll admit, it’s cute.
Okay, it’s adorable.
I scratch her ears, and her mouth curves again into what looks like a smile. Which is ridiculous. She’s a dog. Dogs don’t smile.
But this one is adorably ugly. I scoop my hand under her belly and pick her up. “What do you think? You want to come hang out with me?” To sweeten the deal, I open my palm with the last piece of pork and let her have it.
She thanks me by licking my cheek, which should gross me out more than it does. Don’t get me wrong, it’s disgusting, but I do feel loved.
I carry her back to the house, grab my bag of food, and carry both upstairs and through my front door. I drop her to the ground, then head to the kitchen for a knife and fork. My kitchen and coffee tables are covered with design stuff, so I sink into my couch and balance the food on my lap. Forget about eating off a real plate. I’m too hungry now.
“I made a big sacrifice sharing my dinner with you.” I point my knife toward Rosie, who responds with loud panting. “So, you’d better be quiet.”
I dig into the pork and roasted potatoes right out of the to-go container. After the first few bites, however, I carry it into the kitchen and slide everything, including the still warm brown roll, onto a real plate.
This is a meal that needs to be savored, not scarfed. I take my time eating it, thinking about Adam and the last few days we’ve had toget her. For the first time, I notice how tired and sore I am. Together, we got the longest wall done, including the window and door sections, which were a little tricky. Adam could have gone faster if he hadn’t taken the time to explain what he was doing and then showing me how to do it.
We may have also gotten sidetracked a few times when we got caught up talking to each other.Talking, not flirting.
At least not very much.
He likes to read. Sci-fi, he said. I told him I preferred romance, and he admitted liking that too. The way his ears turned red makes me think he likes a good romance more than he’s letting on. Which tracks. Sensitive people are suckers for good love stories. And there’s nothing but mushiness under Adam’s grumpy exterior.
I eat slowly, but I finish savoring my dinner long before I finish savoring all my recollections of the time I’ve spent with Adam. I carry my plate to the kitchen, then drop back onto my couch.
“Rosie,” I call and pat the seat next to me.
She answers by jumping into my lap, where she turns in a slow circle before curling up and falling asleep. Within minutes, she’s snoring loudly. I run my hand over her bristly soft fur and send a voice text to Adam.
Rosie got out. Hope it’s okay I brought her to my place. I don’t think she likes to be alone.
Even though I check my phone about every thirty seconds, Adam doesn’t text back. For thirty minutes I go back and forth between telling myself he’s just busy working or I’ve crossed a line by kidnapping his dog. Finally, he messages me.
I guess that means I get to see you tonight?
Alarms sound, but I quickly shut them down. Rosie is sleeping so peacefully, there’s no way I could take her back to his place and leave her there. She’d be lonely. She’d bark. I wouldn’t be able to sleep or work.
I guess so;I text back.
Rosie twitches in her sleep and rolls onto her back. I scratch her belly. Her eyes stay closed, but her leg goes crazy, and she smiles at me again.
“Same, Rosie. Same,” I whisper back as my mouth slips into a grin.
Chapter 26
Adam
I cut band practice short after I read Evie’s text. We were slow enough tonight that the restaurant is all but closed. All I have to do is lock the door when I leave. I’m not even upset by another barely break-even night if it means I get to see Evie sooner than I would have if we’d had a busy night.
