Page 33 of Wag More Bark Less

She let out a heavy sigh and kept tugging in the opposite direction, successfully pulling me right up to the new truck. Because I nearly smacked the window with my face, I allowed curiosity to get the better of me and peeked through the driver’s side window. I spotted a scanner built into the console, along with an extra large coffee cup in a holder, and a Bluebell Springs Police Department ball cap in the passenger seat.

Not a date.

Why did that make me feel better?

It’d be the greatest relief if the man had a girlfriend, even if I couldn’t wrap my head around the type of woman who’d put up with his epic grouchiness. If he was taken, it’d be the ultimate protection against doing something stupid, like throwing myself at him in a moment of weakness.

Ellie tugged again, insisting we head to Luke’s front door, but I held my ground.

“You think I should take Officer McGrumpy a bowl, don’t you?” I hadn’t run into Luke since yesterday morning at the hardware store. I should be happy about that. There was no one scowling at me or scolding me about leash laws or pretending not to like my dog when they clearly did.

And yet, this urge to see him kept clawing at me. Like an itch I couldn’t quite reach to scratch.

The man might grate on my last nerve, but dammit I enjoyed riling him up. I enjoyed being in his orbit, and that was becoming a problem.

I could blame the latest book boyfriend I’d gotten caught up with, or my months-long sex drought, but it was likely the dream I had on the porch swing yesterday afternoon that was the real culprit. The one where Luke cornered me in the hardware store in the doorknob section, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants. He’d caught me, of course, glass doorknob in hand, and threatened to cancel my reservation. But I offered to pay him in other ways like some sex-starved harlot. My nipples pebbled at the hazy memory of being backed against the shelves, Luke’s warm, muscular body caging me in as his lips lowered to let me know exactly what he thought about my offer.

Of course, Ellie woke me with a gentle lick to my cheek before anything really good happened.

“Yeah, I’m going to pass.” It was better if I didn’t see Luke until I could get myself in check. Because clearly, I wasn’t in my right mind.

I wished I didn’t know about him losing his mother. I refused to pity the man—he’d hate that more than I would—but I could empathize. This whole thing made him seem more human somehow, and it was causing my common sense to short-circuit.

Ellie groaned as though annoyed, but she finally relented. Or so I thought. Because I no sooner got inside and stripped out of my hoodie before Ellie was picking up the tote handles with her teeth.

“Ellie—”

She lifted to her back legs, pawing at the front door handle.

“Okay, okay! You win.” I took the bag from her. “I’ll go see if he’s home. You stay here.”

I slipped out the front door, shivering at the chill in the air now that the sun had dipped all the way behind the mountains. But if I turned back for my hoodie, I wouldn’t go through with it at all.

“It’s just chili,” I said, as though that made it true. “It’s way more like a peace offering than an . . . invitation. Plus, it would be rude to make a bowl for Walter and not offer one to Officer McGrumpy, right?”

And now I was talking to myself.

Cool points for Maggie.

As ringing the doorbell didn’t seem to have any effect, I knocked instead. There was no answer, no lights, no signs of life. No reason to feel bad for not sharing since I’d tried. Ellie would just have to accept that.

I knocked once more to be sure.

Just as I was about to turn and leave, a light flipped on inside and the echo of footsteps grew louder.

The door swung open, and I was not prepared for the sight on the other side of it.

Luke was once again shirtless—I was beginning to sense a highly annoying pattern—in nothing but a pair of pajama pants slung low on his hips, debunking my theory about the six-pack. There were definitely more than six abs, all cut with razor-sharp precision. A hip tattoo of what I suspected was a wolf disappeared below the waistband, and I gulped a swallow.

“Did you need something?” Luke asked while fighting a yawn, sounding more tired than irritated.

“Were you sleeping?”

“Is that a crime?”

“It’s just . . . early.” I glanced at my smartwatch just to be sure. Yep, 6:35.

“You come over to lecture me about the time?”