Page 70 of Wag More Bark Less

“Your reaction makes a little more sense now,” she said, not letting me off the hook as much as she seemed to be processing. A reminder that I didn’t know her story, and it wasn’t fair to decide what that was. “You must’ve been angry with her, for how she left.”

“Angry, yes. But mostly I was embarrassed.”

“I’m sorry you went through that.”

“I did it to myself,” I mumbled.

“Well, join the club.”

As much as I wanted to press her in the long stretch of silence that followed, I bit back my line of questioning. She’d been patient with me; I could do the same for her.

“I can’t believe you’ve never seen Star Wars,” I said, deciding that was enough heaviness for one day.

“You say that like it’s a crime.” She nudged me with her elbow.

“It is.”

“Are you going to arrest me, Chief?” she asked, turning until her gaze snagged on mine.

The sunlight haloed around her, and the earlier temptation to kiss her became front and center once again. I almost gave in. I’d apologized, in my own way. Ellie didn’t appear to be playing referee. But I could do better. I would do better.

“Tempting,” I teased.

“You have handcuffs in that bag?”

Fuck me, she’s flirting.

I stood and reached for my backpack. I needed to keep my hands busy so they wouldn’t reach for Maggie.

“Would it take handcuffs to make you watch the first movie with me tonight? Or would pizza do the trick?”

“I’ve found pizza can be quite persuasive. If it’s good.”

“Oh, this pizza’s the best.”

I held her gaze. One corner of her mouth lifted, the half smile hinting at mischief. It was this smile I’d miss most when she left for good.

“Then you can save the handcuffs for later, Chief.”

God help me. Maggie Holland might just be the death of me.

TWENTY-SIX

MAGGIE

“Did you change into your Star Wars pajamas before or after you picked up the pizza?” I teased Luke as he appeared in my kitchen, holding a large cardboard box with the Pizza Patty’s purple logo printed on the top, and a bucket of cookies.

He was wearing similar pajama bottoms from the other night, the pattern just as busy with cartoon-type characters scattered about. The background was a lighter, more distracting shade of gray that immediately took me back to the night I stood on his porch with chili. Good lord, it wasn’t fair how good this man looked right now.

At least he had the decency to wear a shirt this time. I stared at the printed words Use the force, Luke so I didn’t drop my gaze any lower. Those damn pants were hazardous to the remaining shreds of my sanity.

“Oh, you’re wearing one, too,” Luke said, holding out a folded T-shirt to me.

“Why? I don’t even know if I’m going to like this movie.”

“If you don’t like Star Wars, I don’t think we can be friends.”

Friends.