Page 26 of Knock Me Up

“Oh god,” I groan. Plum giggles though, and I pick that sweetheart up, twirling her around. “Why do I need a girl when I got one right here?”

Plum laughs. “You need to get married, Uncle Bart! And have babies so I can have cousins! I need kids to play with already!”

“She has a point,” Lemon says with a smirk.

I roll my eyes. “Then get on it, Miss Lemon.”

She laughs tight and high. “Right, because it’s so easy to date when I have five brothers who have opinions on every single man in this town.” She pulls out her phone, though, and types out a message. “I let Derek know you found a stray dog. I may not be interested in the man, but I am a decent human.” She smirks, tucking her phone back in her pocket.

I run a hand over my jaw. Truth is, there isn’t a guy who is good enough for my little sister. She may be a little high-strung, but she’s smart as a whip and has a big heart – hell, it’s her day off and she’s babysitting our brother Reuben’s daughter.

“Anyways… Plum, you ready to go?” Lemon turns to me. “We’ll see you later tonight, right?”

“Mom wouldn’t let me miss it,” I joke as a couple enters the store with a shopping list in hand.

The girls leave and I help my customers, Hijinx snuggled on a blanket under my register. I keep looking out the window, distracted, wondering where the owner is. When I turn off the lights and flip my Open sign to Closed, I decide to take a leash off a display and clip it to Hijinx’s collar. With a paper bag filled with doggy essentials, I turn my back to the street and lock up for the night.

It’s only then I hear a woman shouting.

I turn, taking in the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life. Blonde hair whipping in the wind, dark eyes fixed on me. A figure that has my whole body aching for a future I never even considered before this very moment. Her. Me. Together.

But she isn’t staring at me the way I’m staring at her.

She’s glaring, really, and the shouting? Well, it’s directed at me.

Accusing me of something. I try to focus on her words, but it’s hard because her pink lips have me distracted as hell.

“Hey. You!” she shouts again, this time a few feet in front of me. “Are you trying to steal my dog?”