by Lori Wilde
Little Muffin must have known she was being praised, because she practically pranced in place. Trent rolled his eyes. He’d believe Muffin was completely housebroken the day he believed Santa Claus had a cholesterol level under 200.
Trent squatted and gave Brutus a pat. “Like I believe that,” he said softly.
Brutus made a doggy snorting noise that Trent took as agreement.
Erin looked at them. “How is Brutus doing with his training?”
In a word? Failing.
But both for his own pride and for Brutus’, Trent said, “Good. He’s doing a great job.”
Doubt crossed Erin’s face. “You’re sure? Because Brutus might take a little longer to catch on.”
Hey, what did she mean by that crack? Brutus might not be as prissy as Muffin, but he wasn’t the dumbest dog at the pound. Sure, he was having more accidents than successes, but there was no way Trent was going to admit that to this group. A man had to have some loyalty to his dog, even if it was a furball.
“Brutus is doing just fine,” Trent assured her.
Erin smiled. “Good. I’m glad to hear he’s doing well. I knew you two would hit it off.”
Yeah, like either one of them had had a choice in the matter. Trent looked at the German shepherd again, then at the dog’s owner. The man had moved to town a couple of months ago to work at Nathan’s company. What was his name? Sam? Stan? Something that started with an S.
Erin looked at the man. “So, Sean—”
“Sean. That’s it.”
Both Sean and Erin looked at him. Trent grinned. “Sorry. Go on.”
For several seconds, Erin continued to look at Trent. Obviously, his behavior had her puzzled. He grinned and winked at her, which made her frown and look away.
“So, Sean, how are things going?” Erin asked the other man, but Trent didn’t miss the slightly breathless hitch to her voice. Now that was interesting.
“Good,” Sean said.
“No problems with Scamp?”
“Scamp?” Trent chuckled, looking at the German shepherd. “Jeez, who names these dogs? Mine should be named Scamp, and the shepherd should be Brutus.”
Sean frowned at him. “I picked the name Scamp. I think it suits him.”
The German shepherd sat perfectly still next to his owner. There wasn’t anything remotely scamp-like about the puppy. Brutus, however, had latched on to the hem of Trent’s pants and was playing tug-of-war.
“Cut it out, furball,” Trent said absently.
Brutus wagged his tail and continued chewing.
Erin walked over to look at Brutus. “The secret to training your puppy is to be firm and consistent.”
Hey, he might not be the best pet parent, but he knew how to follow directions. He was following every blasted rule in that booklet Erin had given him.
“Excuse me, Erin, but I’m consistently firm,” Trent said.
The second the words left his mouth, he realized what he’d said. Dang it. As he expected, Karla laughed, as did Lynn. Karla even winked at him.
Erin neither laughed nor winked at him. She blushed. Bright red. Really bright red. Her reaction made the other ladies laugh even more.
Erin cleared her throat. Then she cleared it again. She briefly glanced at Trent, then quickly looked away. See, that was doubly interesting. For a lady who seemed to have no interest in him, she sure was acting suspicious.
“Let’s get started with the lessons,” Erin finally said, but her voice was almost as squeaky as Brutus’ yip.
Trent would give her credit, though. Over the next hour, she tried to be professional. She did a good job, too, at least when she was talking to the other members of the class. But every single time she came to help him with Brutus, Erin became noticeably flustered. She always kept her gaze focused completely on Brutus. Not once did she make eye contact with him.
He took that as a really encouraging sign. Sean didn’t fluster Erin, but he sure did. Good. He wanted to fluster Erin. He liked her. He liked the way her eyes sparkled when she patted Brutus, the way she laughed when the puppy rolled over for her to rub his belly, the way she tried to be so stern when she told him not to lick her face.
“Trent, please tell Brutus to leave Muffin alone,” Erin said, interrupting his thoughts.
Trent looked at Brutus, who was chewing on Muffin’s collar. He sighed and pulled the dog away from his sister.
“Cut it out, Brutus,” Trent said.
Erin shook her head. “You need to tell him no.”
“I did tell him no.”
Again, she shook her head. “You said cut it out. Brutus needs one word to associate with negative actions.”
Trent shrugged. “Fine. No.”
Erin finally looked him directly in the face. “Say ‘No, Brutus’ when you want to correct him.”
Trent started to follow her directions, but Erin placed a hand on his arm. “Not now. You only say that when he’s doing something you want him to stop.”
“That’s pretty much all the time,” Trent admitted. He looked at her hand on his arm, then glanced back at her face. She pulled her hand back so fast she almost lost her balance.
Trent smiled. He liked the way things were going tonight. He liked it very much. And he especially liked it when after class was over, Erin requested he stay.
Oh, yeah. He liked this a lot.
While she saw the other students out, Erin tried to formulate what she was going to say to Trent. He and Brutus had done badly tonight. Very badly. Horribly, in fact. At this rate, poor Brutus would never develop even the most basic behavior skills. The puppy simply didn’t listen to Trent.
And for his part, Trent wasn’t learning a heck of a lot either. These two males needed a good talking-to, and she was just the lady to do it.
“Brutus and I are being kept after school, huh?” Trent teased when Erin returned after seeing the others out.
“Trent, do you think Brutus did well tonight?”
Trent chuckled and pointed at the dog. Brutus was happily chewing on Trent’s right shoe. “The whole concept of good behavior seems lost on this fellow.”
“I refuse to believe that. Brutus can be trained to behave, just like any animal can be trained.”
Trent slowly shook his head. “I’m not sure I agree with you, Erin. Not all animals take to training. Some like staying wild and free. I think Brutus may be a fellow who refuses to settle down.”
Erin studied Trent. From what Delia and the other ladies in town had told her, Trent also was one of those animals who refused to settle down. He probably wasn’t the best person to train Brutus. Trent had a life’s-short-have-fun attitude. For all she knew, he wasn’t doing much to try to train Brutus. Heck, maybe he didn’t even want to train the puppy.
“Brutus could be a very nice dog if you train him,” she said, wanting Trent and the puppy to be happy together. To prove her point, she looked at Brutus. “No, Brutus.”
Brutus stopped chewing on Trent’s shoe, and Erin smiled. “See? Just a little training is all he needs.”
Before she could truly savor the thrill of victory, Brutus trotted over and started chewing on her right shoe instead. Trent laughed loudly.
“Oh, yeah, I can see how trainable he is. You have the boy firmly under control.”
Erin reached down and extricated the dog from her shoe. Or rather her shoe from the dog. Then she placed Brutus on the floor and sat next to him.
“Brutus,” she said, wanting the puppy to focus on her.
The dog wagged his tail. That was a good sign. He definitely knew his name. When he looked at her, she said firmly, “Sit, Brutus.”
Brutus wagged his tail some more.
Erin sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy. Some dogs took to training readily. Others needed a little extra help.
And in Brutus’ case, he might need a lot of extra help.
“Brutus kinda barks to a different drummer,” Trent said, sitting next to Erin. Brutus immediately scurried over and
flopped on Trent’s lap. When the dog rolled over on his back, Trent good-naturedly scratched his stomach.
“Any ideas what I might try with the furball here?” Trent asked, smiling at Erin. “Believe it or not, I do want the boy to have at least a few manners. How’s he going to impress the ladies if he’s uncouth?”
Wow. This close up, she could see how amazingly blue Trent’s eyes were. He certainly was one gorgeous man. Good thing she was immune to gorgeous, flirtatious men because she’d probably be falling under his spell right now if she wasn’t.
Of course, her heart was racing, but that had nothing to do with Trent being so close. Sure, her breathing was on the rapid side, but that also had nothing to do with Trent. Not a single thing.
“Hello? Erin? You still with me?” Trent teased.
Erin mentally shook herself and said, “Of course. I was thinking about your question. I’m trying to decide what’s the best way to train Brutus.”
Trent’s expression made it clear he didn’t believe a word she was saying. But at least he had the decency not to comment.
“Oh, and remember, Brutus won’t need to impress the ladies. You promised to have him fixed.”
Trent winced but didn’t disagree. Instead, he said, “I have an idea. Why don’t I pay you to give Brutus a little extra training? He may do better one-on-one.”
Erin had to admit that Trent might be right. Brutus might respond better if he had her complete attention. “Perhaps I can work with him a couple of extra days this week.”
Trent was still scratching the dog’s belly. “Thanks, because I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I mean, I’m used to training people. Heck, growing up on a ranch, I’m used to training horses, too. But this dog has me baffled.”
Erin found Trent’s admission endearing. He really was trying to help the puppy.
“Some puppies take a little longer,” Erin said. Then because of Trent’s admission, she had to make one of her own. “Plus, it’s not like I had much luck with Brutus before you adopted him. I hadn’t gotten very far with his training.”
“Unless you were teaching him to chew on shoes. He’s really good at that.”
Erin laughed. “Um, no, that wasn’t something I taught him. I’m pretty sure Brutus is what you’d call a natural-born chewer.”
“I think you’re right,” Trent said dryly as he removed the cuff of his shirt from Brutus’ mouth. “The furball definitely likes to chew.”
“I’m sure we can break him of his bad habits,” Erin assured Trent, wanting to make certain he didn’t become discouraged by Brutus’ lack of progress.
“I’ll have to take your word on that one.”
“Brutus is a smart dog. He’ll learn.”
“Oh, I’m not denying he’s smart,” Trent said, moving Brutus when the puppy tried to chew on the pocket of his shirt. “I think he’s downright ornery. In my experience, it takes a lot of incentive to get the ornery out of any creature.”
“Did it take a lot of incentive for you?” Erin found herself asking without really meaning to do so. But now that she’d asked the question, she discovered she really wanted to know the answer.
Trent’s smile turned into a full-fledged lady-killer grin. “Some folks say I still have ornery left in me, but I deny it. I’m about as good as a man can get these days.” He patted Brutus’ head. “Dang, I even have a furball for a dog. A man can’t have much ornery left in him if he lets himself be talked into adopting a puppy like Brutus.”
“Maybe not ornery,” she conceded, “but I think you definitely have a lot of...”
When she didn’t immediately go on, Trent chuckled. “Yes? I have a lot of what?”
“Flirt,” she finally said. “You have a lot of flirt in you.”
Trent tried to look offended, but Erin ended up laughing at his goofy expression.
“Come on, admit it, you’re a flirt. You were flirting with Karla tonight.”
“I was not.”
“Sure you were.”
Trent shook his head. “Nope. Not true. She was flirting with me, but I didn’t flirt back. The lady recently left her husband. Personally, I’m hoping they work out their problems and stay together. I would never flirt with a woman who was married, even if she’s separated.”
Erin could hear sincerity in his voice, see it in his expression. She’d never admit it, but she was glad to hear Trent had rules about these sorts of things. The more time she spent with him, the more she liked Trent. She’d hate to think he’d run around with any woman, regardless of her marital status. “A rogue with a heart,” she murmured.
“Naw. I just figure no one has the right to meddle with a married couple. They have to work through any problems on their own. I’m not about to hop into a snake pit like that.”
“You consider marriage a snake pit?”
Trent shrugged. “More or less. Some of them I’ve seen make a snake pit look good.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Excuse me, but I don’t see a wedding ring on your left hand. You must agree with me somewhat,” he pointed out.
But she didn’t agree with him. Not at all. “I’m not married because I haven’t found the right person yet. But that doesn’t mean I think marriage is a snake pit.”
“And yet you haven’t gotten married.”
“I almost did.”
Her admission obviously surprised him. “How close is almost?”
Even now, she couldn’t believe she’d been so foolish as to trust her ex-fiance, Don. Everyone had told her Don was a flirt and a player. Her family had told her. Her friends had told her. Heck, even the man catering the reception had told her. But she’d refused to see the truth.
“I was stood up at the altar,” she said, then clarified, “well, not actually stood up. Don did show up at the church. We even made it to the altar. But after that, things didn’t work out.”
Trent scooted closer to her. “Hey, you can’t stop there. I’m hooked now. So, tell me what happened. You were standing at the altar with what’s-his-name, and then?”
Although Erin rarely discussed her wedding fiasco, it no longer bothered her to talk about it. In fact, she firmly believed things had turned out for the best. Don hadn’t been the right man for her. He’d been far too wild and immature to get married.
“When the minister got to the part where he asked Don if he ‘took this woman,’ Don looked at me, said ‘Sorry, babe,’ grabbed my maid of honor’s hand, and they ran out of the church.”
Trent stared at her. “You’re kidding, right? He ran off with your maid of honor?”
Erin nodded. “Yes. They even left in the car with Just Married on the back.”
Trent let out a long, low whistle. “Wow. That stinks. So you had no idea he was in love with your maid of honor?”
Erin reached over and idly patted Brutus. “Hadn’t a clue.”
“Man, I’m sorry. That must have been tough. On behalf of my gender, I apologize.”
“Thanks, but it’s not necessary. Don and I weren’t meant to be together. It’s good we didn’t go through with the wedding.”
She looked at the man sitting next to her. From the way Delia described him, it sounded like Trent was a lot like Don. The handsome chief supposedly didn’t date anyone for very long, either.
“There he goes again,” Trent said, nodding at Brutus, who was chasing his tail. “He does that all the time. Sometimes he gets going so fast it’s hard to tell where one end of him stops and the other starts.”
Erin smiled as she watched the puppy play. “He likes to have fun.” She couldn’t help adding, “From what I hear, so does his owner.”
“Ouch.” Trent slapped his chest. “Got me with that one.”
“You know what I mean.” She reached out and patted Brutus, knowing she shouldn’t be sitting here talking to Trent. She should tell him to head on home. She had a long day tomorrow and should be in bed by now.
But she was enjoying Trent’s company. He was
a nice guy, even if he was a flirt. Besides, she’d learned her lesson with Don. Flirts were fine as long as you didn’t take them seriously.
And she certainly didn’t take Trent Barrett seriously.
“Come on, let me show you a couple of things you can try with Brutus to get him to behave,” she offered.
Before she made a move, Trent stood and held out one hand to her. “Allow me.”
Without thinking, Erin took his hand and let him pull her up. What she hadn’t counted on was the reaction she’d have as soon as her skin touched his. Desire flashed between them, and she couldn’t seem to get it through her thick head that touching Trent was a bad thing. In fact, her entire body seemed to find the idea utterly delightful.
Trent also seemed to find the contact between them enticing. Erin could clearly see a healthy dose of male lust in his gaze.
“Tell me what you want me to do,” he said.
Oh, now there was a loaded question. Her gaze dropped to his mouth. She could think of several things she’d like him to do.
“You should use positive reinforcement whenever possible,” she said, not surprised that her voice sounded breathless and excited. Trent still held her hand, and she did nothing to break the contact.
“Positive reinforcement,” he repeated softly. His thumb lightly caressed the back of her hand.
“Um, yes. Whenever he does something you like, praise him,” Erin said.
A wicked grin grew on Trent’s face, and he moved closer to her.
“Praise seems like a good way to go,” he said.
Her gaze was fixed on his lips. She’d bet anything that Trent was a world-class kisser. He probably could make a woman forget everything with only one kiss. Heck, she was having trouble remembering what she was talking about, and he hadn’t even kissed her.
“When he does something you like, say ‘Good boy’ so he’ll know to do it again,” she said absently, her attention still focused on Trent’s mouth and the seductive caress of his thumb on her hand.
Trent slowly leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips across hers.
Oh. My. Erin sighed with pure bliss as tingles ran through her.