Christmas Love (Love Collection)

by Natalie Ann

  He looked around her house. It was one of the smaller ones on the street, but nice and modern inside. Whoever lived here before must have fixed it up because he knew it hadn’t been off the market for long.

  “How about I bring everything to your kitchen and we’ll go from there. Do you have a mudroom?”

  “I do,” she said.

  “Then I suggest putting the bowls and crate in there if there is room.”

  Twenty minutes later everything was set up and the pup was making his way around every nook and cranny of the house. Chase would’ve liked to do that too, but he knew he was pushing his luck as it was.

  “I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to help me today,” she said.

  “Thank you for adopting the dog. Or better yet, congratulations on the new addition to your family.”

  “Thanks. I still can’t believe I did this. Now I’ll have my own barking dog to go with one of the neighbor’s around here.”

  Now seemed like the perfect time. “That would probably be me. Or my dogs. I don’t bark, or bite,” he said and then wondered why he threw that last part in there. It flew out of his mouth without thought.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I live up the road a bit. My dogs bark when I get home. More in excitement than anything. You don’t hear barking all day, do you? I’m sure my other neighbor would let me know if that was the case.”

  “No. Just in the morning, lunch, and at the end of the day.”

  “That’s about right. You’ll have to bring your pup up and let him play. Keep him socialized around other dogs.”

  “Do they need that?” she asked, looking confused.

  “They do.”

  They turned to look at the pup when it came running back into the kitchen dragging its bowl. “Oh my, is he hungry? I don’t even know how much to feed him or when.”

  He grinned, then reached over and patted her hand. “I told you he was smart. Let me explain a few more things for you.”

  “I need a pad and paper. Hang on.”

  He watched as she started to open and close drawers, looking adorably frustrated. He never would have pictured her as looking adorable, but her facial features always seemed to change, surprising him and pulling him in even more.

  There was something about her he couldn’t put his finger on, but for the moment, he wasn’t going to worry.

  She Was Crazy

  Later that night, Chase was watching TV with his chocolate lab, Bruno, on the floor by his feet, napping peacefully, and his French bulldog, Snacks, next to him on the couch, because that dog ruled the house and no amount of training seemed to keep the dog off the furniture. His sister’s two poodles, Gracie and Princess, were sitting regally in another chair. He couldn’t wait for his sister to get home from vacation and take those two terrors.

  Sure, they were nice well-behaved dogs, but they were two dogs too many for him to want to deal with right now. Not when he was gone all day and came back to have them thumb their noses up at him by peeing in the front hallway the minute he unlocked the door.

  It was on purpose he knew. They did it at the same time! Literally, he walked in the door, they trotted over and squatted down next to his feet as if saying, “If you came home earlier I wouldn’t need to do this now and prove to you you missed our dinnertime.”

  But everyone was fed and settled for the moment, himself included. It’d been almost eight by the time he walked in the door and he was starving. He’d been hoping Noelle would have asked him to stay for dinner, but he could tell she was flustered.

  He’d given her his number in case she had any questions or concerns tonight, or in the next few days, but he doubted she’d contact him. Even if he desperately wanted her to.

  She seemed to have it all together, or at least gave the impression she wanted him to think that.

  So when his phone went off with an email as he was getting ready for bed, he was shocked to see it was from her. Opening it up though, he found it was the pictures she’d taken today.

  She was right, those pups would go in a minute once he uploaded each one she’d sent for the remaining three. She’d explained she had more but figured these would be best for now.

  He replied back and asked how the puppy was doing, and rather than climb into bed, he pulled out his laptop and uploaded those new pictures, then changed them out on the social media pages. With any luck, they’d get some hits by tomorrow.

  When he didn’t hear back from her on the puppy, he assumed all was good and shut his light off, hoping to get some sleep.

  ***

  She was crazy to take on a puppy without knowing the first thing about owning one.

  “I’m going to call you Whiner if you don’t stop crying,” she said, looking down at the dog that wouldn’t lie down. He kept pacing around the dog bed she’d brought upstairs and put on the floor.

  Nothing would settle him. He’d been fed, walked, pet, cuddled, and talked to. All he did was pace everywhere. He didn’t even try to get on the bed that she spent almost a hundred dollars on.

  “What do you want? It’s not like you’ve got a diaper I can change. I don’t think you need to eat again. Chase said twice a day and you ate three times because you were fed at the shelter too.”

  The puppy looked up at her and whined some more. She never thought she was a sucker, but she sure the heck felt like one now. Puppy dog eyes really were a thing and had a way of making her cave when she never caved for anything.

  She was getting desperate, when the puppy put its front paws on the edge of the bed. The last thing she wanted to do was let him up, but she didn’t know what else to do.

  Maybe it wouldn’t hurt for a little bit, just until he was settled.

  A little bit turned into the next morning when she opened her eyes to see those big brown ones staring back at her, followed by a whimper.

  She threw the covers back and started to stretch, but the dog had other ideas and started to bark, then prance around. She’d already recognized that for what it was and grabbed sweats, trying to pull one leg through while hopping around. Her long legs were tripping her up when she used to be so agile changing out of clothes on the runway while dodging people in her path.

  But this time she was trying to dress while keeping a close eye on the pup for any signs of leakage.

  She threw the door open, thinking they’d make it, but they didn’t. Nope, he tried, he really did, but the trail of pee from her bedroom door, all the way down the stairs, to the front door told her he had a mighty big bladder for such a little fellow.

  “Guess I’ll let you go outside anyway, since you did try. I’ll give you credit for that.”

  He looked up at her like he understood what she was saying, walked around a tiny bit and then emptied the rest of his bladder. Damn, that would have been a huge mess had it been one puddle on the floor. Instead, she had to clean it up over two stories. Thankfully she had hardwood floors, but she’d still have to mop.

  Once everything was cleaned, she looked up when she heard the nails on the floor to see the puppy trying to carry its bowl over to her.

  “You’re not giving me a break today, are you? I haven’t even showered, let alone had a cup of coffee. I didn’t think you’d be so demanding. You’re worse than my ex and he needed attention nonstop.”

  He barked at her, like he knew everything she was saying. “Fine. I’ll get you some food and I’ll try to take a quick shower.”

  That proved to be a huge mistake. Lesson number two, don’t leave a puppy alone for more than five minutes.

  When she walked back downstairs, she saw one of her flip-flops covered in spit and slimy with teeth marks all over the sole. Yep, they were toast. Soggy toast at that. She supposed she should be happy it was a flip-flop and not her Christian Louboutins. Then there would be hell to pay.

  When the dog barked again and pranced toward the door, she grabbed the leash and brought him out. This time he did number two, making her wonder if the
food was upsetting his belly. The smell wafting up almost made her gag and she was thrilled that he didn’t do that in the house.

  Back in the kitchen, the puppy circled a few times, then plopped down and finally went to sleep, allowing her to make coffee and have some fruit.

  She opened up her laptop, intending to do some research on these two breeds of dogs mixed in her little guy and try to find a puppy obedience class or something. Anything to make this a little easier. The sad part, it’d only been about twelve hours.

  Checking her email first, she noticed Chase had emailed her back wanting to know how the puppy was doing.

  She started to type... “shoot me now...why did you let me do this...I’m so not ready for this...”

  Then she deleted it all and typed back. “He’s doing great.” Before she could type anymore, the puppy decided to leak some gas out, making her jump to look for a mess, so she hit send fast.

  When had she become so good at lying? More like she didn’t want anyone to think she was failing so miserably at this dog ownership thing she never thought she’d do—and now she knew why.

  Chasing Him

  Chase heard his phone go off as he was walking into the clinic. He stopped and pulled it out, looked at his email and noticed it was from Noelle. He felt the smile fill his face, then looked around like a guilty kid with his hand in a cookie jar to see if he was being watched.

  He’s doing great, he read. That’s it. Nothing more. Nothing less. Not how is your morning? Thanks for the help. Nothing. Geez.

  Guess he was the only one feeling what he was last night. No shocker there.

  “Hi, Chase.” He looked up to see Brianna in the back by the door he’d entered, balancing boxes in her hands.

  “Hey. Let me get them for you,” he said, reaching for the boxes before they toppled over.

  She was forever carrying more than she should in one trip. He liked that she was eager and on the ball, wonderful with the clients and the owners, but sometimes she was just so young and... silly.

  “Thanks,” she said back, grabbing one of the boxes and trailing behind him as he made his way to the front.

  “You shouldn’t try to do it all in one trip,” he said once again, like he did pretty much daily.

  “I know. I just wanted to get it all up front so I could start putting it away between appointments. How is Snacks doing?” she asked.

  Brianna had a soft spot for his Frenchie and though the dog wanted to come in with him today, he couldn’t leave his sister’s little terrors in the house alone. Two more days and they’d be back home where they belonged.

  “He’s doing good. Has his nose out of joint with my sister’s dogs, but I need him and Bruno to protect the domain for me in my absence.”

  She giggled, that annoying little twenty-something sound he hated. The one that wanted his attention when he was trying so hard to avoid it at all costs.

  He set the boxes down behind the counter for her and then made his way to his office wondering if he should respond back to Noelle, then decided not to bother. He obviously didn’t make that much of an impression on her.

  ***

  By the afternoon, Noelle had gotten nothing done. She wanted to go in the yard and snap some pictures, but that was out of the question. She even tried to take pictures of Calvin running around, but found without a fence, she spent more time chasing him in the woods.

  She never realized how fast a puppy could be, but that was lesson number three. After researching electric fences, she decided against that. The thought of a little shock if he went past his boundaries wasn’t right in her eyes.

  Everything she’d read on boxers told her they were protective to a fault, so if she was ever in danger, she wanted her dog to do what was ingrained in his blood to help her.

  Then she laughed hysterically. What kind of danger would she be in here? She wasn’t even in danger traveling the world. Still, she wanted him to be free. Now she just had to figure out this training thing.

  She couldn’t even get simple chores done around the house. When she was putting laundry in the washer, Calvin grabbed one of her socks out of the hamper and took off in a mad dash. She was thinking the lazy part of the bulldog wasn’t present in her puppy. Bummer.

  But when the puppy recycled his breakfast outside her bathroom door while she was in there cleaning and had shut the door to keep his nose out of the chemicals, she knew she was in trouble.

  Who knew so much whining was going to cause the dog to puke?

  With nothing else left to do, she pulled out her phone and composed an email.

  Hi, Chase. I realized how rude I was by not thanking you for everything yesterday or even offering you a drink, let alone dinner. All I can say is that I was so excited to have my little guy last night.

  That was only a white lie. She was excited, but she was more overwhelmed than anything.

  I was wondering, if you didn’t have any plans in the next few days, if you wouldn’t mind coming over for a thank you dinner. Maybe bring your dogs with you to socialize.

  There, that didn’t sound desperate...like she was feeling.

  When she looked down, she saw Calvin had finally fallen asleep, so she took that opportunity to lie down and try to doze herself. When he jumped up on the couch next to her, she knew she was doomed, but gave in to it.

  Several hours later, she was opening her door to Chase. Boy was he a sight for sore eyes. And a tired body, a frazzled mind, and raging hormones. More like neglected hormones.

  “Where are your dogs?” she asked.

  “Home,” he said, reaching down and petting Calvin, who’d come running full force. At least Chase knew how to brace himself so he wasn’t knocked over like she’d been so many times today. Her butt was going to be bruised, but she wouldn’t give it up for the fun she’d had wrestling with the pup.

  “I thought you said they needed to socialize?” she asked.

  “They do. Maybe this weekend if you don’t have plans. I’ve got my sister’s two dogs right now with my own and they’re little...divas. That’s the best word for them. I’m afraid they’d scar your puppy for life. Did you name him yet?”

  She looked down to see her new baby on his back while Chase gave him massive belly rubs. Talk about adorable. The dog, not the vet. Oh, who was she kidding? Chase was freaking adorable, and hot...smoking, like her grill in the back right now. So hot she was afraid to touch the grates without getting third-degree burns.

  And she was wondering where all these thoughts were coming from when she’d told herself she didn’t need or want a man in her life right now. Or at all.

  Yet here she was with a male pup and his savior.

  “I did. Meet Calvin.”

  “That’s a good strong name. Did it just come to you, or did you research it?”

  “It seemed to fit him,” she said, not wanting to say that for her first dog, she wanted to tie it to her first solid modeling contract. Calvin Klein had given her a taste of what real fashion money felt like at the young age of twelve.

  “So things are going well?” he asked, looking at her. She had a feeling he could see right through that lie.

  “Hits and misses,” she said. “We’re trying to learn about each other some more.”

  “It’s like that. He’s probably more afraid of upsetting you than you are with upsetting him.”

  She snorted. “I doubt that. He seems to be getting everything he wants. I never thought I could cave so easily.”

  “While you aren’t getting a moment of peace?” he asked, laughing.

  Yep, he’d seen right through her failings. “Exactly. I feel like I’m in over my head right now, but then I look at his face and I think, how can something so cute make me want to rip my hair out?”

  “Please don’t do that,” he said. “It’s too nice on your head.”

  Okay then, he was flirting back. Should she do anything about that? She invited him here to ask for help with Calvin, right?

  “Thank
s. Calvin seems to like it too. He woke me up with it in his mouth this morning.”

  “You let him on the bed?” he asked. She wasn’t sure if that was humor or disapproval in his tone, so she pretended she didn’t hear him.

  “Can I get you a drink?” she asked instead, walking toward the kitchen.

  “Sure.”

  “I’ve got some beer, wine, water, tea, and sports drinks.”

  “I haven’t had wine in a while, so I’ll grab a beer, if you don’t mind.”

  She pulled out the bottle of imported beer that she indulged in once in a while. She was more of a wine drinker when she drank at all, which wasn’t often. After the past few days, she felt she deserved the splurge and grabbed one for herself too. It’s not like she had to really watch every little thing that went in her mouth anymore.

  That teenager metabolism had lasted into her early twenties. Those last few years, she had to watch her food intake more. No dieting, not over-exercising, just not splurging as much when she had work lined up.

  After placing both bottles on the table, she turned and retrieved some glasses and a bottle opener. She didn’t need to. He’d already had them both opened with just a turn of his hand. So much for thinking he had soft hands. They were pretty tough to open those bottles up.

  “Thanks,” he said, pouring his, then waiting while she did the same. He held his glass up and said, “To a fresh start for you and Calvin.”

  She started to cough. She wondered if he was thinking of the fresh start she’d been dreaming of last night and hoped the hell not. Maybe she wasn’t so good at hiding things like she used to.

  Just My Confidence

  Chase had been shocked to get Noelle’s invitation to dinner tonight but wasn’t about to decline it.

  When he was done for the day, he ran home, fed the dogs, let them out, showered, and ran back out the door with a quick apology to them, and a promise that he’d run them good when he got home.

  He was sure she wasn’t doing as well with Calvin as she came across and he wasn’t shocked.