The Pet Stylist and the Playboy

by Rebecca James

  “What’s up with the kid?”

  “I don’t know. He’s been living with Deirdre and her family. He’s shy and seems nervous around crowds, but that’s the first time I’ve ever seen him do something like that.” I noticed my phone had a notification and picked it up off the counter.

  Dante: Merry Christmas.

  Shit. I put the phone back down and crossed the kitchen to get the extra tray of cheese and crackers I’d made, knowing the club guys ate like horses.

  “You mad at Dante for some reason?” Ax asked.

  “No. Why?”

  “Because I can see his message, and you didn’t answer.”

  “I’m just busy.”

  “Want me to type it out for you?”

  “No.”

  “Swish. What’s up with you and Dante?”

  I turned, tray in hand. “I said nothing’s wrong. Could you drop it, please?”

  Ax shook his head. “Sorry, no can do.”

  I sighed. Ax was blocking the door, and there was no way I could get around him.

  “I don’t see a point in talking to him. Dante’s life is about as far away from mine as it can get.”

  “That’s bullshit. He’s the same Dante he’s always been.”

  “He’s going to marry some girl in the Hamptons because that’s what his parents expect of him. I just don’t want to encourage a friendship that’s not going to continue. I don’t belong with that crowd. His mother looked at me like I was a dog turd on her shoe at his birthday party. ”

  Ax studied me, and I shifted the tray to the other hand and gave an impatient sigh that bounced right off him.

  “You sure all you guys have been is friends?”

  Damn my face that showed every fucking emotion that ran through me, at least where Dante was concerned.

  “I knew it!” Ax said. “I told Dante to leave you alone.”

  “You did?”

  “Yeah, because I knew you had a thing for him, and he’s such a slut.”

  I set the tray back on the counter, a blush working its way up my neck and into my cheeks. How fucking embarrassing.

  “I pushed him into it. I wanted it to happen.”

  Ax huffed. “Of course you did. That’s why he should have stayed away from you.”

  I wrapped my arms over my chest, much the same way Caleb had done earlier.

  “Sorry, Swish. I know you care about Dante, but the man’s the way he is, and he ain’t gonna change.”

  “I knew better,” I murmured.

  Ax crossed the room, gave me a bro hug, and grabbed the tray.

  Back in the living room, I didn’t see Caleb or Deirdre, and asked where they went.

  “They decided to leave after all,” Cupcake told me. “Caleb was in a bad way. I’ve never seen someone look like that.”

  Ax picked up the sack and began distributing the gifts to the excited dogs. Afterward, we took the cats’ presents into the sunroom and spent some time in there. I was kind of relieved when the party broke up around ten. Gus had said he’d been too tired to come to the party, and I’d called him an hour earlier to make sure he’d banked the fire and hadn’t changed his mind. He’d said he was heading for bed. Tired myself, I put the dogs in their kennels and climbed the stairs, Banjo at my heels. I crawled into bed. Ax’s words bounced around in my brain, making it hard for me to sleep. I wondered if the other club members had guessed my feelings for Dante as well. I must seem like a real chump to them.

  I unplugged my phone from the charger. Maybe I should text Dante back. Just a simple Merry Christmas to let him know we were okay. But we weren’t okay. We’d crossed the line, and I couldn’t go back to how we’d been before then. And seeing Dante once he got married would tear me apart.

  I put my phone back on the nightstand and turned my back to it.

  It was going to be a long night.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Dante

  Isaac’s silence was driving me crazy. I’d talked to Blaze and knew he was okay, but was he so mad at me he couldn’t even wish me a fucking merry Christmas when I sent a text?

  I didn’t know why I couldn’t get him out of my system.

  When the two weeks in Aspen were up, I was more than ready to go home. As soon as we landed, I told Felicity I needed some time with my bike.

  She cheerfully said goodbye, and I took an Uber straight to the clubhouse, picked up my Harley, and rode it all over the goddamn city, trying to get my head on straight. When I returned, freezing cold but feeling marginally better, Ax was in the kitchen making a sandwich.

  “What the fuck is that?” I asked. “Gross, is that fake canned meat?”

  “We don’t have anything else,” Ax said around his bite.

  “Well, go to the goddamned grocery store.”

  “What’s crawled up your ass? Too much fucking in the Aspen snow with the little society twat?”

  I poured a cup of coffee. “Don’t call her that.”

  “Aw, yeah. Gotta stick up for her. I hear you’re getting hitched.”

  “She’s the daughter of a friend of the family,” I said. “It’s kinda like a business transaction.”

  “How romantic,” Ax said through his bite of sandwich.

  “How’d you hear about it?” I asked. The coffee tasted like shit, obviously having sat in the pot all morning, but I drank it anyway.

  “Swish.”

  My stomach clenched at the same time my heart picked up.

  “Is he okay?”

  “You mean after you fucked him and dumped him?” Ax leaned against the counter and regarded me with cold eyes.

  “Is that what he said I did?”

  “Basically.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

  “The way you never mean to fall into someone’s bed, but you just do, because, hey, you’re just so fucking charming?”

  “Dammit, Ax, would you lay off? I really feel like shit about the whole thing. I never meant to hurt him.”

  “What did you mean to do, Dante? On what planet is sleeping with the man who adores you while planning to marry someone else a good idea? I told you to leave him alone, but no. You had to start working over there. You’ve made it all a million times worse.”

  “Is he okay?” I asked. I washed down the lump in my throat with another swallow of terrible coffee.

  “He will be, if you leave him alone. I saw that text you sent him.”

  “I was only wishing him a merry Christmas. He didn’t answer.”

  “Because he doesn’t want to talk to you.”

  And damn if that didn’t just make me more determined to see Isaac. I wanted to know he was okay. I didn’t want him to be angry with me. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing him altogether. I ran my hand over my face and downed the rest of the coffee.

  “Dante, don’t,” Ax said, as though reading my mind. “Leave the kid alone. Let him heal.”

  “Is he that upset?”

  At that, Ax seemed to snap. “He’s in love with you, you motherfucker! How god-damned dense can you be?”

  I sank down in the chair. “He just has a crush on me.”

  “You are really something, you know that? I used to think you just couldn’t help it, but now I see it’s an ego trip for you. You like stringing along all these lovers and then leaving them in the dirt. Now Swish is ignoring you, and you just can’t fucking stand that.”

  I didn’t argue with him. I wasn’t entirely sure he wasn’t right about me.

  Ax made a disgusted sound and left the room. I sat for a while staring off into space.

  It didn’t have to be this way. I could make things right with Isaac. We could still be friends. I couldn’t go forward if we weren’t.

  I walked outside to my bike. I was pretty numb to the cold already and didn’t mind the ride to Henry. When I pulled up the driveway, Gus’s house was dark, but there was a light on at Isaac’s. I dismounted my bike and stamped the snow from my boots before
knocking on the front door. Predictably, the dogs started up inside.

  When Isaac opened the door, his dark eyes were cold and his face stony. He really was pissed at me. His feet were bare, and he had on a pair of sweatpants and a shirt I was pretty sure had been mine.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “We need to talk.”

  “No, we definitely don’t need to talk.”

  My heart sank. “Isaac...”

  “I can’t be around you, Dante. I just can’t. You’ve got to let me go.”

  My mouth fell open. “What do you mean, let you go? We’re friends. We’re always gonna be friends. You’re just mad at me right now, and you’ve got a right to be. I shouldn’t have started up all that between us.”

  Isaac looked sick. “I can’t do that. I tried to let it be casual, but I couldn’t. Just go.”

  “I know you have a little crush on me, sure, but you’ll get over that. Our friendship is too important to throw it away.”

  Isaac gave a mirthless laugh. “Crush. Yeah, sure. Crushes don’t last over two years. Crushes don’t make you continue sleeping with someone even when you know it’s not gonna lead anywhere.” He looked at his feet. “Maybe I kind of fooled myself there for a while.”

  Gus had said Isaac was in love with me, and so had Ax, but I’d never really believed it. People fell into bed with me, but they didn’t love me. Not in that romantic, forever kind of way. I’m not even sure I believed in love. Good marriages were made out of careful arrangements. Putting two people of similar backgrounds and motivations together and forming a solid union over the years. Not from hearts and flowers and the kind of yearning I felt for Isaac.

  “Just go, Dante.”

  But I couldn’t. I couldn’t let this be the last time I saw Isaac. I started forward.

  “Go!” Isaac shouted, startling me and sending the dogs into a fresh frenzy of barking. “Get out of here. I mean it! I don’t want you here, Dante. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

  As soon as I stepped back, Isaac slammed the door in my face. I was so shocked, I stood there for several long seconds staring at the wood. I pressed my hand to it, wondering if Isaac still stood on the other side and wishing for something I couldn’t identify.

  Then, with a growl of frustration, I turned and strode to my bike, pushing the helmet on my head and gunning the engine, scattering gravel as I spun down the driveway and away from where my heart insisted I wanted to be but where I was no longer welcome.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Swish

  Two months passed during which I avoided talking about Dante with anyone. How fucking clueless could he possibly be, thinking we could just pick up where we’d left off before we’d slept together? I still hurt thinking of the look on his face when I’d freaked out on him, and the way he’d stood on the porch while I’d sunk to the floor, my back against the door, before I finally heard his bike roar to life. Maybe it was all for the best. Maybe now I could forget him.

  But is that what I really wanted? To forget Dante? He’d given me so much. A place to live. Friendship. My life. Because I really had planned to end things the night he’d found me.

  No, I didn’t think I could ever forget Dante, but after what we’d done together, I was pretty sure I’d never reach the point when I could hang out with him as a friend, especially after he married Felicity. Better that Dante stay away from me for good.

  In search of newspaper to line Fred’s cage, I inadvertently found the society page’s announcement of Dante and Felicity Bogart-Beezey’s engagement party that Gus had no doubt hidden at the bottom of the recycling bin. The photo and short announcement felt like a slap to the face.

  Three days away. Dante was really going through with it. He’d proposed in Aspen just as he’d said he would, then had high-tailed it over to see me. Then, after I’d made sure he knew how I felt about him, he planned to celebrate his engagement with his rich friends. In a few short months he’d be a married man. My heart hurt.

  I took the newspapers inside, cleaned up Fred’s cage, and sat down at the desk in the living room. It took me a couple of hours to add all the new pets up for adoption to the website and to update pictures and success stories. I had to work that night at Lux. Since starting there, I’d been able to put every bit of my extra income into a savings account. At the rate I was going, I figured I’d be ready to begin classes in the fall for certification.

  Gus and I had a court appointment scheduled Friday to finalize the adoption. It seemed like a dream.

  I finished my website work, took the dogs for walks, had dinner with Gus, and then showered and dressed for my night job. Deirdre and Caleb arrived ten minutes early. Something about the way they looked alerted me something was up.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, slipping my arms into my coat. I searched the closet for a warm hat and my driving gloves because it was going to be a long, cold drive on the motorcycle.

  Deirdre looked sideways at Caleb. “My family announced they’re moving to North Carolina where I’m going to be going to school. Caleb won’t have a place to stay anymore.”

  Caleb stood gazing at the floor with his hands in his pockets, looking like he was trying not to appear miserable. I made a snap decision.

  “He can stay here. I’ll have to run it by Gus, but I’m sure he won’t mind.”

  Caleb’s head came up, gray eyes wide.

  “What?” Deirdre asked, pushing her auburn hair from her face. “Are you serious?” She looked at Caleb.

  “It’ll be nice having someone here with me,” I said, meaning it. Sometimes I got seriously spooked being alone.

  “That’s really nice of you,” Caleb said. “I won’t be any trouble. I’ll work really hard.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” I wrapped the scarf Gus had given me for Christmas around my neck and zipped up my jacket. “I’ve gotta go. We can talk more about this later.”

  The night was fucking frigid. I pulled my scarf up to my nose and mounted the bike. I’d gotten used to the motorcycle, but driving it in the dead of winter was shitty. Still, I wasn’t willing to part with any of my earnings to take an Uber to Lux, so I toughed it out.

  I was down in the gym wiping off the machines when I spotted Clint and his new boy talking near the locker room. Clint had his hand on the wall beside the guy’s head and was leaning in, speaking quietly to him. As I sprayed and wiped down the machines, I glanced their way every so often. The guy was cute. African American, about 5 foot 7, with big brown eyes I knew Clint liked, since he used to comment on mine all the time.

  I examined my feelings for jealousy or regret, but I didn’t feel anything except for a sense of relief I’d gotten out of that life. Just seeing the way Clint’s boy bowed to him brought a flush of shame to my cheeks.

  At that moment, I realized how much I liked the life I currently had. Living at the club had been good, but now I found I liked the responsibility of being on my own. I didn’t want to be anyone’s boy or a freeloader. I wanted to work with the animals and be Isaac Taylor, Gus’s adopted son.

  I smiled and finished up my job.

  The night was slow, and I found a minute to call Gus. I wanted to ask him about Caleb, so I wouldn’t have to keep the kid waiting. I wasn’t surprised when Gus readily agreed to allowing Caleb to live at the shelter with me.

  He was the nicest man I’d ever known.

  ***

  The day of my adoption shone bright and warmer than it had been in weeks. The snow had melted and the air lost its biting chill for the time being. I couldn’t help feeling it was a good omen for my adoption.

  On the way to the car, a mockingbird flew directly at us before swooping upward into the trees. While I was startled by the bird, Gus smiled.

  “A bird flying straight at you means blessings,” he said.

  “Really?” I asked, as I helped him into the car.

  “Yes, and in this case, you’re the blessing, Isaac
. I was blessed to have you come here, and now you’re going to be my son.”

  “I’m the one who’s blessed,” I said seriously, looking Gus straight in the eye. I wanted him to know how much he meant to me.

  The old man smiled, and I helped him with his seat belt before jogging around to slide into the driver’s seat.

  An hour and a half later, standing in front of a judge, I gave my consent to being adopted by Gus Taylor. The background checks had been completed, and all that was left was for the judge to make it official, and when he did, goosebumps rose on my arms.

  When we left the courthouse, my name legally changed, I couldn’t help the grin that spread over my face. I’d already sent out a group text to the club, telling them I was now officially Isaac Paul Taylor, and my phone kept pinging back replies of congratulations. I’d left Dante off the text, and that was the only thing coloring the gloriously bright moment.

  Gus hooked an elbow around my neck. “What’re you going to call me now, Isaac?”

  I hadn’t thought of that. I’d figured I’d just continue calling him Gus.

  “Um, I don’t know. What would you like me to call you?”

  “Jimmy always called me Pop. Would that be okay with you?”

  I was touched he wanted me to call him the same thing his son by blood had. I smiled at him. “I like that.”

  “Then Pop it is. Now, let’s have some lunch.”

  Gus insisted on eating somewhere nice. I drove us to an Italian restaurant he said used to be a favorite of his late wife, and we binged on bread sticks dripping in garlic butter and a pasta dish with a delicious white sauce with bits of crab, lobster, and scallops, which we shared because the portions were so big.

  “Oh, my God. I’ve never eaten so much in my life,” I said with a groan when we’d returned to Gus’s. I’d spread out on the rug, my normally flat stomach swollen with too much food.

  “It was delicious. I’ve missed that place. We’ll have to go again soon. I really wanted you to try the cheesecake.”

  “I couldn’t have possibly eaten another bite,” I said.

  Gus took off his shoes and lay down on the couch. He looked happier than I’d ever seen him, and I had to admit I was happy, too. Gus and I were family—legally and everything. I couldn’t get over it. Somehow, I felt different being in his house, as though the pronouncement had changed me. This was my home as much as the shelter was, and Gus was my father.