Body Checked (Salt Lake Pumas #2)

by Camellia Tate

“Um, yeah, they look good on you,” I told her almost absent-mindedly. What I had planned to ask was whether Vega was ready. She looked ready. It wasn’t, however, what I had actually said. Looking back up at Lacey, I gave her a smile. “I’m sure Vega approves,” I joked, trying to sound less like a creep.

  Lacey ran her hand across Vega’s head. Her fingers looked delicate, but also competent. I remembered that this was a woman who could put up shelves which had yet to fall down in my living room!

  “She probably doesn’t realize it’s her,” Lacey told me. “Dogs don’t pass the mirror test.” At my blank look, she explained. “If they see their reflection in a mirror, they can’t work out that it’s them. They think it’s another dog. So Vega probably doesn’t know pictures of her are pictures of her.”

  It was a surprising fact. I wondered whether Felix knew that his dogs couldn’t recognize themselves in the mirror.

  What was also surprising to me was that Lacey could tell me an animal fact this early in the morning. I had been awake for a while now, but she hadn’t. “That’s a cool fact,” I told Lacey, giving her a smile.

  “So... do you think Vega’s ready to go?” Standing in Lacey’s doorway seemed a bit awkward but she hadn’t asked me in. Not that I wanted her to! I wanted to take Vega and go for a run. And not think about how attractive Lacey’s bare legs were.

  “Oh!” Lacey looked so genuinely surprised that it was hard not to laugh. I didn’t, only because I didn’t want her to think I was making fun of her. As hockey players, the guys and I chirped each other all the time, but I wasn’t sure how Lacey would take it. Especially so early in the morning.

  She nodded, her hair falling in a cascade over one shoulder. “Yeah, she’s ready. And hang on, I bought you something. Come in.”

  Handing me Vega’s lead, Lacey disappeared into her house. Vega butted her head against my hand, clearly looking to be petted. I indulged her while I waited, curious what Lacey could have bought me. I hoped it wouldn’t be a morning doughnut or something else sugary I’d have to turn down.

  “Here.” She reappeared, holding out what looked like a bottle of water. I already had one of those with me, but I took it anyway, to be polite. “It’s flavored,” Lacey explained. “I haven’t tried it, but supposedly it tastes of berries. And it’s no more calories than regular water.”

  “Okay?” I said, sounding about as confused as I felt. I frowned, giving Lacey a suspicious look. “Are you trying to make my diet less boring?” I accused her, but it was teasing. If that was, in fact, what she was doing, that was very sweet.

  Lacey was very sweet. Sweet and attractive. Now that I was inside, the sunlight from the window shined around her, highlighting the color of her hair. I had to look away so I wouldn’t reach out and touch her. Her skin looked so soft.

  So instead, I focused my attention on what her place looked like. There was a burst of color everywhere. While I hadn’t known what to expect, this seemed to scream Lacey.

  “I like your place, it’s nice.” It was obviously much smaller than mine, but it had a lot more soul. Even if her furniture was probably flatpack.

  She grinned brightly at me. “Thanks,” she said. “When I got my first real job as a designer, I wanted to… kind of mark the products I’d worked on, you know? So I got adverts I’d made framed, or screenshots of websites I’d helped build.”

  Her gesture invited me to take a closer look, so I did, leaning in so I could see the adverts and headers for everything from toothpaste to insurance companies. “Once I put those up, everything was such a mishmash of color that I just decided to go with it,” she informed me.

  I liked it. It was kind of like putting hockey memorabilia on my walls. Something that we had in common.

  “It looks good,” I told her. Not that I thought Lacey needed me to say that. Her taste was definitely better than mine so she no doubt already knew that. I turned back to Lacey, giving her another smile and trying very hard not to look down at her exposed legs.

  Clearing my throat, I twisted Vega’s lead in my hand. “Anyway, I best go. I usually run for about an hour, so I’ll have Vega back after,” I told Lacey. “I don’t know if that’s enough time for a quick snooze,” I teased. “Sorry for waking you up.” Not that Lacey seemed too offended by it.

  Lacey laughed. “Oh, that’s definitely enough time for a nap,” she assured me. “I’m very good at going back to bed. Especially since Vega won’t be here to whine about how I’m not paying attention to her.”

  She ruffled Vega’s fur one last time, the action bringing her close enough that I could smell whatever sweet shampoo she used on her hair. “I’ll set an alarm and be properly up before you get back,” she promised. “Eight is a much more civilized hour.”

  I nodded, worrying that if I tried to say something, it’d be about how nice the image of Lacey in bed seemed in my head. That was definitely not appropriate! I needed to stop thinking about it right now. Thankfully, an hour of running was going to banish thoughts from my head.

  Clipping the lead onto Vega’s collar, I let Lacey walk us out. Briefly, I wondered if Vega would even want to come out with me. The moment she realized we were going to be running, Vega was super into it.

  As promised, by the time I got back, Lacey was awake and even dressed. I tried not to feel too disappointed that her legs were no longer on display. God, even to myself, I sounded like a perv!

  We agreed that I’d take Vega out again tomorrow morning, since she looked absolutely delighted to have gotten to run for an hour. Somewhat unwillingly, I said goodbye to Lacey.

  It wasn’t even nine in the morning yet and I was already looking forward to seeing her again tomorrow morning.

  Chapter Eight

  Lacey

  Since she’d started running with Will in the mornings, Vega had been a different dog! She no longer chewed my shoes, and when I let her out in the yard she was more interested in playing fetch than in digging up my lawn. Finally, I felt like I was giving her the good home that she deserved.

  At least, I had been. The first morning I actually managed to be up and dressed by the time Will arrived, I followed him and Vega out onto the sidewalk, taking a video as they ran down the street away from me.

  I sent it to Harlan, thinking he’d enjoy seeing how well Vega was doing. If I’d had to move away from her, I’d have wanted all the updates I could get.

  He didn’t reply until that afternoon, by which time I’d almost forgotten I’d even sent the video. My phone flashing Harlan’s number as it rang surprised me. We’d chatted a few times since he left. It had been awkward but fine. I wasn’t prepared for him to start yelling down the phone at me.

  By the time he was done, I was practically in tears.

  I couldn’t face the thought of being all alone with my feelings. I called Roxi, inviting her over for hot chocolate and pancakes-for-dinner. She could tell something was up, but she didn’t push. Not until we were both curled on my sofa with cups almost overflowing with mini marshmallows.

  “Am I a bad dog owner for letting Will take Vega out running?” I asked. I didn’t really think that I was. But Harlan was someone I had loved, once. His opinion of me still mattered. And he’d been very, very clear that he thought I was being irresponsible.

  “I mean, I don’t know him that well,” I said, reiterating Harlan’s point. “And it’s not as if he has experience with dogs.”

  Roxi frowned at me like she wasn’t quite sure what I was talking about. That confusion kind of made me feel better. A little bit. I still worried that I was doing something wrong. Before Harlan had brought it up, I hadn’t thought about it. But what if he was right?

  Chewing on my lower lip, I waited for Roxi’s response. She glanced over the back of the sofa at Vega who was sleeping by the door, guarding us, no doubt.

  “Doesn’t Will just... run with her? How much do you need to know about dogs to run with one? And besides, I thought he had a dog.”

  I sipped at my hot chocol
ate, chewing my way through one of the tiny marshmallows as I considered Roxi’s words.

  “Yeah, he does just run with her,” I agreed. “And he has a dog, but he’s only had Teddy for a few weeks.” But what, exactly, was I worried about? That Vega might get hurt and Will wouldn't know what to do? He wasn’t stupid. And he could always call.

  I sighed. “I sent Harlan a video of them together, to show him how well Vega was doing,” I explained. “And he -” My breath hitched, the memory of that awful conversation flooding my system.

  “I guess he worried Will might run off with her?” As I said it now, it sounded stupid. “He compared it to having a kid. He said that I wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave my child alone with someone I didn’t know, so I shouldn’t do it with Vega.”

  The expression on Roxi’s face very much implied that she didn’t agree with Harlan. That definitely helped. “Do you think he’s just worried that Will might run off with you?” she asked. It was my turn to frown, because, no, I had not thought about that. Roxi must have been able to tell as much.

  She shook her head, leaning forward to set her cup down. “You told me that Vega’s a lot happier now that she gets to run for an hour. Which, by the way, good on him! God, my breath catches just thinking about running for that long.” Roxi shook her head. It made me smile, which I realized was probably her aim.

  “Do you trust Will?”

  I did. I knew that without even hesitating to think about it. But I worried whether I should. “I do. But not because I’ve thought about whether he’s trustworthy or not,” I admitted. It honestly hadn’t crossed my mind not to trust Will.

  Was I being too naive? That had certainly been Harlan’s opinion. “It never occurred to me that letting him take Vega without my supervision might be giving him a chance to hurt her,” I said.

  But I had seen the way Will was with Teddy. How, even once he learned how big Teddy would get, and even after Teddy had ripped the first baby gate down, Will had never questioned his decision to adopt him.

  Maybe trusting my gut on this one wasn’t so very bad. “Maybe Harlan just feels guilty for leaving her,” I suggested. “And it’s easier to be mad at me than mad at himself.”

  “Probably,” Roxi agreed. “But it’s still a shitty thing to do on his part,” she pointed out. “He left Vega with you, so he should trust your choices.” I could see the logic in Roxi’s point. Maybe the way Harlan had made me question myself just highlighted why it was a good thing that we’d broken up.

  When I didn’t instantly say anything, Roxi carried on. “Vega’s happy, you’re happy, Will... well, I don’t know Will, but I doubt he’d keep coming over every day to run with your dog if he didn’t want to.”

  That thought warmed me far more than the hot chocolate. I wanted Will’s coming over every day to be a sign that he liked seeing me. But I was wary. I remembered what Roxi had said about being careful, not getting myself hurt.

  Will wasn’t romantic. And I didn’t really know how to proceed with that. He wasn’t like any other man I’d dated.

  And that intrigued me. But it also made me question myself. “I never appreciated how much easier it is to be asked out than to ask someone out.”

  I had asked men out before. But they were men I had been sure were interested in dating. Will seemed as though he wouldn’t be. Could I really expect him to make an exception for me?

  “What would you do, if someone said they weren’t interested in romance?” I asked.

  Roxi hummed, thinking about it. “I suppose, for me, it would depend on what I thought to be romantic,” she answered. “What would you want someone you date to do that was romantic? And, on the other hand, what do they understand by something not being romantic?”

  Those were fair questions. While I could answer for myself, I definitely couldn’t answer for Will. Not that he’d expressed interest in dating me but... well, sometimes, in the mornings, I caught the way he looked at me and it seemed... definitely interested.

  Maybe we needed to talk about it. Or, at least, I needed to ask Will whether he dated. That wouldn’t be so bad. If he said no, if he made it clear that wasn’t something he was interested in, then I could move on.

  Knowing would be better than not knowing.

  But I liked Will. I didn’t want him to stop hanging out with me because I’d made things weird. That was just a risk I was going to have to take.

  I smiled, feeling a flutter of nervous excitement in my stomach. “You know, you’ve got a point,” I admitted. “He does keep coming by to run with Vega every day. He wouldn’t do that just because he likes running.”

  He could run on his own, if he wanted. Vega was hardly changing his routine much - except that she was the reason Will got to see me every day.

  “No, I don’t think he would,” Roxi agreed, reaching for her cup again. She took a small sip, before giving me a grin. “Guess you’ll just have to ask. Or open the door one morning in nothing but your birthday suit and see if he gets the clue,” she joked, making me snort.

  Yeah, I wasn’t going to do that.

  Before I could say as much, my phone rang. My eyes widened when Will’s name flashed across the screen. He’d never called me before! Hell, he’d never even texted me apart from that time he’d given me his address and couple of days ago to say he was running late.

  Roxi gave me a curious look, so I turned the screen to show her the caller ID. “Answer it,” she told me. I nodded. Yes, yes, right. I needed to answer it and if my ‘hello’ sounded a little surprised, well, I was a little surprised.

  “Hey,” Will’s voice came through the phone. “Um, sorry for calling but, ah, I was wondering if I could maybe ask for a favor? Eh. Teddy’s ripped the dog gate out of the wall.” The tone in which Will said it sounded so defeatist, I barely managed not to laugh.

  “Oh dear…” I managed, trying to infuse the words with as much sympathy as I could while the corners of my mouth were still curling up with suppressed giggles.

  I tried to figure out the best thing to do. “So, you probably need more filler for the holes,” I began. “And another gate. A stronger gate. Maybe with wall-mounted brackets, or something.”

  There must be ways of keeping a Newfoundland out of certain rooms. I’d look it up when I got off the phone.

  “Do you want me to come over now?” I asked.

  “No, no, it’s late,” Will rushed to say. “And is the hardware store even open now?” It was, but I supposed I could see his point. And it would’ve been rude of me to leave Roxi when I’d been the one to invite her over. “But, um, would you have time tomorrow?” he asked hopefully.

  Before I could answer, Will carried on. “If you send me a list, I’ll get everything from the hardware store, unless you want to go with me? I don’t mind. I... I mean, you don’t have to help me, I don’t want to inconvenience you, but if you did...” I had to stop Will there, I could tell he was just rambling at this point.

  “Of course I’ll help,” I said. “We dog-owners have to stick together. Especially since we both have breeds that are a bit more than we expected to handle.” Honestly, there was no way I would have refused to help Will, even if he hadn’t been running every day with Vega.

  I promised to send him a list that night, so he could go to the hardware store bright and early in the morning. That way I could have an extra hour or so in bed.

  Roxi and I finished our hot chocolate and I listened to her talk about her work for the rest of the evening. She was so passionate about what she did, I loved hearing her deep-dive on whatever her latest project was.

  At a sensible hour the next day, I drove over to Will’s house with Vega.

  “I figured they could play in your yard together while we work,” I explained. It was the best way I could think of to keep Teddy out of our way.

  “Yeah, that’s a great idea,” Will nodded after greeting Vega. Teddy was all over her, bouncing around with boundless energy. Will let them out in the yard, before walkin
g me through to the kitchen and where the now-broken gate was. “Honestly, he just ripped it straight out,” he sighed.

  The stuff I had put on the list was sat in the kitchen, the new, much sturdier gate resting against a kitchen counter. “I really appreciate you coming to help me,” Will added. “Can I get you a drink? I, um, I got some juice, in case the water is too boring.”

  I realized that he meant he’d gotten juice for me, knowing I was coming over. That was... really sweet.

  “Thank you.” I meant it. My heart was pounding hard against my ribs. “That’s really… thoughtful.” It gave me hope. If Will could be that thoughtful, maybe whatever parts of ‘romance’ he had problems with weren’t the parts I wanted.

  I got to work pretty quickly. The filler would need time to set before we could go drilling any new holes in the wall, so I did that first. Then I accepted Will’s offer and took a glass of juice. It tasted doubly sweet knowing that he’d bought it just for me.

  I knew what I should say. Roxi’s words about how I needed to talk to Will were echoing around my mind. But so were Harlan’s comments about me being irresponsible. The two of them together seemed to twist my stomach into knots.

  “You take a phone with you when you run, right?” I asked.

  The question seemed to surprise Will, which was fair. I realized it was a bit out of the blue. Still, rather than questioning why I was asking, Will just nodded.

  “Yeah, I do,” he confirmed. “I used to listen to music before I started running with Vega, but now I have it with me just in case,” he explained. At my frown about why he no longer could listen to music, Will carried on. “I worry I won’t hear her if something happens,” he explained. “Or if there’s a car coming, whatever.”

  That, in a way, actually eased my worries more than just asking him if he brought a phone with him. Knowing that Will had thought about that, about making sure Vega was okay showed me just how wrong Harlan had been with his presumptions.

  I felt bad for even asking Will the question. Nothing he’d done had given me any reason to doubt that he was responsible. I shouldn’t have let Harlan get under my skin enough to doubt that.