by Taylor Love
Letting out a big sigh Tamara paused the movie and got up. “No, they didn’t. I did.”
Jessica looked at Monique and they both burst out laughing.
“You barely tolerate animals, why would you get a dog?”
“Yeah, what she said.” Monique could barely stop laughing.
“Long story.” Tamara started upstairs, the other two nosy women following. “It’s not my dog, it’s Ben’s.”
“You’re dog sitting for Ben?”
“No.”
“You bought a dog?” Jessica was confused, but her interest was piqued as they neared the second bedroom and heard scratching.
“Yes, but not for me. I bought a dog for Ben.”
Tamara tried to explain, easing open the door, then stepping inside.
“Not Precious, how did you get out?” Tamara had put the dog in the carrying cage before getting the house ready for company.
“Ahh, it’s so cute!” Monique was the first to bend down and receive licks on her hands. “Is it a boy or a girl?”
“A girl.” Standing back, she watched as both friends crouched to play with the puppy, who was lapping up all the attention. Guess she wasn’t that shy after all.
“Don’t get her extra excited.”
Tamara cautioned, eyeing the room to see if any messes had been made. Though she supposed the smell would have hit her by now.
“Time for you to get back in that cage and this time you’re going to stay in it.”
The dog ears perked up, watching her face as she talked. Then in a blink of an eye, it scrambled from between Monique and Jessica and jetted out the cracked door.
“Get back here!”
Tamara almost knocked the other two women down, running after the puppy, nearly catching her on the stairs. But she was afraid to be aggressive, not wanting either one of them to end up tumbling down the stairs. Making it to the bottom, the dog went for the food on the low table. Jumping on its barely coordinated legs it was able to snag her plate which was on the edge.
Once the contents spilled on the floor the little devil grabbed one of her chicken wings and ran off to a corner, just as her friends made it downstairs.
“You little bugger. I hope you got a hot one!” She became concerned, as soon as she said it. “Oh, my god I hope she didn’t get a hot one!”
Approaching the dog who was too busy eating to run, she hefted the almost fifteen-pound canine in her arms, sitting them both down on the couch.
“You won’t be finishing that either.” Snatching what was left of the wing from its mouth.
“Aww, come on let her have it. It’s just chicken, dogs eat chicken.” Jessica pleaded as she bent to clean up the mess on the floor.
“She shouldn’t be at this young age. I don’t want her eating table food. I bought her high-priced dog food. She gon eat that mess.”
While the other two were sitting back down, Tamara tried controlling the wiggling mass of fur on her lap.
“You bought your man a puppy...why? Is it his birthday or what?”
“No,” She blew her disheveled hair from her forehead. “Honestly, I saw the dog and thought of him. He’s mentioned a dog several times and it was an impulsive stupid idea.”
Jessica looked perplexed. “Wait, you don’t even know if he wanted a dog but you got him one?”
“It’s complicated.” Tamara evaded, while her two best friends just looked at each other.
“Okay...you realize buying a dog together...well that’s serious.” Jessica cautioned.
“It’s not together, it’s for him.”
“Do you know what you're getting into here?” Jessica persisted.
Monique saw the defensive look on Tamara’s face and saw the stubborn look blooming on Jessica’s, which also told her a clash was coming. But she wasn’t in the mood to hear it. This was ladies’ night and she wanted to get a little tipsy and have some laughs, not referee two obstinate women. She liked her drama in court only.
“Well whoever the dog belongs to, it's a cutie! What’s her name?” Monique hoped to steer the conversation in a different direction. It seemed to work as Tamara’s mouth curved.
“Not Precious, for now.”
“O-kay, I’m not even going to ask. Come over here little Precious! Come to Auntie Mo Mo!”
The puppy couldn't resist Monique’s wiggling fingers, promptly trying to leave its owner's lap. Tamara finally gave up, putting the puppy down so it could run over to the other woman.
“Not Precious is temporary. I didn’t name the dog since it’s not mine.” She declared, shooting Jessica one last pointed look.
Chapter Nineteen
THIS DOG WAS GOING to kill her.
Or maybe she’d just go stand in the middle of the street and put herself out of her misery. These were the thoughts that went through Tamara’s head as she glanced at the currently angelic looking sleeping dog in the corner of her office. It was Wednesday and she had a couple of hours to go before heading home. She was also wondering exactly how had she gotten to this point? When had her life taken this Twilight Zone turn?
The rest of Saturday night had gone well, with the dog being worn out from the excitement and playing. After the final bathroom walk when the girls left, both woman and dog fell asleep quickly. The first half of Sunday was spent downloading what amounted to a couple of cheap “Training Puppies for Dummies” books. She read through them quickly, while jotting down the most important stuff
Then she rolled up her sleeves and tried some of the techniques with her student. The dog had mostly ignored her, but even so she figured it was a start. So when she’d spoken to Ben that night she was in a good mood. Why she hadn’t told him about the dog yet was another question she didn’t have an answer to.
When Monday rolled around, she got up early and took care of her dog tasks. Setting up a small amount of kibble and water in its larger cage she’d bought over the weekend. A puppy pad went in the opposite corner. Oddly, she didn’t want Not Precious to get lonely and turned on the animal channel. The morning had gone smoothly. Things went downhill fast once she arrived home after work.
The dog was jumping with joy to see her while her spare room looked a mess. A throw pillow from the bed was shredded, white cotton was everywhere. If that wasn’t bad enough, the comforter was dragged off the bed. The end used to pull it was chewed up. As a cherry on top, she had peed on the rug by the side of the bed. When she turned a death eye on the puppy, it quickly scrambled back into the open swinging door of the cage.
“I would pick the Houdini dog.”
That was why she was staring at a dog in her office now. She hadn’t wanted to risk another day of household destruction since the dog could get out of both cages. As to why she hadn’t told Ben, well she finally had to admit she was nervous. What if he totally freaked out or made all kinds of assumptions about what it meant? He usually had a great sense of humor, one of the key things she enjoyed about him. But as she was finding out, owning an animal was no small thing, he might not want that level of responsibility or commitment. Damn Jessica for getting in her head! She would find out either way this Friday.
Her family hadn’t had any pets growing up. Her mother hadn’t allowed them and looking back that was probably a wise decision on her part. Mama often said it was hard enough taking care of them. For Pamela that had been the truth. Like most people with chronic depression she could function enough, but it was always clear she wasn’t happy.
Pamela always provided the basics for her kids. Education was very important, being that she never went past high-school. But outside of making sure they were clothed, fed and focused on school, she wasn’t very affectionate. All of Pamela’s affection was tied up in the man who sired them. She thanked God every day she hadn’t turned into a woman who put all her happiness in the palm of a man’s hand.
Tamara snapped herself out of thoughts that could only lead her down a dark road. Besides, she had her own current day problems to worry about. Luck
ily, her excitement to see Ben was higher than her trepidation about the dog. Even with all the craziness during the weekend, she had missed him. They’d rarely gone a week without seeing each other since the new year. She missed his smile, his laugh and not to mention his talented hands, mouth and—never mind. That too was another road of thought she didn’t need to go down, at least not while she was in the office.
Suffice it to say Tamara, would be overjoyed to see her man this Friday.
BEN WAS TIRED AS HELL. He’d been pissed having to hightail it off to Jamaica last weekend. The call he’d gotten saying construction was coming to a halt, meant he was needed on site. He’d booked a flight for him and his uncle before telling Tamara he had to go out of town. She’d been understanding and hadn’t asked many questions which was fine with him. He appreciated not getting hounded when he was already stressed. Having a woman who got that he had a lot on his plate, eased his load.
He hadn’t told her about his big project yet, it just seemed to never come up. Between all his other work and hers they had more than enough to talk about. Add in when they finally saw each other, work topics were kept to a minimum. They both were running full pace lives, he even more so with the resort on the line.
The resort needed to be completed by the end of July, so they could spend the next couple of months outfitting the place. Not to mention the official hiring and training of staff. They also needed time to put in the supply orders. You couldn’t do them too early in case there was a big delay in completion. With his December timetable to open, now was a hell of a time for issues. Thankfully, he’d been able to get it situated with the guidance of his uncle and things were moving forward.
However, he was running on fumes. Ben knew as late spring rolled into summer, it would only increase his workload on the realtor side of things. He had easily been working fourteen-hour plus days for the past several weeks and he was finally starting to feel it. Pulling into Tamara’s driveway, all he wanted was to kiss his lady and have a drink. His day would end on a high note, if he could sink deep inside her before the night was over.
To his mind, there was nothing more relaxing than feeling that warm heat wrapping around you, the softness of a woman’s body against a man’s tired muscles. His thoughts had him hurrying to use his key to get inside. Stepping through the doorway Ben smelled dinner and his stomach rumbled in appreciation. Hanging up his jacket and sitting down his bag he was just about to call out, when he heard a shout from upstairs. Then he saw a sight he never expected to see.
TAMARA WAS GOING TO kill this dog! She was looking in her closet trying to figure out what she wanted to wear for Ben. It was silly but she wanted to dress a little bit sexy for him tonight. The process had taken longer than she intended, and she forgot to put the dog up. When she heard a ruffling sound, she looked down to see Not Precious rummaging in a bag where she kept miscellaneous belts and hats. When she snapped her fingers for the dog to leave it alone...it did. Though not before dragging the pink boa she used for their breast cancer walks out the bag.
“Stop right there and drop it!”
The dog only backed up some more wiggling its behind. Great, it probably thought this was a game like the tug of war toy they played with. Every time Tamara took a step forward to snatch it, the dog took a step back. Tamara decided to do some reverse psychology and turned back to the closet ignoring the dog. Pretending to fuss with her clothes for a full ten seconds, before suddenly turning and lunging forward.
The scamp somehow evaded her and ran out the door, and she barely managed not to fall. Righting herself she took off after the mutt, screaming all the way.
“Damn it, Not Precious! You get back here and give me my boa!”
Tamara was pounding down the last few stairs when she heard the dog start barking. Not its normal sounding bark either, this one sounded more frantic.
“Now what’s your problem you little thief?”
Finally entering the living room, she saw what had the dog agitated.
“Ben! I didn’t even hear you come in!”
Ben was grinning so hard he was sure his face was going to hurt later. He wasn’t even looking at Tamara but at the black and white dog with a pink boa twined around its jumping body. Its attempt at being protective laughable but cute. As Tamara walked closer to him, the dog barked louder.
“Oh be quiet. You're already in enough trouble.” Pointing a finger at her man she scolded. “And you stop laughing. This animal drives me crazy.”
Ben pulled her close, briefly kissing her lips.
“It’s funny to me.” He leaned back so he could see her face. “Tamara you got a dog?”
“Oh no!” She shook her head vigorously. “You have a dog.”
Which was still barking, but now circling the couple.
Letting out a belly laugh he let her go, only to scoop up the canine. Cradling it like a baby on its back, all of its bravado faded. The puppy became quiet, tucking its tail between its legs, eyes quickly darting between the two humans.
“My dog? I just know there’s a ridiculous story behind all this.”
Tamara grinned sheepishly. “See, what had happened was-”
“Save it. I want to hear every detail. But I’m also hungry. Let's eat and you can tell me all about it.”
Chapter Twenty
AFTER SHE GOT THE DOG untangled and settled in its living room doggie bed, they both washed up. Before sitting down for dinner at the small dining room table.
“Now tell me exactly how I have a dog?”
Over dinner she told him the tale of how she’d come by the dog and all the hilarity that had ensued since. Ben couldn’t stop laughing and almost choked several times. Choking aside, her story made all the stress and exhaustion of the last week seemed like a vague memory. None of it seemed to matter sitting here listening to her try to justify her impulsive purchase into something that made sense. It felt good to be home with her, and now apparently a dog.
A freaking dog! Just the thought made him grin harder. Not to mention the rascal had been inching its way towards the table the last twenty minutes. Ben couldn’t believe she’d not only picked out a dog “for him” but one that was frisky, crafty and a handful.
“Gotta say I was not expecting this.” Ben announced as she finished up the complicated story. “Tamara Reed bought a dog?”
“You’re not listening, I bought you a dog.” Tamara waved her fork at him.
He ignored her denial.
“I heard you. You bought us a dog.” He watched her lips twist to issue a rebuttal, but kept on talking. “So, what are we going to name the little girl? I agree, Precious doesn’t fit.”
Ben gave the even closer than before dog a hard look, only for her to play innocent before rolling over exposing her stomach.
“I don’t know, it’s your dog.”
He didn’t even respond to her comment this time, chewing his last bite of steak while thinking.
“Isn’t she like the Obama’s dog, Bo?”
“Yep. Actually, they had two, but I can never remember the other one’s name.”
“Hmm, why don’t we keep it simple and call her Boa.”
“How is that keeping it simple? Where are you even getting that from?”
Tamara glanced over at the trouble maker who was sitting up and listening to their conversation intently. As if she knew they were talking about her.
“Well think about it. Boa is a type of snake and she just slinked across this floor like one. Two, she was running around with a boa on when I walked in. Three, if the Obama’s dog was a boy and named Bo, were just adding an A on the end for our girl.”
“The first two things are just coincidences. Also, why do you think an A at the end will automatically change the name to a girl’s?” Tamara challenged.
“Why not? It works for chico and chica in Spanish.”
“It doesn-” Snapping her mouth shut, Tamara really thought about it.
Damn him, but he had a point. Her fac
e must have shown her annoyance because he only laughed before turning to the dog.
“You hear that little doggy? Your new name is Boa, what do you think about that?”
The newly named puppy barked as if on cue, before trying to bite its own tail. Tamara admitted defeat. It looked like the name was a winner.
AFTER DINNER THEY SAT watching TV for a few hours. Ben new to puppy eyes, gave in before long, letting the dog up on the couch. And just like a child it picked the most inconvenient spot to sit—right in between them. By ten o’clock all three of them were dragging, so they decided to call it a night.
“Where's her leash? I’ll take her out for a quick walk while you jump in the shower.”
“Excellent suggestion. I keep one in the closet by the door, you probably just didn't notice it.”
“Okay, Boa come on.” Man and dog walked to the closet together. “Big Daddy Ben is walking you now, so no playing around. We’re going out, you gon do your business and we coming back in. Got it?”
Tamara went upstairs before she let out her laugh. He’d find out soon enough who was really in charge. She didn’t waste her reprieve from dog sitting duty and quickly went through her nightly routine, the hot shower waking her up a bit. Drying off then getting dressed, she was so relieved the night had gone well. Seeing how giddy and accepting he had been of the dog lifted a huge weight off her chest.
He seemed genuinely happy about her unconventional surprise, hadn’t missed a beat. Everything about tonight made her feel happy. The simple truth was Ben made her happy, hell the annoying dog did too. She was tired of questioning why and was finally ready to just accept the feeling as fact.
Now she had a stupid grin on her face while sitting on her side of the bed lotioning up, as Ben came back in the house. After a minute she heard them both running up the stairs. When he finally stepped into the bedroom with his bag the look on his face made her burst out laughing.