by Kate Gilead
I don’t know.
But there’s no doubt about one thing: This man is nuclear-meltdown-hot and he’s going out of his way to talk to me, make me comfortable. He’s making Colton seem like a bad dream and I’m loving it. What girl wouldn’t?
I’m loving his attention, and I’m definitely loving the way he’s looking at me. It’s making me think some totally dirty thoughts. Like, what might happen if I were naked, maybe, and it was me who was being naughty…maybe teasing him, playing with myself, and making him wait to touch me…to fuck me.
My pesky virginity would be a thing of the past, that’s what I think’d happen.
I take Princess out of her carrier and set her on the ground. She starts after the two big dogs. I call her name and she stops, looks back at me, and and then keeps going, running with those cute bunny-hops that puppies have.
“She usually listens better than that,” I say, “but she can be a little naughty.” Like I’d like to be with you, I think to myself.
Eyes sparkling, he grins and says, “Well, you know what they say… naughty girls have more fun.”
Judging by its heat, my face must be red as a beet right now.
Of course he’s referring to my comment about Princess and not literally reading my mind but I’m flustered just the same. For once, it takes me a second to get my mouth moving.
“Actually, it’s, blondes have more fun, but I think ‘naughty’ might apply, too.” I laugh nervously. “Maybe naughty blonde girls have twice the fun, who knows.” Oh my God! Did I just say that out loud?
But he laughs, stepping close to give me a friendly shove with his elbow. “I was kidding. I know what the saying is. I just can’t resist innuendo sometimes. And there’s probably some innuendo around the fact that you’re blonde…but I don’t even know how old you are, much less how naughty.”
Great. He probably thinks I’m the town bike or something now.
“I’m twenty-one and, um, I’m not saying how naughty I am.” It comes outs more primly than I intended.
“Twenty-one, huh? Awesome! I mean, that’s…um… you look like you could be a lot younger.” He smiles, showing that single dimple for a second.
What a smile, what a jawline, what a body! Mmmm!
We walk through some frozen leaves and sticks as we head towards the dogs, who are rustling around in the nearby stand of trees.
“So…now you know how old I am. And, you know that I’m single,” I say. “So, it’s only fair to ask. What about you?”
“I’m thirty-three and single at the moment.”
Thirty-three? Hmm. “Single at the moment? Temporarily between wives, are you?”
“Heh. Being single isn’t my preferred state. I haven’t found Miss Right yet. Been through a couple Miss Wrongs, though.”
“Oh? Veteran of the Dating Scene?”
“Not by choice. I was married once, right after high school. That was a…well, it wasn’t a… wasn’t really much of a marriage. We divorced soon after. I’ve dated a few women since then, of course, but…I just haven’t found The One.”
“Maybe you’re too picky?”
“Maybe.”
“I kind of know the feeling. But, maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe, if not for that, I wouldn’t have met you, the proverbial Kind and Handsome Stranger, in the dog park. Of all places.”
“Ha! Thanks for the compliment,” he says.
I smile up at him, feeling so much better now than I did when I first pulled into the park.
Arriving at the stand of trees, we take a seat on a bench. We’re comfortably silent for a while, watching the dogs do their thing.
Tiny is the soul of tranquility, shuffling along, nose to the ground, undoubtedly smelling the smells of a thousand dogs and other critters who’ve passed by.
Princess and Diesel are respectful of Tiny’s space, doing their own sniffing but interspersing it with puppy-ish play. Princess seems to prefer doing the chasing and Diesel plays along joyfully, leaping over her when she stands her ground during one of his mock-charges.
“Yeah, Princess is pretty fearless, isn’t she?” Rob remarks.
“Yep. But she’s being really good with Tiny. She’s not even approaching him, much less trying to boss him around.”
“Maybe she likes how calm he is. Hell, he even calms me down. Sometimes, after a shitty day at work, I just lay in front of the fireplace with him.”
“That sounds lovely,” I say.
“It is. Except when he snores.” We both chuckle.
“So, um. Mind if I ask, what do you do for a living?”
“Nope. I write software,” he says.
“Really? No kidding? You mean, code? I hope you don’t mind my saying so, but you don’t look like a software jockey. You look like a body-builder!”
His gaze is so intense and warm, I feel like it’s heating my lady parts. I have to wriggle in my seat on the bench to try to disperse the feeling. His eyes drift to my lap and then back up again.
“Well, thanks,” he says, flashing his wide, white grin. “You look like an angel. A sweet, sexy angel whose number I’d like to get before we leave this park.”
I give him a look while my face gets so hot it feels like a sunburn. He raises an eyebrow and laughs. “Was that a bit too much? Well, you do look like an angel. But I guess that’s a job that doesn’t pay too well. So tell me, what do you do for a living, Brenda?”
“I just started work as an administrative assistant. Small firm, part time, temporary. There’s not a lot of work out there, so I had to take what I could get.”
He nods. “But that’s obviously not what you want to do with your life.”
“No. I want to be a vet tech. But, by the time I realized that, I’d already graduated college. I have a degree in Women’s Studies that cost my parents too much money as it is.”
“I see. You couldn’t save or work your way through another course? You’re young, you have time.”
“Yes, I suppose I could. Right now, it’s just a dream. Or, a goal to work towards.”
“Well, I wish you all the best with it.”
“Thank you. Listen…the truth is, no one knows about that. The vet tech thing. I mean, apart from you, now. I don’t even know why I’m telling you.”
He’s looking at me with such a strange expression. His eyes are so soft and dreamy, and the way they’re moving over my face makes my heart throb.
“No one else knows?” I shake my head. “Well, I’m honored to be the only one you entrust that secret to, sweetie.”
I blink at him, wonderingly. Did he just call me…yeah, he did. Not that I mind.
He looks away, fiddling with the end of the leash. “I’m sorry, that was probably too forward. I don’t know why I called you sweetie,” he says. Pause. “Yes, I do. It’s because I’m very attracted to you, Brenda. I’d like to get to know you better.”
“It’s okay, Robert. I want to get to know you better, too.” I look down at my hands. “Wanna know something else?” He looks at me, waiting. “When I came to the dog park today, I was not happy to be here, not happy to have to deal with Colton. Over the last while, I was…I was realizing that he’s not right for me. I was planning to break up with him.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. I just…I didn’t mean for it to be ugly. I didn’t mean for it to happen the way it did, and especially not in front of a stranger. But I couldn’t help that. Maybe…maybe he’s not so bad. Maybe, he just needs to grow up. A lot.”
Rob snorts but says nothing.
“I’m just glad it’s done and over with now.” I sigh, push a strand of hair behind my ear, and look at him. “And I’m glad to have met you, and yeah…I think I’d like it if you wanted to call me sometime.”
“All right!” He laughs, grabs my hand, and gives it a gentle squeeze before letting it go.
We talk for another half hour. It turns out that his people are local from way back. It’s no surprise. The way he talks about the area, his
accent and the idioms he uses tells me he’s definitely from around here.
The talk meanders back around to the dogs, and then to the fact that it’s getting to be time to wrap up.
“Okay, let me get your number right now, before you change your mind,” he says.
I smile. Fat chance. “Okay. But, if you don’t call me, I’ll hunt you down and sick Princess on you.”
“Nothing could stop me from calling you,” he says, taking his phone out of his pocket. “Nothing short of…”
Suddenly, the sound of Princess’ high-pitched barking rises from a distance. We look around for the dogs.
They’re nowhere in sight.
Chapter Four
Brenda
Half-panicking, I run towards the sound of barking, which is coming from behind a small hill. Rob is right behind me. We scramble up the rise. At the top, the dogs are all there, in a gravelled seating area set among some rock formations.
Princess has cornered a young black Labrador dog against a rock. Stiff-legged, her hackles are up, her lips are curled back and she’s growling and barking for all she’s worth. She looks and sounds like a wind-up toy, but the much bigger Lab is cowering as if she were a dire wolf. It’d be funny if it wasn’t for the fact that the lab could easily hurt her––or worse.
Tiny and Diesel trot towards us.
My heart leaps into my throat. “Princess!” I yell, my voice rising into a squeak, and I start towards her.
Rob puts a hand on my arm. “Hang on a sec…do what I do, and let’s just see what happens, okay?” He turns his body to the side, puts his hands in his pockets and relaxes his stance. I’m scared, but after a second, I follow suit and try to look as relaxed as he does.
Diesel yawns and nudges my hand with his snout. I rub his head, as much for my benefit as his.
Tiny looks expectantly at Rob. Rob lifts his chin towards Princess. Tiny smells the air, then walks over to Princess and extends his snout towards her, sniffing. She cocks an ear in his direction, but doesn’t look at him. He gives a playful groan and prances, looking down at her and tilting his head.
She ignores him, fixated on the Lab.
He tries enticing her to play again. She looks at him but then goes right back to growling.
With another groan, he puts himself between her and the lab, and starts waving a big paw at her, as if to give her something else to focus her rage on. She tries to go around him, but he moves with her, and waves it again. It looks like he’s trying to bop her on the head with his paw, but keeps missing.
Meanwhile, the sight of it––this huge Rottie looking down at the tiny puppy, big ears flapping as he waves a mighty paw–– is so funny that Rob and I both giggle…and the tension drains out of the air.
Princess relaxes, then backs up, sits down and yawns, looking up at Tiny. The black Lab sniffs the air, then stands up and yawns too, wagging his tail and looking at me and Rob.
Tiny woofs at Princess, lays down on his belly, then puts his chin on the ground between his front paws, eyebrows quirking as he looks from Princess, to Rob, and back to Princess.
Back to her happy self now, Princess waggles her whole body over to the big Rottie and they touch noses. Then she turns, panting, and lets him sniff her butt, and then she trots over to me, wagging, panting and prancing.
And just like that, it’s over.
I pick her up and check her out, just to make sure she’s not hurt. She’s totally fine. I pick some twigs and grass out of her fur, and, since she’s done her business and had her romp, I put her back in her carrier. “That’s enough for you, missy,” I say.
To Rob, I say, “That was amazing. How did you train him to do that?”
“I didn’t. I don’t think you can train a dog to do that. He just does it. Apparently, he did that kind of thing at the shelter, too. Played peace-maker.”
The Lab comes forward and greets Tiny politely, then does the same with me, Rob and Diesel. From a distance, we hear someone calling “Miidniiiiight!” The Lab’s ears perk, and with a backwards glance at us, he takes off.
“I…I don’t like taking that kind of a chance, though,” I say. “It worked out okay, but…what if it hadn’t?”
“I don’t think the Lab was going to hurt her. He looked pretty cowed to me,” Rob laughs. “Besides, they were only out of our sight for a minute. The Lab probably startled her. I bet they’d have worked it out without us.”
“I guess,” I say. I’m not so sure, but Rob seems to know dogs better than I do, so I take his word for it. “Well, I guess it’s time to pack it in,” I say, regretfully. “I still have to stop on the way home and get some things for Diesel.”
And call my parents and tell them about Diesel and then try to find a home for him.
“Yeah,” Rob agrees. “It’s getting dark.”
The lamp posts are lit all along the winding path now. We head back to the parking lot, Diesel and Tiny following. The park is more full now with after-dinner visitors, and we make our way along, saying hello to canines and humans alike.
At the parking lot, I put Diesel and Princess in the car and then give Rob my phone number. He puts it into his phone, then sends me a text.
It’s a kiss emoji.
I look up to see him smiling softly. “I want to kiss you, but that should wait until our first date. This’ll do for now.”
Holy crap, if this guy was any sexier he’d implode.
“I’m looking forward to it,” I manage.
“I hope it’s soon,” he says. “Like, one night next week, or next weekend. Hell, I’d love to see you tomorrow night even, but I do have plans, unfortunately.” He smiles. “But I don’t want to wait too long.”
“Me, neither. Well, thank you for the leash––and the moral support,” I say, feeling both grateful and bashful.
“You’re very welcome,” he says, and the warmth in his voice tells me how much he means it. I unlock the car door and he opens it for me with a flourish, closing it after I’m in. “Buckle up and drive safe,” he says as I lower the window.
“I will. You can call or text me anytime you have a minute, if you like,” I say.
“Count on it,” he says. My heart feels like it’s about to start singing an aria. I give him my best smile, wave and head home.
Mood-wise, the drive home is completely different from the drive to the park. Like, night and day different. I can’t believe how much has happened in, what, an hour or so?
Colton is history, which is totally for the best. He made it harder than it needed to be, and easier to justify doing, but either way, it’s done and over with.
And now I have another dog to find a home for, but I’ll do my best to make sure he’ll be loved and wanted.
But the best of all is meeting someone who makes my heart feel all melty––not to mention, some other body parts too. Just thinking about the way he was looking at me makes me all hot and bothered.
He’s quite a bit older than I am, and I wonder how much that adds to the attraction for me––do I want my own Nick-and-Amanda-type love story?
Would that be so bad? He’s handsome, sweet and seems mature, and that’s very attractive in any guy.
I can’t wait to call Amanda and tell her what happened!
I turn on the oldies station and listen to some British pop artists.
Then, Shoop by Salt ’n’ Pepa comes on.
Oooh, that’s one my faves! I love the beat and the lyrics, the way the whole song is a celebration of hot men.
I remember when Amanda and I copied some dance moves from the video when we found it online years ago. We laughed our asses off at her version of twerking, which for her was always more about bouncing on the balls of her feet than shaking her ass.
She always said she couldn’t dance, and she is kind of clumsy, but we had a lot of fun trying.
These days, I feel a pang when I think about her. Even though I’m happy she’s pregnant with my niece or nephew, I miss having her to hang out with. She
’ll always be my bestie, and soon, she’ll be my official sister-in-law too, which is awesome!
But.
But, her pregnancy also means our childhood is really and truly over. She’s lucky to be with the love of her life but she has to grow up so fast now.
Sometimes, the thought of growing up bums me out.
But the beat from Shoop grabs me by the ears and makes me feel all funky and loose. I turn up the volume, and bop along to the bass line, busting out my best driver’s-seat dance moves.
I make a stop at a pet store to buy dog food and some toys for Diesel. I don’t know how long he’s staying, but I’ll take good care of him in the meantime.
Once I’m home, I let both dogs roam the house while I grab a quick bite. Diesel goes off sniffing while Princess follows along, both dogs coming back every once in a while to see if I’ve dropped any food on the floor.
I text Amanda to see if she’s going to be free for a call in a few minutes. She answers that she’ll be around for a while.
Finished eating, I take both dogs up to my room, where Diesel sniffs everything in sight. Princess climbs up the little set of plastic steps that I keep for her next to my bed and settles right in.
Using an old blanket, I make a bed for Diesel in the corner. I show it to him, telling him to lie down. He tilts his head at me, then steps onto the blanket and turns around a few times. Then he plunks himself down, crosses his paws and pants, looking relaxed but alert.
Dogs settled in, I call Amanda.
“Whaddap, dude?” Amanda says, picking up right away. “How you doing?”
“I’m pretty frackin’ good right now,” I say, using her new favorite ‘swear’ word that she picked up from watching that old sci-fi show, Battlestar Galactica. “How about you?”
“Frackin’ awesome!” she says, with a chortle. “I’m finally past the morning sickness! I thought I was gonna have it through this whole pregnancy. But I haven’t been sick yet this week.”
“Oh, that is good news. Finally! Morning sickness is usually over by the end of the first trimester. But that was like, two months ago. ‘Bout time, ‘Manda.”