Reluctant Romance

by Dobbs, Leighann

  A soft paw gently snuck into her lap. A welcome distraction. She looked down into Bailey’s warm brown eyes.

  “You don’t feel like being here either, do you, girl?”

  Bailey answered by thumping her tail on the ground and tilting her head.

  Risa reached down and stroked the dog’s ears. “I know I’ve been neglecting you lately. How about we go to the dog park tomorrow night?”

  At the words “dog park,” Bailey started thumping her tail faster, her whole body wriggling. Risa could have sworn she saw the dog nodding her head “yes”.

  Risa laughed. “Okay, then its a date. Now go lie down so I can get this memo done.”

  Bailey obediently flopped down under the desk and curled in a ball, tucking her nose into her tail.

  A knock on Risa’s door caught her attention. She looked up to see Meredith hovering in the doorway with a stack of papers in her hand. Risa motioned for her to come in.

  “These need your signature. They’re the purchase orders for clinic supplies.”

  Risa reached out for the papers and Meredith handed them across the desk. “So, how are things going?”

  Risa spread the papers on her desk and grabbed a pen. “Well, my brilliant plan of looking disorganized apparently isn’t enough to stave off a corporate buy-out.” She blew out a puff of air that fluttered an errant curl away from her forehead.

  Meredith’s face fell. “Oh, so do you have another brilliant plan?”

  Risa felt her heart sinking. “No, I don’t know what to do now.”

  “My mother always said that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. Have you tried appealing to the Dunns’ humanitarian side? You know, show them how the clinic helps people and animals?”

  “I don’t think they have a humanitarian side,” Risa said. “Connor Dunn seems to be all about the numbers.”

  “Well that may be, but every company likes to have good public relations. Maybe if you worked at showing them how Healthy-Pet could raise awareness and brand loyalty…" Meredith trailed off, her eyebrows raised.

  Risa leaned back in her chair and chewed the end of her pen. “You know, I hadn’t thought of that angle. Getting people to like the company for their efforts to help pets could raise sales for all their divisions.” Risa felt a glimmer of hope flicker in her heart. She smiled up at Meredith. “You might just be on to something!”

  Meredith smiled back. “Glad to help. Now if you’ll sign the papers.” She spread her hand toward the desk to indicate the papers she’d just handed over.

  Risa raised her pen, scrawled her name at the bottom of each paper, then shuffled them into a neat stack and handed back.

  Meredith turned to leave the room just as the phone rang.

  Risa glanced at the caller ID. “It’s my father, I’ll just pick up in here,” she said, grabbing the handset.

  “Hi, Dad.”

  “Risa! How are things going?” The voice on the other end sounded concerned and maybe even a bit miffed.

  “Good,” she said tentatively.

  “What’s going on with the acquisition evaluation? Is there some sort of holdup?" The gruff tone to her father’s voice made her chest tighten with anxiety. For a moment she felt like a little girl being scolded.

  “I think things are just going slowly. The accountant had a family emergency, so that’s going to put things off a bit.” Risa felt a pang of guilt at using the accountants misfortune as her excuse.

  “Oh, I heard something about the accounting system being screwed up.”

  “That was just a computer glitch, Dad," Risa said, with another pang of guilt.

  “Okay. Well, I’m leaving for Pebble Beach today. I was hoping everything would be done before my trip, but I trust you’ll be able to handle anything that comes up.”

  “Yes, Daddy." Risa rolled her eyes. Hadn’t she been handling everything so far?

  “Great! I’m so looking forward to golfing out there. I haven’t played all the courses yet and, of course, the weather is wonderful.”

  Risa felt her lips turn up in a smile. It was good to hear her father sound so happy, looking forward to something. Those times had been rare since her mother died.

  “Have a good time, Daddy. I’ll hold down the fort.”

  “Thanks. Oh, and could you swing by the house and pick up the mail?”

  “Sure thing. Have a safe trip. I’ll see you when you get back.” Risa hung up the phone.

  She made a note on her calendar to pick up her father’s mail. He still lived in the house that she had grown up in and she enjoyed going there; it made her feel nostalgic if not a bit sad that her mother was no longer around.

  Settling back into her chair, her thoughts turned to the earlier conversation she’d had with Meredith. Once Jim got a look at the financials, it would be clear that Healthy-Pet was profitable and there wouldn’t be much she could do to stop the acquisition.

  If the company was going to be bought anyway, her options were limited. The only way to save the clinic would be to switch gears and try to get Connor to see the value it could have for Dunn International.

  Risa knew instinctively that she would have to be careful how she went about it. Connor already seemed suspicious of her actions, so the idea couldn’t come openly from her. She had to make him think it was his idea to leverage the clinic as a public relations tool for Dunn International.

  Which meant she’d have to spend a lot more time conveying the benefits of the clinic and planting the seed of how that sort of thing could mean big profits for his company. Risa felt her stomach churn. Just how was she supposed to pull that off when she could barely stand talking to the man?

  Chapter Seven

  Connor hoisted the bag of groceries into the back seat of his SUV. Picasso, who was strapped into the passenger seat in front, stretched his big head between the two seats into the back so he could sniff at the bag. Connor rubbed the dog’s forehead.

  “Don’t worry, there’s something for you in here, too.”

  Sliding into the driver’s seat, Connor thought about what was inside the bag. A skilled cook, he missed the gourmet kitchen he had in his loft back home. He found the tiny kitchen in his suite at the Residence Inn to be lacking in a lot of things, but he still enjoyed cooking. Tonight he was looking forward to trying to re-create the salmon dish he’d had when he dined at the club with his father and the Kennedys earlier in the week.

  As Connor navigated through the country roads, Picasso kept sniffing the air and looking in the back. Naturally Connor had picked up one of Picasso’s favorite treats when he’d bought the ingredients for the salmon dish. He didn’t doubt that Picasso knew it was in there; the dog was uncannily smart.

  Glancing back himself, Connor wondered about the food he’d been feeding his furry friend. The trip to the product lab at Healthy-Pet the previous morning had been enlightening. He’d never thought much about what ingredients went into Picasso’s food, but because of what he’d learned from Dana, he was thinking about it more now. He made a mental note to do some research on dog food ingredients and compare his current brand to Healthy-Pet brands, then to ask Dana her advice on what was best to feed the dog. Picasso was important to him and he wanted the dog to live as long and as healthy a life as possible.

  Connor smiled when Picasso nudged his shoulder with his snout, as if he knew Connor was thinking about him.

  “Gotta keep you fit and healthy." Connor’s statement was met with another bump. He glanced over to find Picasso staring at him intently.

  “Ahh… I see. You want to get some play time in, don’t you?" Picasso answered by thumping his tail enthusiastically.

  Connor felt his heart twinge with guilt. He had been neglecting the dog’s exercise needs. The city was not the ideal place to live with a Great Dane. Picasso needed a proper home with a yard he could run in and Connor planned to remedy that in the near future.

  “Don’t worry, pal, I’ll find you a field to run in and soon you�
��ll have your own yard." Connor reached out to stroke the dog’s chest and Picasso rewarded him by licking his hand.

  The sound of Connor’s cell phone brought both their attention to the center console. Connor switched it to speakere.

  “Hello?”

  “Connor? It’s Myra Davis from Davis Real Estate.”

  “Hi Myra. What can I do for you?”

  “Remember that house you were interested in, over on Palomino Drive?”

  “Yes,” Connor said, feeling a twinge of excitement.

  “I can show it to you in an hour if you have time to meet me there.” Myra’s voice raised a bit at the end, almost a question.

  Connor checked his watch. “Sure, I just have to put some groceries away and drop off the dog, but I think I can make it.”

  “Great. Oh, and one other piece of good news. The house is empty and they are willing to rent it, so if you should decide to buy it, you could potentially move in right away and just rent until the closing goes through.”

  Connor sucked in a breath. That was great news, but still, he wasn’t one to make snap decisions. “Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” he chuckled. “I’m not even sure I want to move just yet.”

  He heard Myra laugh on the other end. “We’ll see about that. So I’ll see you over on Palomino in an hour then?”

  “Yep, see you then.”

  Connor hung up the phone, his thoughts taking a serious turn. He had spent his youth in the house on Palomino Drive and was surprised to find it available for sale. Initially he had called the realtor on a lark, but the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. The house was perfect for him, had a big yard for Picasso, was near the airport, and, most importantly, felt like home.

  His foot pressed harder on the gas pedal as he turned to Picasso. “Well, boy, you might get that yard to run in sooner than we thought."

  As if understanding him, Picasso let out a loud woof and licked Connor’s arm.

  ###

  Risa slammed down the phone. “Damn it!”

  She couldn’t believe the nerve of Connor canceling at the last minute after she’d gone to so much trouble. Well, he didn’t actually know she’d gone to any trouble, but still.

  The previous night, she’d put her plan into place while she was working at the clinic. In between giving vaccinations, setting a broken leg on a pug, and doing a couple of routine exams, she’d put in calls to her most loyal customers.

  She was supposed to meet with Connor today to go over some company particulars and had planned to have those customers waiting in the clinic where she would conveniently bring him. Then she’d simply introduce them and let them tell their stories.

  Of course, she’d coached them to emphasize how the clinic made them loyal customers who spread the word about Healthy-Pet, thus giving the company’s public image a boost and bringing more loyal, and paying, customers on board. But the important part was that the stories were true, as was the customers’ loyalty and devotion.

  She plopped into her chair feeling a sinking sensation in her stomach. Now what?

  Risa supposed there wasn’t much she could do, except tell the customers to go home, then try to coordinate getting them and Connor to the clinic at some later date. He’d said the evaluation was getting pushed out until next week since Jim Abernake couldn’t make it back until then. Maybe she could use the extra time to come up with something better.

  In the mean time, Risa had to admit she felt a little relieved that she didn’t have to put up with Connor for a few days.

  Turning back to her work with a sigh, she slid off her pumps and rubbed Bailey’s belly with her toes. She wondered why Connor needed a few days to “tie things up.” Did it have something to do with the acquisition? And if it did, why was she being left out of it?

  Risa realized she was being paranoid. More than likely it had to do with Connor’s social life. He probably had to fly off to some tropical location in order to appease one of his many model girlfriends, Risa thought with a pang of disgust…or was it jealousy? No, definitely not jealousy.

  She figured her feelings about Connor were all tied up with her feelings about the acquisition. She didn’t feel anything for him as a man. Not. One. Thing.

  All those butterflies she’d noticed in the pit of her stomach when he was around were due to her concern over losing Healthy-Pet. Nothing more.

  Well, maybe that and the fact she hadn’t had a boyfriend in a long time. Dana was right, she needed to get out more. Glancing at the calendar on her desk she realized that Bobbie Shore’s big party was only two days away.

  Risa felt a stab of anxiety. In recent years she’d shunned most social gatherings. She was a bit nervous about going to the party, but she realized her friends were right: a day off to unwind and not have to think about the acquisition—or Connor Dunn—was just what she needed.

  A rough, wet tongue on her toe made her giggle. She slid her chair out and bent down to pet Bailey. “Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about our trip to the dog park tonight."

  The dog park was a gigantic parcel of town-owned land with open fields and wooded trails where dogs were welcome. It was one of Bailey’s favorite places because she could be let off her leash to run around the fields. Risa loved taking Bailey there.

  Settling back in her chair, Risa felt her earlier anger melting away. Bailey and her other pets were all she needed to be happy. In fact, her life had been perfect before this whole acquisition thing reared its ugly head. She couldn’t wait to put it behind her and get back to the peaceful, if not a little lonely, life she’d come to love.

  ###

  Connor felt a pang of guilt as he hung up from his short conversation with Risa Kennedy. She was clearly not happy with him.

  He wasn’t in the habit of canceling business appointments but Jim would be tied up until next week with his family emergency, and that meant the whole evaluation would be pushed out. Which meant Connor had a lot of extra time on his hands. And a lot of thinking to do.

  His visit to the house had brought back pleasant childhood memories even though it wasn’t exactly the same as it had been when his family lived there. It had been updated over the years. The updates included a top-of-the-line gourmet kitchen that caught Conner’s eye.

  The house was exactly what he was looking for. He had to admit the three-bedroom cape was a bit big for just him and Picasso, but the location, setting and style were perfect.

  The question was, was he ready to make the move from “on-the-go” city living to a more laid-back suburban life? He had a lot of thinking to do and wanted to take the afternoon to focus on it so he could make the right decision.

  His thoughts turned to the Healthy-Pet acquisition. At first he had been totally against it, but his recent research into the pet food market had been favorable. People spent a lot of money on their pets. The pet food market alone was a nineteen-billion dollar market - not anything to be scoffed at. His own feelings about feeding Picasso good-quality, healthy food told him there were plenty of pet owners who would buy Healthy-Pets high-end products.

  His only hesitation was that he still didn’t know what shape the company was in. With the strange way Risa was acting and the odd coincidence of the accounting system being on the fritz, he couldn’t help but feel that she was trying to hide something from him.

  She had seemed surprisingly upset at the news that they would be continuing their evaluation into the next week. Did she think he would be reckless enough to make a decision without seeing the actual numbers? It seemed like she’d hoped they would, and that worried Connor.

  Connor thought back to the two times he had seen Risa outside of Healthy-Pet. Both times she’d seemed to be having a bit too much to drink, which was out of character for her from what he had read in her files. Something strange was definitely going on with Risa Kennedy, and he needed to find out what it was before he made the final decision.

  Connor glanced at his phone to check his missed calls and
text messages. He’d asked his private investigator to do some more digging on Risa and was hoping something had come through, but there was no message from Jason Anders.

  Connor felt an uneasy sensation in the pit of his stomach. His father was good friends with Risa’s, and they both wanted this deal to go through. If the financials panned out, he might be able to see his way to buying the company, but he’d probably have to do some cutting, and the clinic would be first on his list…along with any employees that weren’t an asset.

  Connor rubbed his face with his hands. Looking over at Picasso, who was peacefully sleeping on the bed in his hotel suite, he felt a pang of jealousy for the dog. As if sensing the attention, Picasso looked up at him.

  “Things are easy for you, just sleep, eat, and exercise,” Connor said.

  Picasso thumped his tail, glancing longingly in the direction of his leash in response.

  “Don’t worry, I didn’t forget. I have some things to hash out and then later this afternoon, we’ll go for a big, long walk." Connor reached over to pet the dog’s head.

  As if understanding Connor’s words, Picasso heaved a sigh and put his head back down on his paws. Connor watched the dog’s eyes drift shut. In seconds, his chest was moving with the slow, shallow breath of restful sleep. Connor felt himself wishing it was that easy for him to fall asleep.

  Connor sat back in his chair with a sigh. He’d been having a hard time sleeping lately because of this whole Healthy-Pet business. He was getting a lot of pressure from his father. Maybe he should just give the acquisition his stamp of approval to please his father and the consequences be dammed. But he couldn’t do that in good conscience; he had to run the numbers before he could decide if the buy-out was a smart move for Dunn International.

  But approving the actual acquisition wasn’t the real thing that was causing him to lose sleep. The real cause was Risa. Even if he did determine that it would be profitable to buy Healthy-Pet, he still had to deal with her odd behavior and whatever potential problems she had.