by Linda Seed
“I was wondering …” Daniel shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. “I thought maybe you could come by and visit him.”
“Visit him,” Lacy said, as though to confirm she’d heard him correctly. “Visit Zzyzx.”
“Yeah. He … well. I thought, the thing with the sweatshirt … He spent a lot of time with you on the drive, and I think he’s sad without you.”
She gave him a wry half smile. “I wouldn’t want Zzyzx to be sad.”
“Of course not,” he agreed. “So … you’ll come over? To my place?”
Lacy thought about it, trying to figure the angles. Was Zzyzx actually suffering over her absence, or was Daniel using a roundabout, adorably awkward way of asking her on a date?
If it was the former, then she figured she could help out a little, spend some time with the dog to reassure him. If it was the latter, well … then it was likely she was in trouble. Because another relationship so soon after the last one would be an epically bad idea. And yet, she found herself irresistibly drawn to say yes to him. Yes to his place, yes to a date. Yes to so very much more.
“Yes,” she said. “Yes. I’ll come over.”
Lacy had wondered if Daniel was telling the truth about the dog missing her, or if it was just a ruse to get her to his house. All of her doubts vanished, though, when she walked in his front door and Zzyzx lost his damned mind.
He stood there on the hardwood floor looking curiously at her for a moment, and then surprise registered on his face when he realized who she was. What followed was complete canine pandemonium. He ran to her and jumped as high as he could, crashing into her body before falling to the floor. Then he sprinted around her in circles a few times before jumping again, getting twisted in midair, and landing on the floor on his back. He circled her five or six more times before rolling onto his back with his quivering legs in the air, whining for a tummy rub.
“Wow. He really did miss me,” Lacy said. She got down on her knees and obliged with the tummy rub as the dog made happy noises from deep in his throat.
Daniel stood over them and scowled. “I mean, you’re great and everything, but I’m the one who feeds him. I’m the one who’s giving him a place to stay. Where’s the enthusiasm for me?”
“Aww.” Lacy cooed in sympathy. “I’m sure he loves you. He just has a different way of showing it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Daniel said.
After a long and thorough belly rub, Lacy picked up Zzyzx and stood up with him in her arms. His little tail wagged rapidly, thumping against her side.
“You bought him a collar,” Lacy observed. The collar was blue, with a little gold bone-shaped tag hanging from it. “And a tag,” she added.
Daniel tucked his hands under his arms and looked at the floor, embarrassed. “Yeah, well.”
“I’m just gonna take a quick guess,” Lacy said, a wry grin curving her lips. “You’re not trying to find him another home.”
He shrugged. “Well, what am I supposed to do? Somebody pukes in your car, it’s like a bonding thing. You can’t just abandon them.”
Lacy laughed. “That’s the most ridiculous—”
“Look at him,” Daniel said. “He likes us. He’s happy here.”
Lacy looked at the dog, whose homely face was aglow with love and joy.
“Well, I guess that settles it, then,” she said. “Looks like you’ve got a new friend.” She sniffed the dog. “He smells a lot better. You gave him a bath.”
“Yeah.”
“Tell me he doesn’t sleep in your bed.”
“No. I do have some boundaries.” Daniel shrugged. “And anyway, he’ll only sleep on your sweatshirt.”
“Huh. I really liked that sweatshirt,” Lacy said with some regret.
After a brief discussion, they decided to take Zzyzx to the dog park on Main Street. Z was too small to play with a tennis ball—it was too big for his mouth—so Daniel had picked up a miniature version the day before when he’d bought the collar, some kibble, and a leash at Maddie Mae’s Pet Pantry.
Now, he gathered the leash, the ball, and the dog himself and they got settled in the SUV for the short ride into town.
Zzyzx sat on Lacy’s lap for the drive, gazing at her adoringly as they headed down the dirt road on Daniel’s property toward Highway 1.
“I’m a little nervous after last time,” Lacy admitted.
“Ah, you’ll be okay,” Daniel reassured her. “I don’t think he gets carsick. I think it was just the gas station food. Maybe it had been sitting there too long or something. I’ve had him in the car a few times since then, and he hasn’t blown any chunks.”
“Well, that’s good to know,” Lacy said. She stroked Zzyzx’s fur—what there was of it—as they got onto the highway and headed north toward the Main Street turnoff.
The weather was the kind that drew people from all over the world to California. Clear blue sky, light breeze, temperatures in the mid-70s. The rolling hills to either side of the highway were carpeted in long, emerald green grass, which was being chewed by the occasional cow.
For Daniel, it felt good, but frightening, to be alone with Lacy. Last time, he’d been doing her a favor, so it didn’t count. The outing in Vegas didn’t count, either, because she’d been drunk and he’d been making sure she stayed safe. Besides, she’d been engaged. This time, they were on what could, arguably, be called a date. Even if it wasn’t a date—he’d gotten her here on the pretense of comforting the dog, after all—it was still social. Here they were, the two of them, being social alone together, and it scared the crap out of him. It felt stupid to admit that, even to himself. But there it was.
The thing about Lacy was that she had some sort of … aura. There was a kind of light or energy field or some damn thing around her, as though all of the beauty and joy in the room had her right at its center. He couldn’t explain it, even to himself. He just knew that he wanted to be near that light, that energy.
Zzyzx felt it too, obviously. Right now, he was blinking slowly in utter contentment, his head on her thigh, as she stroked his head.
“Did you have any pets growing up?” Lacy asked.
The question pulled him out of his reverie. “Uh … yeah. I did. I had a beagle named Winston. Got him when I was about sixteen. He just died a couple years ago. My mom was heartbroken. I guess I was, too.”
“Winston,” Lacy said, amusement in her eyes.
“Yeah, he was a great dog.” He glanced at her. “Your parents’ house seems like a place that would have a lot of pets.”
“Oh, God.” Lacy rolled her eyes. “Cats, dogs, rabbits. Even a chicken.”
He shot a look at her, surprised. “You had a pet chicken?”
“Yeah.” Lacy laughed. “My brother, Nick, was raising chickens for 4H when he was about twelve. They were supposed to be sold for meat once they were grown. But Cassie bonded with one of the chicks, and she had an epic meltdown over the idea of somebody eating it for their Sunday dinner. So, all of the others were sold, and we kept Roger as a pet.”
“Roger? It was a rooster?”
“No. It was a hen.”
Daniel glanced at Lacy, puzzled. “Okay, but Roger?”
“Cassie was always a weird kid,” Lacy said fondly, as though no other explanation was needed.
When they got to the dog park, a fenced-off area where the local dogs could commune with one another off-leash, only two other dogs were there—a Maltese with a blue bow in its hair, and a basset hound who looked like he wasn’t amused by the outing. They pulled up into a parking space, and a thought suddenly occurred to Lacy.
“Oh! Is it really safe for Z to be here? I mean, we don’t know what shots he’s had.…”
“I got him the full deal yesterday,” Daniel said. “Rabies, Bordetella, parvo, and whatever else it is that dogs get. I don’t remember all of them.”
Lacy turned in her seat to face him more fully, a wry smile on her face. “You took him to the vet.”
“Well, yeah.”
/>
“Yesterday.”
“Yeah, yesterday afternoon.”
“And you bathed him and bought him a collar and a ball.”
Daniel was starting to feel uncomfortable. “Yeah, and?”
“And, you started doing all of that less than twenty-four hours after coming home from Vegas.” Her voice softened. “You were never going to find him another home. You were always going to keep him.”
Daniel squirmed a little in his seat. “Well, I did call around to some of the animal shelters out there to see if anyone was missing him. But … yeah. It gets lonely out there at the house. Is it a crime to want some company?”
Still holding Zzyzx in her arms, Lacy grinned and leaned over to give Daniel a gentle kiss on the cheek. “No,” she said. “It’s not a crime at all. In fact, I think it’s really sweet.”
She got out of the car with Z and put him on the ground, and the two of them walked toward the gate of the dog park together.
Daniel sat in the car and watched her go. God, she was a vision with those long legs and that hair and the … Well. Best to stop there.
It occurred to him that he’d be happy to adopt three or four more dogs if that was what it took to get her to kiss him.
Maybe even a chicken, too.
Chapter Fifteen
By the time they took Z back to Daniel’s place, the dog was exhausted and panting from a playtime that had included chasing the mini tennis ball, barking at a squirrel, peeing on every available surface, and sniffing the butts of the other dogs at the park. He fell asleep in Lacy’s lap before Daniel had even pulled the SUV out onto Main Street for the ride back home.
Lacy felt that she’d had almost as much fun as Zzyzx.
Someone in the dog’s past had taught him to fetch, and he’d brought the little ball back countless times, breathlessly plopping it at Lacy’s feet and waiting with trembling anticipation for her to throw it again. The dog’s joy was infectious, and Lacy had found herself aglow with contentment as she and Daniel had played with Z, talked, and shared easy companionship.
Now, as they headed back toward Daniel’s place, she didn’t want the day to end. It had to, though. Being with Daniel was making her head fuzzy—full of visions of what it would be like to kiss him and how he would look with his shirt off—and none of that was doing her any good. She knew the proper thing to do was to retreat into the safe burrow of her trailer and lick her wounds post-Brandon.
But right now, she really wanted to lick other things.
She gently stroked the dog in her lap and stole a glance at Daniel as he drove. God, he was beautiful. He had a pure masculinity about him, with his rugged features, his broad shoulders, and his day’s worth of stubble, that made her want to curl up on his lap the way Z had curled up on hers.
It was ridiculous, though. Who broke up with her fiancé only to curl up in another man’s lap two days later? Well, lots of people, probably, now that she thought about it. That didn’t mean it would be smart.
They pulled up in front of Daniel’s house, and he parked next to Lacy’s car. She told herself that she was going to get out of his car, hand over the dog, and then leave. So she was proud of herself when he invited her in, and she said she had to get going. She was still mentally patting herself on the back when he let Zzyzx into the house and then returned to walk her the twenty feet to her car.
“I really had a good time today,” he said, rubbing at the back of his neck in a way that made her wonder if he was nervous. About what? About her?
“Me too,” she said. “I think Z’s going to need a long nap now.”
“Yeah.” He grinned. “He really wore himself out.” The sun was just above the western horizon, and a light breeze ruffled his hair.
Daniel tucked his hands under his arms and said, “Hey, listen. It’s getting to be pretty close to dinnertime. Did you want to …”
Be strong, Lacy, she told herself. Be strong, be strong, be strong.
“I would, but I really need to get back,” she said, scrambling for some kind of excuse. “I … uh … I told my mom I’d be home for dinner. My sisters are coming over, so …” She had no idea if it was true. It might have been. Her sisters came over a lot.
“Okay.” He nodded. “Some other time, maybe.”
“Yeah. Sure. Some other time. For sure.” She was babbling. She needed to just shut up and drive away.
But somehow, the shut up and drive away plan was derailed when she unlocked her car, turned to him to say a friendly and casual goodbye, and found him standing so close to her that she could smell him.
Oh, holy God, his smell, all warm man and sandalwood soap, and maybe a hint of some heady cologne.
She forgot what she’d been doing, and her mind blanked.
He put his hands on her shoulders, gently, and her body said, Yes.
“Lacy? I’d really like to kiss you.” His voice was a low rumble that she felt all the way down in some of her favorite body parts. “Would that be okay?”
She didn’t answer, but instead found herself tilting her face toward his, her eyes closing, her lips parting.
He put his hand on the side of her face, his thumb slowly caressing the line of her jaw.
The kiss, when it came, was gentle at first, tentative. A feather-like touch of his lips to hers. And then, in response to her sigh, he moved in closer, fitting his mouth to hers as though they’d been made for that purpose. Just a moment of his tongue caressing hers, and then he pulled back with a gentle tug of her lower lip.
It was like time had stopped. She stood there, unmoving, her eyes still closed, her lips still slightly parted in memory of his touch.
When she roused herself, when her senses came back to her, she opened her eyes and found him so close, looking at her so intently that it was tempting to simply melt into him, to simply disappear into his eyes.
“I … uh … I should go,” she said.
He nodded and took a step back. “Okay.” He rubbed the back of his neck again. The fact that he was nervous was cute. So goddamned cute.
“Well … okay,” she said.
Before she could change her mind, she opened her car door and got in. He stood watching her as she put the car in reverse, turned around, and started down the dirt road that led back to Highway 1.
With him standing there looking at her like that, it was a wonder she didn’t plow into a tree.
The thing about it was, it wasn’t a real date. Or maybe it was. They hadn’t said the word date, and no food had been eaten—the usual standard for date vs. non-date. But there had been the kiss. For some reason, it was very important to Lacy to know how to classify this encounter in her mind. Because if it wasn’t a date, then what the hell was it? And if it was, then what the hell was she thinking?
“I’d have said no, not a date,” Rose weighed in later that night as they discussed it on the phone. “But then, when you factor in the kiss, it does sound datelike.”
Lacy was lying on the bed in her trailer, her cell phone to her ear, miserable with longing for a guy she shouldn’t even have been seeing, if she was, in fact, seeing him.
“Right? It’s the kiss that throws the whole thing off. Until then, it was two friends getting together. But after, it took on all of these datelike overtones! What the hell is going on? Are we friends, or are we dating? And if we’re dating …”
“Would that be so bad?” Rose asked.
“Yes. Yes, it would. Because … he’s Chunky Monkey.”
She could almost hear Rose’s quizzical expression over the phone. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t buy Chunky Monkey ice cream anymore,” Lacy patiently explained. “Because when I do, I don’t just get out a bowl and scoop out a reasonable portion, and enjoy that portion, and then get on with my life.”
“Ah. You eat the whole carton,” Rose said, catching on.
“Yes. I do. I eat the whole carton, and then I feel all sick and full, and I vow over and over again that I’ll never make that same m
istake again. But then, the next time …”
“You eat the whole damn thing.”
“There you go,” Lacy said with satisfaction. “I can’t help myself! I don’t have any self-control!”
“Huh,” Rose said. “So, what flavor do you usually get?”
“I get something bland, like vanilla or … or Neapolitan. Something that tastes okay, but that I know I can stop eating.”
Following Lacy’s train of thought, Rose observed, “Brandon was Neapolitan.”
Lacy’s brow furrowed. “What? No, no. I’m just talking about Daniel here.”
“But it’s not just about Daniel,” Rose said. “It’s about more than that. It’s about how you want to feel like you’re in control of things, so you chose a Neapolitan man to marry instead of a Chunky Monkey one. And you were miserable, and you ended up not even eating the Neapolitan. And now you’re tasting the Chunky Monkey and realizing what you were missing.”
“That’s not—”
“Honey,” Rose said, more gently now. “Falling for a guy so hard that you feel like you can’t control your emotions is scary. Believe me, I get that. When I fell in love with Will I was so freaked out that I tried to push him away about a million times.”
“I remember.”
“But choosing Neapolitan is not the answer. Nobody likes Neapolitan. It’s boring, and the orgasms suck. If there even are orgasms.”
The sudden clash of the metaphor with orgasms was too jarring, and Lacy rubbed at her eyes. “You’re missing the point. I don’t want the Chunky Monkey hangover, with all of that bloating and regret.”
“Okay, let’s switch gears for a minute,” Rose said. “Back to your original question, I’d say it definitely was a date. Because when I hang out with my friends, we usually don’t kiss.”
“This is true,” Lacy said.
“And speaking of the kiss … how was it?”
“Oh, God,” Lacy said.
“Really,” Rose said with interest. “Go on.”
“I wanted to eat the whole carton, Rose. I really, really did.”