by Karen Wood
Puppeeeee!
She stifled an embarrassingly girlish squeal. Was there anything else on the planet as adorable as a wriggling, milky-breathed, soft, squirmy puppy?
She stepped closer and put out her hands. Josh held the pot-bellied pup out to her and she nestled it in her arms. ‘Hello,’ she crooned, holding it up to her face and feeling its softness against her cheek. She held him up and looked at his round belly. ‘Little boy!’
As she snuggled him back into her arms and kissed the top of the head, she noticed two small brown dots over his eyebrows. ‘He has eyebrows like Queenie,’ she said, surprised.
Josh raised his eyebrows and nodded. ‘Meet Prince.’
Zoe screwed up her face. ‘Hey?’ She lifted the puppy and regarded him all over. He was small, smaller than any of Queenie’s pups, and fine-boned. His ears were tan with black tips and his eyebrows were like small gold coins. His paws were delicate and one back foot had two small black spots. Other than that he was as white as the lambs’ milk powder. ‘Wispy’s pup?’ she asked.
Josh nodded. ‘By Frankie.’
Zoe nearly dropped the puppy. ‘When did that happen?’
Josh ran his hands through his hair and looked embarrassed. ‘Err, by the dam that day. While you were kissing me, your dog was . . .’
Zoe clutched the pup in one hand and covered her face with the other, mortified.
Argh! No shame!!!! Her face was burning.
She heard Josh laugh. She looked up, biting her lip hard, to stop her smile from splitting her head in half. He stood in front of her, with his undeniably kissable lips, eyes hungry and soft and so beautiful. He ran the back of his hand gently down one side of her face and she stared back up at him.
And he was kissing her again, with a squirmy pup wriggling between them, the guy she would jump a thousand fences for, the guy she knew would jump a thousand fences for her too. His hands were in her hair, gently holding her face and she was kissing him back, really kissing him, eyes closed and completely lost in him, as if she never wanted it to stop, like a total desperado.
Acknowledgements
Warmest thanks to the team at Allen & Unwin who continue to put their faith in me, in particular Sarah Brenan and Erica Wagner. Also to my agent Brian Cook from The Author’s Agent for his great advice and good humour. And as always to my beautiful family, Anthony, Annabelle and Ruby for being so supportive while I work.
About the Author
Karen Wood is the author of the five Diamond Spirit books. She has an Arts degree majoring in communications and a diploma in horticulture. She is married with two children, a few horses, some dogs, chooks and a very cute rabbit. She lives on a small acreage on the Central Coast, New South Wales, where she spends as much time as possible with kids and horses or at her laptop, dreaming up a new book.
