“Tell me what happened.” Jane’s voice was more intense than Caitlin had expected for something like this.
“Beauregard swallowed a piece of jewelry, and the owner wants me to retrieve it when it passes.”
“Yuck,” Jane replied.
“Yeah.” She glanced over her shoulder to see the guy tying on a shoe. “We just need coverage for the dog while the owner’s at work. Someone to handle it so I can make my other appointments. I’ll take Beauregard to the park, and then someone just needs to sit with him until this resolves.” Which, since it just happened, could be a long time.
“Listen, there’s nothing more important than this client, and you’re the first walker his dog has ever liked. I need you to stay. I’ll find someone to take your other appointments, even if I have to do it myself.”
Well, that was surprisingly dramatic. “Are you kidding me? Someone just needs to sit here while I make my appointments. No biggy. Pretty sure Beau just sleeps all day anyway.”
“This man is my most important client. The dog doesn’t trust people, but he trusts you…and so do I.” Jane said.
Caitlin found herself mesmerized as she watched the guy slip a belt through the loops on his pants and buckle it with sure fingers before picking up his phone from the coffee table in front of him. What was wrong with her? Her body was reacting as if he were taking his clothes off, not putting them on, which brought up images of him reversing the process. Slowly. For her. Dang.
Jane’s voice brought her back to their conversation. “Are you listening to me, Caitlin?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Taylor Blankenship works for Anderson Enterprises…as in the Anderson brothers who funded Animal Attraction. They’re why we’re in business right now. He’s best friends with Will Anderson. They served in Afghanistan together. You have to keep him happy.”
Caitlin turned her back to him, hoping he was as fascinated with whatever he was looking at on his phone as he appeared to be. “He won’t even be here,” she whispered. “It doesn’t matter who watches the dog.”
“It matters to me,” Jane said.
She shot a glance at him over her shoulder. “C’mon, Jane.”
“You know that dog’s history. He’s been through two companies and half a dozen dog walkers before you.”
Caitlin spun at the sound of the door opening. “Thanks for staying,” Taylor said with a smile. And just like that, he left, closing the door behind him with a confident click.
Of all the…
“Caity?”
“That bossy jerk just left. Walked right out the door,” she grumbled into her phone.
“He flies the Anderson Enterprises helicopter. He probably had to leave for a scheduled flight or something.”
She understood that. Sticking to a schedule was the only real control she had that was constant, and he’d just screwed that up.
“I’ll get your other appointments covered. This could be good. You need to relax, Caity. I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine.” Well, she would be.
“Are you really? You don’t seem fine. Since you’ve been back, you only work and study. It’s like you’re punishing yourself for making a mistake.”
No, she was just making up for the time lost because of the mistake. “I’m all good. Really.”
Her friend sighed. “Okay. Sit back, watch some TV. Call if you need anything. Bye.”
“Bye.” The only thing she needed was a total do-over of this morning. That, and a double espresso—no, a triple. And maybe a dry change of clothes…and a hairdryer.
Beau whined from the door, tugging at the leash on the hook.
“Yeah, you like a schedule, too.” She shoved her phone into her coat pocket and grabbed the leash. “Let’s go find a Starbucks.”
Chapter Two
The walk with Beauregard was completely uneventful, with nothing coming of it but a spectacular Caramel Macchiato from a coffee shop near the dog park.
Caitlin filled Beau’s bowl from the kitchen sink, like she did after his walk every morning, but rather than his usual sloppy slurping, Beau sniffed the bowl, whined, and flopped down on his dog bed in the living room.
“Is your tummy hurting, big guy?” she asked, scratching behind his ear. He sighed and closed his eyes. Caitlin sighed, too. It was going to be a long, long day. The caffeine had helped lift her mood, but being wet and cold for who knew how long was going to be the pits.
She looked around the small, tidy apartment. She’d never really paid much attention to it before. She didn’t pay attention to any of her clients’ homes. They weren’t her concern. The pets were. She’d always been able to compartmentalize like that, which is why she liked accounting. She only had to consider relevant facts, not all the extras—like the dozens of photos in frames on the bookshelf at the far end of the room.
She pulled off her coat and hung it on the hook by the door, then slipped out of her boots and socks. The warm wood felt fantastic underfoot. She sighed as she wiggled her pruny bare toes, and for the first time since Taylor left, she was glad she wasn’t stuck walking dogs all day. As soon as she passed her CPA exam, she’d never have to walk another person’s dog again.
Fighting the urge to look over her shoulder like she was a toddler about to sneak candy, she padded to the bookshelf. This wasn’t snooping, really. He had this stuff out on display, after all. One frame made of a dark, knotty wood held a picture of what appeared to be a younger Taylor and his family. An elderly man and woman, probably grandparents, flanked a happy-looking couple who were no doubt his parents and Taylor and a girl with braces wearing a big grin who looked to be around twelve or thirteen.
Of the dozen or so pictures, at least half of them included Taylor and the older woman, and the rest were of his family. They must be very close. Caitlin’s chest tightened with longing. Her parents had divorced when she was a baby and she’d never had a close relationship with either. Even though they were only two hours apart, she’d only seen her mom once since moving back from Georgia.
Another picture was of Taylor in full dress uniform looking tall, muscled, and badass. Well, that explained his tendency to bark orders. As sexy as he was in his uniform, she preferred him in a bath towel. She closed her eyes and recalled the delicious expanse of tan skin and hard muscles, and her fingers twitched.
A loud ding from a computer on the desk to the left of the bookcase jerked her from her daydream. Again, it wasn’t snooping if something was in clear view, right? She squinted at the popup message on the screen several feet away.
can’t wait to see you this weekend! i love you, xoxo -b
Nothing like another woman’s love letter closed with kisses and hugs to kill a perfectly good daydream. B must be the woman he planned to give the ring to. “Better give that ring back, Beau,” she said. “Sounds like magic’s happening this weekend.”
Beau smacked his jowls several times and closed his eyes.
Even though she’d worn a coat, the water had partially soaked her clothes. When she looked down, she couldn’t help but admire her new hot pink lace bra showing through the thin sweater. She frowned. Spring Break T-shirt contestant wasn’t the look she was going for. Hopefully, the material would dry quickly. She pinched the fabric and pulled it away from her body.
Ding.
Again, she squinted at the computer screen to read a message from someone named Deborah.
I’ve considered your apology. How about dinner next Thursday? Same restaurant. I’ll meet you there at 7.
“Wait a minute,” she said to the screen. “What about B?” She turned to the snoring dog. “What about B and the magic weekend?”
Beau opened one eye and closed it again.
Maybe she’d misunderstood the message. Bossy, yes, but the guy didn’t seem like a jerk. A man who loved his dog like that couldn’t be a total jerk, right? Maybe the dinner date with the Deborah person was business. There were no kisses and hugs or “I love you’s.” Yeah. “To
tally business,” she assured Beauregard.
Ding.
“Oh, come on,” she grumbled, turning her back to the computer, determined to not look. After staring at Beau, who appeared to be dreaming about chewing, she couldn’t resist anymore and whipped around to the screen. This one was from someone named Felicia.
Hey, honey. Left some undies at your place. Will come get them when I’m back in town. Love you lots.
Definitely not business. So much for men who loved pets not being jerks.
Caitlin flopped onto the couch and growled, which caused Beau to lift his head. Then, he chewed a few times like he had in his sleep.
“You okay?” she asked, dropping to her knees in front of him. Maybe he’d cracked a tooth or cut his gums on the ring, which would explain his not drinking and his odd chewing behavior. She put one hand over the top of his snout and the other under his chin and pried his mouth open. Nothing but big dog tongue and teeth, so she leaned down to get a look at the back molars and something glittered.
“Oh, man.” She leaned closer. “Yes!” she shouted with a fist pump before reaching into Beau’s mouth to pull out the ring stored between the back of his jaw and cheek. “You’re a dog, not a hamster, Beau-Beau.”
Sitting back on her heels, she examined the ring.
“Whoa.” This wasn’t at all what she’d expected. Based on Taylor’s clean, simple apartment and military background, she’d imagined a straightforward, no frills, round solitaire set in yellow gold. She turned it in the light and shook her head. It wasn’t huge, but a sizable square diamond was set in a fancy filigree that looked to be made of platinum with smaller diamonds embedded in it. It was in the style she remembered from the scrapbook pictures of her grandmother she loved looking at when she was a kid. She’d have never imagined him an antique ring kind of guy.
With a shiver, she stood and straightened the cold, wet shirt sticking to her neck and chest and headed to the kitchen, grateful Beau hadn’t swallowed the ring for a multitude of reasons—one being she could go home and put on something dry.
A quick wash with hot water and dish soap made the ring sparkly, especially under the halogen light above the kitchen sink. Almost magical.
Ding.
She glanced over her shoulder across the breakfast bar to the computer screen in the living room and rolled her eyes. Probably another girlfriend needing to retrieve her panties. With a sigh, she dried the ring on a dish towel hanging from the oven handle. Again, the deep stone in the center of the ring caught the light and winked at her. It was one of the most beautiful things she’d ever seen.
Holding it between her forefinger and thumb, she studied the way the light refracted and changed color as it passed through the stones. Gary hadn’t given her an engagement ring. She’d loved her gold band he gave her on their wedding day, but she’d lamented not having a symbol of the value and promise of their engagement. Turned out, for Gary, promise and value were all but nonexistent, so it suited.
Unable to resist trying it on, she slid the ring on her finger and wiggled her hand to make it glimmer in the light. So pretty. Elegant, with the promise of forever.
“Poor B,” she said through the tightness in her throat. Caitlin knew what it was like to marry a player.
The computer dinged again, but she didn’t look. With a disgusted huff, she scanned the apartment for a prominent place to leave the ring where Beau couldn’t snack on it again. Moving to a wooden bowl in the middle of the breakfast bar that divided the kitchen from the family room, she tugged on the ring to remove it, but it didn’t budge.
Oh, no. She twisted it and tugged harder as a knock came on the door. Beau jumped up from his dog bed and ran to the door barking. Crap. No way was she going to answer this guy’s door.
“Taylor, sugar, it’s me,” a woman’s voice called.
Perfect. Now women were dropping by in person. This guy was something else. With a grunt, she pulled on the ring as hard as she could, but no luck.
Beau went practically berserk, scratching the door and whining like a puppy. Clearly, he knew the person on the other side. After another knock, the door opened and the older woman she recognized from the family photos on the bookshelf stepped inside and froze, key in hand.
Her large brown eyes traveled from Beau to Caitlin, scanning her from her bare feet, to her clinging T-shirt, to her wet hair. Caitlin took a breath to introduce herself right as the woman’s gaze locked on the ring and a huge grin spread across her face.
“Well, it’s about damn time.”
Chapter Three
Taylor was usually irritated if the Andersons rescheduled flights with short or no notice, but the pay made the aggravation and screwed-up sleep schedule worthwhile. Will Anderson, his boss and buddy, called it PIA pay. And yeah, this job truly was a pain in the ass, but he loved it. When he’d received the text from Anderson Enterprises CEO, Michael Anderson, cancelling this morning’s flight after he’d already done his pre-flight safety check, he’d felt nothing but relief…and a little something else. Excitement? No. Lust. Yeah, definitely lust. The petite blond dog walker had taken him completely by surprise. He’d imagined Beauregard’s walker some hipster college guy with skinny jeans, horn-rimmed glasses, and a scraggly beard, like the last one.
The whole way back home, he’d toyed with the idea of calling Jane, the owner of the walking service, to find out more about her employee, but decided against it since info wouldn’t really serve a purpose other than to sate his curiosity. And besides, he didn’t know Jane that well, and she might think it was strange. Hell, maybe it was strange, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the dog walker, dripping wet, licking the fizz off the top of her Mountain Dew, which of course turned into a fantasy of her licking other things—his things.
Shit.
He took a deep breath and opened the door to his building’s lobby, pushing the image and its related fantasy away. He nodded a greeting to the doorman, then wondered how she’d react when he showed up early. Usually, he was good at predicting people’s reactions. Really good. The skill had kept him alive numerous times on active duty, but this woman had surprised him. He’d practically ordered her to stay, and she’d refused him without the bat of an eye. Totally unexpected. He wasn’t used to being told no. He kind of liked it.
The second Taylor stepped off the elevator on his floor, he knew Grams had dropped by. The smell of her perfume drifted through the air like a happy childhood memory—all warm and sweet and fuzzy around the edges. The thought of her made him smile, then frown.
The ring. Nausea slammed him like a gut punch. She’d given it to him a year ago and repeatedly refused to take it back no matter what he said. If she’d gone into the apartment, she might have discovered he’d been careless—that a woman he didn’t know was waiting to extract Gram’s heirloom wedding ring from a pile of crap.
The wrongness of the whole thing made his mouth go dry. Maybe she’d just gotten here. Maybe the dog walker hadn’t let her in. Maybe…
He pushed the unlocked door to his apartment open. Yeah. And maybe pigs fucking flew.
Both women turned to the door from where they stood in the kitchen only feet away from each other. Grams was wearing a huge grin and the dog walker was wearing… Damn. What was she wearing? Unable to talk, he simply stared while his brain initiated some kind of emergency overload shutdown procedure.
When he’d left, she’d been hidden underneath a wet, puffy coat and rain boots. Little did he know she was smokin’ hot under all that outerwear. He shook his head as he took in the bright pink lacy bra encasing perfect breasts showing through her tight, apparently wet, baby blue top. Snug jeans ended at the ankle over her bare feet. Her toes were tipped with hot-pink polish that matched the bra he needed to get another good look at. When he slid his gaze back up her body, she folded her arms defensively over her ribs and something sparkled on her finger.
The ring! She’d found it. And that was a good thing. He heaved a relieved sigh.
“When were you going to introduce me to your fiancée?” Grams asked.
Maybe not a good thing. Taylor’s gaze snapped to the clear blue eyes of the dog walker, who shook her head.
Why the hell was she wearing the ring?
“Your girl’s been a real sport trying to convince me otherwise, but I know a cover-up when I see it. She’s stalling so the two of you could tell me together at my anniversary party tonight.”
The walker’s expression of confusion turned to one of shock.
Well, shit. This was bad.
Grams crossed to him and patted him on the shoulder. “Guess I can stop badgering you now, huh?”
Wait. Maybe not so bad after all. Grams had been pestering him to find a girl and settle down since he turned twenty-one. It had been a decade-long nagging campaign so intense, he no longer brought dates to family events. This whole poop ring thing could be the answer to prayer. He again met the walker’s startled gaze, hating that she was so upset. “Um, Grams. May I have a private word with…” Sonofabitch. He didn’t even know the woman’s name. “May I have a word with my fiancée?”
The dog walker’s expression transitioned from shock to horror, her eyes so wide Taylor could see white all the way around the blue irises when he strode into the kitchen and took her hand. “We’ll be right back.” To his relief, the woman didn’t resist as he led her to the back of the apartment, passing through his bedroom and not stopping until he shut the bathroom door behind them.
Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose, gathering his thoughts. But before he could make any order of things, the dog walker ripped her hand from his.
“What’s going on here?” she asked.
He glanced at his grandmother’s ring on her finger. “That’s a good question.”
“The ring got stuck on my hand and your grandmother thinks we’re engaged. She didn’t believe me when I told her it was all a misunderstanding.” She poked a finger at his chest. “And you called me your fiancée, which was not helpful, and drove this bus straight into Weirdville.”
Three Day Fiancee (Animal Attraction) Page 2
