by Parker, Ali
“Does it hurt them?” Winnie asked curiously.
I shook my head. “Only for a second,” I replied. “And it makes sure that they can’t get sick from other illnesses, right? Those would hurt them so much more.”
Marjorie had called in Harry’s muscles to help her with cleaning up around the shelter, and he had agreed at once. Honestly, it was such a relief to know that he wasn’t uptight about any of this.
I had been ready to make excuses for him and his upbringing, in case he got all strange about the thought of taking care of animals like this, but he dove in like he had been doing this all his life.
He came by every now and then to check on the two of us, and he seemed more and more tired every single time he did.
“Marjorie doesn’t get volunteers around here very often,” I teased him. “Can you tell?”
“Yeah, I think I figured it out,” he said, panting as he caught his breath. He had whipped off his jacket, and I could see some of his muscle glistening with sweat. I wanted to trace it off with my tongue. I swiftly looked away and tried not to think about that.
Winnie was a great little helper, and it was clear that she took after her uncle. I couldn’t help but wonder about her mother, how she coped with the loss of not having her around anymore. It must have been heavy for a girl of that age.
Nobody should have to go through that when they were a kid, and yet she had such a bright, outgoing nature to her. I wouldn’t have guessed that she had struggled that way at all unless someone had come out and told me.
The whole family, though, had clearly been raised with the values that mattered. Neither of them were difficult about getting anything done, and neither of them seemed overly worried at the thought of getting their hands dirty. Which was a relief because getting your hands dirty was pretty much the name of the game around here.
I appreciated their hard work, and I knew that Marjorie would, too. It was hardly the most conventional second date, but I would take it. It proved to me that Harry could fit utterly perfectly into the life that I had right now, and that was the most important thing to me these days. I wanted someone who could get involved with my line of work and who wasn’t going to wrinkle their nose up if I came home coated from head to toe in dog fur.
By the time the day was drawing to a close, I could feel my stomach grumbling. I was ready for something to eat. Harry emerged from the yard, holding a broom, and Marjorie followed close behind him.
“Has she been cracking the whip?” I asked, laughing when I saw the exhaustion on his face.
“A hard day’s work never hurt anyone,” Marjorie cut in, and I raised my eyebrows at him apologetically.
He grinned back. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you could sell this as a workout to all the office boys,” he joked. “I can imagine them coming down here in droves to help you out with this.”
“Hmm, so that’s all I need to get more help around here?” Marjorie replied, tapping her finger on her chin thoughtfully. “Interesting. Noted.”
They handed over their badges and overalls, and we all washed up. I didn’t know what I wanted to do next, and I wasn’t sure if this was the end of the date.
But then Winnie turned toward her father. “I’m hungry,” she announced. “Can we get pizza?”
He looked over at me and raised his eyebrows.
I shrugged. “I think you guys have earned it by now,” I replied. “Can I tag along?”
“Of course!” Winnie replied without waiting for a reply from her uncle.
Harry laughed, shaking his head at her. “Of course, you can,” he told me, and he put an arm around my waist as though he had forgotten entirely that we were in the presence of other people.
For a moment, I did, too. All that mattered was him, the way he was looking at me, and the way it made my heart spin out of control.
We packed everything up and headed off to the city. It was busy out—it was a Saturday, after all—but we managed to find this little hole in the wall pizza place that had tables outside. It was perfectly cool after spending almost all day inside, and I was happy to have a chance to people watch on the street.
“I want to work at a place like that when I grow up,” Winnie announced before she took a huge bite of her pizza and chowed down on it happily.
“Well, you should talk to Marjorie about it,” I suggested. “It’s hard work, but she loves it. I know she wouldn’t be doing anything else in the world, even if she could.”
“Plus, when you get to work with volunteers as good as us...” Harry cut in.
We all laughed. I felt so light and airy, as though I could have just started floating a few feet above the ground at any second.
“Yeah, that too,” I agreed.
Beneath the small metal table, Harry reached out to put his hand on my knee. It was just a little gesture, nothing that we couldn’t have gotten away with if somebody had spotted us.
His fingers were gentle, but they seemed to set every nerve ending in my body on fire. I couldn’t think about anyone or anything else for a second.
But it was my reminder that he was here thinking of me. That he couldn’t get me out of his head.
And that he had enjoyed this just as much as I had.
Chapter 28
Harry
As soon as I got to work, I noticed something out of place on my desk, a giant envelope with a large gold trim around the edge, with my name written upon it in flashy text. I picked it up, flipped it over in my hands, and furrowed my brow as I tried to figure out what this was.
Tearing it open, I grinned widely as soon as I saw what was on the inside. It was an invitation. An invitation to the biggest charity ball of the year, Portland’s most enormous bash for the rich and famous. And it looked like I had been invited.
I scanned the thick parchment in front of me and couldn’t help but wonder just how much it had cost for them to put this amount of effort into something that was meant to be charitable, but I swiftly dismissed that. I was one of six local celebrities who had been asked to come along and feature, and I got to choose a local charity that the money would go toward.
And I didn’t even have to think twice about where I wanted it to go.
I headed through to the breakroom to find Yara, who I knew had to be the reason that I had gotten hold of this. She always knew just what to do to get my foot in the door of everything that mattered in this town. I was hopelessly out of touch, even more so than normal now that I had Winnie to take care of.
“Yara!” I called as I saw her lurking over by the coffee machine. “This your doing?”
She looked up to see what I was referring to, and she smiled as soon as she clapped eyes on the envelope.
“Oh, that came through already?” she replied. “Yeah, I guess I had something to do with that. Figured I should put your name forward now that you’re Mr. Charitable.”
“One day volunteering doesn’t mean anything,” I reminded her.
She cocked her head at me. “Yeah, and I’ll bet it’s one day more than the other five people who get featured at this thing will ever do,” she replied.
“Hey, it’s not like I would have done it if it hadn’t been a date.”
“Speaking of,” she replied quickly. “You’re going to need to come up with a date for this thing. You think you can manage that?”
A slow smile spread across my face. I didn’t even have to think twice. I knew who I was going to bring.
“Four tickets in total, so you decide who else you want to bring along,” she continued.
“Well, you, obviously,” I told her.
She clasped her hand to her chest. “You mean that?”
I nodded. “You’re going to keep me from making too much of a fool of myself, right?”
“Right,” she agreed with a giggle.
“And maybe you could bring along someone?” I suggested.
She glanced away from me, and I could already tell that she was thinking about one person in particular.
“You been seeing someone?” I asked, instantly intrigued. My love life had been so under the microscope lately that I hadn’t even given much thought to anything going on with hers, but it was clear that there was someone on her mind right about now.
“Maybe,” she replied. “Yes. I think. I mean, I haven’t spoken to him about this, or anything, but...”
“But you’re going to invite him along as your date anyway,” I finished for her. “Look at you. Actually seeing someone for more than one night.”
“Hey, let’s not pretend like you’re suddenly the know-it-all of dating,” she warned me, smiling. “You’re only just back in the game, remember?”
“Yes, but I feel like I’ve been imbued with knowledge from above,” I replied.
She shook her head at me. “You’re no guru,” she warned me playfully. “But I’ll ask him, all right? I’ll let you know if he says yes. If not, I’ll just bring Tink along as my date.”
“I’m sure he’d look great in a suit,” I agreed, and I glanced at my watch. I knew that Raina wouldn’t quite have started her day yet, and I wanted to make her Monday morning a whole lot more exciting if I could.
“I’m going to give Raina a call, see if she wants to come with me,” I told Yara. “I’ll let you know, okay?”
“Good luck, Romeo,” she teased.
I headed back to my office to make the call. I was actually a little nervous, which I knew was crazy. But this was going to be just our third date, and I was already inviting her out to some huge event like this. Maybe she would see it as too much of a leap forward? I had no idea.
I closed the office door behind me, petted a sleeping Tink for luck, and headed to my phone. I called her before I had time to talk myself out of it, and a moment or two later, her voice was coming through the line.
I practically shivered as soon as I heard it. How was it that I had managed to miss her this much already when we had barely been apart for a couple of days?
“Hello?” she answered, and I could hear the flutter of nervousness to her voice. I knew that she was just as happy to hear me, too, and that made me a little more confident.
Fuck, I was already getting a little big-headed, sure that I was suddenly the one who knew how to work this dating thing. I would need to get that in hand before I let it get out of control.
“Hey, Raina,” I said. “Listen, I have a proposal for you.”
“A proposal?” she replied, and I realized how that must have sounded to her.
“No, no, not that kind,” I assured her. “But I have an invitation to a big charity event. It’s in a few weeks’ time, and I’m going to need to come up with a date so I don’t look like a total lonely loser.”
“Oh, you do flatter me,” she said with a laugh. “And let me guess. This is your way of asking that I come along as the date?”
“If you’d be up for it,” I replied. “It might not be your thing, but they’re usually pretty fun. Good food, free drinks, and you get to laugh at all the snooty people pretending they actually give to charity.”
“Yeah, sounds fun,” she agreed, but in truth, she sounded a little nervous.
“And I want you to know that I’m requesting that a portion of the money raised goes to the shelter,” I assured her. I could almost hear her grin from the other end of the line when she heard that come out of my mouth.”
“You mean that?” she asked.
“I mean that,” I promised her. “I wouldn’t be bothering with this at all if I didn’t think some good could actually come of it.”
“That honestly sounds like it could be so much fun,” she said. “I’ve never done anything like this before, though. So just fair warning, I might make a total ass of myself.”
“I’m sure I’ll find a way to keep you in line,” I replied a little flirtily.
She let out a sharp breath on the other end of the line. The sound of it made my blood heat a little. Damn, it was far too early in the morning to be allowing myself to feel the things I was feeling in that moment.
“I’m not sure I have anything that I could wear to an event like that, though,” she said worriedly. “I wouldn’t want to make a fool of you or anything by turning up in my scrubs.”
“I’d still rather be there with you than anyone else,” I replied. “But maybe I could...”
I was about to suggest that she let me pay for a dress for her, but I didn’t want to come across like I was trying to buy her affection or something like that. I quickly swallowed those words and shifted my method of attack.
“Maybe I could get my assistant Yara to give you a hand picking something out?” I suggested. “Could be fun. She goes to stuff like this all the time. I’m sure she would be able to give you a hand finding something that works for you.”
“Oh, I don’t want to put her out,” she replied. “But if she wouldn’t mind, I’m sure I could use the help of someone who actually knows what the hell they’re doing when it comes to stuff like this.”
“I’m sure she won’t mind,” I promised her. “In fact, I can ask her as soon as I’m off this call. I bet she’d be happy to help you out.”
“She’s the one who set you up with me in the first place, right?” Raina asked.
“That’s right.”
“So I guess I’ve got something to thank her for,” she replied, a smile in her voice.
I leaned back in my seat. I wished I could have been right there with her in that instant. I wished I could have seen that smile for myself.
“I guess you do,” I agreed. “But can I take that as a yes?”
“I’m going to say yes, but let me just check my schedule first,” she replied. “Don’t want to get you double-booked with an emergency de-worming or something.”
“Yeah, that wouldn’t do much to convince people that I wasn’t a pathetic lonely bachelor,” I remarked. I checked my watch again. I really should have been getting off the phone with her and getting down to work, but I wanted nothing more than to just spend the rest of the day chatting with her about anything that crossed my mind.
“I promise that you’re not,” she replied. “Well, not a bachelor, at least.”
“I’ll speak to you soon, okay?” I told her. “I have to get to a meeting, but we can talk later.”
“And I have to get to a spaying,” she said. “But yeah, I’ll check out all that stuff and make sure I’m in the clear. But I can’t imagine anything coming up that would stop me.”
“Glad to hear it.”
She paused for a moment, as though there was something more she wanted to say. I knew how she felt. When I was talking to her like this, it was hard to remember that there was anything else in the world that mattered. Yes, we were both at work, but how could that distract me when she was just so damn tempting on the other end of that line?
“See you soon,” she told me, and she was the one who made the first move and hung up.
I held the phone to my ear for a second longer, letting the sound of her voice play on my ears, before I did the same. Man, I was falling for this girl. I was falling for this girl so hard, harder than I had ever thought I would.
Tink stretched on the couch and then bounced down to come say hello to me. I reached out my hand, and he nuzzled against it happily. He seemed to sense that I was in a good mood and wanted to get in on that before I changed again.
He lay down beneath the chair, and even though I technically had a meeting to be getting to, I just let him, staring off into space and smiling happily. She was coming to an actual event with me. As my date. By my side. I couldn’t think of anything that sounded like more fun.
Apart from, of course, what we might get up to once the date was over, and I had gotten her back to my place once more.
Chapter 29
Raina
I scanned my gaze back and forth over the people in the crowd in front of me. Was she amongst them? I couldn’t tell. Harry had told me to look out for a pixie-cut blonde with green eyes, and I
couldn’t see anyone fitting that description.
Maybe I was just too nervous to take in what was in front of me in a serious way. I was so nervous about the thought of meeting the woman he classed as his best friend, so nervous that I was going to do or say something really stupid that would give my lack of class away to her.
A hand landed on my shoulder, and I practically jumped out of my skin. I turned around, half-expecting to see a security guard who had noticed how strangely I had been acting and wanted to check just what I was doing around here. But instead, I found myself looking at the woman who just had to be Yara.
“Hey,” Yara said with a smile. “Sorry to sneak up on you like that. You’re Raina, right?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” I replied. “And you must be Yara?”
“So I’m told,” she replied, and she glanced around at the handful of shops surrounding us. We had met in this fancy department store, and I was already worried about not fitting in there, feeling exposed for my lack of class.
“It’s really good to meet you,” I blurted out to her. “I’m glad—well, I was worried that I stuck out here, you know? I don’t usually come shopping at places like this.”
“Me neither,” Yara said with a grin. “But trust me, with your body? All these stores would kill to have one of their dresses on you.”
I looked down at myself. I had known for a long time that the way my body looked was hardly the specific standard for what women were meant to look like in this part of the world, but it was flattering that someone like Yara would argue otherwise. She was dressed impeccably, in a fitted pantsuit that hung from her wiry, delicate frame, and I knew that I would be in good hands if she was meant to guide me to the outfit I needed for this event.
