by T. K. Leigh
Sport’s paws clicked on the hardwood floors as he ran around the living room, exploring. “Come on, buddy! Let’s go for a walk,” I called out. He ran toward me, sliding across the travertine tile in the kitchen area and practically slamming into the wall. I laughed to myself. “It’s going to take a bit to get used to not having carpeting, isn’t it, pal?” He sat on his hind legs and raised his liver-spotted paw.
Finding his collar on the kitchen island, I clipped it around his neck and hooked him up to his leash. He jumped, grabbing part of the leash in his mouth, and we left my new penthouse condo.
After the elevator whisked me down fourteen floors, I sauntered through the lobby and emerged onto Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, smiling at the doorman and inhaling the late September air. It was a comfortable day. There was a slight chill, but the sun was already beaming, even at eight in the morning.
“Smog,” I snorted. “Better than horse shit, I guess.” I glanced over my shoulder, hoping no one had heard me talking to myself. The doorman tipped his hat at me and I cringed. “You heard that?” I asked.
“Heard what?” he responded slyly.
“Okay then.”
I turned back around and waited for the WALK signal at the crosswalk.
“For the record, ma’am, you’ll get used to the smog.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as I crossed the street to Palisades Park, a grin on my face. For the first time, I actually felt grateful Will couldn’t keep his willy in his pants. If he hadn’t been stupid enough to bang my best friend at the precise time he knew I would be home every night, I would still be stuck in North Carolina, miserable and waiting for my life to truly begin. Now, I finally had the opportunity to make my dreams a reality, and what better place to do that than somewhere with sun, sand, and surfers?
“What do you think, Sport?” I glimpsed at the amused expression on his furry face as he set his eyes on the ocean for the first time in his life. “Happy to be out of Carolina?” He looked back at me, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he sniffed every tree and bench we passed, and I knew he was thrilled with his new zip code.
“And the best part? It doesn’t snow here, bud! No more having to go out in nasty weather!” I surveyed his reaction, which remained the same. It didn’t take much to make a dog happy. Give him a place to shit while looking at the crashing waves of the ocean and he’s as happy as can be.
Allowing Sport’s leash a little more slack, I stared at the water, tuning out the sound of horns and cars as they drove along the coast of Santa Monica. The waves were peaceful and serene, and I felt a renewed energy. When I pulled away from the small town in North Carolina I had grown up in, I almost turned my car around at least a dozen times. The thought of leaving the only life I had ever known petrified me. Most women my age probably went through that when they were eighteen and headed off to college for the first time. I never had that experience. Now, as I stared at the Pacific Ocean, sailboats and surfers bobbing up and down in the water, I started to think I was finally where I belonged.
“Why would anyone want to live anywhere else?” I mused out loud.
A sudden and unexpected strong yank on Sport’s leash woke me from my thoughts, startling me. Unable to react quickly enough, his leash slipped out of my hand and I watched in horror as he darted down the paved path, apparently on a mission.
“Sport! Heel! Stop! Slow down!” I shouted, trying to get him to obey my lackluster command. It was completely useless. I was never the dog’s master. This was just another reminder of that fact.
Chasing him through the park, I was relieved when he finally slowed his pace. However, that relief was short-lived once I saw what had captured his attention so suddenly.
“Sport! No!” My eyes growing wide, my face turned red in embarrassment when he attempted to mount a light-haired dog that easily outweighed him by twenty pounds.
Struggling to catch my breath, I grabbed Sport’s chest, doing my best to pry him off the other dog, who didn’t seem to mind the affection. “I’m so sorry,” I said to the owner of Sport’s new girlfriend, keeping my eyes cast downward. For a small dog, Sport was freakishly strong, especially when he was about to get some. “He’s fixed, but he has a tendency to take after his daddy.”
“Don’t worry about it,” the stranger replied, both of us attempting to separate our dogs. “Enjoying the love, are ya, girl?”
Just when I couldn’t be any more horrified, things took a turn for the worse. “Oh, my god, Sport! Lipstick in! There are people around, buddy! If you were human, your ass would be on the sexual offender registry!”
He ignored me and continued to hump the other dog’s leg, his size prohibiting him from getting any higher.
“This may just be the most embarrassing thing ever,” I remarked, my breathing labored.
“I’d say more amusing than embarrassing.”
“All right, buddy. That’s enough.”
I leaned in with the intention of using every ounce of strength I possessed to pry my dog off his girl, my motions fast and quick… Too fast and quick. Giving one final tug, my head slammed into the stranger’s nose, a faint crack echoing.
“Shit! I’m so sorry,” I apologized, no longer worried about my dog’s sexual promiscuity. Embarrassment turned into absolute humiliation as I looked up to see this complete stranger holding his nose, blood streaming down his face and into his hands.
“Okay. Now you can probably call this the most embarrassing thing ever.” He laughed, remaining composed, despite my reaction.
“Here.” I rummaged through my bag, pulling out a messy pile of tissues. “Use this to stop the flow of blood.” I held the tissues out to him. “We need to get you to the hospital.” I frantically scanned the park, unsure of how far I was from my condo building.
“Thanks, but it’s not a big deal.”
“But your nose… It’s got to be broken.” I observed his blood seeping through the tissues.
“It’s not broken,” he assured me in a nasal tone. “I’d know if it were. You know that kid in elementary school who always suffered from bloody noses? Well, that was me. And it never goes away. All I have to do is bump it and the flood gates open, but it stops pretty quickly.” He winked as a warm smile crossed his full lips. In the midst of trying to pry my dog off his, I hadn’t taken a second to even look at him. Now that I was, I wanted to rewind the clock so I could perhaps brush my teeth and run a comb through my hair before leaving my condo. He had to be in his thirties and was at least six feet tall. As he lifted his arm to keep the tissues pressed to his nose, he revealed a slight sliver of skin between his t-shirt and shorts.
“See,” he said, snapping me back to reality and away from mentally undressing him in my mind. I had read my fair share of romance novels. All the leading men seemed to have a six-pack and a V that disappeared below their shorts. I imagined this man was endowed with such a physique. That was how I pictured him in my mind, anyway.
Removing the tissues from his face, he continued, “It stops as soon as it starts.”
I studied his nose. Just moments ago, a gush of blood was running down his face. Now there was nothing, other than a few streaks of dried blood. My gaze roamed from his nose to his gray-blue eyes that seemed to dance with amusement. My uncle always said you could tell a lot about a person from their eyes. I didn’t know if that were true or not, but I got the feeling this was a man who didn’t take anything in life too seriously, who was just along for the ride, letting the journey take him where it should.
“This was certainly an unexpected way to wake me up before I’ve even had my morning coffee,” he added when I remained silent. If I were him, I would have questioned my ability to form a basic sentence. Raising his eyebrows, he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Tearing my eyes from his, my face burned with embarrassment. “I don’t know which is worse,” I began, trying to act like the twenty-eight-year-old woman I was, and not the thirteen-year-old schoolgirl who was droolin
g all over Logan Benson, the new kid who had just moved to our small town from Atlanta. All the girls seemed to lose half their brain cells whenever he was near, myself included. “My dog humping yours, me breaking your nose, or all of this happening before you’ve even had a chance to have your morning coffee.”
A playful smile crossed his face and I couldn’t help but stare. Truthfully, it was more like gawking with a hint of drooling. A bit of scruff covered his chin and upper lip. The combination of the cargo shorts and olive-colored t-shirt brought forward all sorts of fantasies of this man having been deployed on a secret mission for the past week, just now returning to civilization. My imagination ran wild with various scenarios involving loaded weapons, zip ties, and rope.
That was what six months without getting laid can do to a girl.
“I think it’s the combination of all three that really makes this a day I’ll not soon forget,” he commented.
“Grenade launcher,” I mumbled, still lost in my fantasy world.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I answered quickly, cringing that my internal thoughts didn’t stay that way. “Why don’t you let me buy you a coffee? It’s the least I can do for assaulting you.”
“You don’t have to,” he insisted. “Really. It’s no big deal.”
“Well, if you won’t let me buy you a coffee, how about you point me in the direction of the nearest Starbucks? I just moved and all my stuff is still in boxes, coffee maker included.”
“I’ll do you one better. I’ll show you myself. I’m a bit jet-lagged from getting in late last night and could use the caffeine.”
I opened my mouth to protest.
“This way,” he directed before I could say anything, heading south.
Frozen in place, I was dumbfounded as to why a man I had given a bloody nose to would go out of his way to walk with me to the closest coffee shop. Was he a serial killer? Would he abduct me and take me to his secret lair? He didn’t exactly look like a mass murderer. Then again, neither did Ted Bundy.
“Are you coming?” He glanced over his shoulder, winking.
His wink was like pancakes on a Saturday morning.
His wink was like watermelon on a hot summer day.
His wink was like sniffing your dog’s paws… Okay, that one may not sound too enticing, but trust me. If you’ve ever owned a dog, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
His wink made me forget all about him being a potential serial killer.
“Not yet, but there’s still time for that,” I muttered as I caught up to him, tugging Sport with me. We walked along the ocean for a while, then the Santa Monica Pier came into view. A lightness ran through my chest at the idea that I was here, that I set out to do something and I actually followed through. No one had talked me out of it. No one had given me a guilt trip about being selfish. I was in charge of my own destiny for the first time since I could remember.
“What kind of dog is she?” I asked, breaking the silence. It seemed awkward to me. Silence always had that effect on me. It made me nervous.
“She’s a labrador-boxer mix. She’s probably got some other stuff mixed in, but that’s what they figured at the shelter when I adopted Gidget.”
“Gidget?” I stopped abruptly. “Is that seriously your dog’s name?”
He faced me and shrugged, running his fingers through his light brown hair. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for old beach movies and Sandra Dee.”
I eyed him suspiciously. Part of me wondered if Will had bribed this guy to spy on me, but I knew he wouldn’t care enough to do so. All he cared about after I left was getting his dog back, and I had already put my foot down on that matter. He was an unfit parent.
“What?” he pushed when I remained silent. “Did I say something wrong?”
“Sorry,” I responded, continuing down the path once more. “You just seem too young to like that movie. I remember watching it with my dad when I was a little girl and dreaming of having my own surf shack on the beach, although I doubt I’d have the coordination to surf.”
“I may have dressed up as Big Kahuna for Halloween when I was ten.”
I laughed. “I wanted to be Gidget one year, but she was blonde,” I admitted, gesturing to my red hair. “So I was relegated to being Annie. You seem to be more like Moondoggie, if you ask me.”
He stopped walking and stared at me, his lips turned up at the corners, a small, but heartwarming smile drawn on his mouth. “Who are you? I didn’t think anyone else liked that movie. At least no one our age.”
“Hey!” I punched him playfully. “Don’t assume we’re the same age.”
“Fine. How old are you?”
I gasped in faux shock. “Didn’t your mother teach you it’s rude to ask a lady her age?” I played up my southern accent and bat my eyelashes. “Especially a complete stranger?”
“Oh, she raised me to be a perfect gentleman,” he responded as we came to a stop at a crosswalk by the pier. “But there’s a time and a place for everything.” He took a step closer.
My entire body flamed from the way he was gazing at me, as if I were a meal and he had gone hungry for days. “Don’t you think?” He raised his eyebrows and licked his lips, surveying my petite frame. I would have given anything to know what he was thinking at that moment. I was pretty sure it wasn’t about the upcoming Presidential election.
“Yes.” I swallowed hard, backing against a metal pole. I had nowhere to go as he drew closer and closer. My heart thumped in my chest, and I couldn’t help but think that LA was a very friendly town. Or maybe my original gut instinct was right and he was Ted Bundy’s protégé. His breath whispered against my neck as he leaned toward me, his arm reaching for my waist. He pressed the WALK request button on the pole and stepped back.
I took a deep breath, trying to get my raging hormones under control. I had no idea if this guy was flirting with me or if I was so sexually deprived, I was making it all up in my head. I was starting to lean toward the latter.
“So you just moved to town?” he inquired as if nothing had just almost transpired between us. “Where were you living before then?”
“North Carolina,” I squeaked out, questioning my sanity.
“Why the change of scenery? New job?”
“New life.”
He smiled. “Nice. I like that.”
The crosswalk signal changed and we walked across the street, the background noise of cars honking and crashing ocean waves filling in the silence. Approaching our destination, he turned to me. “Why don’t you wait out here with the dogs while I run in to clean up and grab our coffees?” He handed me Gidget’s leash and led me toward a small table on the sidewalk.
“I offered to buy you a coffee and now you’re getting me one?” I placed my hand on my hip and gave him an incredulous, albeit playful look. “Doesn’t seem fair, if you ask me.”
“I didn’t ask you,” he responded slyly, turning from me and heading into the small shop.
I lowered myself to the chair, fighting back my smile, and turned my eyes to the street, soaking in everything about my new hometown. The Santa Monica Pier was visible just a block or so away, tourists already beginning their day as they strolled along the boardwalk. Men and women in business attire entered and exited the coffee shop like a revolving door, obviously needing their caffeine fix to start their day. Sport and Gidget simply curled up at my feet, sniffing each other. Dogs were such basic creatures. A simple butt sniff was all it took.
“Hope you like Americanos,” a voice interrupted. “That’s what I got.”
“I’m not picky when it comes to caffeine.” I turned my attention to see my new friend take the seat opposite me. “And after driving across the country, I’ve sworn to never take a good, strong cup of coffee for granted again.”
Taking a sip, he then placed his cup on the table between us and leaned back into the chair, crossing his arms over his chest. His muscles stretched the fabric of his shirt slightly. It wasn’t in such
a way that I thought he was about to rip his shirt off and announce to the world that he was the Incredible Hulk. It was just enough so I knew he cared about his body.
“You drove across the country?” he asked, cutting through my thoughts about whether the Hulk was green all over…including you know where.
“I’ve always wanted to do it, and I knew I may never get the opportunity again. Since I’m all about having a new adventure, I figured starting with a cross-country drive was perfect. Sure, I could have just as easily flown and had my car shipped, but that sounded boring. I even spray-painted my name on a car at the Cadillac Ranch in Texas.”
“You’re definitely not like a lot of people I know, Dixie,” he commented, taking another sip of his coffee.
“Dixie?”
“Yeah. That accent of yours… It’s cute.” He beamed the most amazing smile at me, his lips full, his eyes brimming with amusement.
Heat flamed my face and my heart fluttered uncontrollably, all because of a knee-weakening look from an attractive man. Taking a deep breath, I once more tried to calm the hormones raging inside me from my lack of intimacy over the past six months. Of course, it had been at least five years since I really felt fulfilled from sex. I had relied on myself to take the edge off when needed. Life with Will was all about Will…in his job and in the bedroom. Now that I was completely unattached and in a brand new place, I was like a lioness in heat, ready to pounce on the first attractive man who so much as looked at me in any way that might indicate a modicum of interest.
“So what’s your deal?” I asked, focusing the conversation on him instead. “You mentioned you were jet-lagged from flying in late last night. Work or pleasure?”
“I was out of town on a shoot.”
