By the time Shane got to the sidewalk, the dog was trotting along about thirty yards ahead. Shane whistled and to his surprise, the mutt turned and sprinted back to him.
The smelly animal jumped up on Shane’s legs, licking at the stain on the front of his shirt.
“Down, boy! Sit.” Shane put up a knee to discourage the jumping. Surprisingly, the dog obeyed and lowered himself to his haunches, calmly panting and looking up at Shane.
“We need to get you home before you get hurt.” He tested the dog’s demeanor by holding out his closed hand, which the dog sniffed and then licked. Shane gave him a few strokes, and then took a hold of the mutt’s collar, which, he noticed, had no tags. The good-natured animal trotted alongside Shane the entire two blocks to the house where he’d seen the boys shooting hoops. They weren’t in the driveway anymore. So Shane guided the dog up the bricked path onto the porch where he rang the doorbell.
A man who looked to be in his forties opened the door.
“Excuse me, but your dog has gotten out again,” Shane said. “I almost hit him. I don’t want him to get hurt.”
The man looked confused and shook his head. “That’s not my dog. We don’t have any pets. Wife’s allergic.”
Shane looked from the man to the dog then back again to the man. “But I saw your boys playing with him out in the driveway earlier this afternoon.”
“Must be a stray,” the man answered.
“Dad, who is it?” called a young voice. Seconds later, the smaller of the two boys he’d seen earlier with the dog poked his head around the doorjamb and looked at him. The boy reached out and petted the animal. The dog whined and panted appreciatively.
“Greg, don’t touch that animal.”
“Aww, but he’s a nice dog, Dad.”
“Yeah, I hear you and your brother were playing with him this afternoon. What have I told you about touching strays? They could have rabies. Now, go wash your hands.”
The boy mumbled something under his breath that Shane couldn’t hear, then disappeared from the doorway, leaving Shane and the dad face-to-face.
“If he’s not yours, do you know who he belongs to?” Shane asked. “I hate to see him running loose out there. That won’t do anyone any good.”
“That’s for sure. But sorry, I’ve never seen the mutt before. Maybe you can take him to animal control.”
“I’d hate to have to do that. You know what happens to animals there.”
“Wish I could help you, but...” The man shrugged again, then shut the door, leaving Shane and the dog on the porch.
“Now what are we going to do?” Shane asked the dog.
He let go of the collar to adjust his grip and was surprised when the dog didn’t sprint away. Instead, the animal sat down next to him, leaning his weight possessively against Shane’s leg and staring up at him with soulful brown eyes.
Since the sun would set in a couple of hours and Shane was coming up short on leads as to who the dog belonged to, there seemed to be only one option.
“You want to come home with me tonight?”
* * *
AJ didn’t expect Shane to call. Not that she was a pessimist, but since he’d been so adamant about taking her number and being the one who called for the date, she suspected it might have been his way of letting her down easy.
She all but snorted to herself. He was the one who’d called it a date. She’d simply offered to make dinner for him as compensation for the misery she and her grandmother had put him through.
She suspected he hadn’t known what he was getting himself into when he’d told Maya he would deliver the chocolates.
That’s why, as she dried the last of the equipment she’d used at the festival, she was more than surprised when her phone rang just after six-thirty, and it was Shane asking about...dog shampoo?
“A stray picked me up on the way home from the food festival,” he said. “It must have been because I smelled like barbecue.”
He laughed and she was glad to know he really did have a good sense of humor. So many guys would have gotten bent out of shape over being splattered with sauce—especially since he hadn’t really gotten to take in much of the festival before it happened.
It occurred to AJ, when applying her qualities-a-man-must-possess list to Shane, she could check off two more items: someone who didn’t take himself too seriously, and someone who was compassionate but masculine. He had to be compassionate if he picked up a stray dog. And masculine...well, all it took was one look at Shane Harrison and his masculinity was as apparent as red paint on a fire hydrant.
She paused, drying her wet hands on a dish towel, waiting for a feeling of absurdity to engulf her. But it didn’t. Maybe it was because he was the one who had brought up the possibility of having a date—and he had actually followed through on calling. In the same night, no less—even if it was to ask about dog shampoo. Actually, because of this, she didn’t feel quite as ridiculous dusting off the list and checking off items.
“Any idea if it’s safe to use people shampoo on a dog?” Shane asked. Judging by the noises coming from his end of the line, it sounded as if he were on a headset, like he was calling her as he drove.
Teetering on the edge of uncertainty—and it wasn’t just the shampoo question that made her hesitate—she smiled at the sound of his voice.
“I’m not sure, but I can look it up on my smartphone. Hold on a second.”
For the first time in a long time she, she was attracted to someone. It had been such a long time—since Danny had been killed. And it felt good for the butterflies to be back.
She waited for the old, familiar guilt to wash over her. Guilt that Danny was dead and she was here, lusting after another man.
No. Stop it.
It had been nearly five years since her fiancé had been killed in the line of duty.
He went to work one day and didn’t come home. He was gone. Just like that.
“I guess I could have done the same thing,” he said. “So if you’re in the middle of something, don’t worry about it.”
AJ shook away the thought, refusing to let the unchangeable past stand in the way of possibility. Danny would want her to start living again. Thirty-three was too young to put herself on a shelf.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “I’ve been home for about an hour. I was just thinking about fixing myself some dinner. So let me look it up. You definitely shouldn’t web surf and drive.”
“I wouldn’t web surf and drive,” he said. “I’d pull over if I were going to do that.”
“At the rate you’re going, it’ll be midnight before you get home. Hold on, it’ll only take me a few seconds to search. But I’ll have the phone away from my ear while I’m investigating.”
“Okay, thanks,” he said. “I appreciate your help.”
She found a legitimate-looking article written by a veterinarian. “Nope. It says here that the pH of dog shampoo is two points different than people shampoo. Supposedly, that’s a huge difference. It says here, using products made for people can dry out a dog’s skin and cause all sorts of problems.”
“Well, that’s not what I wanted to hear. I guess that means I’ll have to stop by the store before I get back to the apartment. He’s so flea-infested, I may have to set off a bug bomb in my car. I don’t want to bring him in the