He was strong for such a skinny kid. About as skinny as her dog. He tried to keep hold of her hand but she took it back and put the carrier down for a minute. She would lay the bag of food on top of it and carry them both.
“Well, thanks, Shane, for your help,” she said. “I’ll take it from here.”
Still holding the bag of food, he dropped to his haunches to peer into the carrier.
“Hey,” she said. “I just told you goodbye. Give me that dog food.”
“I like him,” he said, looking up at her again with a charming grin. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Quit stalling. Look, I’m way too old for you and I’m in a hurry.”
Her temper was starting to rise. This kid was annoying.
“Have you had him long? What happened to him?”
“That’s what people are gonna be asking about you if you don’t give me my stuff.”
Shane stood up and threw the dog food on top of the carrier, but then he picked it up by the ends, just as she’d intended to do.
“This is way too heavy for a little thing like you. You lead, I’ll follow.”
“I’m not taking you to my room. Put that down.”
He looked past her, over her shoulder and said, “Hey, Dad, will you take my bags to our room? I’ll meet you there in a minute.”
Dad? Thank God.
Elle turned to look. She stared at the man Shane was calling Dad. Chase?
Chase. Lomax. Headed straight for them, glaring at the boy.
When Chase walked up to Shane and Elle, he was still thinking what he’d first thought when he spotted them together from outside the door: he could not believe that his two big frustrations had found each other. Not that Elle had meant to frustrate him last night. But now, with Shane here, he couldn’t go out with her because no way was he letting the kid out of his sight.
Damn the luck. Shane was not only trouble, but trouble that was snowballing fast.
“What the hell d’you think you’re doing, Shane? Didn’t I tell you to go straight to the room and call your mother? Either you can follow instructions or you can’t.”
Shane’s shoulders sagged and his cheeks flared red with embarrassment. Guilt stabbed at Chase. He should’ve thought for a second before he lashed out like that.
“Hello to you, too, Chase.” Elle’s sarcastic tone matched the disgusted look she gave him and quick temper flashed in her eyes.
He tried to get a grip.
“Hi, Elle. Is he bothering you?”
She was looking at Shane again. The boy had lost the smile he’d had when Chase walked up and he looked pretty whipped.
“No, he’s not bothering me. He’s helping me carry my dog.”
The tone of her voice made Chase feel even more like a jerk, which cranked his anger up another notch.
Shane threw up his head again and shifted the big crate. “Ready, Elle?”
“Yeah. Let’s go,” she said.
They were behaving as if Chase wasn’t even there. They started off across the lobby and so did he until he glimpsed Shane’s bags from the corner of his eye and went back to pick them up. He caught up as the elevator arrived. They all got in.
“Dad?” Elle said, glancing from him to Shane and back again as she punched the button. “I’m shocked, Chase. I didn’t know you had a kid.”
“Well, he does,” Shane said quickly, as if Chase might try to deny it.
Which made Chase feel even worse. Which made him feel even angrier. Which wound him up even tighter. He tried to lighten up, even though he had to grit his teeth to do it.
“You’re saying I look way too young to have a kid this old, right?”
“W-e-l-l…” she said thoughtfully, “not exactly. Maybe not way too young…”
That made Shane chuckle—was there a little tone of vengeance there?—and Elle laughed and Chase tried to smile. Her laugh made him remember exactly how it had felt to make love with her. Nearly make love with her. Irritation swept through him all over again.
“What’s this dog’s name?” Shane asked, cutting Chase out of the conversation. Elle went right along with that. She even moved to where she was looking at the dog instead of Chase.
“Kodiak-the-Dog.”
“Anybody can see he’s a dog,” Shane said.
“It’s a joke. Missy Jo, my friend who was with me when we found him, said that Kodiak’s a bear’s name.”
Shane gazed at her with a questioning frown.
“He’s a Husky,” she said. “I wanted an Alaskan name.”
She smiled at Shane. She hadn’t really smiled at Chase yet. Was it all because he’d been short with Shane?
“Anchorage and Fairbanks were way too long and Homer sounds like an old dog.”
Clearly, Shane had no idea what she was talking about.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll call him Kodi.”
Chase glared at them both. You’re not gonna be seeing him long enough to call him anything. You may not know it, but you’re on your way home, Shane-o.
Elle started telling the story of how she’d found the dog, the elevator stopped, Shane picked up the box again, and they stepped out. Moving right along, buddying-up real fast. Chase followed.
Damn! There was just no end to the twists this boy could put on a situation. How long had he been here, anyhow? Maybe thirty minutes, tops. Seemed more like a week to Chase.
She’d finished the story of finding the dog.
“Can he walk?” Shane asked. “We had a three-legged dog once and he walked just fine. He could even run.”
“Kodi walks a little, but he won’t eat and he’s so weak I carry him most of the time.”
“You carry him out to potty?” Shane asked.
At her nod, Shane said, “I’ll do it. Tell me when you want me.”
Then he gazed at her meaningfully, no doubt hoping she’d hear a double meaning in his words.
“Forget it,” Chase snapped. “You won’t be here that long, Shane.”
Elle threw him a dirty look, as if to say quit picking on the kid, but Shane ignored him completely.
“Like I said before,” he said to Elle, “you’re too little to carry him.”
“Give it up, Shane,” Chase said, his tone coming out more scornful than he intended. He tried to soften it. “Elle’s stronger than you are. She’s a bullfighter. Did you know that?”
Shane’s jaw dropped. “Are you really?”
“Yeah, but so what?” she said. “Bullfighters need help, too, sometimes.”
“Shane’s leaving in the morning,” Chase said.
Nobody heard him.
She got out her key and opened the door to her room. Her room, where just last night, they’d been getting to know each other…right over there….
“What a deal,” Shane said, grinning all over his face now. “Maybe we could trade out—I’ll take your dog out, you watch