Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #7)(23)

Nope. Not going there. With anyone. “I need help,” she said. Not an easy admittance. “Lollipop isn’t allowed at the day spa. I need to get her from you early so I have time to drop her off at doggy day care with Willa.”

“Why don’t you save the money and leave her with me,” he said. “She can stay here for my morning meetings. I’ll pick her up and get her to you before your shift at The Canvas Shop.”

“You don’t have to—

“I want to.” He suddenly stilled and looked around him. “Shit. Hold on.” He apparently tossed the phone down on a counter because then she was looking up at steam swirling around the ceiling. She could hear him calling for Lollipop and her heart stopped.

“Did you find her?” she asked.

Nothing.

Ten long seconds later, he picked up his phone and turned it out so she could see his room. One of his pillows had fallen to the floor and that’s where Lollipop had made herself comfortable, curled up on top of the pillow like she owned it.

And him.

“Oh my God,” she said. “See? Now you’re never going to get her out of your bed.”

He scooped up the dog and went nose-to-nose with her. “You’re cute,” he said. “I’ll give you that. But listen carefully. Last night was a one-time thing.”

Sadie snorted.

Lollipop licked his nose.

“No, I mean it,” he said.

This got him another lick and he turned to look at Sadie. “She’s not listening.”

What female would when faced with the sight of him standing there in just that towel? Then she realized he was staring at her. “What?” she asked.

He gave a slow shake of his head. “Nothing. For a minute there, I thought you were softening for me.” He smiled. “But that was my imagination, right?”

She cleared her throat. “Definitely.”

She knew that he knew she was full of shit, but he let her get away with it. “Do you want to keep her company while I get ready for work?” he asked.

Well, hell. If she hadn’t softened before when he’d run through his house looking for the dog, she did so now for giving her the few extra minutes. “Yes, thank you.”

“Anytime,” he said and though people said that word all the time and didn’t mean it, she somehow knew he did.

Caleb set Lollipop back on the bed and grabbed his fallen pillow to prop the phone up it so she could see. Then he grabbed his clothes and went into the bathroom to change.

Which was a bummer. How scary was that?

Three minutes later, he reappeared in a suit looking ready to take on the world. She had no idea how he did that, but even his expression was different.

Caleb Parker was in full business mode.

“Hold on a sec,” he called to her and vanished. A minute later he was back with a length of wood, which he quickly rigged up like a makeshift ramp against the bed for Lollipop to get safely down.

Sadie was floored.

He then showed Lollipop how to use it. “Okay, so you’re going to hang out here for a few hours. I’ll come back for you at lunch. All you’ve got to do is nap and . . . do whatever dogs do during the day.”

He gave her a quick kiss on the snout and caught Sadie’s raised brow. “You want a kiss too?” he asked.

Yes . . . “In your dreams.”

“You’re already there,” he said and that shut her up.

He dreamed about her?

He scooped up the phone and moved through the house.

“The ramp,” she said carefully. “That was . . . something.”

He flashed a smile. “Something good, right?”

Try amazing . . . “You’re the biggest sucker I’ve ever met,” she said.

He laughed, obviously seeing right through her.

And he was right. She was touched beyond belief by what he’d done for Lollipop, and damn. She was having feelings, so many feelings. “You’re different,” she said.

“So I’m both the biggest sucker you’ve ever met and different. So many compliments today.”

She rolled her eyes. “Like you need compliments from me.” She paused. “You’re . . . analytical, which makes you more cut-and-dry than the average person. You’re a tactical thinker. One who can build a ramp for his disabled dog on the fly and be a sarcastic smartass at the same time.”

He laughed. “Sarcastic smartass. Well, it takes one to know one.” He looked at her, eyes warm. “And you’re different too. Different good, by the way. You’re a puzzle, one I can’t seem to solve. That doesn’t happen often.”

“You can’t solve a woman,” she said.

He laughed again, and she thought she could get very used to that sound. Even addicted. So not good.

With their FaceTime call still connected, he went out what she assumed was his front door. She couldn’t see much but she had no problem hearing the sudden howling. And not just little howls either, ear-splitting howls of death. “Oh my God,” she said. “What’s wrong, what happened to her?”

Caleb quickly unlocked the door and stepped back inside. The howls immediately stopped and Sadie heard the pitter-patter of uneven paws as they skidded across the hardwood floors. And then Caleb was mobbed.

“She okay?” Sadie asked as he crouched low and hoisted the dog in his arms.