Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #7)(26)

Which made him the very opposite of perfect . . .





Chapter 9





#DogKissesSolveEverything



A few days went by, during which Sadie had too too many hours on the job and not enough hours sleeping. Tired didn’t come close to describing how she felt. She’d just spent about ten hours on her feet, leaning over clients, more than a little uptight about getting everything just right. Being an artist was one thing. So was selling your art. It was subjective, and that was okay.

But being an artist and selling the art that you literally inked onto a person’s skin couldn’t be subjective.

It had to be perfect.

She’d texted Caleb asking if she could have Lollipop tonight even though it wasn’t her night. The truth was, she felt lonely and needed the company. It was unlike her to admit she needed anything, but somehow texting Caleb didn’t make her feel as vulnerable as she might have with anyone else.

Which made no sense.

He’d let her know he would meet her at eight p.m. near the pub.

At ten minutes till, she walked the length of the courtyard, slowing to wave at Old Man Eddie, who lived in the alley. Spence, his grandson, had tried unsuccessfully to relocate Eddie to an apartment in the building, but Eddie preferred the alley. He waved back. “How’s it going, cutie-pie?”

This was his nickname for most of the females who passed by. Probably because he couldn’t remember any of their names. “Good,” she said. “How you doing? How’s the new girlfriend?”

He scratched his head, his wild Einstein hair standing on end. “She dumped me. Twice. Women should come with instructions.”

“What would be the point of that?” Sadie asked. “I’ve never actually seen a man read any instructions.”

Eddie was laughing as she walked on.

And a minute later, she found Caleb looking pained as he watched Lollipop on a leash chasing her tail until she fell over.

And though Sadie had thought it was Lollipop she needed that night, she knew she was at least partially wrong. Because it wasn’t the dog who caught her attention and held, but the man.

He’d shucked his suit jacket and shoved his sleeves up his forearms. No tie, top few buttons undone, the material stretched taut over his broad shoulders. With his build and the way he had of making her feel like the only person in the room, she had no doubt that if he’d been the lonely one tonight, he could flash his very easygoing, laid-back smile and draw in all the single females in the entire city.

Tonight though, standing there by himself and not “on” for any reason, he seemed . . . different. He had an air of being as exhausted as she, and maybe also a whole lot on edge, which was a very unusual look for him. And also ridiculously, disarmingly sexy.

Especially when Lollipop stopped twirling in circles and leaned against him. He squatted low and opened his arms and the dog walked right into them.

And Ivy’s words came back to Sadie. No matter how rich or intelligent you are, how you treat an animal tells me all I need to know about you . . .

She took a deep breath and admitted to herself that watching Caleb with Lollipop told her a whole hell of a lot about him.

He looked up and held her gaze prisoner in his for a beat. “Hey,” he said, voice low, a little rough. “You okay?”

“Why? Don’t I look okay?” The instant ‘tude was an auto response.

But he didn’t back off. “You look . . .” He gave a quick head shake and a small smile. “Well, if you knew what I was thinking about how you look, you wouldn’t still be standing there, you’d be running for the hills.”

Something quivered low in her belly. Dangerously attracted, she stayed right where she was.

“I’m asking,” he said, “because you look tired. You had a long day.”

She had. And how long had it been since anyone had noticed, much less worried about her? “I could say the same thing about you.”

Another small smile. “So we’re both overworked.”

“Yes,” she said. “But only one of us is underpaid.”

He came toward her. “I’m assuming we’re both starving though, right?”

She nodded. She was starving. She just wasn’t quite sure she was starving for food.

“I was thinking tacos. Ivy’s open for the street fair tonight.” He looped Lollipop’s leash around the back of a wrought-iron bench and turned back to Sadie. “But first, I opened a credit card account for us.”

She blinked. “What? Why?”

“For Poops A Lot. She’s cute, but she’s expensive as hell.” He pulled a credit card from his pocket and held it out to her.

She stared at the card without taking it. It had her name on it. And it wasn’t any old card either, it was a black AmEx card. “What the actual hell?” she asked calmly.

Okay, not calmly. Not even a little bit calmly.

“A dog’s expensive,” he said. And he did manage calm, as always. “This way if you have to buy stuff, you’re covered.”

She thought about strangling him. Instead, she said, “I cover myself.”

“I know.” Damn him for being so reasonable when she couldn’t seem to manage anything close on the best of days, of which this wasn’t one. “I’m not trying to piss you off,” he said. “There’s just no reason for you to have to cover her when I can do it.”