Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
“Awww. Poor baby.” Layla released the shoe and scooped Freckles into her arms, snuggling him against her chest.
I could swear the dog looked back at me and grinned. Maybe I imagined it.
“I had a dog when I was little.”
“I know. That was the start of your yeahway lists. You got a mutt that you named Muffin the Mutt.”
She looked at me funny, her nose crinkling up. “You remember my dog’s name?”
“Too creepy?”
Her lip twitched. “Maybe a little.”
Ten minutes later, Carol, the volunteer who’d helped us when we came in, appeared in the doorway. “Looks like he’s taken a liking to the Mrs.”
I saw from my peripheral vision that Layla was about to correct her, so I beat her to the chase. “Can you blame him? Dog’s got good taste.”
I winked when my pretend wife gave me the evil eye.
“We’re all ready with the paperwork. Sorry about the wait. We just need you to sign a few forms, and you’ll be on your way.”
I lifted the dog from Layla’s arms and offered a hand to help her up.
“I’ll be right next door when you’re ready,” Carol said. She began to walk away and then turned back and pointed to the beat-up loafer on the floor. “Don’t forget Freckles’ shoe.”
Layla had been brushing the dog hair from her pants. Her head popped up. “What did she just say?”
“She said she’d be right next door when we’re ready.”
She narrowed her eyes. “After that.”
“She didn’t want us to forget his loafer.”
“Yes, and what did she call the dog?”
“By his name, of course.”
She playfully smacked my arm. “What’s the dog’s name, Westbrook?”
I grinned. “Freckles.”
“That was his name already or that’s what you named him?”
“I had nothing to do with it.” I pointed to his nose. The little guy’s freckles were front and center with his new shaved head. “But now I know why we bonded so easily. Me and Freckles. We’re meant to be.”
She shook her head, but the smile she wore hadn’t disappeared. I extended my hand for her to walk through the doorway before me, but stopped her before she passed through to whisper, “I was referring to both Freckles, in case you were wondering.”
Chapter 15
* * *
Gray
I wasn’t ready to call it a day.
But after a trip to a nearby pet store to stock up on supplies, Freckles told me he was ready to go home. He actually laid down while I waited in the checkout line.
Layla placed the dog bowls in her hands on the conveyor belt while I added a twenty-pound bag of food, biscuits, some chew sticks, and a plastic shoe that I had a feeling would drive me nuts from squeaking.
She looked at Freckles as he yawned and made himself comfortable. “I think you have a lazy dog.”
“Don’t pick on your namesake.” I paid the bill for my purchases and grabbed the dog food and one of the bags. Layla picked up the other two, and we walked back out to the street together.
“My little buddy’s wiped out, and I could really use some help carrying all this junk to my place.”
Layla gave me a face that said you’re full of shit. “I could tie these bags to your belt loops and make you walk home like a pack mule while I go into the office for a few hours like I should’ve done today.”
I grinned. “Or…you could come home with me and let me try to impress you with the view from my living room.”
“If I help you, do you promise to be on good behavior?”
“I do.” I looked down at my new dog. “But I can’t speak for Freckles here. I’m not the only one that wants to lick you.”
“Which way? Before I change my mind.”
***
My palms started to sweat as I opened the front door to my apartment. I had no fucking idea why. I lived in a great building, the views were spectacular, and before my disastrous relationship with Max, I wasn’t a stranger to entertaining. But with Layla, everything just felt important.
I couldn’t have asked for a better reception if I’d ordered the sunset myself. The floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room revealed the most colorful, hazy sunset casting orange, yellow, and purple streaks across the sky. It wasn’t quite fully dark, but it was dim enough that the lights of Manhattan bounced a glow all over the city.
“Holy shit.” Layla made a beeline for the wall of glass. “I assumed you saying you had a great view was just a way to lure me up to your apartment.”
I walked over and stood close behind her. God, what I wouldn’t have given to pull her hair to the side and devour her beautiful neck. Together we looked out in comfortable silence until she broke it.
“You must’ve missed this.”
I looked at her standing so close and began to salivate. “You can’t even imagine.”