Chapter Eleven
Wes
Wes wasn’t entirely surprised when they
Manhattan. After all, Ryker housed three pets in a small New York
apartment. His love of animals was evident.
A tall woman with a short blonde bob and
blue eyes met them at the front desk. “You’re in earlier than
usual, Ry. And I see you’ve brought a guest?”
She moved around the desk to give Ryker a
hug.
“This is a colleague of mine, Wes Stewart.
He’s going to be helping me out this afternoon. Wes, this is
Charlotte Landing. She’s the executive director of Heart2Home.”
“Oh, my God! Of course I recognize Mr.
Stewart! Welcome to our humble shelter. This is truly an honor. I’m
such a big fan of your books.” She gushed as she grasped Wes’s hand
tightly. “Wait, are you here for research? Are you writing a new
mystery series? Oh! You could set one here and we could all be your
suspects,” she squealed.
“I’m just here as Ryker’s guest, but you
never know,” Wes replied politely.
“You’re here to volunteer with Ryker? That’s
so awesome,” she smiled, turning to Ryker. “We’ve got three new
dogs in this week. If you and Wes could sign in and take them for a
walk, that would be super.” She handed over a clipboard. “Oh, and
Rudy is still nervous around new people. Maybe spend some
one-on-one time with him again?”
“Sure thing,” Ryker replied.
They signed in and wandered down a long
hallway to a solid green door. As they approached it, Wes could
hear all manner of barks, woofs, and meows coming from the other
side. Ryker grabbed the clipboard that was hanging on the door and
read aloud. “Okay, enclosures five, eight, and twelve are the new
dogs. Let’s take them for a walk, then come back and visit with
Rudy.”
“Who’s Rudy?” Wes asked.
“He’s a four-year-old golden retriever and
German shepherd mix. Been here about a month. He was found locked
in a cage, malnourished, and with signs of physical abuse. When he
was first brought in, he barely looked at anyone. He tends to be
nervous, especially around men, so talk softly, kneel down, and let
him sniff your hand. And no sudden movements.”
Ryker was totally comfortable and engaged in
this environment. It was like Wes was seeing a different person
compared to the man with the defensive posture he’d met at Mac’s
party. Though there was definitely something about Ryker’s
moodiness that made Wes want to tease him and draw out a smile. He
had to admit he found both sides of Ryker’s personality appealing.
Fuck me.
A handsome young brunet man wearing red
scrubs and a huge smile appeared at the door, interrupting Wes’s
musings. “Ry, so great to see you again. Here to visit the new
brood?”
The man moved closer to Ryker, right up in
his personal space, placing his hand on Ryker’s arm and squeezing.
Take your hand off him, Wes thought as his mood soured.
“Yup, it seems like quite the crowd today.
Hopefully, you can find good homes for them soon. I take it they
all passed the health check?” Ryker asked, slowly pulling away from
the man and turning to Wes. “Sorry, Wes, this is Dr. Javier Rohas.
He’s the vet that visits the shelter once a week. Javier, Wes
Stewart.”
Javier stepped close to Wes and grasped his
hand tightly. “So nice to meet a friend of Ry’s. Do you live in
town, or are you just visiting?” he asked, his blinding grin now
reduced to a polite smile.
Wes responded carefully. “Visiting for now,
but New York is my favorite city in the US. So who knows?” He
smiled back.
Javier moved closer to Ryker again. “Ry, did
Charlotte mention the benefit gala we’re hosting next month for the
shelter? We’d love for you to join us.”
Ryker crossed his arms and shifted backward.
“I don’t know. I’d be happy to make a donation instead.”
“But you’re one of our foundational
volunteers. We’d love for you to attend in person, maybe say a few
words? It would mean the world to me. I mean, to us,” Javier
pleaded with his big eyes as he grabbed Ryker’s arm again.
Wes rolled his eyes internally. Between the
fluttering lashes routine and the way Javier kept touching Ryker’s
arm, could he be more obvious?
Ryker gracefully pulled his arm back and
turned toward the door. Javier’s eyes locked onto Ryker’s jean-clad
butt like a laser beam.
“I’ll think about it,” Ryker said.
“Great.” Javier reached into his pocket and
pulled out a card. “My personal number is at the bottom. Call or
text me and we can make plans. For the benefit, I mean.” Javier
smirked at Wes, and Wes winked, getting a glare in return. Javier
sauntered down the hallway. “Nice to meet you, Wes. Ryker, see you
next week,” he said in a cool, confident voice and headed out.
“Why doesn’t that guy just say what he
means?” Wes said.
“What are you talking about?” Ryker
asked.
This time, Wes let his eye-roll out. “He
wants to ask you out. The benefit is just an excuse.”
Ryker’s shook his head and rubbed his hands
together. “You’re crazy. He’s just being nice.”
“Nice doesn’t touch your arm constantly. And
nice doesn’t stare at your ass. I saw actual drool coming out of
Dr. Doolittle’s mouth when you walked by him,” Wes said, irritated
at Javier for flirting and his own overreaction to it.
“Haha. It doesn’t matter. I’m not
interested. He’s looking for a boyfriend, and I don’t do repeats.
And this place is special to me. I won’t allow personal issues to
interfere with it.” Ryker grabbed leashes and plastic bags. “Come
on, we have dogs to walk,” he said, and that was the end of that
conversation.
Wes forced himself to let his irrational
jealousy go and clapped his hands together. “I’m ready, boss,” he
said as Ryker handed him the bags. “But why are you giving me ten
bags?”
“You get to walk Furley, the mastiff, and
Ned, the Great Dane. Big dogs make big…” Ryker trailed off,
smiling.
Shit.
****
Ryker
Once they’d walked the dogs, they headed
back to visit with Rudy. The beautiful golden-haired dog was
sitting in the corner of his stall, curling his big body in a tight
ball and watching Ryker and Wes with sad brown eyes. He started to
whine and tremble, and Ryker immediately felt guilty about causing
the animal distress. He opened the door slowly and sat on the floor
with his hands resting on his legs.
“Hey, Rudy, how are you, buddy? Do you want
to come and say hi?” Ryker whispered. Rudy slowly uncurled his body
and got up. The dog walked over hesitantly and quickly sniffed
Ryker’s hand but then ran back to his corner and whined.
“Some days are better than others, but it’s
taken him a long time to come near me. Would you like to try?”
Ryker whispered to Wes.
Ryker slowly got up and moved silently out
of the room. Wes took his place, but instead of sitting, he lay
down on the floor on his stomach with his head propped on his
hands. Rudy’s tail slowly started to wag as he watched Wes lying
silently on the floor. The dog then got up and walked over,
sniffing Wes’s head and hands and making his way down his body.
“That’s a good boy, Rudy,” Wes encouraged.
“You’re so brave and strong.” Wes continued to whisper praise to
the dog as Rudy’s tail began to wag more vigorously. The dog
eventually lay down beside Wes and poked his nose in his armpit,
then moved on to Wes’s ear, sniffling and licking, causing Wes to
laugh softly. Ryker was tempted to take out his phone and snap a
picture of the adorable sight in front of him, but he didn’t want
to scare Rudy with any sudden movements.
“My dog Peanut would love you,” Wes
whispered to Rudy. “He’s big and goofy and loves to roll around on
the floor, too.” Rudy slowly turned over on his back and allowed
Wes to pet his stomach.
“That’s amazing. I haven’t seen Rudy this
comfortable with anyone.” Ryker couldn’t help but smile as his
chest flooded with warmth. “You’re a dog whisperer, too? What other
talents are you hiding?”
“I don’t hide. I’m an open book.” Wes
grinned at Ryker as he slowly sat up.
“A book? Really, Wes? That’s cheesy.”
“You love cheese—remember, I’m growing on
you, like mold. Moldy cheese.”
Ryker rolled his eyes. “I hope your writing
is better than your one-liners. Come on, let’s visit with the rest
of the dogs and cats before we head out.”
Rudy unexpectedly clung to Wes’s leg and
whined when they went to leave, and Ryker’s heart melted a bit more
for this man.
“I want to have a chat with Charlotte about
Rudy before we leave. Can you give me a minute?” Wes asked, so
Ryker checked his phone and let Wes have his privacy.
Mac: Reminder. CALL AT 7
Ryker: Got it. And don’t get too excited.
Nothing confirmed. Yet.
Mac:
Wes finished talking to Charlotte, and then
they headed off to grab Thai food on the way back. They wound their
way back to Ryker’s an hour later.
“Can you find a movie while I plate this
up?” Ryker asked from the kitchen as he prepared green tea and got
the food unwrapped.
“Anything in particular you feel like
watching?” Wes asked as he fiddled with the remote.
“Nah, I’m easy.”
“Are you now? Lucky me.”
“Funny. Just pick something!”
“Grumpy and bossy. I like it.” Wes winked.
“Okay, how about Love Actually?”
“A rom-com? Really?” Ryker teased.
“Don’t be a movie snob. You told me to pick.
I picked. We need all the help we can get when it comes to romantic
dialogue for our book, so this may be useful research.”
They gathered on the sofa, and Spock sat
between them, staring at Wes, then Ryker, then back at Wes, hoping
that one of the humans would accidentally drop some food or just
cave under the canine pressure and hand it over.
“Can’t I give him some noodles or
something?” Wes asked, petting Spock with one hand. “Look at his
face. I can’t take these sad eyes and the drool. It’s breaking my
heart.”
“No way. He eats this stuff, he’ll either
barf or get the runs, and I’m not in the mood to deal with either.
Treats are in the large tin on the counter. Go grab him one before
you completely give in.” Ryker chuckled as Wes hopped up and made
his way to the kitchen. “Man, who would’ve thought you were such a
softie?”
“I’m not a softie. I’m hard. All over,
baby,” Wes said as he flexed his biceps, and Ryker laughed.
“You’re too much is what you are. That ego
of yours grows by the minute. I’m not sure there’s enough space in
my apartment to contain it.”
“Say what you want about my ego, but you’re
starting to like me.” Wes smiled and Ryker struggled not to
reciprocate. Wes was way too appealing for his own good.
They finished eating by seven and set up
Ryker’s laptop for the video conference. After a few minutes of
trying to connect, they noticed that neither the video nor the
audio were working. “I’ll text Luca. He got this organized with
Mac’s assistant,” Wes offered.
Wes typed furiously on his phone. “Luca
wants us to log in again. Should be okay now.”
This time, all was good. Mac’s face popped
up in the top right corner. From the background, it looked like he
was still in his office.
“Everything okay now? You can hear me all
right?” Ryker asked.
Mac nodded. “Yup, all good. Hey, Wes,” he
said as he rubbed his hands through his hair. “Thanks for getting
your assistant to set this up. Helena didn’t have time before she
left. I needed her here until eight, but of course there’s always
an excuse for why she can’t stay late. It may be time to let her
go. I can’t wait for AI to create a robotic assistant—no excuses,
ever!”
“Your assistant obviously has a life outside
of work, Big Mac. You might want to take a cue from her unless
you’re a robot yourself.”
Ryker didn’t recognize the voice that had
spoken, but he noticed that Luca was online as the moderator. Was
it him? Did he know he wasn’t muted? Shit, Ryker couldn’t help but
laugh out loud.
“Who the hell said that?” Mac bellowed as
Ryker and Wes snickered uncontrollably.
Wes finally calmed down enough to text Luca
and advise him to mute himself. Then he showed his phone to Ryker
so he could see Luca’s response.
Luca: No, I said what needed to be said.
I feel sorry for his assistant. Feel free to use the nickname.
LMFAO!
Luca’s twenty-something face popped up on
screen. He was striking, with wide chocolate-brown eyes and brown
hair with dyed green ends. Definitely someone you wouldn’t forget,
with his silver nose ring and a swirling, colorful neck tattoo.
“I did. I’m Luca, Wes’s assistant.” He gave
a little wave at everyone. “One hundred percent human and still
great at my job, because my boss enjoys work-life balance. I guess
in New York you just work until you drop, eh, Macaroni?”
Mac’s dark green eyes practically seared
them through the screen. “Well, Luca, I believe who I hire or fire
is my business. And here in New York, we work hard and we play
hard.” He paused to sneer. “Anyway, isn’t it past your
bedtime?”
“Don’t worry, old man, I’ve got energy to
spare. I’m heading out for a run once this call is over. Later, Big
Mac.” Luca got the last word in, closed his video feed, and was now
muted.
“Wes, does that man really work for you, or
have I been Punk’d?” Mac asked, his face now as red as his
hair.
Ryker couldn’t ever remember anyone ruffling
Mac’s calm and professional demeanor like that. Shaking off his
laughter, Ryker intervened before Mac totally lost it.
“Okay, okay, moving on, folks,” he said.
“Wes and I are going to test out this potential partnership over
the next few weeks. We’ll see if our writing styles mix and let you
know our final decision in a month or so.”
“Yes! I knew it!” Mac pumped his fist in the
air.
“Calm down, Mac. We haven’t signed anything
yet. This is a trial to see if we can stand working together. I’m
still skeptical, and Wes has other opportunities, I’m sure. One
month. Okay?”
Mac smiled. “A step in the right
direction.”
“So, anything else we need to discuss
tonight, Big Mac?” Ryker asked with a straight face as Wes laughed
out loud.
Mac’s middle finger said it all.