CHAPTER 8 #6
He strode to the wall of glass doors and flipped the latch on one, sliding it open. To his surprise, the dog didn’t rush out or use the nearby doggie door. Instead, he sat politely in front of the open slider.
Nick pointed. “Go ahead.”
The dog didn’t move.
“Go.”
Nothing.
“OK—”
The dog bolted.
Nick smiled and shook his head as he watched the animal run like the wind, circling the yard in graceful leaps, so excited that his pointy ears flattened against his head.
Stopping at the back fence, he lifted his leg, then resumed zooming around, pausing behind a palm tree and emerging with something blue and pink in his mouth.
Nick moved to sit on one of the tall barstools precisely lined up at the high counter of the summer kitchen, but the dog bounded to him, toy in mouth, gently dropping it at his feet before sitting nicely.
Smiling, Nick bent to pick up the slobbery toy. Cujo was very well-mannered, it seemed.
Why was he not surprised?
He examined the periwinkle cloth animal, a dragon of some sort. “You want me to throw this?”
The dog sat motionless, eyes bright, mouth open in a white-toothed grin.
“So now you’re my friend, huh?” Using his best MLB move, Nick pitched the toy across the yard, expecting the dog to go after it, but he didn’t move.
“Go get it,” he urged.
Quivering with energy, the dog continued to stare.
“OK,” he tried, and the shepherd launched as if rocket-propelled.
“Damn,” Nick muttered. OK was the magic word, it seemed.
For the next several minutes, he played an intense game of fetch with Jannie’s German Shepherd, striving to throw the toy as far as possible.
The dog retrieved repeatedly, tirelessly racing back and sitting every time.
After a while, he even edged close to gently place the toy in Nick’s outstretched hand.
Not once did he go after that dragon without Nick’s “OK.”
This was a lot of training, Nick realized. He was impressed. If Jannie had been the one to do it, she’d put a lot of time and effort into this dog.
“What the hell is going on out here?”
Her voice brought an immediate smile to his lips, and something turned over in his chest.
Nick swung around and smiled at Jannie, his gaze roaming over her, wet blonde hair to white Crocs.
Her shower had brought much-needed color to her cheeks, which now looked rosy.
She had changed into a sky-blue tank top and shorts, her lips glistened with a hint of gloss, and he licked his own lips at the thought of tasting her sweet mouth again.
“What’s going on?” she repeated.
“A little game of fetch.”
She looked him up and down and smirked. “Nice outfit.”
“Likewise.”
“Thanks.” A tiny smile. “I went ahead and washed your clothes. They should be ready soon.”
“Appreciate it.”
“Yeah. Don’t expect me to iron them. And keep that robe closed.”
Jannie worried her hands, then caught herself and stopped. She had such pretty fingers, long, graceful, and delicate. He pictured her reaching inside the robe and wrapping them around him and had to avert his gaze.
Rolf sprinted toward them, completely bypassing Nick now, bringing the toy to Jannie and waiting at her feet.
“Stinker,” he muttered in amusement.
She held her hand out. “Give.”
The shepherd promptly came forward and let her take the toy, which she flicked straight across the yard with practiced ease.
“You let him out of his crate,” she said accusingly, but he also detected a trace of surprise in her voice.
“Guilty.”
“You weren’t afraid of him after your meet-cute?”
Nick grinned. “I’m not afraid of big dogs. He was doing his job out there.”
“I should be pissed.”
“Yeah,” he said, “but look at him.”
He thought he saw guilt flash briefly in her eyes. “He needs more exercise than he’s been getting.”
“How come he was friendly in the house after he acted like he’d take my throat out here?”
“I let you in. He knows.”
She turned and threw the toy again, her gaze across the lake, where a row of houses was barely visible in the distance.
Nick eyed a blue-and-white boat on a lift in a small boathouse at the end of the long dock. A large Jet Ski dangled beside it, swaying gently in the breeze.
“Nice property you have here.”
She nodded. “Thanks. It’s peaceful.”
“What kind of boat is that?”
“The kind that never goes out,” she said dryly.
“Oh?”
“It’s a Chaparral. Probably full of bird crap and cobwebs by now.” A pause. “I never learned to pilot it.”
“You can pilot a plane but not a boat?”
She shrugged. “Not my thing. That was …” She closed her mouth and shook her head.
Her ex’s thing.
Well, that had gone in an unintended direction.
The dog’s tongue now lolled out the side of his mouth, looking twice as long as it had a little while ago. He wasn’t running as fast, but he showed no sign that he was done.
He brought the toy again, but this time Jannie put it on a microwave that sat on the counter in the outdoor kitchen. “That’s enough.”
The dog looked disappointed, panting, his long pink tongue tipped with a drop of slobber.
“He’ll go until he collapses if I don’t stop him.”
“He’s a nice dog. What’s his name?”
“Rolf.”
“Good German name.”
“He came that way from Germany.”
“An import?”
“Yeah. A friend of mine had his aunt flown in from Hamburg. Sweetest dog I’ve ever met.
I never knew a German Shepherd could be that good.
I fell in love with Lana and wanted one just like her.
” She caressed the dog’s pointy ear, and he leaned against her leg, still panting.
“It just so happened that her littermate was bred that summer. I got lucky.”
He opened his mouth to ask another question when the doorbell chimed, and Rolf immediately went off.
“OK!” Jannie said.
And, just like that, the barking stopped.
Nick shook his head in awe.
Squinting, she looked through the glass doors to the front, where a shadow lurked at the main door.
“That would be Uber Eats,” Nick said.
“Uber Eats?”
“Yeah.” He gave her a half-smile. “I was hungry. Thought you might be too, so I got us something.”
“Presumptuous of you.”
“Yeah, well, I thought I’d take a risk and apologize after the fact.” She started to head inside, but he motioned to the high-top barstools. “Enjoy this beautiful lake for a few. I’ll be right back.”
“This is my house.”
“And that’s the food I ordered.”
She stiffened.
He caught her rebellious gaze. “Please, Jannie. Let me do this for you.”
“I didn’t ask—”
The doorbell rang again.
With a huff, she yanked a chair back and dropped into it, her mouth tight.
His gaze slid to her rapidly rising and falling breasts above the sky-blue ribbed tank top she wore. He forced himself to look up at her face.
Her fiery eyes were so dark blue, he thought he could drown in them and die a happy man.
His heart squeezed at her severe expression, every muscle taut, including the one at her jaw.
This was going to be a tough task, but damned if he didn’t welcome the challenge.
Because what she made him feel was worth it.
Jannie
The only reason she didn’t throw him out was that she had to dry his clothes.
At least, that was what she told herself. The man had some nerve, letting her dog out of his crate. Grudgingly, she admitted he had some balls, too, after the way Rolf had gone nuts on him. And Rolf had happily gone outside with him and retrieved the toy.
Rolf listened to no one but herself. At least until now. What about Nick had made her dog obey and look at him as if he were a god to worship?
She refused to ponder that one.
Jannie slanted Rolf a glance. He rested in a platz at her feet, panting, eyes half-closed, with that self-satisfied expression of a dog well exercised.
A pang of guilt gripped her chest. She had neglected him terribly of late. German Shepherds weren’t meant to lounge like couch potatoes.
Through the glass patio doors, she watched Nick pick up several brown bags from the front entry and head back in long, leisurely strides, completely comfortable crossing her foyer.
Even in that ridiculous robe, he still managed to look dignified and confident.
As if he belonged here.
This was Blake’s house. They’d built it together, yet he’d never seemed at home here.
He’d wanted a condo in Fort Lauderdale, JetBlue’s second hub in Florida, so he could be near the beach.
She had insisted on Orlando, citing the lower risk of being hammered by hurricanes and her desire for a yard so she could get a German Shepherd. After much arguing, she’d won.
What had she won, exactly? His silent resentment? Looking back, the building of this house marked the beginning of the end of their marriage. The only good thing that had come out of it was the babies.
And they were gone.
Her throat tightened again, and her eyelids stung so much that she had to shut them tightly. She badly wanted to go to her room and throw the covers back over her head. To shut everything out and just sleep.
Instead, she heard the door slide open behind her. The breeze stirred, bringing with it the faint smell of Nick’s cologne, still detectable despite the dunk he’d taken. Just like before, it did something to her.
So did the sight of him, smiling and setting three paper bags on the high counter of the summer kitchen.
She eyed the greasy spots. “What is this?” The smell of fried food was already making her nostrils flare.
“Chicken,” he said. And grinned.
That flash of beautiful white teeth made something zing through her middle.
She looked away. “You ordered chicken?”
“Not just any chicken. Chi-Kin.”
Fried chicken just happened to be her favorite, and her mouth began to water.
Jannie watched as he tore open one bag, turning it into a makeshift placemat.
She got up and went to the other side of the counter to wash her hands, and the next thing she knew, he was right behind her.
Her heart flipped in her chest, and she stepped aside, passing him the bar of soap she always kept by the sink.
His fingertips grazed her slippery ones as he took the bar.