7. 7
7
The frigid temperature seemed to slice right through the windows and vents, forcing the Denali’s heater to fire full-blast. The overcast sky threatened to open up at any moment, promising to unleash inches of snow over the picturesque town. Pulling into the turnoff for Morad Park, all she saw was a sea of snow piled at least a foot high, obscuring the painted lines on the asphalt.
Ava pulled into a vacant corner and placed the vehicle in park. Just beyond the nearby treeline, she spotted Will bundled in a black down coat, dark beanie, and tight jeans, ones that seemed to effortlessly showcase the muscular ass beneath. His handsome face beamed, breath fogging the air around him as he excitedlytosseda tennis ball around for his spirited pug. The dog scrambled wild after itin a flurry of flung snow, diving franticallythrough the driftslike a chubby, fur-covered dolphin.
In the back seat,Kuda whined a melancholic songinto the snot-smeared window, vocalizing his excitement. Unsure of what he wanted to play with more, his body trembled, eyes ping-ponging between the round, chartreuse object and the squat, wrinkled canine darting after it. His huge eyes and pinned-back ears made Ava snicker as she grabbed his leash and held on for dear life as he rocketed fromthe SUV. The force whipped her like a carnival ride, and she swung the door shut just as Kuda yanked her away with hisfierce desire to join the other pup.
“Woah! Kuda!” Ava’s hair swayed beneath the rim of a scarlet knit hat, onethat matched the bold shade of her petticoat. Kuda tugged forward, jerking Ava’s petite figure around with ease. She skidded behind, thick winter boots slick from the frozen mix of muddy snow.
Will’s attention shifted to her. Stubble speckledthe skin below his rosy cheeks and nose,eyes wrinkled in the cornersfrom the smile Ava’s arrival bright to his face. She was stunning, even bundled up.
Kuda finally stopped at the gate.
Ava found her footingand tugged to reign him in.“You go at my pace, buddy. Remember?”
Kuda pranced from one foot to the otherwith an almost electric rush of excitement. As Ava opened the gate,Kuda lurched again, tugging the leashright out of her glovedhand, nearly throwing her into a muddy snowdrift.
“Whoa! Kuda, no! Stop!” Ava shouted, frantic.The small raven-black Pit Bullsprintedaway, dragging his leash in the slush.
Will’s face was suddenly tense, unsure if the sixty-pound canine would attack his seventeen-pound pug.
The dogs quietly wound like a yin-yang, sniffingnearly every inch of the other. Kuda investigated the pug’s pink fleece sweater and abruptly crouched down on his front paws, lowering himself to eye level with the pug. His butt wiggled as he playfully barked at Gremlin.
Skidding on a patch of black ice on the walking path, Ava caught herself on something hard in the air just before she fell.
“Easy there. You okay?” Will asked.
“Yeah,” Ava sucked in a deep lungful of ice-cold air, shocked at the near-fall and the actions of her unruly dog.
It was only then that she looked down and realized what she’d latched onto during the fall…
Will’s arm was outstretched, flexed in her grasp, hard as a two-by-four. She stood straight and let him go slowly, trying to hide her shock at how strong and unwavering his forearm was .
“Thank you. That could have been bad.” She felt her cheeks grow beet-red, hoping he would attribute it to the frigid air.
Will snatched up his pug by the armpits and held the fat little thing up for Ava. “ Say hello to my little frien’ ,” he mocked in his best Pacino voice. “This is Gremlin.”
The dog looked like it was tiptoeing in the air like a ballet dancer, and Ava laughed, petting the thing softly on the head. “Nice to meet you, Gremlin.” She looked back at Will. “I suppose you can’t get her wet or feed her after midnight?”
Will chuckled and put the dog down in the snow. “Something like that.”
Gremlin bee-lined for the Pit Bull once released. She reared back, raised a paw,and bopped Kuda on the snout. In that instant, it was like a snare trap had been sprung. They were off, frolicking with carefree abandon through the snowy path up ahead. Kuda sprintedup the slick, shoveled walking pathafter Gremlin.
Then, as if a switch had been flipped, Gremlin was on the offense, chasing the Pit Bull inhuge, circular laps through the snowy field.
Ava and Will snickered, watching the two dogs play as though they’d always been long-lost friends.
“Wow.” Will laughed. “Your boy’s got a lot of energy. Gremlin’s gonna sleep so good later. ”
Suddenly, the furry duo stopped cold, looking into each other’s eyes, bodies board-stiff. Kuda took off running. Gremlin trailed behind, huffing and wheezing as she tried to keep up.
“It’s nice to see Kuda have a friend. Not a lot of people trust Pit Bulls.”
“Never met a mean one.” Will smiled.
“Same. They’re misunderstood.”
“Don’t get me wrong. Piss off a pitty, and they’ll do some damage. But, then again, so will just about any dog.”
Ava laughed as the racingcanine missiles made another flurried lap around them.
“Thanks for comin’ out.”
“Thank you for the invite.” Ava could feel herself blush again as she stood beside Will, staring out at the slow-roiling water beyond the dog’s play area. “I’ve been meaning to check this place out for a while. Kuda seems to love it here.”
“Yeah, Gremlin gets so excited whenever she goes for a car ride. She always knows we’re comin’ here.”
“I’m definitely going to have to bring Kuda more often.”
“So…” Will tucked his chilled bare hands into his back pockets,“besides bein’dragged around by him, what do you usuallydo for fun? ”
“Fun… hmmm, fun… I feel like I know that word from somewhere,” she joked, tapping a gloved finger against her chin to think.
Will snickered.
“I read. And I paint.”
“You paint ?” Will seemed genuinely impressed.
“Don’t get excited. I mostlyjust do those silly little paint-by-numbers.I enjoy letting my mind sort of go on autopilotand then having something beautiful to show for it.”
“Those paint-by-numbers still take skill. Ever tried painting anything original?”
“Yeah, I have. Twice. I audited a class at the community college, and they were always having us paint weird things. I remember doing one of a fruit bowl with bananas and grapes and stuff. The other was a spray bottle with a pair of those yellow dish gloves underneath. Both wereatrocious.They both looked like a four-year-old’s handiwork, but I still really enjoyed it.”
“Aw, I’m sure they looked great. You still have either of ‘em?”
“Last year, I hit a busted tire on the highway, and the SUV had a small leak. Think I used the fruit bowl to protect the garage floor from oil ‘til my mechanic could get me in. ”
Will chuckled at the mental image of that. “What about all the paint-by-numbers? I don’t remember seeing any in your house.”
For a moment, Ava had forgotten Will had already been inside her house. She still knew so little about him.
“I don’t hang them up. It’s just a little something I do for fun.There’s a little plaza over there on Maple Street where I usually donate the nicer ones when I’m done.”
“Oh no kidding, my daughter’s pediatrician’s on Maple.” There was a silence between them for a moment, filled with nothing but the gentle whoosh of the icy breeze, the jingle of identification tags, and the heavy panting of two excited dogs. “Wait a sec, did you do one of a girl with her arm around a red fox?”
Ava could only smile and bashfully bury her pink face beneath the collar of her petticoat.
“That’s you ? You did that?” Will seemed shocked.
Ava nodded slightly, eyes unable to hold his intense gaze. Slowly, like a turtle, her face emerged again. “What aboutyou?What do you do for fun?”
“Well, due to my, um, unique job, I have to stay fit, so I go to the gym quite a bit.”
“Ew, for fun? ”
Will laughed and shook his head. “Ispend a lot of time teaching my daughter about classic cinema.”
Kuda and Gremlin erupted in a symphony of barks for a moment before taking off again, romping and tumbling playfully into each other in the snow.
“I’m also a pretty avid reader,”Will continued.
“Oooh, color me impressed. I don’t see that often.”
“What? Maids who can read?”
“No, just… men reading. I guess that’s a tad sexist.”She glanced up at him and then shifted her eyes down to the snow at her feet, nudging some of the slush into a neat pile with her boot. “What genres do you read?”
“I’m a sucker for romance.” He smiled bashfully.
“ Seriously ?”
His tone grew quiet as if he was passing along a secret in a room full of people. “Seriously, there’s like… a lot of steamy stuff in some of those.” His eyes bulged.
“One of womankind’s best-kept secrets, I suppose.”
“I also love a good legal or political thriller. Or even a good, binge-ablemystery series. ”
“A little murder and intrigue with your mysterious sweetness?”
“Yeah,” he kicked at a small, yellowed snowdrift, too, “I have a whole bookcase full of Grisham and Patterson at home. Bingeing my way through Castillo’s Burkholder series right now. It’s so good.”
“I’m still stuck on what you led with.” She giggled. “I gotta say, most men wouldn’t admit that they read romance.”
“True. I think some men view them as some sort ofcompetition. I think guys think theycan’t live up to the men in the books, and that can be threatening. But the way I look at it, it’s more likea guide to what women want, what secretly drives them wild. It’s also good for me, professionally. Sortalike research.When they hire me, women don’t want some single-dad divorcee who is just trying to pay his bills. Most want to feel desired . They want to feel heard . They want to feel powerful .”
“Oh, I see. So reading those is likehavinga sexy secret weaponof sorts.” Ava smirked and found herself hopelessly lost in his shockingly blue eyes.
He was a man. A real man. Open and passionate. And that physique … even in the dead of winter, she felt herself warm at the thought of it. The way the lines of his clothes hugged his body…
“ Right .” His voice snapped her from her thoughts of what he looked like wearing the snug policeman’s uniform on her front porch. “I also really enjoythe concept of two people going down these totally different paths having to overcomeall the odds and fight for theirhappy-ever-after.”
Avafelt stunned as he spoke, nodding in agreement.
“Life is full of ups and downs,” he continued, “and,sure, a lot of the time things don’t work out. But with a good book, you get to feel that rush of euphoria over and over again. It’s like a drug.”
Gremlin deviated from her wide, circular path and darted toward her owner, hurtling her grunting body between his feet at top speed. Kuda followedthe exact same trajectory,bowlingWill backwardwith the force of the dog’s strong impact against his thighs.
“Oh, f—”
Will landed on his backwith a hard thwap in a patch of brown,muddied slush.
At least,he hoped it was mud.
“Oh no!Kuda!” Ava squeaked, kneeling beside him in the slurry. “Oh my God, are you alright?I’m so sorry, Will!”
As Ava spoke, suddenly, the pain from his fall felt dulled. Instead of feeling the sting of concrete against his hip, tailbone, and shoulder, he felt warmed by her touch, soothed by the sight of her. He glimpsed the porcelain face beneath hercurtain of longhair, colorful and vibrant against the bleak, gray sky.She was a vision of redwaves, her locks in sharp contrast to those jungle-green eyes. He felt like he could look at her for hours , studying every curve of her inviting mouth, flawless skin,and fluttering eyelashes with the appreciative gaze of an artiststaring at an exquisite creation.
Was it the hard fall that stole the air from his lungs? Or was it that she had the single most arresting gaze he’d ever seen?
His heart thrummed hard in his chest. It had been so long since he’d felt every fiber of his being surge with excitement, and even then, it had never felt quite like this .
He saw her perfect lips moving but remained too focused on the gloved hand cupping his cheek to hear a word she’d said.
“Huh?” he finally mumbled, catching his breath.
The coldness of the world flooded back, along with the sound of her voice finally carving its way through the fog in his mind .
“I said, ’Are you alright? That was a hard fall.’”
“Oh. Mmm-hmm,” he answered, dazed. His eyes glanced at her lips, and he wondered how they tasted.
“Here, let’s get you up.” Ava rose to her feet and held out her hands to help him.
Cold slushseeped through the back of his jeans, soaking the bare ass beneath them with a blast of frigid liquid.
As Ava helped Will to his feet, the sound of panting wafted toward them. They both turned their headsin shock.
Kuda was humping Gremlin.
They shouted the dog’s names in unison, but the animals kept at it, pounding away like long-time lovers after a lengthy absence.
Nothing short of a fire hosewas going to break them apart.
Ava covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle her laughter. “He’s neutered, I promise.”
“She’s spayed,” Will offered, tilting his head in curiosity at the scene.”
“What do… we do?” Ava’s giggles grew louder. She turned her back to the dog and shielded her periphery with her flattened hand.
“I guess if they’re both… you know, maybe… welet them have their fun. ”
“Kuda, I don’t believe you! Snap out of it! ” She swatted the air.
Will doubled over with laughter. “Did you just pull a Cher and quote Moonstruck to your Pit Bull? I’m… impressed , frankly.”
Ava giggled, embarrassed, and turned her back to the humping dogs. “I am mortified .”
“Eh, dogs have short lives. Too short. If they’re both fixed. It’s good to let ‘em live a little, I think.”
“I just don’t know why he’s humping her. He’s got no…” Her eyes grew wide, and she threw her hands up in an over-the-top shrug.
Something about the sudden flush of her cheeks and the sound of her genuine laughter made Will fantasize about wanting to runhis fingers through her hair, grip the nape of her neck, and pull her lips to his.
Slow it way down, Will.
This time…it’s different. I can feel it.
Will turned his back to Ava to glance at the dogs again and then whipped his head back around with a grimace.
“Uh,” Ava made a face,“you have…um…”
Will sighedand looked up at the stormy sky. More snow was in the forecast. “Do I have… dog shit on my back?”
Avabit her lip and nodded.
“ Awesome .” Will shook his head .
Ava tried not to laugh. “I got to admit. I was a little intimidateddriving over here today. This has…sort of helped.”
“Intimidated of what?”
“Of you.” She blushed and looked down at the murky snow around her boots.
“Why would you be intimidated by me?”
“You’re… you know .” She gestured up and down his body with her gloved hands.
A mischievous grin spread across his face.“No. I don’t.”
“Come on. In your line of work? Don’t pretend like you don’t know you’re handsome as hell.”
Will looked away, trying to hide the grin on his face from the compliment. “Gremlin, come on, girl!”
Gremlin wandered to his side, panting hard, tongue hanging so far down it was nearly touching snow. Kuda trotted over to Ava, slow and playful.
Will clipped Gremlin’s leash onto her collar. “Well, I have to go take like a million showers now. But we should do this again sometime.Not this , per se.” He motioned to the dogs. “But, you know, like… us .”
“Yes, let’s.” Ava pulled a set of keys from her coat pocket and picked up the leash Kuda had been dragging through the snow the entire time.
Ava held the gate open for him and Gremlin.
“And give you the perfect view of my feces and mud-soaked backside? No,thank you. Ladies first.”
He motioned to the gate, and she fought another snicker at the ludicrous mental image before leaving with her dog in tow.
Will followed close behind. “Hey, youeverbeen to The Million Dollar Cowboy ?”
“No. I know of it, but I’ve never been.”Ava smiled, feeling herself blush at what she would assumed would come next.
“How about we go grab a drink? SayWednesday? Seveno’clock?”
Ava fought the urge to squeal with joy, instead pretending to be calm. “Yeah, that sounds great.”
“It’s a date, then.”
He stripped off his jacket, folded it poo-side in, and tossed it on the passenger-side floorboard. Gremlin hopped in, dusting the upholstery in snowy paw prints.
Will climbed inthe driver’s seat and waved. She returned the gesture, beaming, and drove slowly out of the slick parking lot entrance back onto the main road. Will sat for a moment staring at the steering wheel, butt chilled, hip aching from the rude landing.He thought about the moment she touched him, on his back in the snow, and his body tingled with the electric currentof something special.
She had only been gone from his life for thirty seconds, and he already wanted to be around her. Hecouldn’t wait to see her again. The need was strong.
…Almost as strong as the desire to burn his disheveled coat. Mud, watery runoff, unknown dog crap, and wet pug. He would never fully get the smell of today out of it.