7. Guilty as Charged
Chapter seven
Guilty as Charged
Neil
Sawyer’s behavior in the shelter this morning snapped into focus. I’d been so nervous, wound up about this new job, and not wanting to make a fool of myself in front of a hot guy. Still, I should have noticed. He’d been cringing away from the cages as I walked him around the dog pod last Thursday and wincing at the barks. At the time, I’d thought it was just because they were loud, bouncing and ringing off the concrete walls.
A low scratching sound had me twisting around to look at my closed office doors. “On a scale of one to ten, how afraid of dogs are you?” I asked, turning back to Sawyer.
Sawyer hummed to himself and winced as Bubblegum barked, indignant at being kept from two people who could pet her. “An… eight?”
“Ouch.” I bit my lip. “So, I take it bringing a dog on our dat—dinner is out?”
“Tonight? Why?” Sawyer’s eyes grew wide as saucers. “Wait… you have a dog? And you bring him to work with you?”
“Her, and yes. Guilty as charged.” I held up my hands. “But only one. The second dog isn’t mine. I was watching her for some adopters while Shane helped them finish the paperwork.”
“Shit.” Sawyer slumped again.
“How about this? I go drop Bubblegum at home and meet you at a restaurant. We might be a little late for our reservation, but…”
“Bubblegum? What a cute name…” Sawyer shook his head. “Anyway, there’s not a reservation. It’s more of a walk-in type of place.”
I snorted. Figured. He didn’t really strike me as a reservation type of guy. “Boardwalk Books and Bites, yeah?” I said, standing up. “I’ll meet you there. Give me about half an hour?” My little Princess could entertain herself for an evening. I deserved a night out with a hot guy, dang it, even if it was just as friends and not a proper date.
“Sure, yeah, I’ll see you there.” Sawyer gave me a thumbs-up and got to his feet.
I waited to go back to the office until he was out of sight.
Reflexively, I picked up the laptop and put it in my bag when Sawyer’s words came back to me. He was right. I didn’t need to take the laptop home every night. It’d be safe enough here in Arthur’s office. I snapped leads on Bubblegum and the shelter’s anxious sheepdog, returning her to her kennel.
Bubblegum whined a bit when I left, as we’d already gotten into an evening routine of her cuddling with me on the couch as I worked on the laptop. I steeled my heart against her cries, but guilt still gnawed at me as I drove off.
Cute as Sawyer might be, I was glad this wasn’t a date. I couldn’t see a long-term future with someone who couldn’t be around my special girl. A short-term fling, maybe, although I’d never been good at casual; I got too attached.