The shampoo!
I squatted down and stuck my arm into the water just as Cash stooped to go after it. I was surprised he had time to go after a bottle of shampoo when there was so much flirting to be done. Our gaze met over the water, but I couldn’t hold it. His hand enveloped mine under the water as we picked up the bottle together, and I couldn’t deny the way his gentle touch calmed everything about me.
“Hey.” His voice was low, husky, and meant only for my ears.
My gaze shot up to meet his.
“I told you, I’m not a subtle man. I make sureeverybodyis clear about what I’m doing.” Then he stood and called out with a voice that boomed loud enough to be heard over the splashing and barking around us. “Ladies.”
I’m not sure he needed to be that forceful. Every woman in the yard would have dropped what she was doing and given him her full attention at a mere whisper from his lips.
Every face was bright. Each pair of batting lashes fluttered his way. All eyes were shining.
Cash had that effect on women.
“Ladies, I’d like you all to meet my girlfriend, Willow. Willow, I give you the ladies of the rescue.”
Every female shoulder drooped. Each pair of perfectly plucked brows knit together. All plumped and painted bottom lips pouted. Apparently, I had that effect on women—and I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t hate it.
“Nice to meet you,” Vanessa said, making a real effort to hide her disappointment. Bonus points to her for being such a good sport.
“Now that the introductions are over, let’s get these pooches ready for that adoption event,” Cash said.
Everyone in the yard went back to their smelly, soaking-wet, waterlogged wrestling matches. Everyone but Cash and me.
We stood side by side with our eyes locked onto each other. Something silent passed between us in the middle of the splashing chaos. Somehow, he’d known exactly what I’d needed, and he’d given it to me. A man who’d been hurt by a cheating ex more deeply than I’d ever been, went out of his way to make me feel secure.
Cash was no ordinary man. Before I realized what had happened, I’d taken one step closer to making my decision about how I wanted to handle our future together. And that step led toward actuallywantinga future—a future that lasted longer than what was left of the summer.
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Spurred on by some inexplicable, newfound confidence, I got Angel into the water. Well, Cash was the one who lifted him into the tub, but it was me who’d asked him to do it. I was ready to lather, rinse… but not repeat. One go-round would be more than enough for this furry ball of fury.
Fortunately for me, Angel was small enough to wet down simply by sloshing the water around a bit with my hand. His near-constant, high-pitched barking might have been able to wear me down if I hadn’t been in such a positive frame of mind after Cash’s grand announcement a few minutes ago.
Everyone within earshot knew where they stood with Cash. They may have beenstandingnear him, but they didn’t standa chancewithhim.
I had a hard time keeping my eyes off Cash as I scrubbed the watered-down shampoo that we’d rescued from the bottom of the tub into Angel’s moppy fur.
Cash was behaving differently than I’d ever seen him around a group of women. There were no lingering gazes. No,how you doin’s.No winks, smirks, or grins. There was nothing! I was the only one he had eyes for in the entire place.
“You missed a spot,” he said, pointing to the little wet rat in front of me.
I cut my eyes back to the dog, hoping Cash hadn’t caught me staring. “Where?”
“Pretty much the whole head.” He laughed as he scrubbed Moose’s hips just above the tail enough to get his back leg stomping in the water.
“I don’t want to get soap in its eyes.” Not to mention that I wasn’t all that fond of the idea of getting my fingers so close to the business end of that tiny yet mighty animal.
“Hiseyes,” Cash corrected. “Do you leave your hair unwashed so you won’t get soap in your eyes?”
“Eww, no!”
“Well, there you go. I’ve got confidence in your hair-washing skills and so does Angel. Go for it.”
I took a deep breath and blew a stubborn curl out of my eye long enough to focus my gaze on Angel. I could do this—Cash said so, and his words had begun to hold some weight in my life over the past week.
“Okay, boy, it’s time to get down and dirty.” I squirted a few drops of soap onto his head and started scrubbing before he even saw me coming. To my surprise, he didn’t take off any of my fingers. To my even greater surprise, he leaned into my hand as I worked the lather behind his ears. “Cash, are you seeing this?”
