Today, though, he didn’t sound angry or scared, but chatty.
“Okay, little guy. I’m going to clean up your mess, shower, then fix myself up. And you’re going to the vet for a checkup.” She smiled. “Don’t be a pain about it, okay?”
He stared at the finger she held out for him to sniff. Slowly, he crept forward, sniffed, then walked even closer and sniffed her whole hand.
She stroked the top of his head once. Twice. Before he jerked back and hid behind the toilet.
“It’s okay, I—”
He started barking.
“Yep. You’re gonna be a pain.”
Eleven
Axel would never have guessed a tiny beast would frazzle Rena Jackson. The woman charmed everyone she met. But she had no idea how to handle the squirmy dog in her arms.
“It’s okay, sweetie. Just relax.” She saw Axel watching her and grimaced. “At least he hasn’t peed on me yet today.”
He tried to bite back a smile. She stood in her doorway looking irritated, and so damn sweet. He kissed her, ignoring the squirmy canine starting to growl, and pulled back regretfully. “Give him to me.”
“Are you sure?” She gave him a dubious once-over. “No offense, Axel, but you’re a lot more threatening than I am.”
“Give me thehund.”
The exchange didn’t go so smoothly. The dog had sharp teeth that sank into his thumb, and it kept growling and squirming in his arms. But he cradled it and spoke softly, in German, to soothe the creature.
In seconds, it stilled, then went limp and let go of his now-bleeding thumb.
“How did you do that?” Rena gaped at him. “You’re the Chihuahua whisperer.”
“Would you get me a bandage?” He held his bloody thumb out.
“That has to hurt, you poor thing. Hold on.” She ran back inside.
He used that time to carry the dog to the back seat of his truck and put him into the crate he’d once used for the cat. In fact, he had the same blanket in there the cat had laid upon, so he hoped the dog didn’t mind it. The fierce Chihuahua that thought itself a Doberman sniffed all around then lay down and put his head on his paws.
“It’ll be fine, boy. Don’t you worry,” Axel said in German. Animals seemed to respond to that language better, he’d found. And his deep voice soothed. Perhaps that was why Rena had warmed up to him. He’d started talking to her, and his voice had done the trick.
He doubted it had been anything else. His good mood deserted him, reminders of his dreams causing him to rethink and doubt himself. He’d been doing so well lately that he’d forgotten he didn’t actually deserve happiness, something his father would be only too happy to remind him of when he arrived.
In two weeks.
“Axel, I’m coming,” Rena called out, and he forced himself to ignore his father’s impending visit and his bad dreams, the ones where he hurt his mother, the way his father had hurt her all too often.
Rena came around the truck and stopped. “Hey, you okay?”
“Oh, yes, fine.” He wanted to pull back, to stop the ugly stain of his life from tainting hers. Then he told himself to stop the melodrama and live in the now. Any man who would turn away the angel in front of him in favor of self-denial was a fucking fool. “Sorry. My thumb hurts.”
It stung a little, now that he thought about it. But not that much.
“Axel. Oh, honey.” She fussed over him, cleaning, medicating, and patching his torn thumb. Her care soothed all his aches and started a new one he had no business thinking about with so much to do today. Just because he thought about sex with Rena every waking moment didn’t mean she did.
Except… He glanced at her hand, remembering how it had felt wrapped around him.
She looked at her hand as well then back up at him. “You’re making this weird.”
He had to laugh. “I’m sorry. I can’t help remembering everything about you that I—”love“—like.”
