I hold the phone to my chest. “Would it be okay if I stayed in your annexe for another few days, a week at the most?” His eyebrows rise to his hairline. “Feel free to say no, obviously, but I?—”
“Yes.” His smile widens until his eyes crinkle at the corners. He steps closer and my breath catches. “Please.” Then he kisses me out on the street—it’s quick and chaste—before he pulls away and gestures to his car. “Let’s go get some dog supplies. Unless you need to get back?”
“No.” I shake my head, still floored from the kiss. Apart from the tree farm, I’ve only ever kissed him at his house. This feels different somehow.
Differentgoodthough.
“Supplies?” I ask, following him to the car.
“Food, toys, a bed.” He’s grinning now, and it’s contagious.
Then I suddenly remember I was talking to Seb. “Shit.” Pete laughs as I put the phone to my ear again. “Seb?”
“Still here.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I’ve already texted Dan that he can stay longer.”
I groan. “You heard?”
“Yep.” He sighs. “Enjoy the week, Charlie.”
I’m not sure what that sigh means, and I’m not asking. “Thanks. Talk to you soon.”
We say our goodbyes.
I glance at the dog now waiting patiently at the car by Pete’s feet. “He needs a name. I can’t keep calling him dog.”
Pete bites his lip, eyes full of an uncertainty that wasn’t there a moment ago, and I suddenly feel shitty for putting it there. “What if we find his owners?” he says quietly.
“Then you’ll have to give him back. But it won’t hurt to give him a name in the meantime.” I want to reach for his hand. I second-guess it for about three seconds, then do it. His fingers tighten around mine. “And if no one claims him, then he’ll be yours.”
He rubs the back of his neck and glances at the dog. “Is it wrong that I hope no one’s looking for him?”
“No.” I edge close enough to gently bump his shoulder with mine. “Let’s not think about that now. Come on. Let’s go shopping.”
“You sure you don’t have work to get back to?”
I do, but no part of me wants to right now. “I’m sure. What about you?”
He looks sheepish. “I already texted Sadie and told her I had an emergency.” He points at the dog. “I had to send her a picture because she started to worry.”
“In that case, what are we waiting for?”
“What about Bailey?”I offer as Pete walks the dog inside, and I carry in all the shit Pete’s just bought for him.
“Nah. I had an Uncle Bailey who was a raging homophobe.”
“Ugh.” We’ve been running through names all the way back from the pet store. I’m secretly delighted that he’s letting me be a part of this. “Samson?”
He just laughs at that one.
I set the bags down on the worktop. “I don’t hear you coming up with anything.”
Pete bends down to unclip the dog’s lead and take off his collar. To the dog, he mutters, “I came up with about five on the way home, but he vetoed all of them.”
I huff out a laugh of my own. “You can’t call himGeorge.”
