“Hi,” he said with a grin. Josh was tall, blonde and stacked. Alyssa could see his muscles through his shirt, which did rather naughty things to her.
“Hey, Josh, how’s it going?”
“Great. Sorry to interrupt your lunch. Just wanted to make sure you were coming along tonight?”
“Yup, that’s the plan. Is Terry coming too?”
“Yeah, says he needs a cold one after the week he’s had with his fella.”
“Oh no, trouble in paradise?” Alyssa liked Terry a lot. He came across as a little gruff, but he was a big ol’ teddy bear. His long-term boyfriend was the sweetest man she’d ever met.Funny, really, because he and Terry were like chalk and cheese, but it worked for them.
“Ned threw a wedge of brie at him because he left his underwear on the kitchen table again.”
Alyssa threw back her head, laughing. “I would have, too,” she tittered.
“So, tonight, you’ll be there.”
“Yeah, I just have a few things to do, but I’ll be back here before half five.”
“Cool, see you then.”
Alyssa watched Josh walk away. Those bum muscles were incredible.
“Earth to Alyssa,” Lil sang.
“Yes, dear,” Alyssa answered, still looking at Josh’s fine glutes.
“You’re terrible, do you know that?” Lil wheeled a chair over and sat next to Alyssa.
“Why am I terrible?”
“Because you’re salivating over Josh whilst simultaneously drooling over Evelyn.”
Alyssa failed to see the problem. “I’m young and single. What’s the issue?”
“Would it kill you just to…nevermind, you do you!”
“I shall,” Alyssa smirked.
“What did Josh want? Has he finally asked you out yet?”
“Nope, not outright anyway. He wanted to know if I was going to the pub tonight. I said yes. So are you, right?”
“Sure. Charlotte’s taking the dogs back tonight. Pete’s coming too and he’s driving so we can grab a lift home from him.”
“Fabulous. Right,” Alyssa slapped her hands on her thighs. “I’ve got to go see a man about a dog.”
Working with dogs was Alyssa’s dream. It had been since she was small. What she didn’t like about the job was having to deal with the heartache that inevitably came with it. This afternoon had been tough. One of the other local shelters had a litter of puppies brought in. Seven little fluff balls found in a garbage bag on the side of a busy road. The shelter was full and had reached out to Alyssa. The puppies were in awful shape. Each of the babies had fleas and worms.
Of course, Alyssa immediately agreed to take them on. As soon as they were treated by a vet, Alyssa would set them up in her home. That meant she had approximately three days before she would have to stop visiting Crawford’s as much. The puppies would need her attention.
Five-thirty arrived and Alyssa was bang on time to collect Evelyn, who looked as if she was going to try to get out of the pub drink.
“Before you say anything, Ms Crawford, I have had a hideous afternoon and could do with a friendly face and a chat. Yes, there are other people I could chat to, but I want to chat with you, so get your coat.”
Alyssa hid her grin as Evelyn opened and closed her mouth several times before closing her laptop and grabbing her coat. The commute to the pub was short. Several coworkers joined them in the lobby and walked with them. Ideally, Alyssa wanted Evelyn alone, but tonight wasn’t the night for that.
The pub was busy, packed with office workers trying to shed the stress of the day. The Crawford’s group had snagged a large table at the back of the pub. Alyssa sat down and removed herjacket. She was ready for a cold beer. Before she could utter a word, a pint of Guinness was placed in front of her. Josh leaned over and winked.
