I scoffed, covering my backside with my free hand. “They were a gift, thank you verymuch.”
“Welcome,buns.”
I ignored him. “Secondly, my dogsitters don’t workSundays.”
“First,” Sebastian countered, ticking off his defense on his fingers, “I can wait. Bruno and I will hang out while you get ready. Second, Bruno’s coming withus.”
“Excuseme?”
Hearing his name, Bruno nudged Sebastian’s leg. Sebastian automatically squatted and scratched his chest. “It’s a dog date. You love dogs, Bruno and I are pals, so I’m using that to make aconnection.”
A dog date? Yes,please. I’d never been on one of those. And I wasn’tgoingon one—because this wasn’t real. At least, it wouldn’t be for Sebastian, but could I spend the afternoon with him and keep my mask in place? Just because Sebastian and I were learning to get along didn’t mean I was any defter at navigating men outside the office. “What makes you think I don’t have planstoday?”
“Mostly that you told me youdidn’t.”
I wrinkled my nose. I did not remember saying that or giving him my address. I was running out of excuses to skip something I wanted to do, even if I hated to admit it. I looked back toward my apartment. If Luciano found out I’d declined a date, even a pretend one, for a day on my couch with pub food, craft beer, and season two ofCan’t Cope, Won’t Cope, he’d never let me live itdown.
“I can wait down here if your apartment’s a pigsty,” Sebastiansaid.
I groaned inwardly. Now Ihadto invite him up to prove it wasn’t. Fortunately, my apartment was presentable if you didn’t count the evidence of my night with Luciano. Even my bedroom was in decent shape, a miracle considering I could be as messy as I wanted. Nobody except Luciano ever went in there . . .ever. Not since Neal. Even my dogsitters steered clear. I sighed at thethought.
“This is what you asked me to do,” Sebastian pointed out, probably thinking I’d sighed in protest. Bruno’s back leg thumped the sidewalk as Sebastian continued to hit his sweet spot. “It’s about how men can do better, be better, and maybe even have a shot with someone they thought was out of theirleague.”
This was one of the best parts of my job—the breakthrough. It seemed despite his resistance, I actually had been getting through to Sebastian these past several weeks. How could I go and cut his progress short? “Where are we going?” Iasked.
“Let me worry about that. You’ll have to trustme.”
Famous last words. “All right,” I conceded. “Mostly because you got to critique my first-date moves, so it’s only fair I seeyours.”
“You aren’t only going to see them,” he said, standing as we turned back for my apartment, “you’re going to get the insidetrack.”
An up-close-and-personal look at the inner workings of my arch nemesis and a notorious playboy? I showered and shaved my legs faster than Justin could make a roomuncomfortable.
When I came out of my room, Sebastian was seated on the couch with Bruno’s head in his lap. He didn’t even cozy up to Lu that way. I passed behind them on my way to the kitchen, where I picked up the dog bowl. “I just have to feed Bruno and give him his pills, then we cango.”
Sebastian lowered the issue ofPoisedhe’d been reading. I’d been collecting stacks of magazines over the past several weeks, anything marketed specifically to both men and women. “Did it and did that, too,” Sebastiansaid.
I stuck my head into the living room. “Didwhat?”
Sebastian turned his head over the back of the couch. “I figured I’d pitch in since you’re doing me afavor.”
“You fed Bruno? His pills too? But how’d you know what todo?”
“I checked the color-coordinated schedule on the fridge and saw that Bruno gets a third meal on Sundays around lunchtime along with his pills.” He shrugged. “Bruno showed me where to find the pill box, and since each day is already divided up and Sunday’s meds were untouched, I put two and twotogether.”
“He showed you where his pills were? Who’s anthropomorphizing now?” I teased, although my heart doubled in size at the way Sebastian looked after Bruno. Even if it was part of his act, it didn’t matter as long as Bruno was happy—and he clearly was, as he completely ignored me to sit with Sebastian. “How’d you get him to take hispills?”
“That’s our secret.” Sebastian tossed thePoisedaside and stood as Bruno jumped off the couch. He turned and paused, blinking at myoutfit.
“Is this okay?” I asked, my bangles jingling as I smoothed out the flowy floral dress and straightened my denim jacket. “I have a scarf in my bag. Since you won’t tell me where we’regoing—”
“Yeah.” I didn’t miss the way Sebastian’s eyes scanned my bare legs down to my suede booties, and I didn’t mind it, either. “It’s just . . . I’ve never seen you in a dress like that. One that wasn’t, you know, forwork.”
“This is what I’d wear on a firstdate.”
“It’s not what you wore to the game,” he pointedout.
“That was a different kind of first date.” I took Bruno’s leash from a hook in the entryway. I didn’t even have to say the wordwalk, and he was already loping around the apartment. I got a tote bag from the hall closet, cursing as I reached into the sidepocket.
