“I guess until her owners can take her back.” I relate the conversation.
“I’m glad you rescued her.”
“I couldn’t let her drown.”
Casey returns. “Okay, got that handled. I’m going to run over to the pet store here in the complex and get what you’ll need for her.” Then we’ll have the detail drive you back to George’s.”
“But I need to work.”
“No, you need to take the rest of the damn day off.” She walks over and leans in, hugging me. “I’ll bring your clothes over later when I come to spend the night.”
I sigh. “Yes, Ma’am. Thank you.”
“Your car, however, is stuck in the parking garage for the duration. It’s fine, but the streets around there are flooded.”
“If there’s any way for me to get to it, my work and personal laptops and luggage from this weekend are in there. That’s at least three days of clothes I’ll have.”
“We’ll see what we can do,” George says. “Leave your keys with Casey. And, oh, Aussie and Ashleigh are staying at the house for a couple of days. They closed the university.”
Well, that’s just wonderful.“You sure you don’t want me to stay at Casey’s?”
He drops his voice again. “When I get home, if your ass isn’t in my bedroom, or at least in my house, you’re going to get the bad kind of spanking.”
Casey bursts out laughing. “That’s more a promise than a punishment to the boy,” she notes.
Chapter Twenty-Three
An hour later, an EPU officer is driving me back to George’s. We have to go the long way around because of all the flooding, though. They have some officers going to the office building later today in a high-water vehicle to take some staff there, so they’ll get my stuff from my Jag then and bring it to George’s for me. At least I’ll be able to work once that happens.
Petula’s loving all this riding today. When we pull up to the front of George’s house, Aussie rushes out and nearly tackles me with a hug before I can even fully get out of the SUV.
“Hey, kiddo,” I say. “Good to see you, too.”
Ashleigh isn’t far behind her and also hugs me. “They were trying to find you,” Aussie says. “They were so upset.”
“Yeah, well, I was pretty upset, too.”
They take Petula and help me bring all the things Casey bought for her—which feels like half a damn pet store, to be honest—and unload them into the house. They also offer to take charge of her while I go upstairs and soak in a tub full of hot water. I don’t know what the hell was in that flood water I was paddling around in, but it feels good to finally be clean and warm.
I pull on briefs and shorts, but I grab George’s robe and wrap it around me before I head downstairs with my dirty clothes to wash them. The robe smells like him and that my mind and heart are instantly calmed by that says a lot, doesn’t it?
In the kitchen, I discover Aussie’s got a casserole in the oven, and—
“Did you already bathe the dog?” I ask.
Petula looks up and wags her tail. She definitely looks cleaner than she did. She now has snazzy new food and water dishes on the floor in one corner of the kitchen.
Aussie smiles. “In the utility room mop sink. She was kind of gross.”
“Yeah, so was I. Thanks for that.” I take my stuff out and get the laundry going. When I return, I go right for a beer. I don’t even care what time it is—I earned the damn thing.
“Are you okay with me staying here?” I ask.
Her brow furrows. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I mean…with your dad.”
She might look like her mom, but she’s got her dad’s Dom eyebrow down pat. “Again, why wouldn’t I be?”
