“We, uh, met at that Finger Lakes dinner.”
Well, well, well. Go on, Charlotte, you little minx.
“Be careful with her, Johnny. She’s a sweetheart." Johnny had as much luck as she did at relationships, and for the same reasons. They both bolted as soon as that awful feeling of vulnerability reared its ugly head.
The difference between them was that he had a lot more women in his wake than she had men, and yet he was never called a slut. The irony wasn’t lost on her.
He grinned that bad boy smile and got on his bike. “See you."
Later that evening, Amber let herself into Theo’s house with the spare key he had given her. She had joked that he was moving pretty fast for a new relationship, but he hadn’t cracked a smile. She let it slide, considering he had agreed to let Puddin’ stay with him for a while.
“You’ll be much more comfortable here,” she chattered to the dog as she put away the food and treats and various dog things Theo would need. “He’s got a thing for rabbit food, so don’t expect any good scraps.”
Puddin’ stopped sniffing around the kitchen and stared with a rather disgruntled expression on her face.
“I know. It’s a fault of his, but I’ll bring you something good when he’s not here.”
The dog lifted her nose disdainfully and Amber laughed. That was the Puddin’ she remembered. She knew a soft touch and could lay it on thickly when she needed to, but Amberalways pictured Puddin’ as practical more than anything else. She did what she had to do to survive. Amber understood that sentiment perfectly.
“Don’t go far,” she called out as Puddin’ meandered out of the kitchen.
Amber puttered around the kitchen for a while, looking in the fridge for something to eat and finding washed produce in glass containers and more types of lettuce than she could identify. He didn’t even have a single pint of ice cream in his freezer, the psychopath.
She set up Puddin's new crate in the living room and decided she needed something soft that smelled like Theo so she could bond with him. "I told him you sleep in a crate, so pretend like you do," she said.
"Come on, let's go take a bath." She figured Theo would feel happier with a good-smelling dog since he didn't want one at all.
There were four doors at the top of the stairs. The first one turned out to be Theo's room. It smelled like him, dark and sexy, masculine, and she had the sudden urge to lie down on his bed and envelop herself in his scent.
Instead, she headed to the bathroom. The en suite bathroom was just as tidy. No cap off the toothpaste or little dark hairs in the sink for her boss.
"Come on, Puddin’, hop in." She gave the dog a boost into the tub and got to work with the special shampoo she’d picked up. The more she scrubbed, the more Puddin perked up, and the wetter Amber got.
By the time they were done, Puddin’ looked ready for a nap and Amber needed a change of clothes. She stopped at Theo’s dresser to look for two T-shirts: one for Puddin’s crate and one for her. The first drawer held neat rows of folded socks and she smiled, remembering how she had teased him that first night about going home to organizehis sock drawer.
The next drawer was his folded T-shirts. She grabbed a soft gray Columbia Law school T-shirt and only hesitated a second before taking off her soaked dress and bra. If Theo came home, he wouldn’t mind her borrowing an old college shirt while her dress dried, and his T-shirt was almost longer than her dress anyway, hitting her at mid-thigh.
"All right, let's get you something to eat." She picked Puddin’ up, wrapped her in a towel, and Puddin’ snuggled close, getting her wet all over again, but she gave the dog a kiss on her little head, anyway. “You’re safe now,” she whispered.
"Amber," came Theo’s deep voice from downstairs. Amber looked into Puddin’s velvety-brown eyes and tried for stern. “This is your chance for a second first impression. Make it a good one.” She let her down and Puddin’ disappeared.
She heard the second Puddin’ found her man and paused at the top of the steps to watch.
“You're all wet. No, stop. Okay," Theo said, bending over to scratch the dog’s head gingerly. Puddin’ flopped over onto her back and spread her legs wide in blatant invitation, her tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth. “This is moving quite fast for me, Puddin’,” Theo murmured, and Amber laughed out loud.
Theo looked up, a smile on his face, and froze, his eyes fixed on her chest. She looked down to see the T-shirt clung damply to her breasts where she was holding Puddin’. Her nipples, clearly outlined, stiffened into points at the look on his face. She swallowed hard.
"I gave Puddin’ a bath and got a little wet. Hope you don’t mind that I borrowed your shirt.”
"Would you like to borrow pants?” he asked tightly.
She looked down skeptically. “Why? Do you have a pair that would fit me?
“Probably not,” he said. “But put themon, anyway.”
"Why? Is it bothering you?" she teased. She held out one leg from the step and pointed her polished toes. “This old T-shirt covers almost as much as my dress.”
"Amber,” he said tautly. “Right now, I'm not your boss, I'm not your friend, I'm not the mayor. I'm a man, and you need to put something on.”
