She glanced up and caught me studying her. Our gazes connected. I wanted to swim in those blue eyes, searching mine. Wondered what things they had seen and what stories they had to tell. Her eyes were serious, warm, inviting. The moment drew out between us, desire humming in the atmosphere like electricity. Surely, I wasn’t the only one who could feel it. I couldn’t help it when my gaze dropped to those full lips. They had to taste so sweet. Just like her.
“You’re—you’re a beautiful woman, Jules.”
She blinked and swallowed. My compliment caught her off guard. “Thank you.” She looked away, but I didn’t miss the sparkle in her eyes, the way they pulled at the corners, and how her lips pressed together as she fought a big smile. “You’re pretty easy on the eyes yourself.”
I didn’t fight my smile.
The baby squealing jerked me back to what we were doing. I rolled the blanket into a ball, tossed it on the floorboard, and grabbed the oil. “While I’m filling her oil, can you pass her your number? Want to make sure she can call us if she has trouble on the ride home.”
We walked back to the Camry and I uncapped the oil tank.
“Hey, sweetie, let me give you my number in case you have trouble getting home for some reason.” Katie pulled out her phone. Images of Jules with a baby on her hip played in my brain. I chuckled to myself, amazed our paths had somehow crossed. I was downright relieved to have her with me.
TWENTY-FIVE
Julia
“How do Fray and Carl feel about this?” A dog with three bachelors sounded like an interesting combo.
“They’re stoked. We are going to tag-team taking care of it, since we work different, full time schedules. Already paid the pet deposit.”
“Did you tell them why you were getting a dog?”
“Left that part out.”
“Nice.”
He turned into the shelter parking lot. “They do have a few requests though. Carl doesn’t want anything yappy, and Fray doesn’t want anything too furry.”
That didn’t sound like a dog to me. “So, we need to find a hairless cat?”
His brown eyes sparkled, and he laughed. My heart flipped. I’d never heard him laugh. Chuckle, huff, and grunt occasionally. But never actually laugh. Pride—that I’d been able to draw that beautiful sound out of him—unfurled in my chest.
He winked. “We’ll figure something out.”
There were so many dogs to choose from. I didn’t know how Pat was ever going to decide. There were puppies and older, trained dogs. Mixed breeds and a couple pure breeds. I was overwhelmed with the options. We held a few of the pups and asked to pet some of the older ones. We cycled through the choices a few times before Pat walked back to a cage with an older, quiet dog inside. He was a mutt of some sort named “Valiant.” He had a salt and pepper colored coat with one floppy ear.
Pat knelt down in front of the door. “This guy looks like he needs a second chance.”
“He has a cool name.”
He asked, “Can we pet this guy?” The volunteer opened the cage, and the dog rushed into Patrick’s lap. He was a little guy, but didn’t fit into Carl’s “yappy” category. One look at Pat’s face and I knew Valiant was the chosen one. My heart warmed as the dog crumbled under Pat’s gentle finger tips. Apparently, he was a sucker for a good massage.
Pat asked a lot of questions. “Is he good with kids?”
The young volunteer scratched his head. “We can’t really make those claims. It’s hard to tell what a rescue will do and be because we don’t know their backgrounds. Valiant has always been gentle though.”
I lowered my voice to tease Pat as the volunteer moved to another spot. I tapped him in the back with my foot. “Planning on having kids sometime soon?”
“Fray’s got a nephew.” Oh, of course. Leave it to Pat to consider everyone in the situation.
“So, is Valiant the one?”
Pat smiled, scratching the dog’s chin. “Think so.”
Valiant didn’t resist the leash and stayed by Pat’s side while he signed some papers. I couldn’t take my eyes off Pat. His hair was long, poking out around the rim of his hat. The muscles in his arms rippled as he moved the pen across the blank lines. His face was glowing.
The thought of Patrick being hungry for connection baffled me. He was an absolute catch: handsome, kind, and thoughtful. How on earth had he managed to spend so much time alone? The cute woman behind the desk was making eyes at him, but he didn’t seem to notice.
