But Ollie couldn't even think about that right now.Not until he'd figured out how to be honest with her about his situation.
"Callie, meet Butter."
She reached her hand out as if to pet him, but Butter raised a paw to shake with her.
"Oh my goodness, look at you!Aren't you fancy," she exclaimed as she held his paw."It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."
She shot a glance at Ollie."I should have known that even the dogs around here have impeccable manners."
Peanut whined again.
"They do," he agreed."And this lady here, Miss Peanut, sounds like she's eager for a proper introduction so that she can show off her manners too."
He inclined his head toward Callie, and Peanut jumped out of her bed to sit upright next to Butter.She didn't hesitate to raise her paw, and Callie shook hands with her as well.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too," she said.
Ollie couldn't help smiling as he watched two tails thump in unison on the floor behind them.
"How old are they?"Callie asked.
"They're four now."
"Oh, wow.I would have guessed that they really were puppies."
"Nope, they're full-grown adults."
Callie squatted down and ran her hands over both their heads."Well, you're just big, beautiful puppies to me."
Peanut put a paw to Callie's shoulder, knocking her off balance so she sat back on her butt.To Ollie's relief, she laughed.
"Fine, I'll sit here with you guys."
She looked at Butter, who leaned in close to sniff her face.
"It's okay," Ollie reassured her."He's just curious about you, but if you don't like it, you can tell him to back off."
"No, it's fine," said Callie.
As Butter sniffed her face, she sniffed right back, which made Peanut curious enough to come and join in.Ollie watched in wonder as the three of them sniffed each other's faces — the two dogs emitting contented little whines and Callie cooing baby-talk nonsense.
Although, coming from her, it didn't feel like nonsense.Something settled in him as he watched her.
He'd only introduced a few girls to the dogs.One had been scared stupid, and the others had tried to act relaxed around them, but it was obvious that they were wary.Callie, on the other hand, seemed so happy with them that he got the impression she wouldn't notice if he wasn't even here.
He wanted to sit down on the floor with them and join in.And he'd do that if they were at home, but it didn't feel right to hang around here, giving Callie the impression that this was home when it wasn't.
He cleared his throat."What do you think?Should we load them up and take them out?"
Callie got to her feet."I think we should."
She looked around the apartment, and Ollie could guess what she was thinking.What kind of an asshole would keep these two locked up in an apartment like this?
If he didn't come clean with her soon, she'd have even more reason to hate him when he did.
~ ~ ~
"What do we need to bring for them?"she asked, looking around."Where do you keep their leashes?"
