“Hell yeah.” Valerie high-fives the customer from behind the glass counter.
Taylor refrains from commenting.
“Why do I have to twist my ankle?”
“I thought you’d be better at scheming than this. Because, if you’re hurt, then you can’t walk Archie. Or take care of him. Your hot hunk of a man will have to watch the dog himself. And we both know how lovable Archie is, even if he is a naughty bastard. He’ll wind himself around Ryder’s heart in no time.”
“Unless he fires me and hires someone else if I can’t do my duties,” I point out.
“Well, that’s why you can’t break anything. Twisting an ankle is more nebulous. Any day you could be better, so it’s a day-by-day prognosis. It wouldn’t be worth going through the trouble of hiring someone new.”
“It could work,” I say. The corgi finishes exploring the fresh smells of the store and lies down on the floor next to me. “All Archie needs is a little time. Ryder will fall for him for sure, right?”
Taylor adjusts the shirt he just steamed and smirks. “There’s no way he can resist, darling. I guarantee it.”
I sigh happily. “I love a good project.”
I decide to enact Operation Make Ryder Fall in Love first thing. After all, there’s no time like the present. Ryder will fall in love with his dog.
And maybe, hopefully, me.
An hour later,Archie and I are climbing the hill to Piper’s Peak.
And here’s the thing about fate.
She likes to laugh at me.
When I glance up, I notice Ryder in the window of his bedroom on the second floor. He’s watching me, and I realize he’s shirtless. Again. I’m so busy trying to figure out whether he’s wearing pants. Or a towel. Or something on his bottom. That I don’t watch where I’m walking.
I trip over a rock in my cute gladiator-style wedges and fall to the ground with a crash.
“Shit,” I cry, embarrassed that Ryder saw my clumsy spill. When I turn back to the window, it’s empty.
I wipe away dirt and gravel from a bloody knee, frown at the dust on my formerly pristine pastel-blue shorts, and scramble up to standing.
“Ah!” Pain shoots up my ankle. I collapse onto my backside in another ungraceful move.
“Shit,” I cry again.
Yep, fate is a perverse bitch.
And karma is her temperamental sister.
Because the pain I feel when I try to stand is very much like a twisted ankle.
CHAPTER 9
RYDER
(TEN YEARS AGO) RYDER’S JOURNAL
Chase warned me off Daisy tonight. He’s worried because we’ve been spending so much time together. But I told him he was crazy. I’d never go there.
We just hang out, me playing music and her sewing. I never get bored. Usually, when I spend a lot of time with someone, I get restless and need to be alone. That doesn’t happen with Daisy. In fact, I seek out her company. Find excuses to talk to her. But only as a friend. That’s what I tell myself.
(NOW)
I wasn’t trying to be a creeper, staring at Daisy while she strode up the hill in those short shorts. I glanced out the window whileI was getting dressed after a post-swim shower, just as she was returning from her walk with Archie.
