This was dangerous. She needed to keep herself in check.
Wrapping her arms around her middle, she watched as he stepped back from the truck’s open door. A medium-size dog appeared, tan and white, short-haired with floppy ears. The animal jumped down from the seat and then stood there, gazing up at Josh, wagging its tail.
Riley couldn’t help smiling at the sight. That dog looked at Josh with unabashed devotion.
Josh pushed the truck door shut and started up the walk. The dog fell in step at his heels.
She went to the door and pulled it open as he and the dog came up the steps. “What’s his name again?”
Josh swept off his hat, revealing his handsome face and his thick seal-brown hair. “Roger. Don’t ask me why. I started calling him that, and it stuck.”
“Well, come on in, you two.”
The dog followed him over the threshold. Riley shut the door.
As Josh hung up his hat and wool-lined denim jacket, Riley dropped to a crouch to meet Roger. He panted happily as she made a fuss over him.
When she straightened again, she asked, “Coffee? Drink?”
“Nah. I’m good.”
They moved into the living area and sat on the sofa. The dog sat on the far side of the coffee table for about five seconds. And then he stretched out to lie on the floor.
A silence ensued. Josh didn’t seem to know where to start. Neither did Riley.
Finally, she asked, “So, then? How did you meet Roger?” At the sound of his name, the dog sat up and perked his ears. She couldn’t help chuckling. “He is pretty adorable.”
Josh gave a half shrug. “Yeah. He can’t help himself. He’s a born sweetheart, and he loveseveryone.”
With a yawn, Roger walked his front paws out until he was lying down again.
“No wonder you adopted him—you said you found him at the local shelter?”
Josh frowned. “No. I took him to the shelter because that’s what you’re supposed to do when you find a stray pet.That gives the original owner a chance to make a claim. No owner showed up, so lucky me. Roger is mine. And Annette was the one who found him wandering down the road to my place when she stopped by to…” He hesitated.
“To what?”
“She wanted to have a talk with me.”
Riley shifted on the sofa cushion. “My mother-in-law stopped by to have atalkwith you?”
“That’s right.” He gazed at her steadily. “She loves you very much. She says you are a daughter to her.”
Riley’s throat clutched. “I love her, too.”
“I know you do.” He looked at her so tenderly—and there was that ache in her chest again.
“What else did she say?”
His eyes were serious, but the corner of his mouth twitched with the beginnings of a smile. “She said she knew that you—and I—were having a baby.”
“Oh no…”
“Yep. Then she asked me what my intentions were.”
Riley groaned in embarrassment and put her head in her hands. “She didn’t.”
“Oh yeah. She did.”
