Fuck, she was going to ask him out.
As noted, he was attracted to her.He wanted to go out with her.
Also as noted, he’d hung up that bat, so he was not going to go there.
She noticed his reaction, and he firmly buried how it felt to watch the hurt shift through her face, telling himself he much preferred the annoyance that came in after.
“Easy, hotshot,” she snapped.“I already have a date.”
Fucking fuck.
That didn’t make him feel better.
Nope.
It felt far worse.
“I’m meeting Abigail and her family there.We’re scoping out the artists.”
He had no clue who Abigail was, but if she had a family, she was not a date.
“Right,” he replied, now refusing to allow himself to relax with the relief it brought to know she hadn’t hooked up with another guy.
“I wanted to know if you thought Tonks would be able to handle going with me.”
“Why not?”he asked.
“I…”—she gazed down at the dog and came back to him—“don’t know.”
“It sucks she was surrendered, Mabel.It was uncool.Uncalled for.At least, she’s a six-hundred-dollar dog.At most, fifteen.But even if money’s the point for many, it’s not the point.But she’s home now.You click.You know what she needs.You give it to her.You have to stop babying her.Animals do experience trauma.But just like humans, they can heal from it.”
“Okay.”
“So take her.”
“Okay.”
“You get worried, I’ll be there with Hannibal.”
Now, why did he say that?
Her gaze sharpened on him.“You will?”
“Stony Bluff has a booth.We’ll have some dogs and cats we hope will get adopted, and we’re selling organic pet treats Winona makes.”
“Right.A fundraiser.”
“It’ll be busy, the whole town will be there?—”
Before he could finish, she asked, “The whole town?”
“MP turns out when there’s shit to do,” he explained.“Last year, Lillian, Harry’s wife, and her neighbors got into a big outside Halloween decoration fight that got so much attention, Harry had to put cruisers on each end of the block to shut it off from traffic because everyone with a kid, and just everyone, showed up on the night to trick or treat.This year, it’s happening again.They’re making a thing of it, and I talked Lillian into giving all her neighbors a donation bucket for the rescue.”
“Smart idea.”
He knew it was.
What fucked him was, he liked to hear she agreed.
