And it was absurd how glad he was. How much he had missed her.
How much helikedher.
Neither of them had mentioned fake-dating again, and they certainly hadn’t mentioned real dating. Apparently, they were just going to spend a lot of time together and letthe townsfolk call it what they wanted.
Last he heard, the book club had declared them this summer’scouple to watch. Ominous, to say the least.
‘Okay, well, she calls him Nate now, which I think is really cute. And they’re going to a town dance together on the weekend!’ She said it as though it were all happening right now as she read it, and not a hundred years ago. He’d be lying if he said her newfound interest in history didn’t delight him. ‘We should bring back town dances,’ she concluded, taking a big sip of coffee. She looked so damn cute when she was excited that Elliot had to remind himself to stop staring and respond.
‘If any place could bring back town dances, it would be Dream Harbor.’
Daisy laughed. ‘You’re probably right. I shouldn’t say it too close to a town meeting or it will end up happening.’
‘And you’ll get roped in to the planning committee.’
‘That’s true… Oh, my goodness, puppies—’ Daisy stopped abruptly in front of The Second Chance pet shop. Elliot stopped, too, and couldn’t help but agree with Daisy’s squealed delight. Those were some darn cute puppies, all golden and soft, with black noses and pink tongues lolling out of their mouths.
‘Look at those little balls of fluff! They are adorable!’ Daisy went on, her hands pressed to the glass as they watched the wriggling pile of puppies stumble over each other to get to the window. ‘We have to go in!’ She was tugging Elliot by the hand into the pet shop before he could protest, but why would he? He was always down to pet some puppies. And frankly, at this point, he would pet an alligator if Daisy was the one asking him to.
Once inside, the barking and yipping of the puppies nearly drowned out Daisy’s cooing and laughing. She leaned right over the gated area and was petting each puppy as they fell all over themselves to get to her. Elliot knew the feeling well.
There was one little puppy that couldn’t seem to get into the mix. Too tiny to keep up with its siblings, the runt of the litter kept getting pushed aside. Elliot decided to give this puppy some love. He scooped her up and held her in his arms, scratching right between the ears. The puppy immediately fell asleep.
He looked up from petting his new little friend and found Daisy staring at him. Not just staring. Daisylooked like she may jump him. Even more than she had when he was talking about census forms at the library or when he’d suggested they spend an afternoon at the bookstore—or any number of other times during the past two weeks when their gazes had snagged or their hands had touched. They may have not been talking about the parameters of their relationship, but their bodies certainly seemed to have some ideas.
Maybe he needed to hold cute things more often. First Owen, and now this puppy. Did other men know this? That if they hold babies, women melt on the spot?
‘She loves you,’ she whispered, her eyes tearing up. ‘That little puppy loves you!’
‘I just… she couldn’t… keep up with the others…’ Her reaction had him completely flustered.
Daisy’s tears were threatening to spill over, and Elliot was at a loss as to what his next move should be when one of the owners of the shop, Shawn, emerged from the back. He and his husband Greg were two older gentlemen who had initially struck Elliot as more urban and sophisticated than you would expect for a small town, like they should be running a boutique in New York and not a pet-rescue shop in Dream Harbor. But then he met them and realized they fit right in. ‘Hi, Daisy. Hi, Elliot. I see you’ve met our latest guests.’Guestslike the puppies had checked into a luxury hotel. Elliot smiled.
‘Where did they come from?’ Daisy asked, her eyes still on Elliot. His cheeks heated under her stare.
‘They were found abandoned under a car, actually.’
‘No!’ Daisy gasped, turning back to Shawn. ‘That’s terrible. Who would just leave these babies like that?’
He patted her gently on the shoulder. ‘They’re safe with us now and it won’t be long until they’re all adopted. In fact, a few of these guys are already on hold for several families that saw them on our socials.’
Daisy pressed a hand to her chest in relief. ‘I love that you do pet rescues here.’
‘Me, too,’ Shawn said with a smile. ‘And I see you’ve bonded with the littlest member of the family,’ he said to Elliot. ‘Isn’t she sweet?’
‘Thesweetest,’ Daisy sighed.
‘Are you looking to adopt?’
‘I’m not sure if I can…’ Elliot looked down at the little ball of fur in his arms, and he wanted to cry. Sam had been even smaller when he and Leigh got him and used to sleep just like this, curled up in Elliot’s arms. God, he missed that dog.
Was he ready to have a new one?
Could he find the space to love a new furry friend?
‘What about you, Daisy?’ Shawn asked and now Daisy looked like she might cry again.
‘I would love to, I just don’t have the room at the moment.’ Her brow furrowed like she was thinking about whether she could fit a dog larger than a teacup poodle in that apartment of hers. She definitely couldn’t. ‘They’re going to get big, aren’t they?’
