Kenzie jumped to her feet and dashed home. She brushed her hair, letting it hang loose, then put on a little mascara and tinted lip gloss.
Why are you doing this? He won’t notice. He’s not interested in you.
She ignored that voice and hurried back to the training room, where her first client was just walking through the front door.
“Good to see you, Marge. Who’s this?” Kenzie knelt down to pet a tiny cinnamon-colored toy poodle puppy.
“Snickerdoodle,” Marge answered.
The puppy was trembling from head to foot, clearly terrified.
“Hi, there, Snickerdoodle. It’s okay, sweetie. You’re going to have lots of fun today.” Kenzie stood again. “Feel free to pour yourself a cup of coffee and grab a donut while we wait.”
* * *
Conrad couldn’t takehis gaze off Kenzie. She was at the center of her world, the calm amid the chaos, and, God, she was beautiful. She usually kept her dark hair in a ponytail, but today it hung loose, making his fingers itch to run through it. Her cheeks were flushed from playing with puppies, a happy smile on her sweet face. She wore a blue sweater that hugged the curves of her breasts and jeans that did the same for her ass.
He shouldn’t be thinking any of this.
Pay attention, idiot.
Seven puppies—a mutt, two black Labradors, a Great Dane, an Akita, a beagle, and Gabby—played and gamboled together in the center of the room, with Kenzie acting as referee. She intervened when the play got out of control and rewarded puppies who played well together, all the while answering questions from the puppies’ owners.
Conrad had known that Kenzie was an expert with dogs. He’d watched her act as Gizmo’s handler at the scene of dozens of rescues. But there was so much more to know about canines than he’d realized.
“The fastest way to housetrain your puppy is to be consistent with the crate.” She reached down, pulled the Akita off the Great Dane, and held the puppy, effectively putting it in time-out. “When your puppy isn’t in her crate, you’ll need to watch her, just like you’d watch over a human toddler. If you give her the run of the house and don’t keep an eye on her, she’s going to have accidents.”
D’oh.
Hear that, dumbshit?
“How do you know when they need to go to the bathroom?”
Kenzie put the Akita down. “When you see your puppy trying to sneak behind the couch or walk off into a corner, pick her up and carry her outside right away.”
“That means I have to keep a constant eye on him.”
Kenzie smiled. “That’s life with a puppy.”
Gabby jumped and rolled with the two black Lab puppies. Kenzie scooped her up, leashed her, and carried her over to a toy poodle that stood behind a slatted, folding divider. Kenzie had put up the little divider to make the poodle feel sheltered and safe, giving it its own little space.
She knelt down on the other side of the divider and set Gabby on the floor, holding her, giving the little poodle time to decide whether he wanted to meet Gabby or not. “It’s okay, Snickerdoodle. This is Gabby. She’s just a puppy, too.”
Snickerdoodle stretched out his little neck, leaning forward on trembling legs to sniff Gabby through the slats of the divider. Then he wagged his tail.
Gabby gave a little yip and wagged her tail, too.
Kenzie gave Gabby a little slack, allowing her to poke her head around the divider. The poodle seemed afraid at first, but stretched out to sniff Gabby again. Slowly, Kenzie allowed Gabby to enter the little poodle’s space, until the two of them stood together, sniffing each other, their tails wagging. She gave both puppies a treat. “You’re such a brave boy, Snickerdoodle.”
Kenzie glanced over her shoulder at Conrad. “Can you come hold Gabby’s leash and keep an eye on her? I need to get back to the class. Don’t let her jump on Snickerdoodle or do anything to scare him.”
“Right.” Conrad got to his feet, crossed the room, and took the leash from her, sitting on the floor to the side of the divider. “Hey, Snickerdoodle.”
Who would saddle a tiny dog with a name like that?
“I’m Marge.” The poodle’s owner smiled at him—and blushed.
What the hell was that about?
