When she walked her out, Karen lit up.
“Aw, just look at my girl! She looks absolutely stunning.”
“Hank worked his magic on her,” Sammi said. “Do you want a bow for your pretty girl?”
“I sure do!”
I thought it was a little ironic that a butch lesbian like Sammi put pretty bows on the girl dogs. I’d mentioned it once, and she’d shrugged and said she was just keeping her cis-het clients happy.
She’d added rainbow-colored ones to the selection the next week, though, and started offering them for both malesand females. Kinda funny that a hopelessly straight dude had inspired Sammi to queer up her dog accessories.
Sammi affixed a bow just behind Scarlett’s ear, then led her around the counter. Karen clipped on her leash and happily handed over her card to Sammi.
“I’m so glad I did this,” Karen said. “Did she behave?”
“Scarlett wasn’t so sure about me at first, but she let me persuade her with presents. It went fine.”
“Ahh, bribery. Yes. I’m familiar with that tactic.”
“Would you like to schedule your next appointment?”
A round of vigorous barking started up in the playroom, and Sammi gave me a distracted look.
“I’ll go,” I said, happy to escape the small talk of checking out customers.
We had a relatively new assistant watching the dogs, but she didn’t yet know how to manage them when they got wound up.
I slipped through the door, and half the dogs came running over with their big doggy grins.
Bruno was at the front of the pack, eager to see Daddy. I scooped him up and peppered kisses on his head. One of the perks of being employed by a doggy day care was that I could bring him to work every day.
I gave Bruno a few scratches and put him down. Then I said the magic words.
“Who wants to play?”
A chorus of barks gleefully answered.
I picked up three balls and hurled them across the room. The crowd went wild.
If only I was as good with people as I was with these dogs. Then I might not need matchmaking services just to get out of the house.
CHAPTER 2
Jamie
“How do I look?”I spun toward my two Labradors, Lady and Tramp.
They were identical except for their color. Lady was black and sleek, an elegance to her of a true lady. Tramp was yellow, and just like the color, emitted a joy that warmed my heart.
“I’m going out,” I continued as I fluffed my dark curls, “so I want to look nice.”
Lady tipped her head as if she were thinking over my question. Tramp trotted over, tail wagging, and woofed hopefully. He’d clearly zeroed in on the wordsgoing out.
“No,youalready went out,” I told him. “It’s Daddy’s turn.”
He snorted.
“Well, we don’t always get what we want.”
