She didn’t jump, or even blink in surprise when his arm slid around her waist. Over the past few days, Jake and Max had quickly melded into the fabric of her life. Letting her head fall back against his shoulder, she hummed noncommittally. “Do I? Good, because I feel smug.” She gestured to the festivities. “Can you believe this is happening?”
“I never doubted you for a minute.” He tilted his head to brush a kiss to her temple. “Shall we go survey your domain?”
She laughed as she wriggled from his grasp. “We shall.”
“Hey, big guy,” she cooed, bending down to offer her knuckles to Max. He bathed them with a sloppy kiss. “Thank you. I needed a big sloppy kiss.”
“Oh, if that’s the case—”
Jake attempted to tug her back into his arms, but she resisted.
“Hey, come on,” she said, pushing him away. “Don’t be jealous.” She took his hand and pulled him in the direction of the midway. “Come on. I’ll let you win me an enormous stuffed gorilla.”
“You greatly overestimate my basketball skills.”
“We’ll stick to firing corks at empty cans then,” she assured him. “Surely they taught you to shoot at the police academy, didn’t they?”
“We need to change the saying to ‘Don’t mock a man with a Glock.’”
She threw her head back and laughed. Stepping onto the paved lane, they hooked a sharp right, sticking to the arcade side of the midway rather than getting snarled up in the lines queueing for the rides. As they passed the corn dog stand, Cassidy waved to Manny, who was busy working the deep fryer.
They paused to watch a couple of teenagers taking their best shots at the basketball hoops. They were so engrossed in the competition between a young man and woman, they barely noticed Manny’s approach.
But Max did.
The dog let out a woof of approval as he eyed the footlong corn dogs the older man offered like a prized bouquet.
“Oh! Thank you, Manny,” she said, beaming at her friend.
“Thank you,” Jake said as he took one of the proffered treats.
“The least I can do,” Manny said, pulling packets of mustard from an apron pocket. “And if I may, I have something for our hero,” he said, raising expectant brows at Jake as he gestured to Max.
“Oh, I’m sorry. He eats a specialized diet—”
Manny pulled a paper-wrapped package from the same pocket and presented it to Jake. “Miss Cassidy told me he had to be treated special. I have a little chicken for him. Not much. No seasonings. Good chicken.”
He looked so hopeful. Cassidy held her breath as she, Manny and poor salivating Max awaited his answer.
Jake looked from Manny to her, then back again. “Oh. That’s very nice of you. Thank you.” He accepted the gift on Max’s behalf.
“You’re sweet, Manny,” Cassidy said, leaning in to hug him. “Now, get back to it before we have a corn dog revolt on our hands.”
Manny waved and flashed a bright smile as he backed away. He took three steps then turned and took off for his battered food stand at a dead run, expertly dodging meandering fairgoers as they stepped into his path.
She nodded toward a bench only half occupied by a woman rocking a stroller to and fro. “Let’s settle for a minute.”
It wasn’t until she took a seat on the bench that she realized she was staring straight at the spot where the carousel stood. “Oh.”
He frowned down at her. “You wanna move?”
“No. No.” She waved his concern away. “I’m good.” She plucked the corn dog from his hand. “Here, I’ll hold this while you take care of Max.”
“Okay.” He chuckled as he unwrapped the package. When he saw the palm-size pile of boneless, skinless chicken, he smiled. “This was nice of him. Max will generally behave himself, but he is a dog, after all.”
“As evidenced by the drooling,” she said, nodding to the slobber trickling from the corners of the dog’s mouth.
Sure enough, Max gulped down the offering in record time. Satisfied with his treat, he stretched out at Cassidy’s feet and took in the crowd passing by.
