“And what if the dog warden can’t find an owner and he has to go into a rescue centre to be rehomed? How will you feel then?”
Grace frowned unhappily at the question. “I’m not sure. I think I’ll just have to wait and cross that bridge when I come to it.”
A flicker of an amused smile lifted the edges of Ryan’s mouth, but before she could ask what he thought was funny about anything in the unfortunate Stanley situation, he’d settled back down again on the sofa and was lifting his phone to scroll on the screen.
“Let’s narrow down some pizza options for dinner,” he said, gesturing for Grace to sit beside him. “So far, our contendersare margherita and pepperoni, but maybe something else on the pizzeria menu might grab our interest.”
Grace sat down beside him, watching as he scrolled through the pizza menu, but also distracted by that amused look she’d caught on his face a moment ago.
“When you asked what I’d do if Stanley had to go to a rescue centre to be rehomed, and I said I’d cross that bridge when I came to it, you got this funny look on your face.”
The smile that had only flickered before on Ryan’s face now reappeared, and this time it was full wattage.
“What?” Grace said, half-laughing at his expression, but still baffled by it, too.
Ryan let out a soft laugh. “You’re in love with that dog, Grace. If no one comes forward to claim him, you’re going to keep him. You just haven’t realised it yet.”
Grace’s eyes widened in surprise at his analysis. “No, that can’t happen!”
His smile only got bigger. “But it will,” he said, and brushed a kiss across her lips before returning to his menu scrolling.
And Grace realised, in a stunned and sudden flash, that he was completely right. Her gaze flew to Stanley, now snoring on the floor, and her heart filled with love for the daft little dog. How could she give him up?
She couldn’t.
Ryan had known it before she had. That he somehow already knew her well enough to deliver such a brilliantly accurate insight left her at a loss for words.
And wondering, as another rush of panicked realisation crashed through her, if the scruffy dog wasn’t the only one in the room with whom she was falling in love.
