Page 11 of Chasing Forever

I nodded, and with my hands on Levi’s shoulders, we headed into the house. The first thing I heard as soon as he pushed the door open was the sound of nails skittering against the beautiful distressed hardwood floors.

A second later the dog came into view. Or at least I thought it was a dog. I did a double take, my chin jerking back in surprise. It was shaped like a pot roast, with an abnormally large bobble head and stubby little legs. It skip-walked the rest of the distance, letting out a sound with each step that was a cross between a wheeze and a grunt, mixed in with a little bit of a growl.

As soon as he reached us, he stopped and collapsed onto his side.

“Merritt, Levi, meet Doc,” Tristan introduced. At the humor in his tone, I looked from the dog to him to find him watching the animal with affection carved into every plane of his face. Detective Tristan Fanning wasn’t just a pet lover. He was a full-blown dog dad. And, damn it, but that was in my top three sexiest things about him so far.

“He’s so cute,” Levi shouted, dropping to his knees beside Doc.

“Is—is he okay?” I asked Tristan on a whisper. Doc wasn’t moving, and I was beginning to worry that Levi might have his second traumatic experience in less than twenty-four hours.

Tristan waved his hand in the air. “Yeah, he’s totally fine. That’s his way of asking for a belly rub.”

One corner of my mouth hooked up in a grin as I arched my brows. “Asking?” I stressed, my tone teasing.

Tristan’s smile nearly knocked me on my ass. It was one thing to see it directed at someone else, but to be on the receiving end was something else entirely. “Okay, demanding is more accurate. He’s a little spoiled.”

At Levi’s giggle, I turned back to find the dog had rolled the rest of the way onto his back, those short legs of his sticking straight up in the air. In that position, his jowls had fallen back, giving him a Joker smile, part adorable and part psychotic.

“He’s like, the coolest dog ever, Mr. Tristan!”

I could have sworn I saw Tristan’s chest puff out with pride as a flash of something that looked like victory flitted across his face. “Thanks, buddy.” Then under his breath he added, “We’ll see how Rhodes likes that.”

“What was that?”

He blinked, giving a jolt like he hadn’t realized he’d said that out loud. His grimace made him that much more endearing.

“Sorry. It’s nothing, really... It’s just, my nieces and nephew were all crazy about Doc until they met Rhodes’s dog, Koda. They basically threw Doc over for her.”

I curled my lips between my teeth to keep from laughing. “I take it that’s a bit of a sore spot.”

Tristan let out a derisive snort and crossed his arms as he watched Levi love all over his precious pet. “Just ’cause she’s all purebred and regal and looks like she belongs in one of those dog food ads where she’s running through a field somewhere doesn’t make her better than Doc.”

Holy crap. I didn’t think it was possible for someone as handsome as Tristan to be adorable as well. “No, of course not,” I said, trying my best to sound reassuring. “And Doc looks—” The wordregaldied on my tongue when I turned my attention back to the animal in question. He was currently thrashing his body from side to side to scratch his back on the floor, letting out a wheezy snort-grunt with each motion. “Well, he kind of looks like a ham. But a super cute ham,” I added quickly. “And I don’t know about you, but I’d take an adorable ham over some stuffy show dog any day of the week.”

“Exactly!” Tristan said, that smile coming back in full force. And I realized that if I didn’t build up a tolerance to this guy fast, I was going to be in serious trouble.

Chapter Seven

Merritt

Ipulled a shirt out of my suitcase and shook the wrinkles out as best I could before sliding it onto the hanger and carrying it to the closet. The room Tristan had designated for me was really nice. I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to a guest room in the house of a single man who lived alone, but the large room with a decent-sized walk-in closet was a pleasant surprise.

The furniture was a nice, glossy white oak, the rustic style matching everything else in the house. There was a king-size bed with soft navy sheets, a matching bedside table, and a dresser. Like the rest of the house, there wasn’t much in the way of decoration or personal touches. The furniture was all well-made and comfortable, and while his home was beautiful and cozy, I didn’t see much of his personality in it. There were a few prints hanging on the walls here and there, and while they were pretty, they were all mass-produced landscapes and things of that nature.

The one thing Ididnotice was a top-of-the-line, fluffy dog bed in every common area in the house. Thinking back on that made me smile. It was clear the dog had averycomfortable life with Tristan, and I couldn’t help but think that a man who was that sweet with his pet couldn’t possibly be hiding a darker side beneath the surface.

But on the heels of that thought, I remembered that I’d let pretty words and looks fool me before. Tristan had been nothing but nice, but I couldn’t afford to lower my guard, especially when I had Levi to think about.

With my last suitcase empty, I zipped it closed and carried it into the closet. When I stepped back out, the little black ball of fur was sitting inside the open doorway of my bedroom, his head tipped to the side as he stared up at me.

“Hi.” Doc’s head canted to the other side and he opened his mouth, his tongue lolling out the side. I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes, “You know what, you are kinda cute.” Doc panted and opened his mouth wide, and I swore it looked like he was smiling. I let out a chuckle. “Okay, fine. You’re very cute. Happy now?”

He let out a little yip as if to say yes, he was.

“Oh, you’re gonna be trouble, aren’t you?”

He stood up and turned around, sauntering out of the room with his tail wagging like crazy.

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