Page 21 of At the Heart of It
He looked away, his gaze drifting out over Puget Sound. “A little.”
Okay, so that was a start. Kate slid her hand into her bag and pulled out a business card. Since he wasn’t looking at her, she pressed the card into his palm and watched as his gaze swiveled back to hers.
“All my contact information is here—my cell, my email, everything,” she said. “And in case you want to talk privately, I’m staying at the Westin in Bellevue. Room 906.”
Now why had she said that? It wasn’t on the card, and she hadn’t planned to just blurt it out. Jonah stared at her for a few beats, then looked down at the card.
“If I say no, are they going to pull the plug on the show?”
Kate looked at him, not sure how to answer. “Are you asking because you want to help her out, or because you like knowing you can kill your ex-wife’s TV show?”
He shoved the card in his pocket and met her eyes. “The fact that those are the two possibilities that occur to you means I’m probably not going to get a straight answer.”
“I don’t know,” she said, ordering herself to hold his gaze. “I don’t know what’ll happen to the show if you won’t do it. That’s the truth.”
He stared at her for a long time. So long Kate couldn’t help letting her gaze stray from his, drifting quickly down his bare chest and then back up to those amber-green eyes that seemed to be staring straight into her soul.
“I’ll be in touch,” he said.
Then he turned and walked away, the little fox dog trotting along beside him.
Chapter 4
Jonah walked through the doors of the Clearwater Animal Shelter and handed Buster’s leash to the redhead wearing a mischievous smile and a nametag that said “Josslyn.”
“I gave out six business cards and fielded nine requests to pet the dog,” he reported as he moved past his sister behind the counter.
Jossy grinned and shoved a shock of curly red hair behind one ear. “How many requests to pet you?”
Jonah grunted. “Two.”
He rummaged under the counter for his T-shirt, feeling oddly self-conscious. It’s not like he wasn’t used to walking bare chested around Alki Park, but it always left him feeling like an aging frat boy. Fall was on the way, and with it the colder weather. That was a relief. It meant he could graduate to a skin-tight thermal shirt for the winter.
“Here,” Jossy said, shoving the T-shirt into his hand. “You left it in the back room again. I swear you’d lose your balls if they weren’t stapled on.”
“And if I didn’t have women checking them for me every time they try to stick their phone numbers down the front of my shorts?” Jonah took the T-shirt and began hunting for the neck hole while Jossy made cooing noises at the little terrier.
“You’re exaggerating again,” Jossy said. “That only happened once.”
“Twice.”
“And didn’t you say she was drunk?”
“You’re implying that’s the only way I’d get groped?” Jonah finished tugging down his shirt and looked at his sister.
“Yes, because you’re a disgusting boy.”
“If I’m that repulsive, why do you keep making me work as your shirtless dog walker?”
“Because apparently, a lot of women are charmed by your repulsiveness.” Jossy looked up at him, pausing in the middle of scratching Buster’s ear. “Seriously, Jonah, I owe you.”
Her expression was still teasing, but there was a glint of adoration now. Hero worship. Jonah felt his heart twist. He wasn’t worthy of her admiration. He was the one who owed her. Owed her everything and then some, which is why he spent as much time as he did “whoring himself out,” as Kate had so eloquently put it.
“I was running the stats this morning before my meeting with the accountant,” Josslyn said as she led Buster to a red silicone water dish and gave him a long drink. “Ever since you started your shirtless dog-walking campaign, adoptions are up almost thirty percent. Unsurprisingly, they’re nearly all women.”
Jonah dug out a bottle of lukewarm iced tea from where he’d left it under the counter and pried off the top. He took a long drink before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”
“Don’t worry. There are plenty of other reasons to hate you.”
