Page 73 of Dream Chaser
I glance at Iz, who’s standing at that elevator, calling Wile, who looks up at me like,Help a brother out. I scoop him up and head down the stairs.
“You can’t spoil him like that; he has to get used to?—”
“This isn’t spoiling; this is saving his dignity, doing him a solid so when I sneak in one night to lick you from head to toe, he doesn’t bark—he just gives me the paw and nods in your direction.”
“He would never,” she huffs as she passes me and opens the door to Blue Valley Publishing then closes it behind us.
Before I can say anything else stupid, we hear voices in the hallway, just beyond the door. Several voices.
The boss babes. Loud as hell.
Iz freezes and mouths. “Oh no.”
As they make their way up the stairs, she looks at me, panicked. “We have to sneak you out.”
“Seriously?”
“This is not a thing, so of course I’m being serious.”
I sigh. “Fine. What’s the plan?”
She nods toward the dog, currently looking at me like,You can set me down man?
“You’re going to carry Wile.”
I blink. “What?”
“He’s cute. He’s a distraction. Everyone loves him. No one will seeyou.”
“You think I can just walk out of here with an eighty-pound senior dog andnotget clocked?”
She shrugs. “You’re huge. They’ll assume you’re a pet delivery service.”
“This is the worst plan I’ve ever heard,” I mutter, looking at Wile. “You hear that, buddy? We’re going full Mission Im-paw-sible.”
Wile just blinks, licks my face, and stretches into my legs like this is his moment.
We move fast through the narrow hall behind the press, past stacks of papers and that big-ass printer. It smells like a mixture of machine oil, ink, and paper.
She leads me through a creaky back door that connects to the coffee shop’s rear hall, and then finally out onto the street through a side exit flanked by recycling bins.
I set Wile down gently.
Iz wipes snow off her hoodie sleeve. “Change of plans. Hood up and walk away.”
“Yeah? You mean leaveyour dogwithyou?”
“Shush.”
We’re quiet for a second, and then she says two simple words. “Text me?”
“Absolutely,” I say and lean in just enough to kiss her temple. “Later, Miss Freshman Fuck Feast.”
She gasps, “Griffon!”
I’m grinning like a jackass as I walk away, hood up, set to cut through some lots and head to my vehicle, which is two blocks away, to honor my promise that this stays between us … and now Wile.
That dog is cool as fuck.
