Page 3 of Last First Love
My face heats up at the thought.
"Hey Lily," he says, drawing my name out in a sing-song type of way that makes it sound like he might like my name at least. The shape and feel of the word in his mouth. "What's the deal with the puppies anyway?"
My cheeks are burning hot and I hate how easily I get embarrassed, but I can't seem to help it, and especially not with a man like him. Everything he says to me has got me back in my thirteen-year-old first crush type feelings today. Or maybe it's the roomful of half-naked hot guys that has me all wound up tight today.
I lick my lips and watch as his eyes flash down to trace the movement. Heat unfurls in my stomach and the knowledge hits me that it's definitely not all the unusually hot firefighters in our county parading around half-naked that’s having this effect on me.
Just this one particular firefighter. The one who's watching my mouth.
"Um, well they're all up for adoption at the shelter. We're hoping that featuring the puppies will help bring in some donations for the shelter's operating costs, but also might result in one or more of these little ones getting a good home." I shrug a little. "It was Darcy's idea."
He nods. "Darcy's so damn smart. I mean, come on. Puppies are the best." He scrunches up his face and switches over to a baby voice, turning his attention to the puppy. "Isn't she the smartest? She's the very smartest firefighter in all of Indiana."
The puppy wriggles and squirms to lick him even more enthusiastically. I get that too. He's giving that little snuggly puppy the attention and affection that it so obviously craves and what's not to like about that? Plus, I'm willing to bet Ken Daniels tastes absolutely delicious.
I manage to pinch myself hard enough to offset the wave of inappropriate feelings and then adjust the settings on my camera. "Okay, you two look great together. Let's try to get a few shots before the puppy pees on you."
Daniels flashes me a look. "Squiggles here wouldn't pee pee on me. Would you, buddy?" He makes a little kissing noise at the puppy, and my heart nearly ruptures from all the damn cuteness overload.First the proposal, now this.
My eyes flick over to where Darcy and Abernathy are talking with her mother, and Darcy's showing off her ring. But I'm willing to bet a million dollars or so that Thomas Abernathy took Darcy's mother ring shopping with him. Because he's every bit as smart as Darcy, and he knows how important her mother's opinions are to her.
See? Perfect. Achingly, sickeningly sweet and one hundred percent perfect for one another.
Daniels follows the line of where I’m looking at where the happy couple stands, leaning against each other just so.
"Yeah, I wish I could have that too."
I startle at his words, the unmistakable melancholy in his voice. "What? Are you talking to me?" I meet his gaze, but he's gone back to his teasing, joking kind of mode again. The too quick glimpse of the real Ken Daniels is already gone.
"Not you, silly. I was talking to my buddy Squiggles. We're perfect for one another, aren't we?" He plants a noisy kiss on the puppy's fuzzy head. Then his eyes meet mine again. "But I suppose Squiggles and I could always do with another pretty girl in our lives, couldn't we?"
He keeps up the flirting banter during the entirety of the shoot, and it's driving me crazy. It takes all my energy to hang in there long enough to get the shots I need of him and Squiggles without either throwing up or throwing myself at him.
"So, what happens after the shoot?" Daniels is lying on one side, his head propped on his hand, and petting the little furry body of Squiggles, who did not pee on him despite my threats to the contrary.
"I take the shots back to my computer and edit them. I'll send a selection of the best ones to Millicent von Albrecht and she'll choose whichever ones she likes best for the calendar." I tilt my head at him. "Why are you asking about the backroom stuff about the calendar anyway? I don't really know much once I get past the photo edits part."
His fingers slide into his hair and he flashes me that wicked smile again. "I meant with the puppies, Lily. I wanted to know what happens to Squiggles."
"Oh," I put the camera down on the table. "Well, I'm taking the puppies back to the shelter. They live there." I shrug awkwardly. "Until someone adopts them."
"But Squiggles and I are bonding now. You can't take him back to the animal shelter."
I eye the man in front of me skeptically. "Don't pretend to feel things that you obviously don't. I get it, okay? Ha ha, the hot guy thinks the puppy is super cute and it makes him even hotter." I wave a hand at him. "You don't have to be that way with me."
"What way?" he asks, his forehead scrunching up.
"You don't have to make everything into a punchline." I press my lips together to keep the rest of the words at bay.
"It's not a joke, Lily. I really like this little guy, and I could use a little furry bro-mance in my life now that Abernathy's tapping out." He rubs his cheek against the puppy again. "What if I take Squiggles home?"
My mouth twists up. "It's a puppy. Not a girl. We all know you're not going to actually take anything other than another hot chick home with you."
"There's only one hot chick in this room, Lily, and I wouldn't mind taking you home too."
Behind me, a man clears his throat loudly enough to basically serve as a mini declaration of war.
Because of course. Of course, my brother would show up now, right when things were getting good.
