Page 82 of Will Bark for Pizza
“Would you mind keeping this between us, for now?” Karl asked. “Wendy and I want to talk to the kids first.”
So, Aspendidn’tknow. I let out a breath.
“Of course,” Beckett said.
“I better head back to check on Wendy.”
I waited on the dock for Beckett to return to the party with Karl, willing my racing heart to slow so I could make a plan. Though a handshake among friends was as good as a signature in this town when it was among friends, I might still have time to talk to Karl before the deal was official. He might change his mind if he knew someone in the family actually wanted the place.Maybe I should go back to the party and mention my interest?—
Splash!
“Husker!”
Fucking pondweed.
I didn’t think twice. I jumped in after him, worried his leash would wrap around a pole and prevent him from resurfacing.
“Kira?”
Fuck. Beckett.
“Go away. I got this.”
“You okay?”
“You’re all right, Bubbies,” I said to Husker, ignoring Beckett. I scooped my dog into my arms and walked him to the shore. He could probably swim, but I wasn’t going to test that theory in the dark. His eyes were wider than normal, and he looked like a rattled, drowned hyena who’d eaten too much pizza. Startled, but otherwise unscathed.
“What happened?” Beckett asked, wading into the water to meet us, soaking his boot-clad feet in the process.
“I don’t need your help,” I growled.
“Kira,” he said softly.
“Go away.”
“You heard that, then?”
He took Husker from my arms and set him on the shore, catching the leash handle with one boot so Husker couldn’t run off. Beckett offered a hand to me that I only begrudgingly took because the bottom of the lake seemed extra slick, and I was struggling to get to dry land on my own. With any luck, I’d slip and pull the jerk into the cold water with me.
“I thought wejustagreed. No more secrets.”
“Kira, I haven’t even had a chance to tell you.” I wanted his tone to be condescending. It would be so much easier to be mad at him if it were anything but the gentleness that it was. “Everyone told me Karl wouldn’t sell. And after he decided to throw a party out here, I thought that was it. This conversation was a complete surprise to me.”
“Is that why you were out here the other day?” I asked,unable to quiet the chattering of my teeth as Husker shook off gallons of water.
“Yes.” Beckett stripped off a flannel jacket he hadn’t been wearing the last time I saw him near the cabin and draped it over my shoulders, shielding me from the worst of Husker’s attempts to shed the lake water from his thick fur. “You really need to stop falling in the lake.”
“Tired of saving me?” I shot back, heavy on the sarcasm.
“No more secrets?” he asked, as though seeking permission as he rubbed my arms to create warmth.
“No more secrets.”
He leaned his head lower, until his lips were even with my ear. “I’m tired of pretending I’m not affected by seeing you in wet clothes.”
A current of warmth swept through my body at the admission, my heart pounding for an entirely new reason. I wasn’t imagining the attraction between us, of that I was certain. But I thought I was the only one with the dial turned up so high.
Until now.
