Page 23 of Most Likely to Score
From a few feet away, Jones says to the dog, “What am I going to do with you? You give me those puppy-dog eyes, and I don’t stand a chance.”
“Are you tempted to adopt her?” I ask as I walk over to him and Delia, the woman from the animal rescue.
He heaves a sigh. “If I could, I would. I’ve already had to convince my brother to be Cletus’s babysitter during the season.”
I nod, understanding the dilemma of a traveling man. An idea strikes me, though. “Would you want to post a photo of her on the team feed and say she’s looking for a home? We can tag the humane society.”
A smile lights Delia’s face. “We would be so very grateful.”
“Let’s do it,” Jones says.
He scoops the dog higher in his arms, pressing his face to her snout. I snap a shot of man and beast. I don’t know which one is cuter.
“You are so screwed,” Jess whispers.
I know. I freaking know. When she’s done, I hug her and say goodbye.
“You and Jess are pretty close?” he asks as we walk along the beach with the dog, as Jess takes off.
“We used to pretend we were twins when we were younger,” I say. “Because we’re the same age.”
“Fun. It’s always good to have a friend you can play pranks with.”
“That’s her. She’s adopted too. We met because of that—at a picnic our parents took us to. And we instantly connected.”
“Because of the adoption aspect?” he asks with genuine curiosity.
“Mostly because we were debating if we wanted brownies or cake, and whether swings were more fun than slides. But later on, we connected on the adoption thing too.”
He smiles. “Nice. The brownie versus cake debate is real.”
“I know, right? But it’s cake for me.”
“Shame. I’d pick brownies.”
I sigh heavily. “It’s a decent second choice. I’ll grant you that,” I say, then pause “What about you? Have you always been a dog person?”
“My animal magnetism is pretty impressive, isn’t it?”
I laugh, as we walk the puppy down a deserted stretch of beach. Jones asked Delia if he could take Lulu for a stroll. No surprise, Delia said yes. “That’s one word for it. But tell the truth,” I narrow my eyes and ask him in a faux accusatory voice, “did you slather Alpo all over your lips?”
“You caught me, but it was beef jerky. I gnawedthrough a whole stick while you weren’t looking, just to excite Lulu.”
When she hears her name, the pup spins in a circle in the sand, then scampers to the end of the leash. Jones walks a little faster, as per Lulu’s wishes, and I keep pace, too. “Seriously, what’s with your animal charms?”
“So you admit I’m charming?” he asks with mischief in his eyes.
Charming as in the ultimate flirt, yes.“Lulu seems to think so,” I concede drily.
We wander along the shoreline, the waves crashing lightly against the sand. “We didn’t have dogs when I was growing up, and I wanted one so much. I asked my parents all the time if we could get a puppy. I had this whole campaign planned for Christmas when I was eleven. It was free adoption day at the Sacramento shelter, and so on.” He turns to me, his gaze locking with mine. “But we never got one.”
The sadness in his blue irises hooks into me, and tugs on my heart. “Were your parents allergic?”
He shakes his head. “Nope. Honestly, we didn’t have the money. My parents were strapped for cash my entire childhood. They said they wanted to get a dog for the four of us, but they couldn’t afford another mouth to feed, and that was that. I always told myself that I’d adopt a dog once I was drafted, but then I didn’t want to bring home one that I couldn’t take care of, being on the road so much. It wasn’t until Trevor moved to the city that I knew I could finally get a pet. Plus, obviously, I was helpless to resist Cletus. Once Imet him while I was helping out at the shelter, I had to take him home.” He holds his arms out wide. “He gave me no choice.”
“Cletus is the very picture of irresistibility. I can see why you were powerless against his charms.”
“He gave me a puppy dog face, and that was that.” Jones bats his eyes, imitating Cletus it seems, then tips his chin at me. “What about you? Did you want a dog?”
