Page 99 of Puck Drop
“What? No!” Lizzie sounds appalled at the idea. “Not that I have anything against it, and you know that,” she assures me. “But that’s not what this is about.”
Disappointment fills me in an instant. It’s funny how I could already see a different path for us in the ten seconds it took between me asking her the question and hearing her denial.
“I-I’m really sorry if you’re disappointed.” She reads my face correctly. She looks a little bummed, too. “I thought we were going to start planning soon, I didn’t…”
I walk over to her and pull her body into mine, my hands going straight to her perfectly shaped ass. My fingers flex on her incredible buttocks as I enjoy the benefits of her working out more.
“It’s the way you’re talking,” I grin at her. “When you said growing our family, what else could it mean?”
I honestly can’t think of anything else other than a baby.
“Please don’t be mad, but I got a dog.”
As soon as the words are out, she slaps a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening in anticipation as she waits for my reaction.
“You got a dog.” I repeat the words, more so I can be sure I understand what she just said.
“I should’ve talked to you about it first,” she rushes to say. “And I am so, so sorry, but someone posted this picture online. She was looking for a home for her dog. She’s moving out of state and couldn’t take the dog with. He would’ve had to go to a pound. He’s potty trained and…”
She talks so fast, I can’t keep up. All the words blend together where it’s just one very long sentence that doesn’t make sense. What registers is that someone moved out of state, and that the dog is potty trained.
“Where is this dog?” I finally ask.
In the grand scheme of things, her news is big, but not as big as mine once I get the balls to tell her.
“In the garage!” Now it makes sense why she kept on glancing that way.
I let go of her, and she skips all the way to the side door that leads to the garage. I almost follow her there, but stop myself, knowing she probably has a whole presentation for me, which I don’t want to ruin. I’m sure she put a lot of thought into it.
“Come on,” I hear her saying. “It’s time for you to meet your new daddy.”
I snort when she says that. She does it in this baby talk that’s hilarious. God, I can’t wait to have babies with this woman.
When she walks back inside the house, I about fall over. The dog is huge. He comes up to her hip. I was expecting some little lap dog.
“Holy fuck, babe, what the hell of a dog is this?”
She has him on a leash, but I can tell that he wouldn’t have any trouble dragging her around the house if he put his mind to it.
“Oh…” She looks at the dog in confusion. “He is some poodle mix. I’ll have to go back and read what she gave me.”
She stands next to the dog, biting on her lip and fidgeting with the leash. To his credit, the dog just stands next to her, his tongue hanging down to the floor, just about.
“He’s very furry,” I comment. That seems to get her excited and ready to chat.
“Yes, and his curls are so adorable, aren’t they? He needs a special groomer so they wouldn’t ruin his curls. His previous owner gave me the name of the person she’s been taking him to.”
Her fingers sink into the curly fur on his head, and I watch in fascination as he closes his eyes and leans his forehead against the side of her leg.
Suddenly, I see an opening for my piece of news.
“The heat in these parts is probably not doing him any favors,” I say.
Elizabeth looks at me with hope in her eyes. “That’s why he is so well behaved in the house. He can hardly ever go outside. I’ll have to take him out for walks early in the mornings or late in the evenings. Too hot for him in the middle of the day.”
I nod in understanding. “It makes sense. A colder climate would probably do him well.”
She gets on her knees to hug on the dog, but does look a bit agitated, as if she thinks I will make her give up the dog because of the hot Austin temperatures.
