Page 8 of Operation K-9 Brothers
“Oh...”
He liked how her cheeks turned pink.A customer approached her table, reminding him that she was working.“I’m gonna walk around the place.I’ve noticed some neat stuff I want to check out.”He was also going to make sure Trevor didn’t come back.“What time do you close up?”
“Anytime I want to after five.”
“Great.I’ll be back by then.How about I take Rambo with me?Give you a break for a while.”He could get some training in while he waited for Nichole to finish her day.
“Sure.If he gets too rambunctious, feel free to bring him back.”
“He won’t.My little buddy and I understand each other.”Or would soon.
With Rambo at his side, he spent an hour or so wandering from booth to booth.There were all kinds of merchandise in the mall: jewelry, stained glass, more pottery, paintings, carved wood, and metal art.There was even a woman sewing a quilt as people watched.He particularly liked the metal art and stopped to check the items out.
“Saw you escort Trevor Allen out,” the artist said.“Forest Ellers.”
“Jack Daniels.”When that got a smirk, he said, “I can see there are dozens of responses to that rumbling around in your head.Trust me, I’ve heard them all.”
Forest laughed.“I just bet you have.”
“So you know Allen?”Maybe he could get some intel on the man.
“Yeah.Great potter but lazy.He used to have a booth here before he decided he was too good for the likes of us and opened a studio downtown.His space was always a mess, and he had a bad habit of encroaching on his neighboring booths.Whenever one of the artists complained, he would cajole one of the women around here to tidy up for him.”
Had Nichole been one of those women?He wanted to ask if she’d ever dated the man but didn’t.That was information that needed to come from her.Jack picked up a really cool dog made from various kinds of metals.He waited for more intel, but Forest seemed to have reached his limit of what he was willing to say.That was okay.Jack was getting a bead on Allen, and his impression of the man wasn’t improving.
“I’ll take this,” he said, setting aside the foot-tall metal dog.When he pulled out his wallet, Forest put a hand up.
“It’s yours.Consider it my token of appreciation for this afternoon’s entertainment.You walking Trevor out like he was a puppet was the best thing I’ve seen in a long time.”
“Thanks, man.I have a thing for dogs, and this is damn cool.”
With another hour before Nichole could get away, he decided to take his first ever piece of art to his truck, then work a little with Rambo.The dog had caught on pretty fast to walking with him.Each time Rambo had tried to take off, he’d given the leash a gentle tug, bringing Rambo back to him.After the fifth time of doing that, Rambo had given up trying to escape.
The puppy was sired by working dogs, and even though he was too young yet to know it, working was in his DNA.He just needed direction to find his place in the world.Jack knew how to give that to him.
After putting his art piece in his truck, Jack took Rambo over to a square of grass alongside the parking lot.He crouched down.“Here’s the deal, little man.You need to help me impress your mistress.I know you have a lot of energy, and we’ll curb that while still keeping you happy.That work for you?”
Rambo licked his cheek, making Jack laugh.Man, he loved dogs.As he began the dog’s first lesson, it hit him that he’d laughed more since Nichole had mistakenly dialed his number and called him doggy doo than he had...well, since before he’d gotten up close and personal with a bomb.Someday when the timing was right, he was going to enjoy giving her an earful about drunk dialing him.
For now, though, he had a pizza date to look forward to.
“The first rule to remember is that you’re the pack leader.”
“Okay.How do I do that?”Nichole asked.Jack was standing next to her in her backyard, and his masculine, woodsy scent was a distraction to the point it was hard to pay attention.
He’d followed her home, and they had ordered a pizza.While eating, she’d told him what Trevor had done, and she had the feeling Jack regretted letting Trevor off so easily.She’d never expected to have a real-life warrior on her side, but here one was in the flesh.And what nice flesh it was.
What impressed her the most was that Jack hadn’t used his fists to get his point across to Trevor.If it had been Lane there today, her ex-boyfriend wouldn’t have been satisfied until Trevor was bleeding and begging for mercy.Because of Lane’s violent tendencies, she had grown to despise any kind of fighting.But Lane was history that she had no wish to revisit, so she pushed thoughts of him away.If only the man himself would stay away.
“I’ll teach you that as we go along.”
“Teach me?”What were they talking about?
A smile curved his lips and amusement lit his blue eyes.“Where’s your mind, Nichole?”
On how good you smell.Those blue eyes of yours.Kind of wondering just what things you could teach me.She gave herself a mental shake.“Um, my mind wandered a bit.Sorry.”
“Mmm-hmm,” he murmured, his smile morphing into a sexy smirk.
