Page 22 of Save the Date
And he’d forced Jack onto the dance floor, too.
“You’re my best man,” he’d informed Jack, who would have preferred to melt into the woodwork. “It’s on the list of duties. Right up there with planning the bachelor party and making the first toast.”
So Jack had danced with their mother, he’d danced with Aunt Betty, he’d danced with Torie, and he’d even, at one point, been tricked into dancing with Cara Kryzik.
Torie had dragged him from the safety of the bar to do some stupid line dance, and he’d somehow ended up right beside Cara, who glowered at him with undisguised venom. Two dances later, Ryan shoved him into Cara’s clutches.
It was a slow dance. She was a decent dancer, and she actually felt pretty good in his arms, with his hand sliding over the smooth pink silk, and the warm, sun-browned skin of her back and bare arms. Her figure was full and rounded in the right places. She wore the lightest of perfumes and her hair smelled faintly of cherries.
But then it happened. Louie Armstrong’s wonderful world ended, and the DJ was playing “Come Monday.”
He felt his face flush and his feet grow leaden. She’d looked up at him in shock. And that was that. Jimmy fuckin’ Buffet. He’d fled like a thief in the night.
Smooth move, he told himself now, reliving that moment. Real smooth move, Ace.
So, just to recap. He’d stolen this woman’s dog. Called the cops on her, accused her of stalking, insulted her, and then abandoned her in the middle of a dance.
She, in turn, had called him a jerk and a liar. She was moody and dressed weird, and according to Ryan, she was just coming off a lousy divorce and seemed to hate all men, with the exception of her gay assistant.
He flopped over on his other side, facing away from the still-vigilant Poppy. Tomorrow morning, first thing, he would have to return the dog and face her wrath.
8
Cara heard a buzzing from somewhere far away. Still dead asleep, she flung an arm in the general vicinity of the nightstand, searching for the alarm, to shut it off. She slapped wildly in the direction of the clock, but the buzzing wouldn’t stop.
Annoyed, she flopped over, opened one eye, and stared at the clock. It wasn’t buzzing. And she hadn’t set it. But something, somewhere, was buzzing. And at eight o’clock on a Sunday morning. Her doorbell?
Cara jumped out of bed, wide-eyed and startled. Who would be ringing her bell that early on a Sunday?
She stumbled over to the window and looked down at the street below. A man stood by the recessed entry to the apartment. He had a big, fluffy white dog on a leash.
Poppy!
***
Cara flew down the wooden staircase, barefoot, dressed only in her sleep shirt. She unlatched the chain guard and flipped the deadbolt.
Jack Finnerty stood on the street just outside her door. He wore paint-spattered jeans, a faded T-shirt, and a look that could best be described as sheepish.
“Uh, well, here’s your dog.”
“Poppy!”
The dog stood up on her hind legs, put her front paws on Cara’s hips, and shook all over with joy. Cara wrapped her arms around the dog. “I missed you! You bad, bad girl. I missed you so much. I hardly slept last night, worrying about you.”
“Yeah, uh, she didn’t get much sleep either,” Jack volunteered. “Look, I’m really sorry about this. I’ve been a jerk. I should have listened to you yesterday.”
“Yes,” Cara said severely. “You should have. And yes, you were a jerk. And worse.”
“You’re right,” he said, staring down at his shoes. “And I apologize.”
“Where’s your dog?” she asked, sticking her head out the door and looking around.
“At home. Now. After she jumped out of my truck yesterday, she made it all the way to Victory Drive and Abercorn. A woman managed to corral her and she took her to the vet, and they recognized her. Shaz is chipped, so they read the chip, just to be sure, and called the owner.”
“You,” she said accusingly.
Jack winced. “My ex. Shaz technically belongs to her. But she’s out in California, so Shaz is mine. Sorta. The vet called Zoey yesterday to let her know Shaz had been found. But Zoey, being Zoey, decided to torture me by not calling me until three this morning.”
