Page 43 of Puppy Love

“Got it.” She held up her fingers in a mock Girl Scout salute. “As a wanton harlot myself, I promise to welcome her to the ranks with open arms.”

“Goddammit, Sophie! That isn’t what I meant.”

Her sparkling laughter caused several heads to turn their way. So much public scrutiny would normally have Harrison ducking into the back of the store, but all Sophie did was reach up on tiptoe and plant a kiss on his cheek. The soft press of her lips was quick and light, but it still had the power to ignite the desire that he no longer knew how to control.

Hewouldcontrol it though. He had to.

“I know it wasn’t,” she said, smiling up at him. “But I had to say something to do justice to Dawn’s pants. You don’t know her very well yet, but believe me when I tell you she’d be proud.”

Chapter 10

“Ididloop that piece around my finger, see? It fell off before I could hook it on the other thingy. Why do they make these needles so slippery?”

The woman sitting next to Harrison, who was guiding his large, rough hands under her own, clucked her tongue as he tossed the ruined knitting aside. “They have to be slippery, dear. Otherwise, they’d slow you down once you get the hang of it.”

“IfI ever get the hang of it,” he said. “My hands are too damn big to do it right.”

He cast an accusing look at Sophie, but she sent him an apologetic shrug in reply. Retaliation wasn’t an option when her sister Dawn was sitting next to her, watching every interaction like it was a soap opera written especially for her. Dawn wasn’t much of a knitter, but when Sophie told her that Harrison had not only agreed to come to the circle, but had chosen his own yarn for the occasion, she’d insisted on witnessing the event for herself.

Naturally, nothing Sophie could do or say would stop her.

“Nonsense,” the woman said. “You’re just not used to it yet, that’s all. Now try that bit again, and this time do it without all the damn profanity, if you please.”

Harrison’s rare smile lit his face. “Yes, ma’am. Sorry, ma’am. I’ll do my best, ma’am.”

He said something more, but Sophie was unable to distinguish it from where she sat on the other side of the church basement. The room where they’d gathered was large and damp and lit with an ancient fluorescent light that buzzed in and out like it had a dozen angry bees trapped inside. The lack of ambiance and stale scent of coffee didn’t stop the half dozen women from meeting here every week to ply their needles making hats, scarves, and socks to be shipped off to those in need.

“Oh, wow,” Dawn said in a low voice that bubbled over with laughter. “You were right about his smile, Soph. That’s a hell of a thing for one man to wield.”

Yes, Sophie was well aware of that fact. On Harrison, a smile wasn’t just an expression of joy—it was a transformation. It was a momentary glimpse at a man who existed somewhere just beyond her reach.

“You’ll notice that he didn’t actually direct it at me,” Sophie pointed out.

“Well, the smolder isn’t bad either, so that’s no real loss,” Dawn said. “I finished this one. Hand me another, will you?”

Sophie paused knitting long enough to hand Dawn a tangled skein of yarn to unfurl and roll into a ball. Although Sophie had been knitting for years—a hobby developed during one of her many long stays in bed—her sister didn’t have the patience to sit still for extended periods of time.

“How’s the little darling doing, by the way?” Dawn asked.

For a moment, Sophie thought the little darling in question was Harrison, and she wasn’t sure how to answer. As a client, Harrison was almost too good to be true. Oh, he grumbled, of course, but that was more from habit than a desire to prevent her from doing her job. Ever since that day in the yarn store, he’d done everything she’d asked with efficiency and a resolution that could only be described asdogged.

It was almost as though he was afraid of what would happen if he fought back again—of what he might do if he let Sophie push him into tearing down the wall one more time. He was subdued and compliant, determined not to let anything push him too far. Not even a shirt that opened at the back to reveal a strappy, crisscross patterned bra had been able to move him.

“She seems to be settling in well,” Dawn continued. “Even Lila’s starting to come around. She’s no longer looking for families who might want to adopt her if everything fails.”

Oh.Yes, Bubbles was the little darling. Because she was little. And a darling.

“Um.” Sophie willed the blood away from her cheeks and said the first thing that popped into her mind. “She’s doing great, just great. No problems, no worries.”

“None at all?” Dawn asked without looking up from her pile of yarn.

“Well…”

Sophie bit her lip and pretended to work through a particularly complicated cable stitch. She’d never been a great liar, especially where her sisters were concerned, but she wasn’t sure how to respond in a way that was truthful and wouldn’t undermine her progress.

“To be honest, she’s still wary of a few things,” she said and superstitiously crossed her knitting needles since her fingers were busy.

“What kind of things?”