Page 25 of Puppy Kisses

Dawn snorted. “He obviously doesn’t know me very well.”

Phoebe glanced at her sideways. The girl’s eyes looked heavier than usual, but Dawn assumed that was because it was only eight o’clock. She was looking none too dapper herself. All these early ranch mornings were going to be the death of her.

“You really like that puppy, don’t you?” Phoebe asked.

“Of course I do. I’m the one who rescued her.”

“Then why don’t you just pick her up and leave? She’s looking a lot better already. In fact, she ate, like, three of Adam’s shoes this morning.”

Dawn was startled by the question until she noticed that Zeke, too, was watching her with interest.

“Adam won’t really go tattling to Sheriff Jenkins,” he said. “Not now that he’s already been caught in the lie. You could, um, steal the dog and run. He’d never actually chase you down.”

Mentioning the chase reminded her of the altercation with No-Pants. Had she and Zeke been alone, she might have mentioned it to him with a warning to tread lightly. But Phoebe was listening intently, and the last thing Dawn wanted to do was rope another poor Dearborn into her scrapes.

“It’s the principle of the thing,” she said. “I’m not about to slink away like some criminal in the dead of night. I couldn’t, anyway. Adam has already put a down payment on my training fees. It would be a breach of contract to leave now.”

To be fair, the agreement stated that she’d trainaguide dog, not the dog she stole and forced on him, but that was mere quibbling. Besides, she really did have principles.

With a glance down at her hippie-style sundress, which flapped playfully around the upper reaches of her thighs and was wholly inappropriate for a day of hard labor, she had to laugh. She hadsomeprinciples, anyway.

Phoebe seemed to notice her attire at the same time. “When are you supposed to go to Bea’s?” she asked.

“Oh, sometime next week,” Dawn replied. “I warned her that I needed to make sure the puppies were settling in first. We have such a small amount of time as it is. He’s out back, you said?”

Zeke nodded. “And he was up with the sun, so you’d better be careful. Word of warning—he’s never at his best before he’s had breakfast.”

Dawn was never all that sprightly herself until she’d been caffeinated and fed, so she didn’t find anything strange about that. With a whistle to Uncle, who obediently rose to his feet and followed her, she headed out the back door.

If she hadn’t already succumbed to Adam’s sexual allure, the sight that greeted her as she entered the barn would have sealed the deal right then and there. He wasn’t, as Phoebe had said, putting Gigi through her paces. On the contrary, he was lying on his back with his hands behind his head, allowing the puppy to crawl all over him. Gigi explored and licked and tugged at the buttons of his shirt, as sure of her reception as any adorable ball of fur had a right to be. And on the hay, too, straw itch mites be damned.

Dawn paused to watch, unwilling to draw too close for fear Adam would hear her and ruin the moment.

I want that, she thought. Not just to crawl all over Adam as her mood and desires demanded—which, admittedly, she wanted a lot—but to elicit that relaxed look on his face, the expression of easy enjoyment. They enjoyed each other’s bodies, obviously, but they were never relaxed together. Never easy. Now that she thought about it, few men were with her.

What is it about me that makes it so impossible?

“I know you’re there,” he said, not bothering to raise his voice. “So you can stop plotting all the ways you plan to make my life miserable.”

Dawn chuckled and took a step into the barn. Early-morning sunlight filtered through the weathered boards, highlighting dancing beams of dust and straw. The scent was musty but not unpleasant; this barn was used to store hay rather than animals, so it had a quiet, simple vibe that appealed to her.

“How could you tell?” she asked. “I didn’t make a sound.”

She fell into a crouch and extended a hand toward Gigi. Much to her dismay, the puppy showed a sudden hesitation, positioning herself behind Adam’s safe and solid body. “Gigi, love, it’s me. Remember? Your savior? The only person in the world who cared enough to rescue you in your hour of need?”

At the sound of her voice, Gigi’s ears relaxed but she still didn’t move from her position. Matters weren’t helped any when Adam sat up and scooped the puppy into his arms, holding her against his chest.

“I didn’t hear you,” he said. “I smelled you.”

“You smelled me?” She gave herself a tentative sniff. She’d been careful not to wear any scent this morning—not even in her deodorant. It was one of the drawbacks of being a puppy trainer. The little guys were already bombarded with so many stimuli and instructions. To confuse them with perfume at this stage in their lives was just cruel. “Is that supposed to be a hint? I’m not the one rolling around in the hay with a puppy.”

For the first time, Gigi noticed Uncle standing in the doorway to the barn and wriggled out of Adam’s arms. With a sprightliness that was heartening to see, she pounced over to the much larger dog and began coyly nipping at his legs.

“Uh-oh,” Dawn said. “It seems you’ve got a troublemaker on your hands.”

“Is she flirting with Uncle again?” Adam asked and hoisted himself to his feet. Straw clung to every part of him, dangling like rustic jewels from his rolled-up flannel. “Typical. The women in my life are fickle creatures.”

“If this is where you declare your intention to name her Dawn again? Don’t worry—I got the message the first time around. I’m not worth the twelve hundred dollars you’ll get for me at market.”