Page 55 of Ruff and Tumble

“You mean, other than doing your best friend a favor?” He threw the towel at Garrett’s head. “Reggie will be there.”

Garrett bolted up and swung his legs off the table. “Why the hell didn’t you lead with that?”

Cole didn’t respond as Garrett reached for his clothes and shoved his limbs through them. He’d peeked at Garrett’s schedule and knew his friend had a full day ahead of him—a meeting with the coaches before lunch and a full session with Aiko this afternoon—but mention of Regina apparently had him consigning all that to flames.

Not that he was judging Garrett for it. Cole was blowing off most of his day for the sake of a woman, too. He wastechnicallydoing it for the Puppy Cup, but that cover story was starting to wear thin. Hailey said she needed him for a few hours during filming next week, but that was it. He was only window dressing, a prop, a recognizable face that had long ago learned which angles worked best for the camera.

Well, that was too bad. She was getting his help whether she wanted it or not. Not only did he have a team of puppies to coach, but he’d gotten word that his prize Great Dane was causing all kinds of problems at the shelter that was housing her. Apparently, she’d become something of an escape artist, and they were at their wits’ end trying to contain her.

Good thing he had a solution ready to go. One that, yes, gave him an excuse to see Hailey again, but that was only part of his motivation. He wanted to do something for her, give her a gift that mattered.

Hewanted to matter, too, but he had a feeling that part wasn’t going to be as easy.

“Tell me more about this favor you want from me,” Garrett said as he slipped on his shoes and began doing up the laces. “You said something about a woman needing my help?”

“Not a woman, I’m afraid,” Cole said. “A female, yes. A lady, maybe. A bitch, for sure.”

“Fuck me.” Garrett groaned. “You’re talking about a dog, aren’t you?”

Cole answered with a grin. “I could always call Javier back in here instead. It’s your choice.”

“At least I always know what kind of pain Javi is going to bring,” Garrett promptly replied. “It’s sneaky bastards like you I have to watch out for.”

* * *

Cole wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting from the Puppy Cup studio, but an abandoned warehouse transformed into a miniature football field, surrounded by bright lights, expensive equipment, and a crew of several dozen people wasn’t it.

“Well, shit.” Garrett summed up Cole’s feelings in two easy words. They stood on the threshold, taking it all in with a bewildered air. “This is some production. Where are the puppies?”

Cole wasn’t sure about the rest of the animals, but Philip came bounding across the fake grass that had been rolled out in the center of the warehouse. His teal bow tie was close to falling off, and his tongue was lolling out of the side of his mouth as though he’d just run laps around the building.

“Hey, buddy.” Cole scooped up the animal and allowed him to wriggle into a comfortable position in his arms. “What have they been doing to you, huh? They told me today was just supposed to be an introduce-you-to-the-environment situation, not full-blown battle.”

“What are you two doing here?” Hailey ducked underneath a long pole being carried by two men in black lifting belts. “As if I don’t have enough to do today already.”

“Hello to you, too,” Cole said, leaning forward and pressing a kiss on her indignantly parted lips. He could have blamed his impetuosity on the fact that she was once again wearing her favorite red Converse sneakers, this time paired with well-worn jeans and a men’s button-down shirt that she’d tied in a knot at the waist, but that was just silly. Now that he’d seen this woman without any clothes on, nothing she covered her body with could move him.

Although that was a really cute way to wear her shirt. It emphasized the way her curves—

“It’s nice of you to stop by and to, um…” Hailey trailed off with a stammer and a blush and a flustered gesture at her freshly kissed lips. Cole was tempted to do it again, but she pushed him backward with a hand against his chest and a deep, resolute breath. Not to mention the light of battle in her eyes. “But I thought I told you to stay away. We don’t need you yet.”

Next to him, Garrett coughed something that sounded likeNot my fault, but Cole ignored him.

“It didn’t seem fair that Philip gets to come but I don’t,” he said, heaving what he hoped was a pathetic sigh.

It didn’t work.

“Philip needs to get used to the scents and sounds of this place—not to mention all the other puppies. We don’t want them to be overwhelmed when we start shooting next week.”

“What ifIget overwhelmed?” Cole countered, undeterred. “I’ve never been on a miniature football field before. The yardage lines might confuse me.”

“That’s not new. You always start overthrowing when you’re out by more than sixty yards anyway.”

Hailey clamped her mouth shut as soon as she realized what she’d said, but it was too late. Garrett’s guffaw of laughter was unmistakable, and Cole felt his own lips starting to twitch in response. Someday, he was going to sit Hailey down and make her list every criticism she had. His coaches could learn a thing or two from her.

Before he could come up with a suitable retort, they were interrupted by a twentysomething man in a headset. Cole recognized him as one of the PA grunts from the footage he’d watched—one of the many PA grunts whose teams Hailey had quickly and easily defeated in years past.

“Hey, Hailey? What do you want me to do with Cleopatra? She’s already eaten through two of her leashes.” He paused when he noticed who she was talking to, his mouth dropping open for a good ten seconds before he remembered himself and closed it again. “Oh. Wow. Penny wasn’t kidding. You really are friends with them, aren’t you?”