Page 4 of Sit, Stay, Love
‘What do you meanfrothing?’ Toby asked, alarm in his voice.
Ethan looked a little sheepish. ‘Okay, it might not have been frothing. But it was definitely angry. Really, really angry. And I didn’t want to be there, in case it came at me.’
Sera took a deep breath, shook off her hot guy-induced stupor and purposefully placed the roll of paper towel on the table. ‘You could have gone inside and shut the door.’Whoa.Why did her voice sound unnaturally high?
‘What if it broke through the window?’ Ethan asked. ‘I don’t know what it’s capable of.’
She laughed, then abruptly stopped when she realised he was serious. ‘I think you’ve seen too many movies, Mr James.’
‘Call me Ethan. And haven’t you seenCujo? With the killer dog?’
‘I read the book. You know that’s fiction, right?’
‘Doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen.’
‘I seriously doubt it.’
‘How do you know?’
‘Cujo was rabid. We don’t have rabies in Australia.’
‘What if it was really, really pissed-off?’ His lips quirked, one side of his mouth lifting into a grin.
Sera laughed again. This time she knew he wasn’t serious. ‘I’m sure the dog in your backyard is no Cujo.’
‘It was a good movie, though. You’ve at least gotta give me that.’
‘The book was better.’
Toby coughed. ‘Okay. Enough with theCujotalk. Ethan, Cujo was a Saint Bernard, and I can guarantee you a Saint Bernard is too lazy to kill anything other than its dinner. Do you know what kind of dog it is?’
‘A brown one,’ Ethan said. ‘Brown. Big. Angry. Possibly rabid.’ He grinned at Sera.
Her tummy fluttered, and she grinned back.
Toby turned to Sera and gave a drawn-out sigh. ‘Do you need backup, or am I keeping the pizza warm for you?’
She scrunched up her nose and nodded. ‘Warm pizza, please. Can you hang onto Buffy too?’
At the sound of her name, the dog came tearing down the hall and bounded into the room.
Toby rolled his eyes. ‘Better late than never.’
Ethan took three hasty steps backwards, colliding with the wall. ‘Is that a Pitbull?’
Buffy jumped up at him, wagging furiously as her paws made a direct hit with his crotch. Anoofexploded from his lungs.
‘Buffy! Down!’ Sera grabbed the dog by the collar. ‘I’m so sorry. She’s a Staffy-cross. An overly friendly one with perfect aim.’
Ethan eyed the excited dog. ‘Is that Buffy like the vampire slayer?’
Sera handed the dog off to Toby. ‘Except I promise you the only thing she’ll slay is your heart.’
‘And possibly your balls,’ Toby added. He nodded towards Sera. ‘This is Sera Madden, by the way.’
‘I run Rose’s Rescue, a local animal shelter. If you give me your address, I can meet you at your place and we can go from there.’
Ethan puffed out a breath, his hand still cupping his crotch. ‘Seriously? That’s brilliant.’
