Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 111980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Shit. Does Ripley know about…us?
I sure as hell hope not.
Dandelion trots past me, stopping to rub her big head against my leg. People really don’t deserve dogs. I pet her head. “I’ll take care of these right away,” I say to Ripley, nodding to the flowers.
“And thank you again for the order. It means a lot to me that you remembered our conversation,” she says.
When I met her last year, I promised I’d order lavender if the deal came through, and I aim to be a man of my word. Bet Chloe would disagree. My gut churns as I say, “I’m happy to support another local business.”
Ripley excuses herself, then waves to Chloe, who waves back and keeps setting up in the room, which I have a perfect view of through the window on one interior wall.
Zuri hums under her breath, like she’s caught me doing something interesting. Staring. I jerk my gaze away. Best to focus on…the new client walking through the door.
It’s a busy first day as a young girl—maybe thirteen or fourteen—walks up to the counter. “I’m Molly. I’m Linus’s sister. I have Gunnar here for a nail trim and ear cleaning,” she says with all sorts of confidence, then hands off a Maltipoo.
“What a handsome devil,” I say, but inside I’m thinking I barely have a second to chat with Chloe.
When Zuri steps in to say she’ll handle Gunnar, I seize the chance, moving behind the desk and heading straight to her area. I rap on the open door.
Chloe barely glances up from the organizing she’s doing—sorting toys and training targets and a bag of treats. They look homemade.
“Do you…want to sell those here?” I ask, since maybe this will smooth the way to the harder convo.
She knits her brow. “Excuse me?”
“Do you make those? They look homemade. The treats. Want to sell them?”
She’s quiet for a beat. Her eyes are suspicious though. “Is this your way of…” But she seems to bite her tongue, muttering, “Behave” to herself. “Sure, Sawyer,” she says to me.
And I fumbled that one big time. I glance at the counter. Zuri’s off with the dogs and Molly’s gone. I try again. “Chloe, I’m really sorry about earlier. The coconut bread was…great.”
“Oh, you tried it?” she asks, curious, but mostly challenging.
I grimace. I didn’t. I felt too frustrated, too mad at myself, too annoyed with the way I was botching my first day to even sample a slice. “Not yet,” I admit.
“Good call. It might be poisoned,” she says with a stony face.
Well, shit.
She’s good. She’s damn good. “I’ll take my chances.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’ve been known to poison the men I stalk,” she says, then grits her teeth, like she’s cursing herself. “I didn’t mean—”
But nope. No way can I let her take the brunt of my fuck-up. I dive into the apology waters. “I’m sorry. I’m very sorry about the whole thing. I was out of line. I jumped to conclusions. I was an idiot. My sisters would tell me to shut my mouth and never speak again.” I take a breath, then say, “I would like to try again to get along.”
She arches a brow, not quite sold yet. “So…you know I’m not stalking you? You’re clear on that?”
“One hundred percent,” I say.
But have I said enough? I rewind to the night we spent together. I really don’t want to revisit all the things I shared, but she knows them, and now I’m going to have to share this workspace with her. Every day. Best to apologize like I mean it. “But I’ve…well, I’ve got serious trust issues, Chloe. As you know.”
“I’ll say,” she says, but there’s less bite in her tone than there was a minute or so prior.
I tap my chest, owning it. “I…yeah. I freaked out.”
“You did,” she says, holding her ground.
“And those trust issues came out today. My fault. Completely my fault.”
I tug at my shirt collar. It feels tight. Itchy even. Maybe I’m allergic to opening up? Probably.
“I understand,” Chloe says, her tone gentling at last. “And I’m sorry for the poisoning comment.” She exhales slowly, offers a small conciliatory smile. “I’m Chloe Rivers. I’m a dog trainer from Darling Springs, and I’m trying to grow my business here. Chloe’s Paw-sitive Dog Training. Let’s try to get along.”
“Sawyer Dumont. I own Dog Tails. A dog daycare and grooming business with eight locations now in the Bay Area,” I say, like I’m pitching my résumé. But it’s better than slinging accusations. Besides, I’m proud of this business and the way I’ve built it, personally spending time at each location at the start to get them off the ground. Of finally pursuing one of my passions for work. “You could say I’m a big fan of dogs. All dogs. Though, my favorite breed is rescue.”