Page 71 of Puppy Christmas

She was forging new territory without a map, and most surprising of all, she was enjoying it.

“Do you remember where we parked?” she asked by way of answer.

“In the middle of a church parking lot, surrounded by dozens of other minivans,” he said. “So you can stop purring at me like that, because I do have some decency left.”

She held up her fingers in the approximation of an inch. “Exactly how much decency are we talking about? This much? This much? Or…” She expanded her suggestion until it required both hands. “Thismuch?”

He yanked her hand into his own and gave it a tug, a low growl escaping his throat as he did. “I don’t know why I ever thought you’d be a good influence. I’m onto you, Lila Vasquez. You might look like a princess and act like a schoolmarm, but you’re going to be the death of me.”

“I am?” she asked, delighted at the thought. She’d never been the death of anyone before. At least, not unless they were dying of boredom. “I’d apologize, but you’re the one dragging me to your car, not the other way around.”

He ignored the argument as they approached his van. “Get in,” he ordered. “And give me the address for the next part of this date of yours. But be warned—if it’s not the nearest seedy motel, then I refuse to be answerable for my actions.”

She gave a low chuckle and shook her head. A mad dash for a seedy motel was yet another in a long line of experiences she had never had before, but she drew the line somewhere outside a flashing neon vacancy sign. She wasn’tthatfar gone. Bedbugs and staph infections were no joke.

“I asked you out, remember?” she said. “That means I get to call the shots.”

“I remember,” he grumbled as they both got into the van. “And it serves me right. If I’d had any initiative, I’d have done this my way from the start.”

“What’s your way?” she asked, sure she already knew the answer.

She did.

“Nudity,” he said. “And lots of it.”

* * *

“You want me to put itwhere?” Ford asked, staring at Lila.

“I know it looks hard, but I’ll make it comfortable, I promise.” Lila batted her eyes, beguiling him with a slow, careful smile. “I always entertain my gentleman callers this way.”

Ford had his doubts on that score, but he wasn’t in a position to cavil. He wasn’t in a position to do much of anything, really, except follow Lila’s every command. She could have ordered him to jump off the nearest cliff into a pit of spikes, and he’d have done it. Gladly, in fact, eager to discover what kind of ecstatic agonies awaited him at the bottom.

“Your wish is my command,” he said and unfolded the blanket she’d provided for the purpose. It was fuzzy and pink, but did little to make the concrete floor of the dog kennel look more appealing. “But are you sure you wouldn’t rather hit that seedy motel?”

“I’m sure.” She hesitated, watching him put the finishing touches on the blanket, before adding, “You draw as a way of working through your issues, right? As a way to have fun and unwind? Well, this is what I do.”

“You take naps on concrete floors?”

“Just lay down and close your eyes,” she said. Almost as an afterthought, she added, “Please.”

Ford didn’t see what else there was for him to do but comply. He knew it had been a long time since he’d been on a formal date with a woman, but he couldn’t imagine that things had changed this much in the eight or so years since he’d been a man about town. Then again, he’d never before been out with someone like Lila, so he wasn’t in a position to judge. When a gorgeous woman told you to lay yourself out on a concrete slab like a body in the morgue, you did it.

“Okay, fine.” He lowered himself to the floor and sprawled out according to her specifications. However, he couldn’t resist crossing his arms over his chest before gently closing his eyes.

“Very funny,” she muttered. “If you hate it, just say so and we can go to a strip club or something more your style.”

He opened one eye and stared up at her. Even from this vantage point—or, to be more accurate,especiallyfrom this vantage point—she was a vision to behold. Her hair flowed in loose waves around her shoulders, her eyes dark as they stared down at him. She seemed impossibly tall, her legs long enough to wind around him half a dozen times and tie him up in knots.

“I won’t hate it,” he promised. “As long as you’re in the room with me, I doubt I could hate anything.”

She stared at him for a moment, her eyes narrowing in a flash of disbelief. As usual, she seemed to find it impossible to believe that he might actually be telling the truth and to take him as anything more than a flirtatious fool. But hewas, and he held her stare long enough for her to glean some measure of it. He wished there was some way for him to demonstrate his feelings—to show her that simply being with her filled some part of him he hadn’t known was empty—but short of going down on one knee and begging her to give him a lifetime to prove it, he didn’t know what he could do.

With a sigh, he settled back against the concrete and closed his eyes again. “Okay. Hit me with your worst. My body is ready.”

A good minute passed before he was hit with anything. The temptation to open his eyes and sneak a peek was a strong one, but he resisted it. The soft whimpers of sleepy puppies and Lila’s calming voice were intriguing him too much. He forced his limbs into stillness, his heartbeat into a normal pattern, as he waited for what she had to show him.

He must have done too good a job of it, because Lila spoke sharply. “Don’t you dare fall asleep on me, Ford, or I’ll never forgive you. I’m still recovering from the last time.”