Page 7 of Puppy Kisses

With a dignity that could only belong to a woman as shameless as this one, she said, “Upon further consideration, I don’t think she’ll be a good fit for you. She’s not trained for life on a ranch.”

“Weird. You’d think a professional dog trainer would be able to work around that.”

Dawn ignored him. “And it’ll take months to get her up to her full health. It’s not fair to ask you to shoulder the burden of her care.”

“I’m happy to do it.”

“Adam, this isn’t what you think,” Zeke said, once more trying to insert himself into the argument.

Adam stopped him with one raised finger. As much as he appreciated his brother’s willingness to come clean, this wasn’t his fight. It was Dawn’s.

And mine.When it came to Dawn, the fight was his. It always had been.

“Well?” he prodded. “Is this or isn’t this my new service puppy? I believe I was promised one. I’d hate for Sheriff Jenkins to come by another day and find me toiling in the fields all alone. What would he think?”

Dawn’s struggle with herself was a silent one, but Adam could feel it just fine. Oh, how he felt it. It flooded the air around her, filled the corners of the living room, grew hot and heavy in his own blood.

“Of course she’s yours,” she finally said. Her voice was tight with suppressed emotion, but no less musical because of it. “But our service puppies don’t come cheap. You’ll be expected to pay the full price for her.”

“Of course,” he replied. “I’m delighted to welcome Methuselah into the fold.”

“And you’ll have to cover all her veterinary bills, too. Even if that means surgery to get those rocks out of her stomach.”

He nodded, finding it incredibly easy to be magnanimous now that he was winning. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Of course, all your fees will include the six-week training period, too,” Dawn said. She appeared to be making a recovery, her voice gaining strength as well as that familiar tinge of mischief, as if she’d caught on to his game and was preparing to give him hell right back. “Possibly longer, given her current state. Lucky for you, I recently finished up a case with another client, so I’m wholly at your disposal.”

A nervous qualm turned the hot, heavy blood in his veins to something more dangerous…something that felt an awful lot like lava. “You are?”

“Naturally. I wouldn’t hand over a case as important as this to one of my sisters. It’ll be great. Just you and me and the puppy, working together for eight hours every day.”

“Eight hours?” Adam found himself echoing. The lava hardened. “Every day?”

“It’s the Puppy Promise way. You know, I wonder if it wouldn’t be better for me to live here for the duration of the training. Since I’m already such good friends with the family, I’m sure you guys wouldn’t mind, and you have the extra space. It’s an awfully long drive from Spokane.”

Adam felt it was time to put his foot down on this little game. Both feet, in fact, with all the force he could carry in his steel-toed work boots.

“You wouldn’t,” he said.

Her laughter came out in a warm, liquid burst. “I would, actually, but you’re in luck. It just so happens that both my sisters have moved out, and I can’t leave the rest of our puppies alone in the kennel at night. But don’t worry—I’ll be here bright and early every morning. It’ll be fun.”

He should have put a stop to this charade at once. Dawn could keep both her victory and her dog. Nothing good would come of giving her free rein over his house. She’d already won over Zeke, and Phoebe practically ate out of the palm of her hand. There was no telling what would happen if she was given full access to Adam, too.

Actually, there was. That was the whole problem. It would be the same thing that always happened whenever he and Dawn shared a room for more than ten minutes at a time.

There would be fighting. There would be flirting.

There would befucking.

Adam had no way of knowing if that last one pushed him over the edge, or if the decision had been made for him the moment Dawn stepped through the door. Either way, his voice was resigned as he accepted the challenge being offered.

“Perfect,” he lied. “I can’t think of anything I’d like more.”

* * *

“She’s a sweet little thing, isn’t she?” Marcia’s soft, clipped voice was followed by the snap of her medical bag being closed. She’d come out to the ranch as soon as they’d called, her examination swift but sure. “Every time I press somewhere it hurts, she just licks me to try to get me to stop. It’s breaking my heart.”

“But she’ll be okay, right?” Dawn asked anxiously. “She doesn’t need surgery or anything? Just a little extra love and care, and she’ll be as good as new?”