Page 9 of First Love

She definitely hadn’t chosen Jasper, but why did it feel as if she had?

I shook my head and followed him down the hall, entering a room with a large crate in it. The most beautiful dog I’d ever seen danced impatiently inside it.

“Oh . . .” The word ended in a gaspy sigh. “He’s spectacular.”

The dog grew still as it raised its nose to the air, no doubt picking up my canine scent. I smelled his as well, and when I looked directly into the dog’s blue eyes, it sank to its belly, resting its head on its big paws.

Jasper’s mouth dropped open. “What in the hell is happening right now?” He looked from his dog to me and back to his dog. “Sammy is usually out of his mind to meet new people. I have never seen him be so—”

“Submissive,” I finished. “I have a way with dogs. I get them.”

“I guess so.” Jasper approached the crate and opened it. His dog’s gaze never left mine as it slinked from the crate then rolled to its back, exposing its belly to me.

I crouched in front of the pup and ran my fingers over the white fur on its chest and stomach.

“I am in awe.” Jasper did a half bow in front of me. “You are a dog master, Amelia.”

“Nah. I just speak their language.” I moved my hand and stroked a secret spot right behind the dog’s left front leg, effectively turning him into a blissful pile of fluff at my feet.

“Well, it looks as if you’re saying all the right things to Sammy.” The impressed look on Jasper’s face was great to see after a day spent bashing myself for my Scouter incompetence. At least I could connect with a stranger’s dog.

Go, me.

“He’s a Husky, right?” I shifted to sit on the floor beside the dog to give him a better scratching.

“A Husky mix, actually. I don’t know what he’s mixed with because I adopted him from an animal shelter in Maplehaven, the next town over from Moon Valley. The woman at the shelter, Violet, guaranteed he’d be a good buddy, and she hasn’t been wrong.” Jasper sunk to his knees on the other side of his dog and rubbed Sammy’s ear.

Sammy instantly flipped to his belly and wiggled into Jasper’s lap after the man sat on the floor. I nearly melted watching man and dog love each other up. A strange urge to shift and let Jasper pet me made my gums tingle. Fortunately, I got control of that before my canines extended and made things weird.

“Time for bourbon now?” Jasper asked.

“Sure, but only if there are treats for Sammy too.”

At the word treats, Sammy raced from the room, his claws scratching down the hallway.

“You’ve done it now.” Jasper rose to his feet and offered a hand to me.

I took it, knowing touching this man when my wolf wanted to burst out and claim him was a mistake.

Jasper pulled me to my feet, but he didn’t let go of my hand. Instead, he guided me out to a simply stunning kitchen, asking for lights as we arrived. Sammy was posted at a lower cupboard, his fluffy tail swishing back and forth along the wood floor.

“Let me guess,” I said. “That’s where the t-r-e-a-t-s are.”

Sammy let out a low woof and licked his lips.

“I think you have your answer.” Jasper nudged Sammy out of the way and opened the cupboard. The snap of a plastic tub sounded, and when Jasper turned to face me again, he had a handful of small treats. “You want to dole these out to him?”

“Sure.” I cupped my hands, and he dropped the treats there. “Does Sammy know any tricks?”

“He knows all the tricks.”

I ran through a series of sit-stay-down-rollover, and Sammy did indeed excel at all of them. “Wow, a star pupil.” I fed him some treats, laughing when he slobbered all over my hands.

“He’s a great dog,” Jasper said fondly. “I usually take him to the shelter with me and he’s a huge hit with the people who visit us there. He had a vet visit earlier today though, and he needed a little down time.”

“Wow, a star dog dad,” I said, loving the little smile Jasper gave me.

“I try.” He walked over to an impressive bar set up in an area between the kitchen and the living room. “Now, let me be your bartender.” He stepped behind the bar and set two glasses on its top.

I ran my fingers along the dark wood. “You made this too?”

He nodded as he poured two fingers of bourbon in each glass. “Rocks or no rocks?” He clacked a pair of ice tongs, making Sammy let out a woof.

“No rocks.”

Jasper slid one glass toward me and I took a seat on one of the high stools on my side of the bar.

Holding his glass up and toward me, Jasper said, “To wiping out bad memories and replacing them with good ones.”

I knocked my glass to his and we both tossed back some bourbon. This certainly had all the makings of a good memory.