Felicity probably shouldn’t be teasing Leo so much, because the thought of kissing him was making her stomach do some serious acrobatics. His dating rule was unexpected, and, well, it kind of worked out perfectly. It sent the ball into her court, so to speak, and she’d already decided that getting involved with Leo would put her way out of her comfort zone. Her comfort zone of only casually dating guys on a very short-term basis. Leo didn’t seem to be a short-term guy.
He was intimidating, simply because she found herself liking him more than any guy she remembered ever liking. And she’d only known him for a few days. And there was all that cop stuff she’d told him about, which was true. If they did date, and if they did break up, it wouldn’t be like she could just forget about him. He lived in the same small town as her, protecting and serving everyone.
They’d been silent on the rest of the drive to the animal shelter, which might have been awkward on a date with any other man, but not with Leo. His very presence seemed to fill the space between them. That was what set him apart from other men she’d dated, she decided. Leo had a take-charge presence. And he was sweet. And funny. And, yes, hot.
Her gaze slid over to Leo. He wore a tan-colored, button-down shirt that was nice, yet casual, and the color brought out the olive tone of his skin. His sleeves were rolled up, even though the day was cool, and it gave her a view of the corded strength of his forearms. Then there were his jeans. Which pretty much fit him perfectly. She’d noticed them when she’d first answered the door, and she’d tried not to stare at him in the kitchen. In or out of uniform, he was a handsome man.
She forced her gaze back to the window now that her face was heating up because of her thoughts. She really didn’t want to be one of those women who threw herself at a man, no matter how tempting that man was. And apparently Leo expected it. He wouldn’t be the one to kiss her first. Didn’t that make him the most cocky man alive? Probably.
“Do you come here much?” Felicity said as Leo parked the car.
“Sometimes,” he said. “We bring strays here, or dogs who’ve escaped their owners.”
His warm brown gaze connected with hers, and she looked away before she could get lost in his eyes and start talking about things like kissing rules again. She reached for the handle of the door, and he said, “Hang on.”
She paused, then realized he meant to come around the car and open the door for her. So she stayed in her seat while he climbed out and did just that.
When he’d opened her door, she climbed out, but he didn’t move to let her pass. She looked up at him, her heart thumping.
“First rule of going to an animal shelter,” he said, resting a hand on the car next to her so that she was standing between the door and his body.
A rash of goose bumps moved along her arms at his nearness. She waited for him to continue.
“Don’t pick a dog on the first day,” he said. “Look at as many as you want, and then sleep on it before making a decision. The one you keep thinking about is probably the one that’s right for you.”
“Sounds like you have experience,” she said.
“My family had a few dogs.”
“And it sounds like you have a lot of rules.”
He smiled. “I am a cop.”
She laughed. “All right, Officer Russo, let’s go find me a dog.” She moved past him, brushing against him, because he still hadn’t gotten out of the way. She heard him chuckling as he followed her inside.
The woman at the front desk, a blonde woman with the name tag of Lesli, looked up expectantly as Felicity walked in.
“Hi, can I help you?” she said with a scant smile.
Leo entered, and the woman’s smile turned Cheshire. “Officer Russo, you’re here.”
“I am here,” he said.
Felicity noticed the humor in his voice, as if he found Lesli’s comment funny. He crossed to the desk and placed his hands on the counter. “Did you get my message?”
“Sure thing, hon,” Lesli said, her blue eyes sparkling. “We just got in a yellow lab. He’s about two years old and a real go-getter.”
“Hyper?” Leo asked.
Lesli paused. “He’s still a pup.”
“We’ll take a look, but I’m not sure if my friend wants hyper.”
Lesli’s gaze darted to Felicity, and she didn’t miss the narrowing of Lesli’s eyes. “So, is this your girlfriend, Leo? ‘Cause she sure isn’t your sister.”
Felicity decided she didn’t like Lesli.
“She’s definitely not my sister,” Leo said in a good-natured tone. “And you know I don’t have a girlfriend.”
Lesli had the decency to blush. “Right. I would be sad to see you off the market, hon, if you know what I mean? Remember you have my number, and my nights are always free.”
Leo didn’t take the bait. “What’s the lab’s name?”
“The owner didn’t say.” Lesli rose to her feet. She wore a tight black shirt and even tighter jeans. She almost waddled when she walked, and her heels didn’t do her any favors.
Felicity decided that if Leo checked her out, then she’d be finding another way back home. It wasn’t that she didn’t think he had the right, but this Lesli woman was completely blatant in her attentions to him.
But points went to Leo when he turned to Felicity instead. “You said you wanted a larger dog, right?”
Felicity took a moment to process his question, since she’d been so caught up in throwing imaginary darts at Lesli. “I want a nice dog who doesn’t hysterically bark. He should only bark when bad guys or raccoons come into my yard.”
Leo smiled. “Right.”
Then he did something surprising. He grasped her hand and led her down the hall after Lesli’s swaying hips.
Felicity tried not to read into it other than that Leo was probably using Felicity to throw Lesli off his scent. Whatever the reason, Felicity couldn’t deny the butterflies tumbling in her stomach.
Lesli glanced back before pushing a door open. Her gaze cut to their joined hands, and although her expression didn’t change, her eyes seemed to flash. “This way,” she said in a cheerful tone.
Seconds later, a series of barks erupted, with an undercurrent of meows.
Felicity’s heart ached as she passed the rows of cat kennels and their sad eyes and desperate meows. Beyond was another swinging door to the dog kennel. As Lesli opened the second door, the barking intensified. And the smell . . . was less than pleasant.
Lesli said something over the barking, but Felicity didn’t hear a word. She watched as Lesli opened one of the kennels and let out a rather scrawny yellow lab. He nearly knocked Lesli over in her heels by jumping against her in excitement.
“Now, we don’t jump on people, buddy.” Lesli grasped his collar and clipped on a leash, using a deftness that was unexpected.
Still holding Leo’s hand, Felicity walked with him out another door that led to a fenced-in yard. Lesli unclipped the dog’s leash and turned to them with a smile. “Take your time.” She smiled sweetly at Leo, then gave Felicity a passing glance as she returned to the building.
The dog ran up to Leo, and he released her hand to crouch down and scratch the dog behind the ears. “Are you happy to be out of your kennel?”
The dog panted and rubbed against Leo, using his full weight. “Easy there, buddy. Sit.” The dog didn’t make any motion to sit. Leo’s gaze connected with Felicity. “He needs some serious training.” As if on cue, the dog started to bark.
Felicity joined Leo as the dog ran circles around both of them, not listening to any of Leo’s commands. At least the air was much better out here, and with a gentle wind, the scent of pine drifted into the yard.
“All labs aren’t like this, are they?”
“He’s still young, but training will definitely make a difference. You probably don’t want to have to wait for that.” Leo commanded the dog to sit again, but he didn’t obey. “There are several other dogs in there we can look at too.”
Felicity shrugged and pet the dog as it rested its body against her legs, though it was hard to keep her balance with the dog’s weight. “I feel kind of bad for him. Maybe we should just stay out here so he can run around and play.”
Leo raised his brows. “You’re generous.”
“And it might make Lesli wonder what’s going on.”
Leo nodded. “She’s an interesting woman.”
“I wouldn’t say that, exactly, more like very interested in you.”
Leo rubbed the back of his neck and looked away.
“Don’t you like her?” she asked in a sweetly innocent voice.
His gaze returned to hers. “Is that a trick question?” he said in a teasing tone.
Felicity tilted her head. “She’s made it obvious that she likes you.”
Leo picked up a ragged-looking tennis ball from the ground and tossed it toward the far fence. The dog took off running after it.
Leo took a step closer to Felicity. “Lesli is a lot like my ex-girlfriend,” he said. “And I steer clear of that type of woman.”
Now she was curious. “Which type is that?”
“Women who only care about status or money,” he said. “Women who always take and never give.” He took another step closer and lifted his hand to move a flyaway bit of hair from her face. “Women who don’t like to read or ride bikes.”
Felicity scoffed. “Funny.” But then she smiled. “You’re really stretching there. Lesli probably likes a good steamy romance novel, and I thought I saw a red bike on the side of the building before we came in.”
His eyes glinted, and one side of his mouth lifted into a smile. “Funny.”
The dog barreled into the side of Felicity’s leg, back from his ball-fetching excursion. She grabbed Leo’s arm to steady herself, and he bent down to retrieve the slobbery ball. He threw it back toward the fence.
Felicity dropped her hand. The less physical contact she had with this man, the better. Even in the yard of an animal shelter, all of her senses were overwhelmed by his every action and word.
This time when the dog returned, Felicity took the grimy ball and gave it a toss. She didn’t throw it quite as straight as Leo had, but it still closed the distance to the fence.
“Everything all right out here?” Lesli’s singsong voice interrupted.
Felicity tried not to cringe, so that by the time she turned to face the woman, her expression was bland.
“Everything’s fine,” Leo said.
“You’re so sweet to come with your friend to look at dogs when you’re off-duty,” Lesli said, keeping her attention on Leo.
“Can we look at the chocolate lab that was in the corner kennel?” he asked.
Lesli smiled, and it appeared that she’d reapplied her dark-pink lipstick. “Sure thing, hon.” She called for the yellow lab, who was more than happy to run up to her and start licking her hand. Lesli clipped on the leash and went back into the building.
Felicity didn’t move and didn’t look at Leo. She’d already stated her opinion about Lesli. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw Leo approach. He stopped close to her. “Maybe you’re right. I could totally see her reading one of those romance novels you were talking about.”
Felicity jabbed him with her elbow.
“Hey,” he said with a laugh, then grabbed her hand.
She looked up at him. His brown eyes danced with merriment, and he tugged her closer, until they were only inches apart. Surely he wasn’t going to break his dating rule in the middle of a dog yard.
“Here we are,” Lesli said, opening the back door. “This guy’s about six or seven years old. His owner died, and the family members brought the dog here.”
The dog was a dark-brown color, one that Felicity hadn’t noticed in the frenzy of the dogs barking inside. He was more mellow, but his eyes were alert, his body tense. He seemed wary, and Felicity wondered if he’d been abused.
Lesli unclipped the leash. “I’ll be back to check on you in a few minutes.”
“Thanks,” Felicity said, but Lesli didn’t reply.
Leo crossed to the dog and held out his hand. “Hey there, buddy.”
The dog sniffed Leo’s hand but didn’t move. Leo scratched the dog’s head, then crouched in front of him and read the dog’s tag. “General. That’s your name?”
The dog’s ears perked.
Leo rose and said, “Sit, General.”
The dog obeyed.
Felicity smiled. “Does that mean he’s been trained?”
“We’ll find out.” Leo led the dog around the yard, giving it several commands, all of which the dog followed.
It was kind of charming to watch Leo with the dog.
“Good boy,” Leo said after a moment, rewarding the dog with another head scratch. He looked over at Felicity. “Come and try the same commands.”
Felicity did, mimicking what Leo had done, and General listened to her. After she took the dog through several paces, she brought him back to where Leo stood. “I wonder what he’s seen in life.” She scratched the dog’s head, and Leo bent to pat his back.
“He’s been well-trained,” Leo said. “And he looks healthy.”
“Do you think he knows his owner died?” Felicity asked.
“Dogs get pretty attached to their owners, so he probably does.”
“Not only that, but he was taken from everything he knew.” Felicity sighed. “I don’t know if I could work here. I’d want to take home every animal.”
Leo smiled. “I don’t doubt it. But remember the rule.”
Felicity met Leo’s gaze. “I’m about to break the rule.”
He lifted his brows. “Don’t be hasty.”
“It’s a feeling.”
Leo didn’t say anything for a minute. Then he nodded. “You can always return the dog to the shelter if it doesn’t work out.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Felicity said. She turned to the dog. “Right, General? We’re going to get along just fine.”