Felicity knew Leo was teasing about staying over to make sure the dog would adjust to his new surroundings, but his suggestion still sent a warm buzz through her. She had to stop reacting to his flirtatious nature. He hadn’t flirted with Crystal or with Lesli, exactly, so that made her happy. Still, Leo was going way above and beyond what any other guy had ever done for her—especially when they’d only recently met. It was like they were months into a relationship, and not on their first date.
Not that she had a frame of reference, since it was true that the longest she’d dated someone was six days. That fact hadn’t seemed to deter Leo.
As they pulled up to the animal shelter, she felt a pang of sympathy in her stomach, even though she wouldn’t consider herself an animal-lover. All of these animals, and no homes. The shelter looked like such a bleak place to live. Maybe if things worked out well with General, she’d consider getting a second pet.
“Ready?” Leo said.
“Yep.” Felicity put her phone away. She had a feeling that she’d be googling a lot of dog care tips. When Leo opened her door, she didn’t move for a minute.
“Having second thoughts?” he asked.
“I want the dog. I need a dog. What if it doesn’t work out though?”
“You can always bring the dog back.” Leo held out his hand. “Come on.”
Felicity put her hand in his and let him help her out of the car. “It would be too cruel to bring him back here.”
“You can always find a private owner with a little bit of leg work,” he said.
“What about you?”
“My apartment would be torture for a dog like General,” he said.
Their fingers lingered together, and Felicity liked that holding his hand was comfortable. The butterflies were nice, too, but she tried not to let her mind go beyond holding Leo’s hand, even though they were no longer around any other distractions, i.e. other women.
“Sorry about breaking your rule of sleeping on the decision,” she said.
He shrugged. “It was my rule, not yours.”
She released his hand and moved past him. “Let’s go change General’s life, then.”
They had to knock on the locked door, and a young man came to open it up for them. “Felicity Miner?” he said, looking from Felicity, then to Leo. “Oh, hi, Officer Russo.”
“How are you?” Leo said.
“Fine, fine. Come on in,” the young man said. His name tag read Cliff. “I have all the paperwork ready, and we’ll send you home with a leash. We have a small bag of dog food to send with you, as well, but you’ll need to buy more soon.” Once at the desk, he said, “Do you have a fenced yard or kennel for the dog?”
“I have a fenced yard,” Felicity said. “Do I need a kennel?”
“Not necessarily, although it keeps all the cleanup in a smaller space.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Leo said.
She liked how he said “we,” because she was going to need some help with decision-making.
Cliff set the paperwork for her to sign on the counter, and she flipped through the pages, signing where necessary. Minutes later, Cliff arrived with General.
Felicity bent down to scratch the dog. His soulful eyes melted her heart a little more. “Ready to come home with me?”
Leo took ahold of the leash, although Felicity was sure the dog would obey their commands regardless.
Felicity straightened to hand over the paperwork, then paid the adoption fee. Leo picked up the dog food bag, and together they left the shelter.
“Are you sure you’re okay to have him in your car?” Felicity asked once they were outside.
“No problem.” Leo opened the back door. “Inside, buddy. We’re going for a ride.”
The dog seemed to understand what Leo was saying, and he climbed into the back seat.
“I think I’m falling in love,” she said.
Leo looked over at her.
“With the dog.”
“Thanks for the clarification.” Leo put his hand over his heart, a smile on his face. “That was a close call.”
Felicity laughed. She climbed into the passenger seat and thought that as far as first dates went, this was the best one yet. Even with Lesli and Crystal in the mix.
As Leo started the car, she turned to look at General. “He looks so content, as if he’s happy, even.”
“I’m sure he is a happy dog.” Leo backed out of the parking spot, then headed for the street. “He’s a lucky dog, too.”
Felicity let the comment pass without a response. “How much dog food do you think he’ll need a week?”
“Get one of those fifty-pound bags, and that should last a few weeks.”
Felicity wondered how hard it would be to balance a fifty-pound bag of dog food on her bike.
“What?” Leo said. “You do have a car, right?”
He paid way too much attention to her facial expressions. It was almost like he could read her thoughts.
“I do,” she said. “Although it’s not currently running.”
Leo slowed at an approaching stop sign. “What’s wrong with it?”
Felicity shrugged. “It kept going into limp mode, and then one morning it wouldn’t start. I thought I’d wait until my dad came to visit to take a look at it.”
Leo turned the next corner. “How long has it been broken down?”
“A couple of weeks.”
Leo threw her a questioning look.
“But I’ve been riding my bike all summer, so I haven’t been in a big hurry to get it towed somewhere.”
“No wonder people call you the bike lady.” Leo pulled onto the road that led into her neighborhood.
“It’s a small town,” she reasoned, “and it’s not like I have anywhere to go.”
Leo pulled up to her house and parked. “I could look at it.”
“What? You’re a mechanic too?” Felicity said.
“I know some basics,” Leo said. “We had a lot of cars coming and going at my house when we were all teenagers.”
Of course he could fix cars. Serve and protect the public, and then fix their cars too. “It’s okay, really. When my parents come out, my dad will figure it out.”
Leo turned off the engine. “What does your dad think it is?”
“I haven’t exactly told him yet,” she said. She couldn’t tell him. He’d think she was being irresponsible by not fixing it right away. “I don’t want him coming out here for that.” She reached for the handle of the car. She didn’t want to talk about her parents. When people asked her questions about them, she realized how different they were from the average set of parents.
They’d worked full time, her mom as a nurse, her dad as a teacher—both were retired now. But they were getting old, and she hated for them to make the long trip to Pine Valley. They’d never offered to come, anyway.
Felicity climbed out of Leo’s car before he could drill down on any more questions. She waited for him to open the back door and let General out. She didn’t know what to expect. Would the dog realize he was in a strange place and be grumpy? Would he be hard to manage now?
But the dog trotted after her as she led the way to the house. She flipped on lights as she entered, and the scent of strawberry jam assailed her senses.
“Smells good,” Leo said, coming in behind her. “Makes me wish we stayed here and had jam sandwiches instead of that buffet.”
“You’re an easy man to please,” Felicity said, realizing the truth in her words as she spoke them. Leo was easygoing, and now that they were alone in her house again, his presence seemed to fill every corner.
Leo set the dog food on the kitchen table. “You can either feed him once a day or twice a day, but you’ll have to ration it.”
General followed them into the kitchen and sniffed around, then moved into the living room, sniffing and inspecting every bit of furniture and each corner.
She realized that Leo was watching her instead of the dog. “He looks like he’s settling in, right?” she said.
“If you want to get a towel or old blanket, you could tell him where he should sleep.”
“Good idea,” she said and walked down the hall. There were plenty of old blankets of her grandparents. She supposed she should donate some of them to Goodwill. She grabbed a thick blue blanket and carried it back to the living room.
Leo was sitting on the edge of the couch, scratching the dog’s head, who looked like he was in heaven.
“Will this work?” she asked.
Leo looked up, and their gazes connected for a second before he said, “I’m sure he’ll love it.” He looked back to General. “You’re going to be spoiled, buddy.”
Felicity looked about the living room, wondering where she should put the folded blanket.
“You might try the kitchen,” Leo said. “Set it up beneath the front window, then you can put his food and water there too. Keep all the dog stuff together.”
So Felicity arranged the blanket on the floor under the front kitchen window. “Now what?”
“Call him and tell him to lie down on the blanket,” Leo said with an amused gleam in his eye.
“Simple as that?” she asked.
“Simple as that.”
“General, come here,” she said. Even though the dog was enjoying Leo’s scratching, he rose to his feet.
“Good boy,” Felicity said. “Lie down on the blanket.” She bent and patted the blanket. The dog sniffed it, then stepped onto it and lay down.
Felicity stared at the dog. “It was that simple.”
Leo chuckled, and Felicity looked up to see that he’d come into the kitchen.
“Will he stay there until I tell him to move?” she asked. “What if he has to use the bathroom? How will I know?”
“You’ll know,” Leo said. “He’s well trained. Just let him out into the backyard.”
She rested her hands on her hips. “All right.” She looked from Leo to the dog, then back to Leo. “Thanks for all of your help. I mean, you’ve been more than generous with your time. I feel like I need to pay you or something. Or make more jam.”
He smiled. “You don’t need to pay me.” He took a step closer. “But I’ll never turn down jam.”
“It’s pretty much the only thing I know how to make.” He was standing pretty close, close enough that Felicity could see the darker flecks in his brown eyes, reminding her of dark chocolate again.
“You told me you could make three things.”
He’d remembered.
“I can make banana bread too. And hot chocolate. Do you want some?”
One side of Leo’s mouth lifted. “Hot chocolate?”
“Yeah.” Apparently, she was asking him to stick around a little longer. “Do you like cinnamon with your hot chocolate?”
He looked like he was trying to hold back a smile. “I’m not opposed to cinnamon, although I can’t say I’ve ever had it in hot chocolate.”
“What do you usually have?”
Leo rubbed the back of his neck. “Um, marshmallows? It’s been a while. My mom told us we could only have ten marshmallows each when we were kids.”
“Marshmallows are good, too, but I think you’ll like the cinnamon.” Felicity turned toward the pantry to get the hot chocolate mix, because Leo’s nearness was making her think of breaking her first-date rule. She busied herself heating up the water, then grabbed two mugs. None of her mugs matched, and she’d done that on purpose.
“No Swiss Miss?” Leo leaned against the counter as he watched her stir the mix into the steaming water of each mug.
“Stephen’s is the best mix out there.” She tasted the current one she was stirring. It needed one more spoonful, so she added it and stirred again. “I’ve tried them all, and Stephen’s keeps coming out on top.”
“Mint chocolate?”
“Yeah,” Felicity said. “It tastes great with the cinnamon.” She sprinkled on the cinnamon, spilling some on the counter. She met his gaze. “Most people wouldn’t think it’s a good combination, but you might be surprised.”
She held out the mug, and he moved closer to take it. Leaning against the counter, side-by-side, they both sipped. The hot, chocolatey flavor was an instant ambrosia on her tongue. “Mmm. Perfect temperature.”
“It’s pretty good,” Leo said, surprise in his tone. “Do you drink hot chocolate every night?”
“Most nights,” she said. “Always in the mornings, though.”
“It doesn’t have caffeine in it, so are you drinking it for the sugar buzz?”
Felicity looked over at him and shrugged. “I can’t explain it, but it makes me feel happy.”
Leo smiled. “That’s as good a reason as any.” He set his mug on the counter behind them. “You know how you already broke one rule tonight?”
“About the dog?” She glanced over at General on the other side of the kitchen. He looked totally relaxed on his blanket. His eyes were even closed.
Leo straightened and faced her so that she was between him and the counter. He brushed his fingers against her free hand. “Yeah, about the dog.”
The warmth from Leo’s hand seemed to double the warmth from the hot chocolate. She met his gaze. Yes, his eyes were definitely the same color as dark chocolate.
“The only other rules we talked about were kissing,” she said, “and how you never kiss a woman first.”
He nodded, his eyes not moving from hers. “You have a rule, too.”
“I do.”
He took her hot chocolate mug and set it on the counter next to his mug. “I was wondering if you might break your rule?”
Her heart rate pretty much doubled. “Because you want to break yours?”
“Yes.” He set his hands on the counter on either side of her. She was cocooned on both sides, although he wasn’t even touching her.
“You know me,” Felicity said in a soft voice. “I’m a rule-breaker.”
“In this instance, I approve.” He winked, and she wasn’t sure if she could take this flirting tension any more.
“Then you’d better make your move, Officer Russo.”
His smile was slow. “I think I will, Ms. Miner.”
When he closed the distance between them, she thought her heart would float right out of her. And when he pressed his mouth against hers, she felt as if a thousand fiery darts had hit her at once. He tasted of chocolate and cinnamon, and she could feel the scruff of his chin against hers as he took his time exploring her mouth with his own.
She’d never been kissed quite like this before, so slowly, so thoroughly, that she grasped his shirt, because her legs were feeling weak. She’d read plenty of romance novels over the years, ones that had made her laugh, cry, and sometimes swoon . . . but kissing Leo was beyond what any words on a page could describe.
Leo’s hands left the counter and moved to her waist, anchoring her against him. With the added stabilization, she slid her hands around his neck. Having his entire body pressed against hers was intoxicating, and she was glad he broke off the kiss first, because every resolve of hers had dissipated.
“Felicity,” Leo whispered, resting his forehead against hers. “I think that’s enough rule-breaking for one night, because the more I kiss you, the more I want to stay.”
“Leo?”
“Hmm?”
“You’d better call me tomorrow after kissing me like that.”
A laugh rumbled his chest. “Yes, ma’am.”