I wish this dog would go number two already, Shelby Wilkes thought as she pulled on the leash, yanking her Pug, Bailey out of the street and the path of oncoming traffic. The dog had been constipated for five days and the medicine the vet had given him did not seem to be working.

The Pug had been sniffing around and investigating every bush and every tree for almost a half hour. Just when Shelby thought he might do something, he would change his mind and go in search of another “perfect spot”. It boggled her mind how a dog’s need to mark its territory completely overrode the need to relieve itself.

She was enjoying the beautiful day however, it was a balmy ninety-five degrees at eight A.M., but the sun was shining brightly and the sky was totally clear. July was the hottest month in Phoenix, Arizona, but it was also the wettest due to the lovely monsoons that swept through on occasion at this time of year. So far this year the season had been relatively quiet. Shelby didn’t mind the heat really, and she loved the sunshine and the dry weather.

She had grown up in West Virginia where the summers were humid and often wet and the winters were cold and often wet. She had tired of that climate very quickly. She really didn’t miss it at all. When her family had visited the Grand Canyon when she was twelve, they had taken a drive down to the Phoenix area to visit some family. Her uncle Bob lived out here with his family and as soon as Shelby had seen the desert she knew that she wanted to live here too. Her dad would not uproot the family though; he had worked too hard to become manager in his accounting firm to pack it up and move to a new city for a new start.

As soon as she was eighteen, Shelby had headed for Phoenix and she had never looked back.

The Pug sniffed around a small cactus, and Shelby jerked him away from it. He was always going after the cacti. She was not about to pay another vet bill to have the thorns removed from his nose again. That had not been pleasant for either one of them the time he had chased a ball under a cactus. The poor little guy had been in excruciating pain until they were pulled out and then had been sore for a few days after. She’d thought he had learned his lesson, but apparently old Bailey was a little slow on the concept of cause and effect.

He finally found a bush to his liking after sniffing around and raised his leg up over the bush to find the perfect angle. Shelby watched with bated breath, becoming vaguely aware of how weird it was that she was watching her dog try to poop so intently, but it had been days.

Success! Shelby somehow felt like doing a victory dance, but she held herself together and looked away to give the Pug some modicum of privacy while he did his thing. After he was done she grabbed one of the little poop baggies from the dispenser clipped to her belt and picked up the mess. She hated it when people didn’t do that and it was becoming a huge problem. These little bags were not expensive and they lasted forever. People disgusted her.

“Carly, no!”

She jerked her head in time to see a Golden Lab rush up to her Pug. She immediately thought the worst and tried to pull Bailey back, but it was too late; the lab began to lick the Pug to death. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was a female lab and Bailey was welcoming all of the affection with open arms. He was already trying to sniff some butt.

The owner of the Lab finally caught up to them, appearing just a little out of breath. He scooped up the leash and wrapped it several times around his wrist to make sure this didn’t happen again.

“I’m so sorry,” the man said. He tugged on the leash pulling his lab away from Bailey. “Carly, come on. Let him alone.”

Shelby laughed at the scene.

“Well, I guess they like each other,” she said.

She bent down and began petting Carly, who responded with a smile and a wide pant, taking a break from the tongue bath she was giving Bailey.

“Well, she seems to like you too,” the man said.

“Tell her the feeling is mutual. She is beautiful,” Shelby replied.

“She says you are too,” the man said.

Shelby looked up at him. She wasn’t sure if she should be offended or flattered. The line was bordering on silly and cute. It was tough to decide which one she preferred at the moment.

“And the award for cheesiest line ever goes to me!” The man joked, a little embarrassed at his Freudian slip up.

“It wasn’t that bad. I’ve heard far worse.”

“Well, thanks. That makes me feel a little better, and bad for you. What the hell would be a worse line?” The man laughed.

“You’d be surprised.” Shelby stood up and pulled Bailey towards her.

“Oh, I’m Aaron by the way. Aaron Davis,” the man said holding out his hand.

Shelby shook it. “I’m Shelby Wilkes.”

“It’s very nice to meet you Shelby Wilkes. Are you new to the neighborhood?”

“I just moved in a few weeks ago,” Shelby said.

“Well, welcome. Are you from this area?”

“I’m from West Virginia originally,” she replied. “I moved here when I was eighteen.”

“I have lived here for a long time and I have met very few Arizona natives. Everybody here is originally from somewhere else, it seems.”

“I’ve noticed that as well.”

Shelby was starting to notice exactly how strikingly handsome Aaron was. He was tall with a lean, but athletic build. His hair was cropped short, in a typical bad boy style, and he had several distinct tattoos covering the upper parts of his arms. She thought tattoos were sexy and beautiful. There was something very primal about them that she had always found attractive.

“Well, maybe I’ll see you again,” Aaron said as he began to pull his lab away.

“Yea, that would be cool. I walk Bailey here every day about this time, so I’m sure we will run into each other.”

Shelby wished she had shut up already. Was she sounding too obvious? It seemed to her like she was sounding too obvious.

“Well, how about we run into each other tonight? Say, the Sky bar?”

Shelby thought a moment. She would have loved to see him, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to end up another notch on this guy’s bed post. He was sexy for sure, and he seemed like a nice guy, but she didn’t really know him. He was probably just thinking that a chubby girl like her would have nothing else going on for her tonight. Well, that was true, but she was going to make him work for her affections.

“I’m kind of busy, but if you give me your number I’ll call you,” Shelby said.

She handed her phone to him and he typed in his info.

Shelby started to walk away with Bailey.

“What? I don’t get your number?” Aaron said.

“Nope,” Shelby replied continuing to walk away.

She glanced back slightly as she reached the other side of the road. Aaron was still standing there watching her with a sly grin on his face. Then he laughed and began walking away with Carly.