“I’m not interested, I’m just . . . well, I’m just . . . uh . . . observant,” she spluttered.

“You can observe me anytime you want to, sugar,” he told her.

“I see you have two extras over for dinner,” she said, deciding she would never win with him in a verbal exchange, especially one that included flirty little sentences.

“Yeah, I seem to have gained some pets,” he said with that beautiful grin.

“You’re keeping Princess.” Her heart almost sank as she clutched the dog tighter. If he kept her that meant she was gone—unavailable. And for some reason that was something she couldn’t even think about without getting upset.

“Nope, she’s not mine,” he said.

Now Lindsey was confused. The dog was clearly there, curled up in her lap, enjoying the attention she was currently getting.

“Oh, you’re taking them back tonight?” That option didn’t seem appealing either.

“Try again.”

“Do you love to play games?” she asked, exasperated.

“Well, as a matter of fact, I do,” he said, his eyes darkening as he gazed down at her. She had no doubt the games he was thinking of were most certainly triple X.

“Go away, Mav. I’m busy,” she said on a frustrated sigh.

“Stormy told me if I was coming all the way down here to save her the trip and drag your butt back to the house. Her words, not mine,” he said with a laugh. “She wants you to join us for dinner,” he added.

“I don’t want to eat with you,” she told him, sounding like a petulant child.

“Tough. She told me to get you there by any means necessary. Oh, please, please resist,” he said with a waggle of his brows.

Dang. She was actually tempted to resist just to see what he would do. That was another sobering thought around this man. She never thought she would be comfortable flirting again, let alone with an alpha man with way too much sexuality for a woman to deal with oozing from his pores.

“Fine. I’ll come, but not because I’m afraid of you or anything, but because I was planning on going to see Stormy and the baby anyway,” she said as she cradled Princess close to her chest and stood up. The dog barely moved.

“So really, what are you doing with the dogs?” she asked as they began walking the long expanse of lawn up to the main house.

She let Princess down, who sniffed at the grass, staying close to Lindsey’s side.

“She’s yours.”

Lindsey waited, but he didn’t add to that. “I told you I can’t take a dog right now,” she reminded him.

“Doesn’t look like you have much of a choice. She’s bonded to you. We don’t really pick dogs. They pick us. Haven’t you ever noticed that no matter how many people in a house, a dog will bond to one particular person the most? Well, that’s what we look for at the shelter, for that bond. I haven’t seen a bond as quick or as strong as the one between you and Princess.”

As if she knew they were talking about her, Princess barked up at them before running in a circle around their feet. Then she finally ventured a little farther away as they neared the house. But Lindsey noticed that the little dog turned and sought her out every few seconds.

“I hadn’t really thought about that before,” she said.

“You should. I love animals. I try not to get too attached because then I don’t want to let any of them go, but they all deserve good homes. Sometimes you just can’t help but bond. The animal chooses you, and then you would be cruel not to want its love.”

“Are you saying I’m terrible if I don’t take this dog?” she gasped.

“Nope. Not at all. I’m just saying that she will spend her nights crying in her kennel if you don’t.” He didn’t even pause as he said this.

“That’s awful, Maverick Armstrong!”

“I know,” he said with a smile. “Is it working?”

“The guilt? Yes!” she hissed.

“Good. You two were meant to be together. And don’t worry, I brought some toys, a dog bed, and food.”

And that was the end of that. She knew it was stupid to take on the responsibility of an animal at this point in her life, but like he’d said, the dog had chosen her and she didn’t want to let her go now.

Besides that, it was actually pretty empowering that, for the first time in over a year, Lindsey was the one doing the rescuing instead of being rescued. There was this precious little dog who had been neglected and abused who loved and trusted Lindsey. She couldn’t turn her back on the animal.

It looked like she was becoming a pet owner. And it was the happiest she’d felt in a very long time.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“Oh my goodness, Lins, I’d have never taken you for a dog person, but I absolutely already love Princess even after just visiting with her for a few minutes,” Stormy said as Lindsey and Maverick climbed up on her deck.

“I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about it first, Stormy. I wasn’t planning on getting a dog at all. It’s just that Mav took me there to walk them and then . . . wait.” She stopped and looked at her best friend. “How did you know I decided to keep her?”

Stormy just smiled. “Mav told me the two of you had bonded and needed each other.”

“Mav doesn’t make decisions for me,” Lindsey said as she glared first at Stormy and then at Mav.