Chapter Six
“That’s the last of them.” Sarah Leone practically collapsed in a heap as she came in from the dining room after the short, but intense, lunch rush. She eyed Aidan as he wiped down a counter, mouthing the words, Thank you. Like she couldn’t actually say it, but had to.
He responded with a simple nod, understanding how hard it must be to have him here. Every time she looked at him, she had to think of Charlie.
“I’ll go up and check on Ruff,” he said, having been waiting for the all clear from a steady stream of pizza-and dough-making to do that.
“I can check on him,” Beck called from the back. “I was on my way.”
“I should go with you.” Aidan headed her off before she got all the way out of the fridge. “Ruff might not react well to a total stranger.”
Beck sailed by him with an armful of clean salad bowls, turning to her aunt. “Ignore that, Aunt Sarah. Ruff is fine. Harmless. Big and clumsy, is all.” She shot a look over her shoulder as if to say, Like someone else around here.
Of course. He’d totally forgotten about her aunt’s fear, so he really shouldn’t be talking like Ruff was a troubled dog that should scare her. “And we haven’t heard any barking,” he added quickly. “I bet he’s been sound asleep for the last two hours.”
“I’ll get him.” Beck dumped her bowls and stripped off her apron.
“He knows me.” He blocked her from the door.
“He’s my dog.”
“But he might…lick you. He’s persistent like that, and the drool?” He shook his hands like they were dripping. “You’ll hate it.”
“I’ll love it.” She inched closer. “Move, Kilcannon, or I’ll hate you.”
For a long moment, they faced each other in a standoff. What if she went up there and Ruff greeted her with his usual you’ve been gone for two hours and look how miserable I am face? All bets were off. Misery face was irresistible.
The stare-down ended when Sarah cleared her throat. “Well, I for one am not going up there. I’m off to check on my husband. I suggest you use the door at the bottom of the stairs to take him out on Ambrose Avenue.” Aidan got the impression that was as close to permission to keep the dog as Sarah was going to give.
“Bye, Aunt Sarah,” Beck said without taking her gaze off of Aidan.
Finally, he gave in, moving to the side so she could go through the side door that led to the stairs. She was in such a hurry, she didn’t even close it behind her.
At least Ruff wasn’t unwanted.
Wait, was he giving up? Not a chance. He took a step toward the door, just as he heard a moan of pure disbelief.
“Oh my God…” The soft exclamation came floating down, followed by a whiny, moaning sigh of…remorse. Ruff’s remorse. Only slightly more endearing than misery face, but it always followed something very, very bad.
“That’s my boy,” Aidan whispered to himself. No doubt, he’d left a chewed sofa. An unrolled trail of toilet paper. Maybe a nice big pile of—
“What did you do?” Beck’s voice rose with the question, cracking on the last word.
Exactly what Ruff the Wonder Dog would be expected to do. Trouble with a capital T. Aidan bit back a triumphant laugh as he headed up the steps two at a time, coming to a sudden stop at the open doorway where Beck stood in utter shock.
Oh man. This was bad. Even for Ruff, this was…serious.
“Is paint toxic?” she asked softly. Considering that the sofa, floor, most of the boxes, and pretty much every visible surface was covered in a light turquoise paint, the last thing he’d expected her to be concerned about was Ruff’s safety.
“Dude. What did you do?” Aidan inched by the shell-shocked woman to see Ruff flat out in the middle of the floor, his paws covered in paint, the open, empty can next to him, his face spotted with the color.
He stood, barked, and lifted both paint-covered paws in greeting. Aidan snagged his feet, holding the big dog steady on his back legs while he examined the state of his mouth. “He didn’t eat any,” he said. “He was too busy playing in it.”
“Oh my.” She came in as Aidan lifted the dog and got him off the ground.
He didn’t even have to say, I told you so, since the paint kind of spoke for itself. He did have to keep himself from laughing, rewarding Ruff with affection, or asking her when he could take the dog home.
Of course Ruff would have his back. He was Charlie reincarnated. “Is there a bathtub?” he asked.
“Right through that door on the right.”
“I’ll clean him up, then get the rest of this.”
“I’ve got it,” she said, totally unfazed. “There are rags and cleaning supplies downstairs.” And off she went, with no tirade, no tears, no foot-stomping or fury.
But she had to be seething inside, right? Seething and ready to give up this crazy idea.
“Ruff ‘N’ Ready, you are such a hero,” he muttered into the dog’s ear as he hoisted him up to avoid even more paint on the floor. “I mean, bad boy!” He turned his head toward the door so she’d hear the reprimand.
The dog barked once, sharply, as if to say, It was nothing. And then a few more times, which Aidan took as Ruff’s reminder that he didn’t like to be alone in a strange place, and oh, by the way, isn’t paint fun?
Fighting a smile, he managed to get the beast into the bathtub and turn the water on, which pleased Ruff to no end. He let out a few happy barks, because this dog loved nothing more than a good bath and probably thought he was being richly rewarded for his horrific behavior.
Which he was.
The paint must have been water-soluble, as it washed off easily, leaving a greenish-blue tint on the white tub that Aidan was sure would remind her every time she took a shower what a bad idea this dog was.
He closed his eyes as the image of her doing just that slipped into his brain, as unexpected and unwelcome as her laid-back reaction to this crisis. Okay, she was cool under pressure and pretty as a picture and not the pushover he’d kind of hoped she’d be. And she worried about the toxic paints. And don’t even think about her in the shower.
She had plenty of points in her pro column, but no reason to retreat. He’d vanquished more formidable enemies, and he would again.
As he ran each monster paw under the faucet, Aidan listened for any noise from the apartment, but didn’t hear Beck.
“I think we may have won this one, big boy.” He scrubbed hard, getting between the dog’s giant toenails, which might take on a permanent shade of turquoise.
Ruff answered by swatting the water like an elephant at play, panting at the pure fun of it. So Aidan took his time, but not too much so Ruff didn’t start associating this apartment with bath-time fun.
Aidan finished the job by turning on the shower and closing the curtain, hoping that helped clean the tub and knowing Ruff was in dog heaven now. Not seeing a towel, he bent over to open a cabinet under the sink, and as he did, the curtain behind him came crashing down. Ruff was instantly over the pile of plastic, lunging for the door before Aidan took another breath.
Dude was killing it today.
Aidan shot up, ran after him, and barely caught him by the collar as Ruff went careening across the living room floor. The two of them stopped right next to a stunned Beck, who was on her hands and knees trying to get paint off the hardwood floor.
Next to her, Ruff gave a world-class shake, raining water over Beck and turning the paint into a blue-green puddle.
“Told you he’s a really, really bad dog.”
“He’s a good dog, right, Ruff?” She put her hand on his head, spreading her slender fingers, and trying to press like he had. Which only made Ruff shake again and start to bark furiously.
She closed her eyes for a quick second in frustration, but then brightened. “Can you show me how you do that thing on his head?”
Aidan had opened his mouth to tell her that her hands weren’t big enough when she held one up to stop him.
“Don’t tell me I’m not strong enough. Or big enough. Or man enough. Or worthy enough. Just tell me what to do.”
Chastised, he leaned back and let his backside hit the floor, keeping his mouth firmly shut, because she was all those things, and more. Well, maybe not man enough, but she was woman enough, all right. And that only made her more formidable.
Then he opened his hand wide and reached for Ruff’s head. “If you put gentle pressure in the heel of your hand and flutter your thumb and baby finger under his ears, he usually calms right down.”
He demonstrated, and instantly, the barking stopped and Ruff sat on his haunches, tongue out in a noisy pant as he looked from one to the other, waiting for praise.
“Good boy, Ruff,” she said, trying and failing to make eye contact. “You’re a good boy.”
“Beck.”
She gave Aidan a questioning look.
“Aren’t you mad? Disgusted? Ready to scream at the beast for wrecking the place and getting on your last nerve?”
Still on her knees, she locked gazes with Aidan, her dark brown eyes so mesmerizing he wondered how Ruff managed to not get snared by them. “I’m not changing my mind, if that’s where you’re going.” Then she turned to the dog. “You get that, Ruff? We’ll figure this out. We’ll dog-proof, paint-proof, goof-proof this place. We’ll go on walks and watch sunsets and take Sunday drives with the windows down, and we’ll sleep in front of the TV, and when you’re really good and Aunt Sarah isn’t around, we’ll take you over to see Uncle Mike, because he secretly loves dogs. You got that, kiddo?”
Aidan could feel victory slipping away. How could he compete with sunsets and Sunday drives and long nights with a beautiful woman? Lucky dog.
“Well, you are being remarkably chill about this mess,” he noted.
“Messes get cleaned up, Aidan.” She turned back to the floor, her hair half out of the ponytail now and covering most of her face. She took a swipe with a wet rag that took the paint right off the floor.
As she reached for the next spot, Ruff walked in front of her and slapped a paw in the paint puddle, splashing it everywhere.
“Geez, Ruff, give the girl a break.” Aidan reached for his collar and pulled the dog back, noticing then that Beck’s narrow shoulders were shaking. “Oh man, are you crying?”
She looked up, but those weren’t tears in her eyes. “Oh my God, no.” They sparked with humor, and her straight, white teeth were on full display as she let out a belly laugh, then gasped for air and laughed again.
“You think this is funny?”
“I think it’s hilarious,” she managed, shaking her head and using the back of her wrist to wipe her eye. “Wonderfully funny. Don’t you?”
It would be if she weren’t so damn understanding. That’s not what should happen. She should freak out and make the dog leave, and this whole thing would be over. But she was laughing and pretty. Why hadn’t Charlie told him how pretty his sister was? Or that he had a dog named Ruff when they were kids? Or that he’d written to her and given her his dog?
“I’m a little ashamed of his behavior,” he finally said. And maybe a little ashamed of himself. Maybe it was time to admit defeat.
“Don’t be. He’s not yours.”
That wiped his smile away. “Beck, Charlie told me to keep him. He insisted. I know I don’t have a paper trail, but you can see how connected we are. And you…” He swallowed while she let him dig himself deeper, but he didn’t know how to make the same argument again when it was obvious she was intractable. “You…”
“I have a letter from my brother. Do you want to see it? I don’t have it with me, but my friend and partner at work can send it to me. I can tell her where to find it in my apartment. She can text a picture of it to me in an hour, if that will get you to back off.”
He held up a hand to stop her. There had to be another way. “What would you say to shared custody?”
“That he’ll only be harder to handle when I get him back. Sorry, no.”
“How about I find you another boxer? Exactly like him. My family can find any dog anywhere. We’ll rescue a boxer, name him Ruff, and hand-deliver him to your door. Trained, even.”
For a long time, the only sound in the room was Ruff’s steady, noisy panting.
“I want this dog, not a dog,” she said softly. “Because he is Charlie.”
He frowned at that. “They were inseparable, that’s true.”
“That explains so much.” She reached out to scratch Ruff’s head, but he inched away. “This dog is exactly like him. Kind of klutzy, very endearing, all boy, and all heart. If my brother came back as a dog, he’d be Ruff.” She stretched her arm again, but Ruff wanted no part of her touch. “Only, he’d like me.”
“If your brother came back in any form, the world would be a better place.” Aidan easily managed to pet Ruff’s head, using the gesture to cover the pain that engulfed him. “Guess you already know that.”
“I do.” Beck sat back on her heels, sighing. “And it’s so important to me to do what he wanted and keep this dog.”
“That’s exactly what’s important to me. More than anything, I want to honor Charlie’s wishes. Yes, I love Ruff. And need him, but at the bottom of this is respecting what Charlie wanted.”
“If I didn’t have that letter, I’d give him to you.”
If she didn’t have that letter, Ruff wouldn’t be hers to give.
One more time, they locked gazes, both of them immovable in their position. Both, in a way, right. And both motivated by love for the same person.
“He’s been through a lot,” she finally said. “Shipped overseas, and everything is new. He needs some time.”
He couldn’t argue that. Ruff would settle down. He’d never be an easy dog, but she’d get the hang of it. Damn it.
She held her hand out to Ruff as a peace offering, but he trotted a few steps away.
She narrowed her eyes with a gleam of determination that Aidan already knew to respect. “You might not want me, big boy, but I want you.”
“Ah, Ruff,” Aidan said, shaking his head. “When a beautiful woman says something like that, you know what you have to do.”
Ruff slowly lifted one leg in front of the sofa.
“Oh no you don’t!” Aidan lunged at him, averting the disaster. “Outside, dumb-ass.” Standing, he tugged on the collar, forgoing the leash in case Ruff was serious about peeing right then and there. “Where did your aunt want me to take him?”
“Me,” she corrected. “She wanted me to take my dog out the back door at the bottom of the stairs. It leads to the street, not the alley.” Pushing up, she wiped a wet, paint-splattered hand on her jeans. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
She headed down the stairs ahead of them, with enough bounce in her step to make him wonder if anything threw this woman. Also, enough bounce for him to appreciate that the back of her was every bit as attractive and feminine as the front. Ruff gave a good bark in her direction, as if he didn’t know what to make of this startling, strong, stunning new creature, either.
All Aidan knew was that he had to back off and regroup. Retreat, not defeat.