Two weeks later, Paige had to admit that Luke had impressed the heck out of her.

Apparently, when he dedicated himself to something, he succeeded. Muffin and Luke had been training relentlessly, appearing almost daily for the next lesson. She and Bandit were getting quite accustomed to welcoming the two of them to the kitchen for a drink after training. Despite a few flirtatious touches and looks, however, nothing romantic had happened between Luke and her, which both pleased and disappointed Paige. Pleased her mind, disappointed her body. Her heart? Undecided, but no doubt longing for more, more, more, and more.

Unfortunately, the more she saw Luke relating to his dog, the more attractive he became, and the less she could remember that he was a lawyer from Boston. Especially when he was so patient with his dog. The man was becoming a complete dog person, even though he'd probably never admit it.

She'd also been having recurring nightmares about law, only in her dreams, Howard wasn't present. Instead, it was Luke who was standing there looking disgusted and irritated when she was loaded onto the stretcher. Not once, not in a single dream did Luke run after her, making sure she was okay. It was always her mom who was with her in the hospital. Never her dad, never Luke. It used to be Howard standing over her, letting her be wheeled away, but now it was Luke. Why? Because he had now become the man her heart wanted to trust? The one she was so afraid would let her down?

"Paige? Are you all right?"

Paige shot a smile at Luke, who was sitting in the passenger seat of her truck, the dogs in the back. "Yeah. Fine."

"You sure?" He searched her face. "You seemed sad for a minute."

Sad. He'd noticed her emotions, and they hadn't even been talking. Damn him. She was so going to fall in love with him if he didn't stop doing those kinds of thoughtful, caring things. "Thanks for asking."

He smiled. "My pleasure."

She smiled back, her entire body warming, before she cleared her throat and tried to focus. "We're here." She slowed her pickup truck and pulled into a parking lot. "Today is distraction training."

"Distraction training?"

"Thanks to your hard work, you and Muffin have managed to master the basics, but you've trained only in my yard and yours. Muffin needs to learn that he has to listen to you, even when there are distractions. Today, we'll use people as a distraction."

She hooked both dogs to their leashes, then handed Muffin's leash to Luke. "Let's go."

Paige led the way from the gravel parking lot to the sidewalk in front of the main row of stores in town. There were a number of people strolling about, many of whom were tourists with gaudy hats and t-shirts.

"Okay, do the same heeling drill we do at my house. If he gets too far ahead of you, turn around. If he drifts to the right, turn left and vice versa. Never pull on him or call him. Just let him get caught by the leash if he doesn't turn with you."

The doubtful look on Luke's face made her laugh. "He'll figure it out, I promise."

"If he bites me, I'm turning him over to you for rehab."

"Oh, come on. He hasn't bitten you since that first day. I think you're past that."

Luke just rolled his eyes, then turned his attention to Muffin. "Muffin, sit."

Paige grinned when the dog sat, looking expectantly up at Luke. "You've done good work with him, Luke."

"You're wishing he was yours, aren't you?" He grinned. "Well, you can't have him. He's still a work-in-progress." With a satisfied smirk, he turned his attention to the dog. "Muffin, heel."

Paige pursed her lips, watching him lead off with the left foot, as she'd taught him. He'd made that same comment a couple times in the last few days, about her wishing Muffin was hers. Why was he trying to convince her that Muffin was such a great dog? He's the one who needed convincing, not her. She'd seen the growing affection between them, moments when Luke gave Muffin extra love, or sat with his arm around him on the couch, or laughed with genuine warmth when Muffin licked his face.

She knew Luke was falling in love with the dog, and yet he was so stubbornly refusing to acknowledge it. Why? Why was he resisting something that could bring such joy into his life? "Why can't he love, Bandit?"

Her dog licked her cheek and whined, making her smile. "I know, baby. Give him time." She squatted next to Bandit, draping her arm over him while she watched Luke and Muffin change direction with the rapidity of machine gun fire.

Muffin was not paying any attention to Luke at all, much too interested in all the action going on around him. She wondered whether Luke would become frustrated. He hadn't yet, except for that first day when he'd been bitten, but Muffin had been pretty good since then.

After about fifteen minutes, in which Muffin's attention didn't improve very much, Luke headed back to Paige. She stood up, preparing herself to lecture him on not giving up on his dog.

She wasn't prepared for his grin. "He did pretty well, didn't he?"

Slowly, she smiled. "Yes, you both were great."

Luke scratched Muffin's head, receiving a tail wag in return. "I can see what you mean about the distraction training. It's a lot harder than in your yard."

"He got better by the end, though," Paige said. "It shouldn't take that long. You have a good foundation."

"Can we set up a training session for tomorrow? I'd like you to be with us until we get a little better at it."

She studied him as he patted his dog. "What's your agenda, Luke? Why do you want me to help tomorrow? You've been awfully needy with the training. And what's your deal with trying to convince me that Muffin's a great dog? What are you up to?"

Luke looked at her with an utterly innocent expression that she didn't believe. "No agenda. Just want to train the dog."

"How come I don't believe you?"

He shrugged. "Because you're still biased against me for being a lawyer." He cocked his head. "Why do you hate lawyers so much? Did one screw you over in a divorce?"

"A divorce? I've never been married."

"Huh. That isn't it then." He scratched Muffin's ear and looked thoughtful.

"What isn't it?"

"Your secret."

She felt her throat close up. "What secret?"

"Well, if you'd tell me, it wouldn't be a secret anymore, would it?"

"I'm not hiding anything."

"Nope. Don't believe you."

Must stay calm. He doesn't know. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He leaned forward and tugged on a lock of her hair. "You, my dear, aren't from this town. I bet you haven't lived here more than a couple years."

"Of course I have."

He twirled her hair around his finger. "Nope. I know when someone is purebred small town, and you aren't it."

"How would you know? Are you from a small town?" Anything to get him off this dangerous subject.

Luke tucked her hair behind her ear. "How about I buy you dinner?"

"Why? So you can grill me?"

"For convincing me to give Muffin another chance. He's not a bad dog, after all. If it weren't for you, I would have broken my sister's heart. I won't ask you any questions about your big secret. Dinner?"

She pursed her lips. "You aren't trying to seduce me, are you? I thought we'd settled that we weren't right for each other."

Luke raised his hands in an expression of innocence. "If I were trying to seduce you, you would know it. And yes, we agreed nothing would happen between us, even though you look quite interesting in your little bikini."

"Luke!"

"Sorry. That slipped out. Didn't mean it. You actually look quite awful in it."

She tried to suppress a smile. "Luke..."

"How about dinner?"

"This doesn't get you out of the two thousand dollars you still owe me. Incidentally, I haven't seen that check yet. I assume it's in the mail?"

Luke tucked his hand under her elbow and propelled her back toward the truck. "If you have dinner with me, I'll give you the check tonight."

"How can I turn that down? I need the money to pay my mortgage." Paige chuckled at the look of chagrin on his face, realizing that he truly believed she was some poor dog trainer who lived check to check. It was a total lie. She'd paid cash for her cottage, knowing that with her new lifestyle, she wouldn't want to worry about a monthly mortgage payment.

"Sorry about not paying you," he said seriously. "I didn't think about that."

She immediately felt guilty for making him feel bad. "No problem. If I'd really needed it, I'd have said something. Let me pick the place for dinner?"

"You're the local. Pick away." He put a shade too much emphasis on the word "local," but just grinned when Paige scowled at him.

The two people and two canines piled into the truck, and Paige started the engine. There was only one option for dinner, given her increasingly irritating affection for the man. She needed to be reminded that he wasn't the funny, down-to-earth man she saw during dog training. And there was one place that would do it, one place that would show his true colors.