Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 111980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
* * *
“Shortcake needs to see you interact with another man safely and calmly. I want him to see that affection toward you doesn’t mean he’s losing you,” I explain in the living room of Veronica’s disgustingly adorable bungalow.
I feel like I’ve stepped into an Easter egg. Everything is mint green, robin’s-egg blue, and Barbie pink—from the couch to the chair to the pillows. The artwork is all serene line drawings of beaches, oceans, and mountains. A few scattered dog beds cover the floor.
“Okay,” Veronica says, focusing intensely on me.
I turn to Sawyer. “I want you to pretend to be her date while I watch and see how Shortcake reacts.”
Sawyer blinks. Furrows his brow. He’s not normally thrown off, but he clearly is now. “Okay, and that means?”
“I want you to knock on the door and come inside. Maybe even hug Veronica, if that’s okay?” I say, asking the two of them.
“Of course,” Veronica says.
“Sure,” Sawyer says, but he sounds a little stiff. Looks that way too. But he’s probably not used to dog lessons.
I open the door and shoo Sawyer outside. “Knock in ten seconds. And open the door like you normally would. I want to see his behavior.”
And right on cue, Sawyer knocks, Veronica swings it open, and seconds later, when his arms wrap around her, two things happen—Shortcake lunges at Veronica and tries to make sweet love to her calf and her thigh, and I become Gollum. Gollum is me, and the word mine flashes bright and hot before my eyes.
But I am a damn good dog trainer, so I breathe out hard, let the jealousy go as best I can, then say, “Thanks, that’ll be enough.”
Oops. Did that sound snappish?
Hopefully they didn’t notice.
They break apart, and Shortcake dismounts as well as an Olympian. Gollum slinks away.
“Okay. He’s definitely staking his claim on you,” I say to Veronica, focusing on them now and ignoring this raging fire in my chest. “He might think he’s being replaced, so what we want to do is create a new greeting ritual. I want you to have treats ready. And as soon as Sawyer is about to hug you or kiss you,” I say, and my eye twitches at the thought, “you give Shortcake a treat and tell him to wait. Then you hug Sawyer,” I explain, and the twitching, it intensifies, starts again annoyingly. “And give Shortcake the treat. The goal is positive reinforcement for him not humping, but to get him to do that, you need to essentially reward him with a treat before Sawyer hugs you. It’s like a pre-ward for not humping.”
Veronica furrows her brow. “Okay, like, I get it, but can you show me first?”
“I would love to,” I say at the same time Sawyer says, “Good idea.”
I prep a treat, breaking off a chunk of a dog beef jerky, and we send Sawyer outside again.
He knocks, and Veronica lets him inside. Shortcake swings his snout from Sawyer to Veronica, waiting carefully to make his mark. But this time Sawyer advances toward me, and I toss Shortcake a treat. He snarfs it down as Sawyer wraps his arms around me, and the smell of him—clean soap and cinnamon bodywash, my bodywash—sends a naughty zing through me as I remember our shower. And why we took one.
I can’t let it distract me, though, because I need to offer another treat. I toss one to the dog. He inhales it as I inhale Sawyer. Then one more treat, and I try—I swear I try—not to sigh or moan or murmur.
But when Sawyer slides a hand down my back, I gasp. The sound sends me scurrying apart from him. I try to shake off the fog of lust. “Just like that,” I say, but my voice still sounds…raspy.
Sawyer looks…a little hot under the collar.
Veronica lifts a brow, maybe in question, but then says, “Okay, should we try again?”
“Great idea,” I say brightly, like my cheer can cover up the lust I’m fighting off.
How can I be lusting this hard after he just made me come twice in an hour?
Who knows, but stranger things have happened.
They go through the motions once more, Sawyer heading outside, then knocking. Once he comes inside, Veronica tosses the dog a treat, and he wolfs it down as Sawyer reaches to hug her. Shortcake makes a move toward Veronica’s leg, but she’s a quick study, so she flings another treat the dog’s way.
“Good, keep doing it,” I say, fighting off the wave of jealousy I’m feeling as they hug.
Maybe Shortcake should throw me treats so I don’t jump Sawyer when Veronica hugs him.
* * *
We work through the routine a few more times, and somehow I survive without transforming into a full-blown dragon. I guess miracles do happen. As we’re wrapping up, Veronica thanks me profusely, then Sawyer, then goes quiet but curious, her pretty eyes darting from Sawyer to me and back. “I’m a little bit like my character on Upper East Siders. I’m pretty good at reading people, and I’m picking up on a vibe between you two.”