Must Love Wieners (17 page)

Piper put the peace lily down. “What is it?”

“Donations!” Addison jumped up and down. “Lots of them! We’re going to be okay.”

16

Puppy Love

Piper and Aiden were on the perfect date. It was another beautiful late spring day—or, dare she hope, early summer. The Golden Gate Bridge stretched in the distance, the view clear and picturesque from Baker Beach. Free of their leashes, Colin and Sophie pranced ahead. They patrolled the shoreline, chasing the foaming waves away as they slurped back into the bay, only to skitter to safety when they returned to lick at the doxies’ paws.

Piper strolled next to Aiden, sand squidging between her toes. They tried to keep up with the dogs, but they had to avoid the crowd that came to enjoy the nice weather. The doxies, on the other hand, had a tendency to plough through picnics and Frisbee games.

While the dogs maneuvered skillfully through the soft sand, the humans had a somewhat harder time. Sometimes it would throw Aiden or Piper off balance, and every once in a while their knuckles would graze each other’s. The next time it happened, Piper’s hand twitched. Despite her better judgment, she was tempted to reach out and grab his, to interlace their fingers and just see what happened.

That’s the kind of thing she’d normally do in that situation. Piper was bold. She took chances. Sometimes they worked out, and sometimes, well, sometimes they ended up requiring payday loans or laser tattoo removal to fix—never date an impulsive tattoo artist. But this situation was a little different. Aiden was a little different.

Yup, it was the perfect date. Only it wasn’t a date. It was another pseudo-non-date.

He’d joined her for a walk every day the previous week. And here he was again Monday afternoon. She wasn’t sure what he was paying her for if he could make time to come home, but she wasn’t about to complain. About the money or the company.

But now that she thought about it, why the heck was he paying her? Or overpaying her, more like it. It wasn’t like he didn’t trust her with Sophie, and he certainly didn’t need the exercise judging by his physique—which Piper was trying hard not to gawk at. Addison insisted it was because he liked her, but that would defy his golden rule: don’t mix business with pleasure. So what was the deal?

She thought back to the check he gave her at the rescue center on the weekend, which she never ended up cashing. He’d intervened on her behalf a few times, tried to bail her out, like he thought money would fix anything. Just because he had extra cash to throw around didn’t make it okay to do so. It was insulting. Anger flashed through her and her mouth opened before her brain could stop her.

“Why are you here?” She flinched as she heard the acidity in her tone.

His eyebrows shot up and he opened his mouth, either in surprise or because he was simply unable to find an answer.

“I mean,” she amended. “It’s just, I thought you were the boss, and everything. Aren’t you more effective when you’re at work?”

“But as the boss, I kind of get to create my own schedule. Don’t get me wrong; I make up for the lost hours. I stay late in the evenings.”

“Oh?” So did that mean he rearranged his schedule, stayed behind so he could be with her? She suddenly regretted her hasty conclusion. She seemed to do that a lot with Aiden. Every time she thought she had him pegged, he’d surprise her. She wondered how many other wrong conclusions she’d drawn about him.

“I just meant that if you can come home from work to walk Sophie, do you really need me?”

“Oh yes.” His eyes crinkled with a secret, only Piper didn’t quite know what that secret was. “I really need you.”

He needed her? Piper stared at him, trying to decipher that look, but he turned away before she could even begin. She cursed her tactlessness. She’d have to work on that brain-mouth filter of hers.

Sophie paused up ahead and gave them a look that said,
Hurry up. You’re holding us up.

Colin found a stick floating back and forth near the shore. Dropping the chew toy he brought with him from the house, he battled Sophie for it. Clearly the dogs had forgotten they were afraid of the waves.

“So you never told me,” Piper said to Aiden. “Why did you decide to get a dog?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets, like he didn’t know what to do with them when he didn’t have a tie to straighten. “I suppose I’ve been lonely ever since my father died. It’s a big house to live in all by yourself. It’s nice to have female companionship.” He chuckled. “Even if it is another species.”

“Aiden Caldwell, lonely? I’m sure you have no problem finding female companionship,” she teased, trying to sound casual about it. And it would have been convincing too, if not for the high-pitched tone of her voice. She tried to laugh it off, but it sounded more like a flamingo call to her ears.

Aiden bent down to grab the chew toy Colin had dropped and stuffed it in his pocket. “My business keeps me busy. Too busy to meet people sometimes. Most of my interactions are for business rather than pleasure. I’m a little rusty when it comes to females who require more enticement than the words
Do you want a treat?
”

Sophie’s sensitive ears tuned in to the magic words and she barked in response. Forgetting about the stick, she splashed over to him and stared up with round, expectant eyes.

Aiden fished around inside his pocket. A moment later, he produced a treat for both dogs and made them sit before he handed the treats over. Sophie thanked him by choosing that moment to shake off her long hair like some canine
Baywatch
babe, flicking the salt water and wet sand all over him.

“I’ve kept treats with me ever since you taught me the trick,” he said. “My housekeeper says she always has to check my pockets before taking my suits to the dry cleaners.”

“Be careful,” she warned. “You’ll spoil her.”

“How can I say no to a pretty face like that?”

She thought about what Aiden had said about female companionship. It was hard to believe that someone as successful and droolworthy as him could have such a lackluster dating life. Not for the first time, she wondered about Tamara, his personal assistant. If he didn’t mix business with pleasure, then what was their deal? Suddenly, she remembered the reason they met.

“Wait a minute. But you had a date with Nicole.”

“Nicole?” He frowned for a second before a look of understanding lit his face. “Ah, yes. Nicole.” He said her name like it was an annoying hairball that plugged his shower drain. After the telegram fiasco, Piper couldn’t blame him.

“That was a blind date that a friend set me up on. A very bad one. My fault, really. I’m a little out of practice, to say the least. The evening sort of died a horrible death.”

“Well, it seemed to haunt you, so it couldn’t have been that bad.”

“Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck, which was growing pink from the mid-day sun. “I suppose I gave her the wrong impression.”

“The wrong impression?”

“I guess she thought I was more interested than I was.”

Piper nodded, wondering what “wrong impressions” she’d gotten from him so far. And, more important, which one was right. “So what gives a girl the wrong impression?” she asked, way too innocently. “Could it be when you conveniently find yourself at home every time your super-amazing, attractive, and humble dog walker turns up? Would that count as wrong impression material?”

He chuckled, low and throaty, glancing at his feet. He had a nice laugh. It made him seem younger—or rather his own age of thirty—as opposed to the serious businessman he was forced to become so early on.

“That would certainly give an impression,” he said.

An
impression,
she noted. But not a
wrong
impression. Feeling braver, she shook her head teasingly. “Well, whatever will you do, Mr. Caldwell?”

“Oh, I’m kind of hoping something will just”—he hesitated, his mouth fighting a grin—“fall into my lap.”

She couldn’t help but smile as she remembered their first meeting. She bit her lip. Now that wasn’t just a hint. That was like shouting into a megaphone.

Pretending to watch a group of giggling coeds take selfies on the beach, she examined Aiden. He was more relaxed today than she’d ever seen him. The invisible pole that usually held his tight posture in place had disappeared, and she hadn’t seen him subconsciously reach for where his tie should be even once that day. She felt as though she was really getting to know him, the off-the-record him. The
Tonight Show
Aiden, as opposed to CNN.

He was still as polite and reserved as ever, though, the ever-present professional barrier erected between them. It was as if he wasn’t even conscious of it, always turned on like some optimized administrative robot programmed in HR dos and don’ts. But his smiles were easy; his eyes had a flirtatious glint.

“How have the donations for the center been coming along?” Aiden asked.

“Really well. We already have enough money to buy a surveillance system.”

“Have you managed to get ahold of Marilyn on the cruise ship?” he asked.

“No. I’ve left messages on her cell phone, but I’m not sure she’s getting them. Have you?”

“I’ve tried calling the cruise line, but I’m not having any luck.” He took a breath like he wanted to say something more. Piper hoped it was something along the lines of “I need you. Right here, right now” or “Your eyes are like two pieces of amber burning in the morning sunrise.” Or something to that effect, but in the end, he looked away. “It’s busy here today.”

Whatever he wanted to say, she decided to let it go. If he wanted to tell her, he would. “It’s too nice to be cooped up inside.”

“I come here sometimes to run in the morning, but I’m not often free in the afternoons.”

Again she wondered why he was free so often as of late. It certainly gave her a strong
impression
. Her traitorous fingers twitched again, reaching for his.

He turned his back to the bridge to face Sea Cliff, the cluster of houses clinging to the imposing cliffs that vied for the best view in town. Shielding his eyes, he searched like he could spot his home from there.

“Must be nice to live so close to a beach,” Piper said.

“It has its advantages.”

“Like a convenient nudist beach?” She nodded in the direction of the bridge.

She’d come there before, hoping to glimpse a school of dolphins, something not unheard of from Baker Beach. She found out the hard way that if you wandered too far north you’d see more than a few dorsal fins poking out of the water.

She grinned. “It’s like a free striptease.”

“Yeah, but unlike yours, you don’t get a thoughtful song at the end.”

“Hey!” She threw him a sour look, but the smile ruined the effect.

“Why is it that the only people you see on nude beaches are never the ones you want to see naked?”

“Oh, so you have taken a peek, have you?”

He shrugged. “I might have jogged a little too far one time.”

“So if not them, then who do you want to see naked?” She bit her lip. Again, it was the kind of thing she’d normally blurt out, but when the skin beneath his close shave turned too pink to be from the sun her own cheeks heated in response.

But the idea made her wonder, not for the first, or second, or the tenth time that day, what he might look like if they wandered farther north to join the nudists. Date or not, they
were
at a beach. Was it so unreasonable to hope that he’d go shirtless that day? Even though he was her boss? Even though he kept saying he didn’t mix business with pleasure? Even though he might be having some kind of tryst with his personal assistant? Even though … nope. She didn’t care. “Take it off!” she wanted to scream.

It seemed only fair, since he’d seen her in next to nothing on several occasions after her telegram jobs. But so far, she’d already coaxed him out of his suit and tie and into another pair of light khaki shorts and a light blue shirt. At this point, she would have settled for a button or two. Just a hint, to add a little detail to her daydreams. Chest hair? No chest hair? A couple of fine pecks to match that pair of toned biceps peeking out beneath his sleeves?

She didn’t realize she was staring at the collar of his shirt until Aiden reached out and grabbed her arm. He steered her to the side so that she narrowly missed stomping on a sand castle, still under construction by two little kids. The motion sent her stumbling against him—and if she “accidentally” copped a feel of those firm pecks, it totally wasn’t her fault.

“Whoa, Godzilla,” he said. “Leave the city alone.”

Skirting around the kids, she shook off the fog in her brain. There were far too many people around for her to continue riding that train of thought. Keep it breezy, she told herself. Totally blasé. Big on the aloof, less on the doof.

She wandered closer to the water’s edge, letting the cool waves wash over her feet as she and Aiden followed the dogs exploring the shore. Aiden removed his sandals and waded in next to her.

“So why did you decide to become a veterinarian?” he asked her. “When your calling is so obviously professional telegram girl?”

She gave him a withering look but answered seriously. “Because I love animals. All animals. We just have a connection, you know. Sometimes I think I can understand what they’re saying. Like they’re talking to me.”

“See, this would have been important to mention on the day I interviewed you. This was the crazy I was looking for.”

She laughed. “I know I can’t
actually
hear them. But it’s like if you pay enough attention they all have their own little personalities. Like miniature people.”

“Why dachshunds?” he asked. “What drew you to them and the center?”

“We had a dachshund while I was growing up. We had to give him up when my mom and I moved to San Francisco. I guess I started volunteering at the rescue center because it reminded me of home. And then came Colin.”

“And you just couldn’t say no.”

“Well, I did at first. It’s against my tenant agreement to have pets in my apartment.” They’d caught up to the dogs and she bent down to smoosh Colin’s adorable face. “But how could I say no to this pretty face?”