Bo unlocked the door, and the dog darted inside. She looked back at him. “Today was more of an effort than you thought it would be, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” he admitted.
“You can put your feet up and relax while I’m throwing supper together.” She stepped aside and waited for him to enter, then closed the door behind them. Morgan headed for the sofa, then stopped dead in the middle of the floor.
Tricks sat in the middle of the sofa, the extravagant, long white feathery strands of her tail draped over the cushion like a fringed shawl. She was looking off, as if she had no idea they were on the premises.
“Or not,” Bo said, standing as still as he was. “Oh, dear. You got her seat, so now she’s got yours. I’m not getting into the middle of this. You have to handle it, make it up to her somehow. I’m warning you, she holds a grudge.”
Evidently. On the other hand, she was a dog. Morgan said, “Is it all right with you if I give her a treat?”
Tricks’s eyes flicked toward him at the word “treat,” but she didn’t abandon her post.
“Bribing her isn’t a good idea. She remembers, and then you’ll have to bribe her every time.”
“Okay, no bribery. I won’t try to get her down. I’ll just give her the treat, and go sit somewhere else. Will that work?”
“Maybe. It’ll go a long way toward getting back in her good graces. Also, you should probably apologize.”
The idea was so outlandish that he laughed out loud. “C’mon, that’s carrying things too far. She understands food. What’s she going to understand about an apology?”
“You’d be surprised. You can take my advice or not.”
Bo went to the refrigerator and got out a slice of sandwich turkey. “Here you go,” she said, giving it to him. “Hope it works.”
He rolled up the slice and went to sit beside the dog. As soon as the cushion compressed under his weight she glanced at him, alerted by the smell of the turkey, then looked away again. “Good girl,” he crooned. He tore off a piece of turkey and offered it to her. “You were a champion, riding in that pickup today.”
She looked at the turkey, and delicately took the offering from his fingers.
“That bow on your head suited you.” Another piece of turkey, another acceptance. Figuring that was enough buttering up, he gave her the rest of the turkey and let her sit there. He’d definitely have liked to lie down but instead turned on the TV and stretched out his legs while he let his head rest on the back of the sofa. It wasn’t lying down, but it would do.
Tricks didn’t get down, but after a minute she too lay down, and put her head on his thigh. He let his hand rest on her side, feeling the plush silkiness of her fur, her warm body, and the strong beating of her heart. Good enough.
Though the trip to town had been amusing as hell, Morgan elected to spend the rest of the week at what he’d started thinking of as “home.” Once Bo was gone for the day, he worked on his endurance. He walked around the yard, even ventured into the woods a short distance as his legs got stronger. Being outside felt good. The belated arrival of spring had brought with it an abundance of good weather, warm without being hot, everything turning green almost overnight. He’d always been a man who preferred being outdoors, so though the circumstances were far from ideal, at least he was outside and he was moving under his own steam.
Late Friday afternoon when Bo got home, she said, “Mayor Buddy has called an emergency town council meeting tomorrow morning. Something’s come up with the Gooding situation. I have to be there.”
“What’s he done?”
“I don’t know, but this is the first time Mayor Buddy’s ever called an emergency meeting, so it must be serious.”
“Can he do anything to hurt the town?”
“Several townspeople work for him, and if he fired them or laid them off, it would sure hurt their families.”
“Is he threatening to do that?”
“I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.”
Morgan was a little disappointed because he’d been looking forward to having her at home the entire weekend, but what the hell, he’d use the opportunity to push himself a little more. He’d been working on those stairs. He could make it to the twelfth step now before his legs got shaky. He didn’t push the stairs; the last thing he needed was to pass out and fall down them. But in just a week he was feeling more human instead of a physical wreck. The soreness in his chest, while still there, was better. His legs were stronger. He was eating more. No way to tell, but he figured he’d gained a good five pounds this week.
He was bored with his own company, yeah, but he had another reason for not going with her to work every day: he didn’t want to wear out his welcome, which was tenuous to begin with. Bo wouldn’t want him around every minute of every day. She was becoming easier with him-not that she’d acted overtly uncomfortable, but not many people would be completely at ease with having a stranger dumped on them. Any discomfort she’d felt had been hidden behind her inner walls, but he figured it had to be there. She was too private, too emotionally shielded, to not feel stressed by his presence.
If she’d had any idea he’d got a raging hard-on from watching her lick the icing off her cupcake, she’d stay as far away from him as possible, maybe even put him on the road despite her agreement with Axel. As far as he knew, she hadn’t spent any of the money Axel had deposited in her account, and though she could definitely use it, she didn’t have to have it. She was free to get rid of him and wouldn’t worry about hurting his feelings by doing so.
He didn’t want to leave. Not yet, anyway. He wanted the mystery of who had tried to kill him solved, yeah, but that was in the future and he couldn’t do anything about it. What he could do something about was his physical condition, and his growing attraction to Bo. She was a challenge, and he liked that but it wasn’t just that. He couldn’t nail down exactly what it was about her that interested him so. She seemed to be content with who she was, how she looked, her life in general. It was nice being around a woman who didn’t need to be reassured about anything.
After breakfast on Saturday, she took Tricks for a long walk, then went upstairs to get ready. When she came down again, Morgan had to fight to keep from staring. She was wearing a simple skirt and blouse, nothing fancy, but the skirt was just tight enough to cup her curvy ass, and my God, her legs went on forever, and he broke out in a sweat as he pictured them hooked over his shoulders. Down, boy, he silently ordered his dick. Don’t point.
He sat down because the fool was pointing anyway. To distract himself he said, “It’s a dress-up type of thing?”
She looked down at her skirt. “Not dress-up, exactly, but I don’t want to show up wearing jeans or anything like that. Jeans are fine when I’m on the job, because I never know what I’ll need to do, but a town council meeting is different.”
Instead of wearing her thick dark hair in its usual low ponytail, she’d twisted it up so the nape of her neck was bare. If he hadn’t already been sitting down he’d have gotten weak-kneed at the sight of the delicate furrow. What the hell? He’d never even noticed a woman’s neck before, but the sight of Bo’s, with wisps of dark hair framing the slenderness of it, made the bottom drop out of his stomach. So much for distracting himself.
Tricks was dancing around Bo, delighted they were going for a ride. The dog was delighted about everything: going, coming, mealtime, her walks, playing ball, and life in general. The only thing she hadn’t greeted with joy was the sight of him in “her” seat, and even with the offering of turkey it had taken a couple of days before she’d forgiven him enough to let him throw her ball. He was back in her good graces, though, so he said, “Why not leave Tricks with me? Do you take her into the council meetings?”