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I shake my head. “Of course we’re not pulling the fire alarm. Even if it wasn’t a crime to do so, we’d have to evacuate too if the alarm went off.”

“Oh, true.” She appears very mollified by this assurance that I’m not about to send us down the path of a life of crime. I can’t help but smile at her familiar rule-following ways.

It’s cute.

She’scute.

Jill lifts her chin, angling her head at me as she awaits my next words. Once again, I’m momentarily distracted by the lure of that claw clip. One squeeze and her beautiful hair would fall temptingly across her cheeks, inviting me to bury my hands in it as I sweep it back to press kisses in its wake.

“Max? What’s your plan?” Jill pulls me from my fantasies, and I re-focus on relaying my plan. There will be time for kissing my wife later. Years of time—as is the magic of marriage. Being able to kiss the person you love with complete abandon. No holds barred. “Max,” Jill repeats my name, waving a hand in front of my face. Right. The plan.

“Remember Walter?”

“The ranch dog? Of course I do.”

“I propose that we bring Walter inside the lodge with us. More specifically to the third floor.” I raise my eyebrows pointedly.

“Oh, I see.” Jill smiles, stepping toward me and putting a hand on my chest. “Why, Senator Bernard, that is quite the proposal. I vote yes.”

I grin, settling my hands on her waist. “Then it’s unanimous.”

“A bipartisan effort if there ever was one.”

“Indeed.”

“Shall we make it official?”

I give her my affirmative answer with a kiss.

It’s brief—we’ve got a plan to put into motion after all—but it’s symbolic of us pivoting back toward a relationship full of simpleforms of physical affection—a kiss goodbye, a hug in greeting, a reassuring squeeze of the hand on a tough day.

Together we head down the stairs to go find Walter…our hands linked in one more such display.

Chapter 28

Jill

Aftersomedeliberationwedecide to leave Max at the door to the bottom of the stairwell, since it doesn’t open with a key card. That leaves me to go fetch Walter, which thankfully is easy enough. A few shouts of his name and he comes bounding over to me, tongue lolling happily off to the side of his doggy mouth. Luckily he seems more than amenable to my plan to come to the lodge with me. Max would attribute it to what he calls my dog-whispering ways, but I think Walter is just an obedient, amiable dog.

The situation changes, however, when we reach the door where Max stands waiting. Gone is the cooperative dog who trotted alongside me, and in his place sits an immovable beast. And I do mean sits literally. Walter just looks at Max and I as we attempt to cajole him into the building. Sure he cocks his head at us, clearly listening to our pleas for him to come inside, but still he sits, unwavering in his resolve to stay put.

“I wonder if he’s been trained not to come in the lodge,” Max says with a sigh.

“Oh well, if that’s the case you’re a very good boy,” I say to Walter in a baby voice. His tail thumps happily in response. Gosh I love dogs. “Maybe I should just pick him up,” Max suggests. “Or do you happen to have any food on you?”

“Do I look like I have food on me,” I ask, twisting my body from side to side. “The skintight nature of leggings doesn’t exactly lend itself to hiding snacks.”

“And you won’t hear me complaining about that,” Max replies with a smirk that makes my stomach flip. “Although maybe you should do that twisting thing again, just so I can be sure you’re not hiding anything.”

I laugh. “Max,” I pretend to chastise him, “stay focused.”

“I am focused,” he counters. “On your butt. It looks darn good in those skintight leggings.”

“Max!” I cry. “You can’t say things like that in front of the d-o-g!”

This earns me a deep chuckle. “Are you scandalized, Walter?” Max addresses the shepherd. “Because it seems to me that an outdoorsman like yourself should be familiar with the workings of the birds and the bees. At the very least I’m certain you recognize the allure of a good butt.”

Walter yips.