Page 97 of Men or Paws

Jacob smiled. “Well, this is certainly a treat. Do you mind if I get a selfie with you? For my wife, of course.”

Rocco grinned. “Of course.”

Jacob pulled the phone from his pocket, leaning closer to Rocco, smiling, and snapping the photo. “One, two, three, got it. Thanks so much.”

“My pleasure.”

Jacob gestured around the lobby and main room. “Please make yourself at home.” He laughed. “Well, it will be your home, actually. Anyway, I’m just replacing a few light fixtures in the apartment upstairs. Let me know if you have any questions.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “Thank you.”

Rocco followed me into the kitchen and looked around at the commercial appliances. “This place is impressive. Looks like you’ve got everything you need to get started. I never did ask you, where are you going to sell your dog treats?”

I leaned against one of the stainless-steel counters. “Well, I’ll start small with a booth at the farmers’ market and some dog events around the county to get the word out, just to get the practice of talking about my products. As for the bigger picture, I want to have my treats in the local pet stores, pet groomers, and animal shelters, before trying to expand outside of the area. It took me almost a year to come up with a business plan.”

“Sounds like you’ve really thought of everything, but if you need any legal or business advice to cover yourself from a liability standpoint, let me know and you could talk with my lawyer. He owes me more than a few favors, and it wouldn’t cost you a penny.”

“That’s really nice of you to offer,” I said, touched by his kindness. I squeezed his arm. “I just may take you up on that.”

“You should,” Rocco said, glancing down at my hand on his biceps, grinning. “Trying to cop a feel, are we?” He laughed.

I pulled my arm away and shook my head. “Seriously? You were the one who couldn’t keep his hands off me.”

“I was in shock from you almost killing me.”

“Ha!” I did my best to imitate Rocco, but knew I wouldn’t be as good as my brother. “I have no idea how my hand got on your boob! The airbag was going to explode like a bomb in your face and the car hit a sinkhole the size of my pool!”

Rocco laughed. “I didn’t say the airbag was going to explode like a bomb.Deploywas the word I had carefully chosen. And the car hit a bump, not a sinkhole. Man, you like to exaggerate.”

“Whatever,” I said laughing. “Either way, you had your hand on my boob.”

Jacob walked in and froze. “Oh . . . um . . . sorry to interrupt.” He wrinkled his nose and then pointed to the door. “I’ll just come back.”

Heat rose up my neck to my face.

I. Was. Mortified.

“No,” I finally spit out, giving Rocco the stink eye before turning back to Jacob. “Sorry, what’s going on?”

Jacob forced a smile. “I actually have to leave for about thirty minutes. I need to get a different light from Home Depot. I can leave the key with you if you want to lock up when you’re done.”

I shook my head. “Actually, you know what? We’re going to take off since I’m starving. I’ll come back another time, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course,” Jacob said. “Anytime.” He gestured to Rocco. “You too, Captain . . . Uh, I mean, Rocco. It was a pleasure meeting you.”

Rocco nodded. “You, too.”

Jacob smiled. “And if you’re looking for a great place to eat, I highly recommend Santo Domingo Grill. It’s fabulous.”

I forced a smile, not wanting to tell Jacob I would rather chew on a rusty screw than set foot in that restaurant. “Thank you, but Rocco is going to surprise me for lunch today. I’ll see you again soon.”

I practically dragged Rocco out of the building, stopping in front of the Maserati. “Okay, we’re just going to forget what happened in there. And no more talking about you having your hand on my boob.”

A woman walked by and glanced at my chest, turning her nose up at me, not even noticing I was standing there with Hollywood’s biggest star.

“No more boob talk,” Rocco said. “Got it, even though you’re the one who started talking about boobs, not me.”

“Quit saying that word,” I whispered, swatting my hand in the air toward him. “Back to food. You’re not planning on taking me back to the scene of the crime, are you?”