Page 12 of Yorkie to My Heart (Friends of Gaynor Beach Animal Rescue #6)

Jeremy

“We had such a great time, Marcie.” I sat at my desk, talking to my sister on speaker phone. I wore my running shoes and shorts as well as a rainbow T-shirt—ready to go for a run.

As soon as I spotted Phillip and Wally.

They hadn’t gone for their walk today—so far. Or I hadn’t spotted them.

I planned to oh-so-casually catch them and offer to walk instead of run. I’d hit the treadmill after we’d made our way home last night. I’d invited Phillip, and by extension, Wally, to stay for a movie. So we could share the popcorn.

Phillip had given me a funny look.

Because of the invitation or the food?

I couldn’t be certain.

He’d said he wanted to go home. So we packed up Wally’s things, and the two headed out.

Instead of watching a movie, though, I hit the treadmill with my tunes cranked high. Mostly to keep myself from pondering Phillip.

Hadn’t worked.

I worked out my feelings. My attraction. Yes, I tended to like bigger guys. But if Phillip succeeded in losing weight as he clearly wanted to, would I still be attracted?

Yes.

Absolute yes.

Something about him called to me. Not just his vulnerability—although that was certainly part of it. He also had an inner strength.

Evidenced by his dealing with the unfamiliar family last night.

I’d spotted the hesitance with Zelda. Strange dog…appropriate reaction.

I’d sensed his unease with Kevin. Same thing. Unknown kid…trepidation.

Then Alec and Joe had appeared.

I’d nearly suggested we bail. Found some excuse to leave. Perhaps my oversensitivity, but I’d gotten the feeling Phillip had been a little overwhelmed. Or maybe that had just been an echo of his earlier comments about Marcie and all the other parents and kids.

Again, I couldn’t rationally explain why I sensed Phillip didn’t like crowds.

I just believed my gut feeling.

“I asked your plans for today.” Marcie’s voice cut through. “Sheesh, brother dearest. You called me, remember?”

“Right.” I chuckled. “Just…what did you think of Phillip?”

“In what way? He seemed like a respectable young man. Emphasis on young. ”

“He’s twenty-four.”

“And you’re thirty-nine.”

“I wasn’t thinking of him in that way.”

“Oh bullshit.” She snickered. “Do you even know if he’s gay?”

Oh holy hell. Did I? Had he said something or was I just inferring? Hoping? “I…uh…”

“Does he know you’re gay?”

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“Not the question I asked.” She clucked her tongue.

In my mind, she wagged her finger at me. Which made me smile. “Look, I don’t know. He’s…easily spookable. You know? And I don’t want to spook him. I’m just being friendly. Upbeat and positive. Offering to help take care of Wally.”

“You adore that dog.”

“What’s not to adore?”

“You like the owner.”

“What’s not to like?”

She tsked.

“You don’t know him, Marcie. He’s the sweetest guy.”

“Which is catnip for you.”

“Not really seeing the problem.” I frowned. “Is this the age-gap thing?”

“You’re of two different generations. If Raphael was just finishing college, would you want them to date someone almost double their age?”

“Hey.” I frowned. “Fifteen years difference and twenty-four years separation are two totally different things.” Or so you tell yourself . Because no, I didn’t like the idea of my nibblet dating someone so much older.

“Right…because it might be two generations…?”

“What is this talk of generations? You’re making me sound ancient. I’m fit, healthy, and damn attractive.”

“You have gray hairs in your beard.”

“Do you think I should color it?”

“Not the point.”

“I could…” I scrounged for something to snap back with. “I might be a silver fox soon. Phillip might find that attractive.”

“Or you might remind him of his father.”

Which could be either a good thing or a bad thing. I was well-aware that not everyone had a father as amazing as mine was. Thinking back, I couldn’t remember Phillip mentioning his father at all. Time to change the subject around my nosey sister.

“How is Raphael doing? And Thaddeus? Did they get enough of a canine fix or?—”

“Begging me every other hour for a dog of their own? Like Uncle Jeremy’s new dog?”

“You did explain?—”

“Of course I explained. How you were just dog-sitting Wally. How maybe the next time you do it, we might be able to go over and visit, but that we were not, under any circumstances, getting a dog?”

“You’re always welcome?—”

“Not the point, Jeremy.”

I smiled. “Yeah, that’s rough.”

“Don’t you mean ruff?”

“Ha. See, I knew you had a sense of humor. Oh, gotta go. Love you.” Phillip and Wally had just emerged from their house. I hit the red button, rose quickly, and headed for the door. As I snagged the handle, though, I had second thoughts.

This makes me look like I was waiting for him. This makes me look desperate.

Or he won’t think anything of it. He might not even notice me.

Fuck. Was I going about this the wrong way? I could just wait until he got home, and?—

Nope. I was going for it. I opened the door, caught sight of Phillip and Wally crossing Fern Avenue, locked my door, and started a light jog.

Belatedly, I hit the timer on my watch.

Then turned it off. At the very least, I hoped to spend a couple of minutes walking with Phillip. If he wasn’t interested, or if I sensed he wasn’t happy, I’d hit the button and take off. I hadn’t done my stretching, but I could do that out of sight. So I began a light pace toward the park.

Phillip turned into the path just as Wally tugged off to the grass.

Before his owner could react, Wally raised a leg. I’d always thought male dogs peed on trees and bushes, but Wally often just lifted his leg an inch off the ground, or even just squatted. Whether because of his weight or just because that was how he knew to go, I wasn’t certain.

“Good boy, Wally. You’re such a good boy.” Phillip had confirmed to Jordan that Wally hadn’t yet had an accident in the house.

Jordan suggested praising the dog every time he went outside. To reinforce proper house-training.

Personally, I figured praising the dog all the time was a bright idea anyway. Because he was a damn good dog. His behavior yesterday cemented that with me. He’d been an angel with all the kids, Zelda, Kevin, and their dads.

“Hey, wait up.”

Phillip spun.

Wally barked.

“Shush.” Phillip frowned. “Please be quiet.”

I stopped close to them. “It’s not so early that people will be annoyed. And he only has a little bark.” Unlike some of the other dogs in the neighborhood—given the hours they barked at as well as their relative volume.

“I just…” Phillip winced. “I don’t want to get in trouble.”

“This is a community park, Phillip. Now, if you don’t scoop Wally’s poop, you’ll have complaints for certain. But not for one little woof.”

He gestured to the container of poop bags. “Always have at least four.”

“Good advice.” I couldn’t remember if Jordan had said that. Or had Arthur? Regardless, being well-prepared was never a bad thing. “How are you this morning?” I tried to give him a perusal without being obvious.

“I’m okay. Uh, you?”

“I’m great.”

“You were running. I’ll let you get back to it.”

I shook my head. “Light jog.”

“There is such a thing?” He appeared dubious with one eyebrow arched.

Adorable .

“Sure. I had a long run last night, and?—”

“After we said goodnight? And after that long walk?” He pinkened. “Right. Sorry. Not a long walk for you.”

“I’ll have you know we did almost three miles yesterday.” Closer to two-and-a-half, but what was a rounding error? “And I had excess energy last night. I hit the treadmill.”

“I didn’t see a treadmill in your house.”

Ah, so you were paying attention.

“One of the upstairs bedrooms is a workout room. I might be able to run in rain, but even I balk at storms and atmospheric rivers, not to mention ridiculous heat-index days.”

“Like the storm…last year?”

I nodded. “That was a bad one. We missed the damage here in Gaynor Beach that places up the coast dealt with. Some localized flooding in LA, right?”

He returned my nod. “Okay, so you’re just doing a light jog.”

Had we just skipped a step? The one where he says something about the weather last year…? “Light jog. Walk. Doesn’t really matter.”

Well, he didn’t need to know the difference.

“We don’t walk fast. I mean, if you want to join us.” He looked down and a little flush chased up his neck.

I didn’t dare hope it meant what I imagined. “I’d love to join you.” I crouched to Wally’s level. “Sorry, boy, I wasn’t ignoring you.” I’d have sworn his eyebrow arched. Then he relented and licked my finger. I laughed. “Yes, I missed you too.” I pushed up and met Phillip’s gaze. “Both of you.”

He let out a little strained laugh. “It’s barely been twelve hours.”

“Fifteen. Not that I’m counting,” I was quick to add. “I’m just super good with arithmetic.”

“Ah.” He scratched his cheek. “Math was never my strength. Probably why I was studying philosophy.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Really? That’s so cool. You’ll have to share?—”

“I didn’t finish my degree.” He gazed off toward the other end of the park.

“Still, you’ll know way more than I did. I was a communications major. No philosophy in sight. I didn’t even want to take English classes—but they proved critical to my degree.”

He turned back. “Shakespeare?”

I barked a laugh. “I stuck to post-modernists and technical-writing classes. As much as flourish is appreciated, most clients want me to get the facts straight.”

“No one cares if I know the difference between Kant and Kierkegaard.”

“Well, I’m sure they both do.”

“They’re dead.”

“Sure. But, like, if they believe in life after death, or reincarnation, or some shit like that, then they might care, right?”

He opened and closed his mouth several times. Finally, he smiled. “Huh. Funny. I never thought of it like that.”

“Let’s walk.”

“Yeah.”

We headed down the path, with me careful to match his strides. Not too fast, but brisker than yesterday.