Five p.m. was precisely when the bulk of her day care clients came in to pick up their dogs and, unfortunately, just the walk across the large room out to the fenced-off grass behind the building was enough for Zach to attract a shocking amount of female attention. Women she’d known for years, whether single or happily married—even the grandmothers—couldn’t keep their eyes off him. The last thing a guy like Zach Sullivan needed was a puppy to make him a magnet for even more female attention.
When they finally managed to get outside, he put the dog down on the grass. Cuddles immediately started running in circles, chasing her tail. She could tell from the way Atlas was vibrating beside her that he wanted to play, too, but he was too well trained to break protocol on a whim.
“How long did your brother have Cuddles before he asked you to watch her?”
“A couple of days.”
She was glad to hear the slate was fairly clean, at least. “The first few days with a puppy are really important. They can be so cute that even when you want to keep to the rules, you end up breaking them. But that would be a big mistake with her.”
“She weighs three pounds,” he said as Cuddles began to roll on the grass. “How much trouble can she really get into given a little freedom?”
Heather knew far too well the price of freedom. Not just for dogs who felt lost and afraid in a boundaryless world, but for women who fell for charming men like Zach Sullivan. Men who wanted what they wanted, when they wanted it, without any regard for anyone else—and got it.
“Freedom is overrated,” she told him in a hard voice. When he raised an eyebrow at her tone, she moderated it before saying, “Don’t forget, she’s recently been taken away from her mother and littermates and she has no clue whatsoever how to navigate our world. Just like this morning at your garage, anything could happen to her. It’s your job to watch over her, and to teach her how to stay safe.”
“This isn’t just a business for you,” he noted. “You really care about dogs, don’t you?”
Surprised that he had any insight whatsoever into her, she put her hand on Atlas’s back and said, “Someone has to.”
Zach looked down at her big dog. “What happened to him?”
Atlas’s ears perked up when he realized they were talking about him.
Once more, she was stunned by how closely Zach was paying attention to her subtle cues, rather than being too busy admiring his reflection in her window to notice the world around him.
“I found Atlas at a puppy mill.”
“A puppy mill?”
“It’s where unscrupulous breeders crank out as many pedigreed dogs as they can sell for big bucks. His left ear flopped to the side just enough that no one wanted to buy him. Once they realized that, they stopped feeding him or letting him out of his crate.”
Zach got down on the grass. “Rough start, huh?” Atlas not only let the big man rub his ears, but he practically started purring. “Lucky you, getting to go home with Heather.”
She rolled her eyes, positively thrilled that Zach had capped off his too-sweet reaction to Atlas’s story with a blatantly sexual quip. She could tell that he genuinely liked her dog, and she would have been more afraid of it getting to her if he hadn’t been so busy trolling out the overused—and underwhelming—pickup lines.
“Okay, let’s get started. I’ll show both you and Cuddles the end goal with Atlas, and then we’ll begin the process of teaching her how to obey your commands. Sound good?”
He stood back up and nodded. “Sure. I’m great at giving commands.”
Intent on ignoring the sensual undertones he seemed to slide beneath practically every word out of his mouth, she said, “There are five basic commands we’ll want Cuddles to understand. Come, sit, stay, down, and heel. But for the first day, the most important is come.”
Thankfully he didn’t jump on any double entendres with that command as she picked up a dog toy and threw it across the lawn. “Atlas, fetch.”
Her dog loped off with the puppy hot on its heels, almost as if they didn’t want to be separated for even a second. When he was halfway to the toy, she called out, “Atlas, come!”
He skidded on his huge paws and did a quick about-face, all but hurling himself toward her, the toy instantly forgotten. Still, he was careful not to step on the puppy.
“Good boy.”
As she gave him the signal to sit and then held out a treat, Cuddles finally reached the toy, falling onto it and causing a faint squeak. Atlas’s ears went up, but he didn’t move from where he was sitting in front of her.
“Your turn,” she said to Zach, knowing just how badly this was going to go with such a rambunctious puppy and a temporary owner whom she very much doubted was taking any of this seriously. She handed him a tiny doggie treat. “If she comes, give her this.”
He raised his eyebrows at her use of the word if. Without her telling him what to do, he knelt on the grass, held his arms out wide and said in a firm voice, “Cuddles, come!”
The rambunctious puppy looked up from the oversized plastic toy she’d been trying to gnaw on. As if she’d been merely trying to find a way to kill time before Zach needed her to come be with him, she flew across the grass.
“Good girl,” he said as he stroked her fur and fed her the small dog treat. He looked up at Heather. “How was that?”
Grudgingly, she admitted, “Good.”