He laughed. “That’s actually shockingly accurate.”

  She shrugged. “Ivy told me about some of what you and Spence have done together, and that now you’re also doing something for NASA. You’re working on a trash pickup system for space.” She paused, seemed to be embarrassed that she knew so much about him, and crossed her arms. “Or whatever.”

  He went brows up. First, he’d never seen Sadie anything but utterly comfortable in her own skin. And second, Ivy was a friend of his as well. She operated The Taco Truck outside the building, and her food was amazing. When she’d recently run into some trouble with the person who’d owned the truck before her, Caleb had offered a lucrative business deal. Now she was the sole proprietor and he a silent partner on a deal that had turned out to be beneficial to them both. She got to be her own boss and he got the best food on the planet whenever he was here at the Pacific Pier Building.

  He’d known Ivy and Sadie were tight, that didn’t surprise him, but what did was that he’d been the topic of discussion between them. “Until yesterday, you and I have barely said two words to each other. Why would you be gossiping about me?”

  “It wasn’t gossip.” But she looked away, unable to hold his gaze.

  Even more fascinating.

  “My point being,” she said, “that you’re probably too busy taking over the world to go to the vet.”

  “I’ve made the time.”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “What if you pass out from the still-to-be-seen dog allergy?”

  “I’ll manage.” Lollipop gave him a cheerful lick on his chin.

  “I’m coming with.”

  “Why?”

  She shrugged. “If you stop breathing, who’s going to give you mouth-to-mouth?”

  He stopped and met her gaze. “Are you saying you would?”

  “I’m saying I don’t want you dead, is all.”

  He’d take it.

  Chapter 5

  #HelloKitty

  Sadie had no idea what she thought she was doing. Apparently she’d decided on love at first sight with Lollipop, and no matter that she had zero business adopting a dog, she was going to do it anyway.

  But if the guy wanted to take Lollipop to the vet, she should let him. She didn’t need to go.

  But she wanted to.

  The reasons for that were far too complicated to contemplate so she grabbed her bag and her keys. She was hugely grateful to Rocco, the owner of the Canvas Shop, because he had a full bathroom here, including a very tiny shower. This was mostly because Rocco lived an hour south of San Francisco with some of his motorcycle club brothers and didn’t always go home after being out all night doing his thing and before coming to work.

  No one was supposed to sleep here but he’d broken that rule for her a few times now and she knew he didn’t mind. He understood the problem with being a young tattoo artist. You didn’t do it for the money, you did it for the love of the art. And in her case, the need to help other women like herself, who had scars they wanted to keep hidden, whether from abuse, surgeries, accidents, self-harm . . . whatever. The reasons weren’t nearly as important as the work itself.

  But it didn’t pay well, at least not yet.

  Hence her second job at the day spa. She’d promised herself it was temporary and only until she built up her clientele at the Canvas Shop, but working two full-time jobs was harder than she’d thought.

  And yet it was necessary. Her rent had just gone up several hundred dollars a month and her car had decided now was a good time to need a new everything. So she’d used her utility money for a mechanic, which meant taking buses until her car was finished. To pay the bill, she’d given up cable and turned off her heater, which was the real loss. TV she could do without. But no heat in the coldest February in San Francisco on record was a new low, even for her. Not to mention everyone else she knew was pairing up and buying homes and starting families, and yesterday she’d gone to sleep at eight so she wouldn’t have to buy dinner.

  Sometimes life really bit a girl on the ass. Thankfully she had enough padding there to take the hit. Still, she’d slept in the Canvas Shop two nights running in order to not freeze to death, hoping no one would notice.

  Rocco had tried to give her an advance on her pay. It’d been an incredibly sweet thing for him to do, which was funny because Rocco wasn’t sweet. In fact, he’d gotten seriously pissed off when she’d called him that, growling something about how he’d “put a lot of fucking time into training her and just didn’t want it to go to fucking waste when she fucking froze to death in her fucking stupid apartment.”

  She checked her bag to make sure she had her wallet, which she did, but unfortunately, breakfast had not mysteriously appeared. She lifted her head to say she was ready and found Caleb sitting on the floor roughhousing with Lollipop without any apparent care for yet another undoubtedly insanely expensive suit.

  One, she would never understand rich people. Two, when had she started to think of him as Caleb and not “Suits”?

  And three . . . she had a correction. He wasn’t roughhousing with the dog. He was actually being very gentle and careful with her as she rolled on her back in clear ecstasy at the attention, a wide smile on her adorable face.

  And what girl wouldn’t be smiling at having Caleb Parker’s hands all over her?

  Her. That’s who, she reminded herself. “Let’s get this over with.” Her stomach growled, loudly, and she tried to talk over it so he didn’t notice. “I’ve got to be at the spa by eight thirty.”

  Caleb glanced at his watch, scooped up the dog, and without use of his hands still rose easily to his feet. Sadie had made a makeshift leash, a length of rope she’d found in the back. Caleb took the leash and opened the door for them, pausing to let Sadie pass through first. She wanted to say stop being nice to me, I don’t know what to do with nice! But that was far too revealing, so she held her tongue.

  They made a pit stop at the pet shop at the other end of the courtyard on their way out. Willa, the store owner, greeted them with a sweet smile and a warm hug for Caleb. A careful warm hug because her pregnancy bump was just starting to show.

  “I can’t thank you enough,” she told him, brushing a kiss to his jaw. “You’re a miracle worker.”

  “The website’s working then?” he asked.

  “Working and making me a mint! Taking this shop online was brilliant. I owe you.”

  “You don’t,” Caleb said firmly. “You paid for the work.”

  “There’s no way I paid your guy his real price. I got a discount, a deep one.”

  “You can pay me back with dog advice,” Caleb said. “We stopped by for some supplies for this cutie here.”

  Before Willa could respond, a huge Doberman came galloping from the back and jumped up on Caleb.

  “Oh shoot!” Willa cried. “Carl, down! Caleb’s allergic, don’t touch him!”

  “It’s okay.” Caleb staggered back a step from Carl’s weight. “Apparently, I’ve outgrown the allergy.”

  “Well I’m still sorry you got jumped,” Willa said. “I’m dog sitting today.”

  “No worries. If I get taken down by a hundred-pound mass of happiness, then that’s how I go.”

  “And slobber,” Willa said, pulling a napkin from her pocket and surreptitiously swiping it down Caleb’s trousered thigh. Then she spent a few minutes gushing over Lollipop before getting down to business, showing them what they’d need. “And think about one of these carriers,” she said, pointing to doggy backpacks. “With only three legs, she’s bound to get tired quickly, and then you can carry her home when needed.” She hugged Caleb again, sent Sadie another friendly but curious smile. “Is this . . .” she waggled a finger between Caleb and Sadie “. . . something?”

  “No,” Sadie said.

  “Yes,” Caleb said.

  They stared at each other, Sadie with her eyes narrowed, Caleb looking amused. “We seem to have rescued a dog,” he said to Willa, eyes still locked on Sadie’s.

  “But not together together,” Sadie said and sent Caleb a dirty look.

  “A very important distinction,” Willa said, smiling.

  Dammit. “No, really,” Sadie said. “We just rescued her last night, haven’t even talked about what’s next. We only need a few things . . .” Damn. She was saying we an awful lot . . .

  Willa rubbed her baby belly and met Caleb’s gaze. “The reluctant ones are always the best, trust me.” Then she was gone, off to help another customer.

  Sadie stared at Caleb.

  Caleb raised his hands. “Hey, don’t look at me.”

  “She was matchmaking.”

  “That’s what Willa does.”

  “Not for me. I’m not . . . matchable.”

  “Noted,” Caleb said. “But for the record, I disagree. You’re 100 percent matchable.”

  Because that made her feel both flattered and incredibly wary, and because she never knew what to do with either of those emotions, she turned to dog backpacks and pulled out a shiny neon pink one.

  “No way,” he said.

  With a shrug, she went for a leopard print next.

  “Seriously?” he asked.

  With a small smile, she picked up the one she’d had her eyes on the whole time. A black patent leather one with a large white cat face sticking its tongue out at the world. Underneath in bold print it said Hello Kitty.

  Caleb just looked at her.

  “What?”

  “It says Hello Kitty.”

  “It’s an ego thing, right?” Sadie asked. “You’re afraid to risk your masculinity, even if it means this poor neglected sweetheart has to walk past her comfort level—”

  Caleb snatched the backpack from her hands and added it to the pile that was getting worrisomely large. She laughed and pulled out her wallet, hoping her credit card wasn’t going to be rejected, but Caleb smoothly beat her to it like some sort of Knight In Shining Credit Card Armor.

  Her rescue dog now officially had more possessions than she did.

  When they finally got to Caleb’s car, Sadie stopped short. It looked sleek and fast and supremely spotless. “Maybe we should Uber,” she said.

  “Not necessary.”

  “Look, one of us isn’t exactly potty trained.”

  “She’ll be fine. Get in.”

  “Alright, it’s your dime.” She sank in the front passenger seat and nearly moaned. Soft supple leather cradled her, more comfortable than her own bed.

  Caleb put Lollipop in the back in the crate they’d just purchased. Correction. Caleb had just purchased. He’d purchased a hell of a lot more than just a crate too. Bowls, food, leash, halter—both in matching Hello Kitty black patent leather—doggy toothbrush, toys, bed . . .

  She waited until he slid behind the wheel to voice the question that had been on the tip of her tongue since he’d dropped his black AmEx card back at Willa’s pet shop. “Why are you investing so much on this dog that isn’t yours?”

  He didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled out his phone, which was vibrating. “Excuse me a minute,” he said and got out to take the call. He stepped away from the car for a few minutes, completely out of sight, but before she could figure out where he’d gone, he was back and handing her a bag that smelled suspiciously like muffins. And not any muffins either, but Tina’s muffins from the coffee shop, which meant they were made by Tina, the shop’s owner. Tina made the best muffins on the planet and Sadie’s mouth began to water. “What’s this?”

  “Breakfast. To tame the beast,” he said, starting his car. “The rumbling’s driving me mad.”

  She pressed her hands to her belly, horrified and embarrassed because it was true, it’d been rumbling since he’d woken her up, but she’d hoped he hadn’t noticed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “My stomach.” He pulled out into the street and flashed her a wry smile. “I was at the gym before this and I’m running on empty. Hand me one?”

  The muffins were bite-size, meaning they were perfect. She pulled out what looked like a blueberry one and handed it to him.

  Keeping his eyes on the road, he shook his head. “I don’t like blueberry. You eat that one.”

  Happily, she thought and popped it into her mouth, letting out a low moan of pleasure before she could stop herself. She reached into the bag and pulled out a poppy seed muffin next and held it out, ignoring the fact that his eyes had something new in them now.

  Heat.

  “I don’t like poppy seed either,” he said softly and watched her as she shrugged and popped that one in her mouth as well. When she tried to hand him a lemon muffin and he again shook his head, she finally caught on.

  He was feeding her.

  On purpose.

  Dammit.

  Before Sadie could blast him for that high-handed manipulation, Lollipop began to whine. Sadie craned her neck to see the dog, who was ears and tail down, looking sad. “Think she’s jealous of the muffins?”

  “No. She’s scared.” Caleb pulled over and turned to face the back, reaching in to unhinge the crate. Lollipop immediately leapt at him. Once in his lap, she set her front paws on his chest and licked his face from chin to forehead in thanks.

  He stroked her, and a bunch of fur rose off the dog’s body to float around in the air, inevitably landing on the spotless leather upholstery. With an easy laugh, Caleb plopped her into Sadie’s lap. “For the way home, we’ll figure out how to use the harness seatbelt we bought, but for now do your best to hold on to her good.”

  “Not we. You bought everything.” But Sadie wrapped her arms around Lollipop and tried to cuddle her in, but the dog’s eyes were on Caleb, as if maybe the sun rose and set on his broad shoulders.

  Reaching over, he patted her on the head—the dog, not Sadie—and started driving again.

  Lollipop immediately began whining and trying to get back into Caleb’s lap.

  Without taking his eyes off the road, he reached out to pet her. This helped until he stopped touching her. Soon as he did, Lollipop held up a paw in his direction like, keep petting me!

  Caleb took her paw in his big hand and kept driving.

  While holding the dog’s paw.

  Lollipop relaxed, even smiled as she turned in Sadie’s lap to face the windshield, now appearing to enjoy the ride.

  “Are you serious?” Sadie asked.

  “I think she is.”

  “I meant you,” Sadie said.

  “Hey, she stopped crying, didn’t she? Do me a favor and shift into third gear when I ease into the clutch so I don’t have to let go of her hand.”

  Huh. Over the past year or so since Caleb Parker had first come into her orbit, she’d amused herself by coming up with all sorts of stories about him, like he probably only dated supermodels, maybe even two at a time, and she bet he didn’t leave tips when he ate out, things like that.

  But the stories were starting to crumble beneath the weight of the truth.

  He was actually kind of a really good guy, one who fed people he thought needed feeding and risked an allergic reaction to rescue a scared, lonely, abandoned dog. She glanced over at him. He was still holding Lollipop’s paw.

  “What?” he asked, catching her staring. “Want me to hold your hand next?”

  “Funny, but I’m not whining, so . . .” she quipped with a teasing tone that was in complete contrast to the way her heart kicked hard at the thought of a physical connection to him.

  What the hell was happening to her?

  “You nervous about something?” he asked.

  “No. Why would I be nervous?” And how was he reading her at all? She had a world-class poker face that she’d worked her entire life to perfect.

  “I don’t know, but I smell something burning.” He pulled into the underground parking for the vet center. “What’s got you thinking so hard?”

  “Maybe I’m just a quiet person.”

  He laughed softly and she had to smile. “Okay,” she admitted. “So I’m not quiet. I’m opinionated and stubborn and I like to think I know what I’m doing at all times.”

  “All excellent qualities.”

  Not where she’d come from. Her parents had tried all her life to squelch those very tendencies, to no avail. She’d never met anyone who could handle her at her best, much less her worst, so his comment really threw her. “Look, we’re barely acquaintances, much less friends. You don’t have to say things that aren’t true just to be nice.”

  His smile faded at whatever he saw in her expression. “I never say things that aren’t true,” he said.

  Sensing a serious moment, Lollipop squeezed her face in between theirs and barked.

  Caleb smiled. “You want attention too, I take it. But your mama first.” He hadn’t taken his eyes from Sadie. “We good?”

  Was he kidding? Her head was spinning, but she nodded. It was her automatic response, one that she gave without even thinking because she’d never admit to not being good.

  He called her out on her lie. “Now who’s saying things that aren’t true?” he chided.

  “How do you do that?” she demanded, baffled. “Read me like that?” No one else had ever been able to, she’d seen to it.

  Lollipop barked again and jumped from her lap to Caleb’s and he opened his door and got out.

  She followed. The vet center looked very expensive and she went back to worrying about that. But not as much as Lollipop, who up till now had been trotting happily along on her new black patent leather Hello Kitty leash beside Caleb. He should have looked ridiculous. Instead, he looked incredibly sure of himself, and damn. That was sexy.

  At the door, Lollipop stopped short and froze, and then flattened herself to the ground, refusing to go another step.

  “Someone just realized she got played and is at the vet,” Caleb said and picked her up.

  Lollipop licked his chin and together they entered.

  The vet who owed Caleb a favor turned out to be a tall curvy brunette with a sweet, welcoming smile for Caleb that had Sadie rolling her eyes. But Dr. Vicki Consuela gave Sadie the same sweet, welcoming smile and was so kind and good with Lollipop, Sadie got over herself and the fact that clearly these two had been lovers at some point—or maybe even still were.