Heartless Hunk - Ann Omasta Page 0,52

filled me with hope anyway. “He can stay one night.”

I couldn’t contain my ‘whoop!’ of excitement. That little weasel was sure to wiggle his way right into a permanent place in her heart tonight.

Although my heart would remain shattered into a million pieces without Vi in my life, what mattered most to me was that she could find happiness––or at least solace. Since she didn’t want me around, then that sweet puppy could help fill some of the void and keep her from being lonely.

As I fell asleep, I smiled to myself, thinking what a great thing I had done for Vi. A puppy would bring nothing but joy into her life, and I couldn’t wait for her to see that and realize that I only wanted the best for her.

Maybe one of these days, she would find it in her heart to forgive me and let me back in, making both of our lives complete. Sweet puppy kisses would pave the way for our loving reunion––I was sure of it.

43

Violet

“Argh! How can one little puppy make such an enormous mess?” I lifted my chewed shoe in the air as I glared down at the adorable animal.

He blinked up at me with large, innocent-looking brown eyes as a pool of yellow liquid spread around him.

“I just took you outside!” I squealed as I scurried over to pick him up. Pee continued to stream out as I held him at arm’s-length and tried to figure out what to do.

We left a trail of urine in our wake as I ran with him to the bathroom. As soon as I plopped him into the tub, the pee stopped.

“Of course,” I grouched, tossing my hands in the air and whirling around to go get the bottle of cleaner Oliver had sent.

As soon as I was out of sight, the puppy started crying and scrabbling to climb out of the tub. “It’s okay,” I cooed to him before adding, “Mommy is right here.”

I froze and stared at the ceiling as soon as I realized that I had referred to myself as this ornery little pup’s mommy. Had he somehow managed to win me over, despite my best intentions to remain aloof?

Stooping to clean up the puddle and its trail with a wad of paper towels, I silently cursed Oliver. I didn’t want to admit, even to myself, that he might have been right about my need for the pint-sized squirt.

My plan had been to drop the puppy off at the shelter on my way to work this morning. I never dreamed that I might become attached to the tiny pain in the rear.

In fact, I had purposely not chosen a name for him because I feared that might make him seem even more lovable. Just because my mind insisted on calling him Reese, since the light brown spot in the fur on his chest made him look like a little Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, did not mean that was officially his name. I’d never even said it out loud, although I came close a couple of times and had to practically bite my tongue to keep from uttering it.

Evidently deciding I’d been out of sight far too long, the puppy’s anxious whines turned into a full-blown howl of despair. I jogged into the bathroom and smiled down at him. “You’re kind of a needy little guy.”

The puppy’s tail flapped wildly back and forth as he paced inside his porcelain prison.

Just then, my grumpy neighbor banged on our shared wall and shouted, “Hold it down over there.”

“Bite me!” I snapped back, thinking how marvelously different things were with the relative-anonymity of the city versus the tiny town where I had grown up.

The pup stared up at me with giant, questioning eyes. “I wasn’t yelling at you, Sweet Boy,” I assured him as I lifted him from the tub, cradling him in my arms.

He batted at me with his soft paws until I began rubbing his belly. Chuckling as I sat down on the sofa, I said to him, “You already know how to get me to do exactly what you want, don’t you?”

When my phone buzzed with an incoming text, I wasn’t surprised to see that it was from Oliver. “Do you want me to have the puppy returned to the shelter today?”

My immediate reaction was to respond in the affirmative. It had been beyond presumptuous of Oliver to send him to me, and I didn’t want to let the obnoxious man dictate any part