T-shirt thin enough to display nipple barbells to anyone who cared to look. He had a mop of dirty blond curls, doe brown eyes, and rounded cheeks that were perpetually pink. He’d already blushed four times, and we’d only been talking for five minutes.
The dog, who was named Noodle, could learn a thing or two from his groomer’s sunny disposition. Frankly, I was tired of him giving me side-eye. He also wouldn’t let me get behind him. It was like we were playing a strange game of copycat—when I shifted, so did he. He caught me looking at him and gave me a Cujo worthy bark, just to make sure I got the picture.
Nothing like being on the shit list of a Yorkie.
“I’m nice,” I said indignantly, right to his suspicious little face. He bristled, wrinkling his button nose. “There’s a dog named Walter who can vouch for me.”
Milo chuckled. “So, what can I tell you about Joey?”
“Where did you two meet?”
“He brought Walter in for grooming. He later admitted that he just wanted to meet me, so he borrowed Walter for the day. It took another three appointments before I decided to ask him out instead.” He blushed again. “He was so nervous. I thought it was cute.”
“How long did you guys date?”
“Two months. We got along great. He was a sweet guy and very thoughtful.” He smiled a little. “He loved to bake, too. He would make banana bread for me all the time, even though I hate bananas.”
“Why would he do that?”
“He brought me a loaf once around lunchtime. This was when he was still screwing up his courage to talk to me. He came back a few days later and asked me how I liked it. I thought he was cute, so I said it was my favorite.” He blushed, laughing a little. “Then he started making it all the time. I didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth. Luckily, my mother loves the stuff.”
I smothered a laugh. I’d certainly claimed to like a few things I didn’t actually like when Danny and I were getting serious—the first time around. Now he knew me so well it was downright scary.
I didn’t think of it as lying, exactly. It was more like sitting down with all my personalities and sending the best representative to our dates. I could still picture his flabbergasted expression when I confessed that I didn’t enjoy Star Wars. And his confused response: “Well, why the hell would you sit through ten hours of sequels with me?”
Ten? Was that all? Felt like a Googleplex. “I just like sitting next to you,” I had said honestly. “Didn’t matter what we were watching.”
That quickly ended our trip to the store. He rewarded me for my honesty with a hand job in the car, which is the best kind of hand job, if you’re wondering.
Milo sighed wistfully. “I was hoping our relationship would turn into something serious.”
He turned the Yorkie’s face away from me so he could clip carefully around his ears. Noodle strained to see just what the hell I was doing behind his back, and Milo gently turned his face forward again. “But I wasn’t sure Joey felt the same way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, his ex was certainly a problem. Alex.” He frowned as he clipped away. “He was always coming over for dinner or calling Joey on the phone. I understood they’d been friends for some time, but it made me uncomfortable.”
“And jealous,” I filled in.
“Yeah, that too.” He shrugged. “When I talked to him about it, Joey promised to dial things back with Alex.”
“And did he?”
“Not nearly enough. I thought about breaking it off a few times, but I felt like there was real potential there. I decided to stick around and see what happened.”
“That must’ve been frustrating for you.”
“Of course,” he said simply.
“It probably made you angry as well.”
He looked at me for a second, clippers frozen in his hand as he processed everything I wasn’t saying. “Oh. Oh. I see.” His frown deepened. “I didn’t kill Joey.”
“I never said you did.”
“Yeah, but that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?” Noodle barked sharply, startling Milo out of his shock. He dug in his pocket and came out with a tiny bone-shaped treat, which Noodle delicately plucked out of his palm.
“Can you think of anyone else who would’ve wanted to hurt Joey?”
“No. Maybe you should talk to his mother. She might have a better idea.”
“I already have. Would you say Joey and