was cute since Dylan loved to name the puppies. Every day, each puppy had a new name. “What’s today’s name?” she asked. It always thrilled her when she came across someone who truly wanted a dog and would treat the animal well.
“Maisey, I believe,” he replied and Jemma could see that he was restraining himself from rolling his eyes.
“Is she here?” Jemma asked.
He shook his head. “I travel a great deal. I don’t want her schedule disrupted, so she stays with her nanny at my house.”
Jemma didn’t like the sound of that, but she didn’t want to judge. “A yellow lab would be a great companion for her then,” she said and started walking out of the barn.
She realized that her knees were wobbly and her body was not completely back to normal, but then again, Damien was still here. Her life wouldn’t be normal until he was out of her life again.
“I’ll write you a check,” he said, following her.
Jemma nodded, continuing into her house. As she opened the door, she tried to pretend like her hands weren’t shaking. Jemma quickly realized she should have stayed outside during the transaction. Damien was such a large man, and her kitchen was small. He towered over her and his shoulders were broad, making her kitchen feel even tinier. “The cost is only five hundred dollars,” she told him, moving to the other side of the room.
His eyebrows went up with her claim but he pulled a checkbook out of his breast pocket and scribbled out the amount. “Will you help me pick one out?”
Jemma took a deep breath, wanting to be close to him, to feel the sizzle of his energy, but she also knew that would be dangerous. “I can’t. I have work to do with the horses,” she said.
“How will I know which one is good for Adriana?”
She waved in the general direction of the barn. “I showed you the two that would be good for her.”
He chuckled. “I think you have a sixth sense for the animals, but that does not translate to my skills. As far as I could tell, there were golden balls of fur out there with pink tummies. Other than that, I have no idea which puppies were the ones you discussed.”
He had a point. She did know the animals. “Fine,” she replied with ill-grace. Going right back out there, she led him to the barn once more but stood as far away from him as possible. “Okay, here’s a good little lady,” Jemma said, handing the wiggling puppy to Damien. There was an awkward moment when his hand brushed against her breast during the transfer, but their eyes collided and she pulled back quickly.
Damien held the ball of fluff away from him, trying to not get licked. It was a pointless effort, she thought. That little puppy was going to get him no matter what. The puppy was just too affectionate.
“She’ll do,” he finally said.
Jemma sighed with relief. “Great. I’ll get her shot records.”
Jemma hurried out of the barn, going to her house once more. She pulled the correct records, glancing at the form to make sure that it was properly filled out. When she turned back, she found Damien in the hallway, his eyes captured by pictures of Dylan. Jemma’s stomach muscles tightened, terrified that he would recognize his son in those pictures.
“He’s very cute,” was all Damien said, holding the puppy carefully.
He then turned to face Jemma. “If you change your mind about dinner, call me,” he said and handed her a card with his private cell phone on it.
With that, he walked out of her house, and hopefully, out of her life.
Jemma sat down on her worn out sofa. She should be feeling relieved. She’d dodged a bullet in Damien not realizing that Dylan was his son, but she didn’t feel very good about it. She felt worse, actually.
But if she’d told him about his son, what would he do?
He had a summer house. And a gardener! And a nanny!
What did she have? Puppies and great horse breeding stock. And a lot of cheap land. There was no way she could fight Damien if he tried to take Dylan away from her.
She couldn’t fight him if he tried to take her son. But maybe that was the price she had to pay for keeping Dylan a secret all these years. Okay, so she’d tried to find Damien six years ago and failed. She’d tried desperately hard, driving the streets where