LITMIR.BIZ

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dog. Surely—”

      “You can handle it as easily as I.” Susannah ran a hand through her hair. She didn’t need one more thing on her to-do list. Couldn’t the man see that? He may be handsome, but he had an obstinate streak as long as the Mississippi River.

      She grabbed a leash and collar from the shelf and handed those to him, too, adding them to the top of the dog food. “You might want to put the leash to use right now.”

      “What are you talking about?”

      “Rover there has some needs to attend to.” She pointed at the dog, who was sniffing at the room like a drug addict.

      “He can wait.”

      “Only if you don’t mind him messing up your car later.”

      It took Kane a second, then he made the connection. His face wrinkled in disgust. “Absolutely not.” He waved at her. “Well, tell him to go do what he needs to do then.”

      Susannah laughed. “I can’t tell a dog to do anything, at least when it comes to that particular bodily function. But you could try walking him.”

      “Why? He has four paws of his own.”

      Susannah rolled her eyes, then took the leash and collar out of Kane’s hand, fitted them onto the dog, then handed the other end back to Kane. “Walking the dog is when you move your two legs. The dog will get the idea, believe me.”

      He stared at her, seeming horrified by the entire idea. “What about you?”

      “I have other things to do, like my job.” She started to walk away.

      “Wait!”

      Susannah pivoted back. And nearly laughed out loud. Tall, muscular Kane looked lost. “It’s a pretty simple concept, Mr. Lennox. Put one foot in front of the other. Rover will follow. And if you go near some grass, his natural instincts will take over.” Before he could protest or ask her to do it, she pointed toward the back door of the shop. “There’s some grass right in the back parking lot. It’ll take five minutes, I swear.”

      Kane scowled, but did as she said, walking stiffly out the door, with Rover following behind, pausing every half second to sniff. Susannah watched through the window, biting her lip, trying not to laugh. Too loudly.

      A few minutes later, Rover was feeling much better and Kane had returned to the shop. “Now will you take him?”

      “Why? You’re doing great. And besides, you’re on vacation, right? Staying at a cabin in the woods? Think of him as…a roommate.”

      Kane scowled. “I don’t want, nor do I need, a roommate.”

      The dog had plastered himself to Kane’s leg. Susannah gave him a grin. An SUV pulled into the parking lot, a familiar golden furball in the passenger’s seat. Her next appointment. “Seems like you have one, like it or not. Now, unless you want to help me bathe a golden retriever, and deck her out with some bows in her hair, you might want to head on home with your new best friend.”

      An incredulous look filled Kane’s eyes. “Bows? On a dog?”

      “She’s a girl. She likes to look pretty. Even if doing so leaves me looking like a sopping wet disaster afterwards,” Susannah added, brushing a clump of dog hair off her T-shirt. God, she was a mess. She looked about as good as her canine charges—before their baths.

      Not that she cared, of course, what Kane Lennox thought about her appearance. It was simply that this man had her feeling off center. She didn’t care at all if he found her unappealing because she’d just finished giving a poodle a bath.

      Except a part of her did care. And that part was annoyed that she worried whether she had any lipstick left on her mouth. Whether her bangs were askew. Whether she reeked of eau de puppy.

      “What if…” He hesitated. “What if I help you with your work? Will you take this—” he shifted his weight to the opposite foot “—this thing off my hands then?”

      “You’re going to help me give a golden retriever a bath?”

      He dropped the bag of dog food onto the counter. The spaniel watched the kibble transfer and heaved a sigh of disappointment. “Why are you so surprised by my offer?”

      “You don’t strike me as the dog-bathing type. Especially considering the way you’re reacting to your new best friend here.”

      Kane’s stance straightened, consciously, or maybe unconsciously, putting some distance between himself and the small dog. “I’m simply making a business proposition. Quid pro quo.”

      Susannah considered the neatly pressed Kane again. She doubted he had any experience with pets. Nary a shred of shampooing or grooming background. Yet, she’d give about anything to see this stiff, uppity stranger covered in soapy bubbles and dog slobber.

      She thrust out her hand and when he took hers, a spark traveled up her arm, taking Susannah completely by surprise. Attracted? To him?

      She couldn’t be. He was not her type. At all. For one, he had that air of uppercrust about him. For another, he was too vague about who he was, where he was from. She liked the men she dated to be open, friendly.

      Sort of like a good golden retriever, come to think of it. This man was more of a Lhasa apso, too pretty to be a workhorse. But if Kane was willing to take a little of the burden off her shoulders, who was she to turn him down?

      “You’ve got a deal, Mr. Lennox,” Susannah said, attributing her reaction to him as being too tired, too overworked. “I just hope you can keep up your end of the bargain.”

      A slow grin stole across his face. “If there’s one thing I always do, Miss Wilson, it’s make sure that the deal is a win-win for me, too.”

      And as that smile widened, Susannah had to wonder whether she’d just been outwitted—and whether she’d be the real loser in this proposition.

      CHAPTER THREE

      INSANE.

      Kane Lennox never made spur-of-the-moment offers. Every move in his life had an intention, a purpose, a plan behind it. He operated like a Mercedes with a well-tuned engine and a navigational system. No breakdowns, no detours and no surprises.

      Then what on earth had made him open up his mouth and actually volunteer to bathe a canine? He didn’t even like dogs. Or at least, he didn’t think he did. He had no experience with canines, so therefore, no opinion one way or another, except he knew he had no time for that stray, and no room in his life for a spaniel. And yet, here he was, elbow-deep in soapy water beside a way-too-friendly golden retriever.

      He glanced over at Susannah Wilson, who was cooing to the dog as she sudsed the animal’s head, and knew exactly what had possessed him to throw that sentence out there. Her. She’d distracted him nearly from the minute he’d met her. Combined with the day he’d had, the dog and his discomfort at being in a strange town, out of his normal element—

      Oh, hell, it was really all the pretty woman. The way she had half her blond locks tucked behind her ear, the other half drifting along her cheek in damp waves. And the way she stared at him like he was some kind of weird stalker come to invade her town with a highly viral disease.

      The combination—attraction mixed with distrust—sparked amusement in him, and raised his interest in her to a level unlike anything he’d felt in a long time.

      Kane had met hundreds of women over the course of his life. Dated dozens of them. But in the circles he traveled, the women were too perfect, too pampered. Susannah Wilson, on the other hand, had a less finished edge to her, like a diamond that had yet to be cut and polished. She was…

      Unique.

      Intriguing. Very intriguing.

      “Hey, I thought you were here to help. That means holding her steady,” Susannah said.

      “Easier

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