LITMIR.BIZ

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      Cassie glared at Earl, who had not only spent the past few minutes digging at the expensive leather of her chair, but who now held one leg high in the air while he expertly licked himself where no human could. “The cost of passion runs high these days, Mr. Hardin.” Cassie nodded toward Earl. “If your dog had spent more time engaged in the activity he’s enjoying now, none of us would be in this mess.”

      Slightly embarrassed, Nick thumped Earl on the head, prompting the dog to stop the lewd performance and sit obediently in the chair. Locking eyes with Cassie again, Nick said, “Excuse the pun, counselor, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s never been a piece of tail worth fifteen hundred dollars.”

      Cassie blanched slightly but quickly recovered. “I have no doubt you’re well versed in what the going price for human flesh is these days,” she said, pleased when his eyes narrowed to tiny slits. “But I warned you from the very beginning that your negligence would be expensive.”

      “Negligence?” Nick shouted. “You seem to be forgetting it takes two to tangle, counselor. What I don’t understand is why you think you’re automatically exempt from being negligent. If you’d been keeping an eye on your precious show dog, Earl couldn’t have jumped her in the first place.”

      Cassie placed both hands on her hips, her lips puckered in annoyance. “Excuse me for bringing it up, but Duchess was in her own fenced backyard.”

      Nick’s eyes hardened. “Just as Earl was in his fenced backyard when I let him out that morning. I had no more control over him digging out of my yard and under your fence than you had when the queen of the dog world decided to lift her groomed tail when Earl sniffed in her direction.”

      His heated glare left Cassie slightly singed and more than a little shaken. She watched as he ran his hands through the long, sun-streaked strands of his hair. When he looked at her again, his eyes had lost a little of their anger, but the tension in the room was still bouncing off the walls like supercharged Ping-Pong balls.

      “Look,” Nick said. “We can stand here and insult each other all day, or we can try to settle this problem like two rational adults. You tell me. What’s it going to be?”

      Cassie had no intention of giving an inch, but she was willing to hear what her opponent had to say. Giving a tense nod to the leather chair that wasn’t currently being occupied, Cassie took her own seat behind her desk. “I’m open to suggestions if you have any.”

      Nick dropped into the seat facing her, but Cassie found she had trouble ignoring the way his muscled thighs strained against the faded material of his jeans. The way his leather jacket was unzipped low enough to expose the golden hair peeking over the top of his V-neck polo shirt didn’t do much for her concentration, either. Feeling her willpower ooze out of her like air from a leaky balloon, she had to use every ounce of her self-control to keep from grabbing the lapels of his jacket and dragging him across her desk for another one of his mind-blowing kisses.

      Unaware that he was on the verge of being attacked, Nick sent her a semifriendly smile that was a hair short of being a smirk. “Before we go any further, do you think you could humor me during this conversation and stop calling me Mr. Hardin?”

      “If you’ll stop calling me ‘counselor.”’

      “Okay, Cassandra.”

      “Cassie,” she corrected him.

      He seemed surprised. “Cassie,” Nick repeated in that deep southern drawl that drove her crazy. “Yeah, I like Cassie much better.” The smile he gave her this time was breathtaking, weakening her defenses even more.

      “Well, the way I see it, Cassie, we’re both victims of circumstance in this situation. I happen to know this famous show dog belongs to your mother.”

      “That doesn’t have anything—”

      Nick held his hand up. “Now, wait a minute. All I’m saying is that I’ve already figured out the main reason you’re so upset about this dog siring a bunch of unregistered pups is because it was your responsibility to take care of her while your mother is in Europe. Am I right?”

      Cassie couldn’t disagree. “And you’re a victim because…?”

      “Like I said before. Neither of us have any control over Mother Nature. The dogs got together. All we can do now is deal with it.”

      Cassie licked her lips involuntarily when Nick leaned back in his chair and stretched his long legs out in front of him. Despite her determination not to look, the healthy bulge between his legs caught Cassie’s attention faster than if a flashing neon sign had been sewn to the metal tab on his zipper. Forcing herself to look away, Cassie realized he was still talking, but she only caught the tail end of his next sentence.

      “…so, I think it’s only fair that we work together on this, and split the expenses fifty-fifty.”

      Cassie leaned forward and rested her arms on her desk. “You realize, of course, this one vet bill won’t be all of the expenses incurred during this ordeal.”

      Nick shrugged. “Sure, I figured the dog would have to be seen regularly by the vet while she’s carrying the puppies. And then I guess the puppies will need shots—”

      “There’s also a weekly fee for the sitter,” Cassie interrupted without thinking.

      A dark cloud crossed Nick’s face as he sat upright in the chair. “What did you say?”

      “I’ve hired a sitter to stay with Duchess during the day until I get home from the office,” Cassie answered nonchalantly. “I do work for a living, you know.”

      “But a sitter? I mean, we are talking about a dog here.”

      “A world-class champion,” Cassie reminded him. “Besides, I leave home at seven in the morning and usually don’t get home until seven or later in the evening. Duchess is going to have to be fed properly and exercised at least three times a day.”

      With that said, she reached for the calculator on her desk. “That will average out to the sitter working about twelve hours a day. At $6.50 per hour, that will be…” Cassie started punching in the numbers, but Nick’s quick mind did the math before she could finish.

      “That’s seventy-eight dollars a day,” Nick barked in disbelief. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You’re talking about over fifteen hundred dollars a month. And the dog still has to carry those puppies for…”

      “At least one more month, maybe a little longer,” Cassie provided. “The vet says there’s no way to know when she’ll deliver. This is Duchess’s first litter. The puppies could be early or they could be late.”

      Nick stood up and unzipped his jacket the rest of the way, giving Cassie the impression that he suddenly found the room much too warm. After walking back and forth in front of her desk several times, he stopped and shook his head in disbelief. “So what you’re telling me, is that on top of these outrageous vet bills, you expect me to pay someone to come to your house and sit with a dog?”

      “You said fifty-fifty, Nick,” Cassie reminded him smugly, using her first opportunity to call him by name.

      A muscle twitched along his lower jaw. “I know what I said, Cassie,” he snapped, “and I will pay my half of the vet bills, but paying a personal nursemaid to sit for a dog is where I have to draw the line.”

      Cassie bristled. “Then I’m afraid we’re back to square one, aren’t we?”

      Instead of trying to negotiate a plan B as Cassie had expected, Nick snapped his fingers, prompting Earl to propel himself from the chair and into his master’s arms. “Then sue me,” Nick said, his voice full of confidence.

      Cassie was so shocked, she couldn’t seem to find her voice. Before she was able to respond, Nick strolled to the door with his furry friend tucked under his arm. But when he reached for the doorknob he looked back over his shoulder and sent Cassie that cocky grin

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