The Guy Next Door. Victoria Dahl
the commitment implicit in spending the night together, but the idea of holding Natalie all night, waking with her in the morning, appealed to him.
Jett tried to take the towels from her so he could clean up the dog’s accident himself, but Natalie bent to the task without hesitation. Her hair fell forward, hiding her face, but he knew she was smiling.
Staring down at her, Jett noted the delicate line of her spine, the flare of her hips and her utter lack of squeamishness. He marveled that she’d come from an entitled background.
Not once had he ever seen her put her nose up at anyone. She didn’t shy away from hard work. She drove a modest car and dressed conservatively, both in style and cost. She laughed easily, spoke her mind and lived independently of her wealthy father.
In no way did she act like one of the moneyed elite. His family would adore her.
Her family, he assumed, would disdain him. Not that he gave a damn what they thought.
As Natalie threw away the paper towels and washed her hands, Jett picked up the pup so it wouldn’t get excited and make more of a mess. He got a big licking-kiss for his trouble.
“That’s what we should name you,” he told the dog as he wiped his face on a shoulder.
“What?” Natalie asked when she returned.
“Trouble.”
She laughed and cuddled close to him to pet the dog. “No way can you saddle such a sweet little dog with that name.”
“Sweet, huh? I need to change my jeans, woman. Nothing sweet in that.”
Twin dimples showed in her cheeks as she bit back a big grin. “He just lost control, that’s all.” And then to the dog, “Didn’t you, baby?”
The dog wriggled with happiness, and Jett tucked him under his arm for a better grip.
“I am so glad you’re keeping him.”
Jett heard the unremarked “but” in her statement. Natalie had the wheels turning, drawing conclusions that were probably all wrong.
Did she think his decision to keep the dog excluded him from going with her on vacation?
She didn’t know his family. In fact, he had a feeling she didn’t understand the idea behind “family” at all.
When the dog started squirming around again, Jett decided it might be a good time to take him out real quick. He snagged a jacket from the coat tree by his door and stepped into his athletic shoes. “Soon as I take this beast out so he can commune with nature, I’m going to call my sister, Connie. She’s a vet. She can keep the dog until we get back from the lake. And by then, she’ll have him good as new.”
Startled by that outpouring, Natalie hustled after him. “You have a sister?”
“Three actually, all of them younger, all of them nosy as hell.” He put a kiss to her forehead. The dog tried to do the same, which lifted Natalie’s frown. “That pizza is going to be cold before we get to eat it. You want to set things out while I’m gone? I’ll just be a few minutes.” He walked out the door before she could question him more.
Once outside, a cold breeze washed over Jett. For as nice as the weather had been lately, the temperature seemed to be dipping fast. At least it helped to clear his head. So much had happened in such a short time, much of it because of the dog.
“We need to come up with a name for you.”
Ears down and tail tucked, the dog didn’t react to his voice.
After setting him in the grass, Jett watched him closely, ready to grab for him if he tried to run off. He didn’t. Instead, he hunkered down and stared at Jett as if he’d just been discarded.
Again.
Between Natalie and the dog, his damn heart felt shredded.
“Not happening, buddy.” Crouching down in front of him, Jett spoke in a calm, even tone. “I won’t budge, I promise. Do what you need to do and we’ll go back in together.” He stroked the dog’s back then held himself very still.
After a few more minutes of worry, the need apparently became too great and the little dog went to a line of bushes. Jett realized he had nothing for cleanup but he didn’t feel too guilty about that. After all, the dog had been a stray only minutes ago. But first thing after they returned from vacation, he’d make a trip to a pet store for supplies.
When the dog finished, he again army-crawled over to Jett, approaching with anxiety.
Damn. “Come here, buddy.” Jett held open his arms and the dog crowded in. “Maybe Buddy works as good as any other name.” He lifted the dog. “What do you think?”
This time he got the desired response; the little dog’s whole body quivered with the furious shaking of his tail.
“Great.” Jett had to grin, and he even bent to put his face against the dog’s scruff for a moment, giving him the affection he craved. “We’ll run it by Natalie for approval.”
Jett strode into the apartment, put the dog on the floor and kicked off his shoes. Natalie stood at the small dinette table, setting out napkins and colas in a too-precise way.
It looked right, seeing her there at his table.
In his life.
Shit. Jett rubbed his face then dropped his hands and drew her attention by saying, “I think he likes the name Buddy. That okay with you?”
She looked up in time to see Buddy try to steal one of Jett’s shoes, probably for chewing. Jett retrieved it from him and, carrying both shoes, went straight into his bedroom to change his jeans. Twice he almost tripped over the dog as it stayed close underfoot.
Natalie wasn’t that far behind, either. He heard a sound and, wearing only boxers, looked up to see her standing in the doorway watching him.
Her gaze stayed south of his waist, and of course his dick made note of her heated interest.
“Something on your mind, honey?”
Her gaze shot up to his. It took her a second to regroup. “I like the name Buddy.” The dog’s ears flicked forward then back again. “Did you see that? He already knows his name.”
“Smart dog.”
“So…” Sounding cavalier, she asked, “Did you say that you have three sisters?”
“That’s right.” Her curiosity amused him. Just a few hours ago she wouldn’t have asked him anything at all of a personal nature. “If any of them knew about you, they’d be camped out here right now trying to learn all they could.”
“They’re that interested in your dates?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she faltered. “Well, not that we’re dating, but—”
“We’ll be traveling together, sleeping together all night.” He tossed his jeans into a laundry basket in the closet floor and pulled on clean ones. “I’d say that constitutes, at the very least, dating, wouldn’t you?”
She bypassed his question to say, “I don’t know if I want your family judging me.”
“They’re not like that.” But apparently her family was. Even her sister? Jett wondered. Natalie said they were close, so hopefully Molly wasn’t the critical type. “They all love me, and they’re all smart.”
“Meaning?”
“They’ll know right off that you’re different.”
She shook her head in denial and backed up out of the doorway as he approached. “I’m not.”
He wrapped a hand around her nape to keep her from retreating more. Her hair, all curly and cool, lay against the back of his hand. A flush heated her skin, amplifying her unique scent. He breathed her in and felt himself stir.
Looking