Where Poosh was lying in her bed with my underwear between her paws.
And my panties?
Well, rest in peace, my little lacy friend.
“Oh, my God,” I breathed. “Poosh!”
She simply cocked her head at me, holding on tight to the fabric that used to be my underwear.
I darted forward and snatched them away. She’d completely torn them apart, and I felt a pang of sadness.
They were new.
I liked those.
Damn it.
I spied Noah’s trashcan in the corner and tossed the panties into it. “Bad Poosh!” I said, pointing at her.
She whined and looked at me with big, wide eyes.
How the hell did you stay mad at that?
“Shit.” I bent over and scratched her behind the ears. Damn dog. How was I supposed to punish such a cute little sweetheart?
A cute little sweetheart who’d just eaten my panties.
Goddamn it.
I ran back upstairs and into the bedroom where I grabbed my phone to message Noah again.
ME: Your dog ate my panties.
I really hoped he was the only person who saw that message.
Like, really hoped.
My phone buzzed, and I knew it was Noah before I even looked at the screen. “Hey. Aren’t you working?” I answered.
“Poosh did what?” was his reply.
“She ate my underwear,” I said. “I took a shower, and when I came out, I couldn’t find my panties. I found her in her bed with them and they’re totally wrecked.”
“Shit. I’m so sorry. You don’t happen to have any stashed in your purse, do you?”
“We’re talking about a pair of panties, not Chapstick!”
“Fuck. Okay.” The line cracked as he blew out a long breath. “Okay. You’re gonna have to use my boxers.”
“I can’t wear your boxers!”
“What are you gonna do? Go commando?”
“I didn’t think of that. I was too busy telling off your gross little dog until she looked at me and made me feel guilty.”
“Yeah, she does that.” He paused. “You’re gonna have to take some of my underwear.”
I groaned and dropped back on the bed. “I knew I shouldn’t have slept with you on the first date.”
He burst out laughing. “Yeah, yeah. Look, I have to get back to work. My boss thinks I’m using the bathroom and he’s gonna send a search party if I stay much longer. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks. Do you want me to let Poosh into the yard before I go?”
“If you have time, that’d be great. Thanks, Reagan.”
“No problem. I’ll let you go back to work so I can get to snooping through your drawers. Bye!” I hung up to the tune of his laughter and tossed my phone back down.
Right.
Time to find me some boxers.
There was a sentence I never thought I’d say.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
* * *
NOAH
Weird Is As Weird Does
I was so out of fucking place here.
Never in my life had I walked into a lingerie store, and I didn’t need the floor-to-wall mirror behind the bras to know that I stuck out like a sore thumb.
A mom with a teen daughter eyed me cautiously as her daughter dug through a basket full of discounted underwear. I gave her a timid smile and turned away so she didn’t think I was some kind of weirdo.
These places were not made for guys.
Not even the poor guy whose eyes were darting around like he was on the run from the FBI while his girlfriend rifled through a sale rack.
I had no idea what the fuck I was doing here.
I knew, obviously. I wanted to make up for Poosh being a little asshole, but I really hadn’t thought this through.
Go into the store, the guys at work had said. Buy a pair to replace the panties Poosh ate.
That was what happened when you let your friend use your phone to text his girlfriend without making sure your own conversations were shut down.
Thanks to Finn, the entire fire station knew I’d slept with Reagan and that my dog had found her own breakfast.
That was a fact I wasn’t gonna share with Reagan. I didn’t think she’d be too impressed, and she was already less than happy right now.
Which was why I was standing in the middle of this underwear store, hoping a pair of panties would grow a pair of legs and ask me to buy them.
“Sir? Can I help you?”
I turned at the sound of the voice. The woman behind me had long, curly red hair that was pulled into a ponytail and an inviting smile on her face. She was dressed all in black and had a badge on her shirt that said her name was Roxanne.
Yes, Roxanne. You can help me.
“Yes. Hi. Um.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’m looking for some underwear.”
“For yourself?”
I opened my mouth in shock, but she laughed, touching my arm.
“Kidding. For your girlfriend?”
Sure. What the hell. “Yeah, my girlfriend. My dog is kind of an asshole and, uh, made off with her underwear this morning. I’m trying to make it up to her.”
“Ah.” She nodded in understanding. “I’ve heard that one before. What kind of underwear are you looking for?”
How the fuck did I know? I wasn’t paying attention to Reagan’s panties until I had to get her out of them.
“I have no fucking clue,” I admitted.
With another laugh, she guided me toward a stand that held baskets of underwear. She grabbed a few of them and held them up. “Do you know what kind of underwear she wears?”
I said nothing. I may as well have been buying Reagan fucking tampons for all I knew.
“Right. Okay. This is a thong.” She held up a pair with not much fabric to them. “These are—”
“Do you have gift cards?” I was not gonna stand here and learn about the cuts of women’s underwear. That was way more information than I needed to know, and I needed to get home and shower.
It was hot as balls outside and I’d been training in it all day. I probably smelled like I needed a shower, too.
Roxanne laughed and replaced the underwear. “We do. Come on up to the register.”
I blew out a sigh of relief and followed her up there. She showed me the cards, and I picked the simplest one and put fifty dollars on it. I had no idea how much women’s underwear cost, and I figured that this way, she could get a few pairs in case Poosh went wild again.
Assuming she still wanted to sleep with me after this.
If she did, I’d buy her a fucking wall safe to keep her underwear in.
I paid for the card and put it in my wallet with my debit card, thanked Roxanne for her help, and left the store as quickly as I possibly could.
I was never going in there again.
Fucking ever.
I pulled my phone out as I walked to my truck. It was just before three, so I texted Reagan to see if she was at home. There was every chance I was going to lose this gift card, so I wanted to get it to her as soon as possible.
Also, I really needed to apologize in person.
There was something special about Reagan. Something that drew me to her. Despite the weird circumstances we’d met in, I wanted this to go as normally as possible.