She takes her coffee and we arrange our food in front of us to eat. “Is it colder than this in Regina?”
“Oh hell yeah.” I laugh. “And lots more snow.”
“You came here from Vancouver, though, you said, right?”
She remembers. “Yeah. Nice weather there too, although it rains a lot.”
“I’ve always wanted to go there. I’ve never been to Canada.”
“That’s shocking. Okay, no it’s not. I hang out with hockey people, so when I meet people who haven’t been to Canada I’m always surprised. I shouldn’t be.”
“I think it must be a nice place.”
I smile slowly. “It’s okay.”
She picks up her coffee cup and takes a sip.
“How long have you lived in New York?” I ask. “Did you grow up here?”
“I grew up in Syracuse. I came here to go to college. So…eight years.”
“After college you wanted to stay?”
“Yeah. I met my girlfriends—Carlin, my roommate, and a couple of other friends—and we all wanted to stay here and stay together. I got a good job right out of college, and then I got another, better job, and Carlin and I found our fantastic apartment, which isn’t easy to do here.”
“That’s true. I found that out.” I shake my head. “I make pretty good money, but it’s expensive living here.”
“Right?”
“So what do you do? I mean, what did you do?”
“I worked in the hotel business.” Her lips thin and she drops her gaze. “I have a degree in Hospitality Industry Studies.”
“Hospitality. I didn’t know there was such a thing.”
“It’s a business degree, but specifically focused on hotel management.”
Huh. Maybe she does know something about starting her own business. Dog walking isn’t hotel management, but it’s dealing with customers. “I’m sure you’ll find something else.”
She tosses her hair behind her shoulder. “Nope. I’m done with that. I want to work for myself and I’m going to have dogs as clients. It’ll be easier, and I’m in charge.”
I nod. “That sounds great, if that’s what you want.” It still sounds a little nutty, but hell, I’m not going to judge. I need her.
“So let’s talk business,” she says crisply, as if proving that she’s taking this seriously.
“Right. I printed out my schedule for the next month.” I pull the folded-up paper out of my jacket pocket and hand it to her.
She digs into her small bag and comes up with a pen. After unfolding the paper, she purses her lips and studies it. “These are away games, the shaded ones?”
“Yes.”
She nods. I’ve already written there what time we leave on days we’re traveling. “Okay, this is good. And are there days you want me to walk him even when you’re not traveling?”
“Yeah.” I lean over to peer at the page, close enough to get a whiff of her scent. I already recognize it, that fresh scent that makes me think of white flowers and greenery. “It would be great if you could walk him these mornings.” I point. “I’ll walk him the other mornings. And on home game days it would be great if you could take him out around dinnertime.”
We spend a few minutes figuring it out, Lilly making notes on the paper.
“I’ll tell the concierge at the apartment building that you’ll be coming by, and I’ll give you a code to get into my apartment.”
“Perfect.”
We then talk money. I have no problem with her fees. I know I paid her a ridiculous amount at first and I can’t keep doing that, but what she’s charging seems reasonable to me.
“Can you start tomorrow? We have a game tomorrow night. We don’t do game day skates anymore, so I can walk him in the morning, but I leave for the arena around three-thirty. Can you take him around six or seven?”
“Of course.”
I slouch back in my chair. “This is a relief, knowing he’ll be looked after.”
She slowly folds the paper and tilts her head. “What made you decide to keep him?”
I don’t answer right away. Cookie riding my ass about being a big grouch got to me. I don’t know if a dog is going to help; Otis sure as hell isn’t going to make Coach any easier to get along with. But…being alone sucks, even though I know it’s for the best. It’s nice having someone to come home to. What was stopping me from keeping him was…fear. If I let myself care about this mutt, what happens when he’s gone? Because bad things happen and things you love get taken away from you. So I’m keeping him, but I’m not going to get all emotionally invested in a dog. I know he’s not really mine.
“He needs a home,” I say to Lilly with a breezy grin. “Look at that ugly face. Who else would want him?”
Her eyebrows raise and her lips pucker, making me think of kissing her. My body almost leans forward with the urge to do that. I force myself to stay lounging in my chair, a smirk on my face.
“You’re such a jerk,” she says mildly. She looks down. “You’re not ugly,” she comforts Otis. “You’re adorable.” She lifts her gaze to meet mine again. “Well, whatever the reason, I’m glad you are.”
“I’m probably going to regret it.” I roll my eyes. “He’s already destroyed one shoe, several socks, and a leather glove.”
She grimaces. “Ouch. But that’s your fault.”
“What? How is that my fault?”
Her lips twitch. “If you’re a responsible dog owner, you keep those things out of his reach.”
“Little bastard,” I mutter, knowing she’s right.
“Does he have lots of toys to chew on?”
“I bought a few things. He could probably use more.”
“We can stop at the dollar store on our way back and pick up some things. There’s one a couple blocks down Columbus.”
My eyebrows fly up.
“Just looking out for Otis,” she says with an eye roll.
She’s making sure I don’t get any wrong ideas about this. Little does she know, it’s too late. My ideas about her are very, very wrong.
Chapter 7
Lilly