She found out why he’d wanted to take that particular route when she arrived to find a beautiful collie on a leash beside him.
“She used to always do my Sunday rides with me,” Craig said as she approached, looking at the gorgeous animal she knew must be Talley. “She’s doing so much better, so I wanted to give her a try today.”
Which was why he’d needed to be in his neighborhood, she surmised. So Talley could be close to home if needed.
“You could have just told me that when you asked if I wanted to ride here again.”
“I didn’t want you to feel like you had to do so...if my area makes you uncomfortable.”
“I don’t feel like I have to do anything where you’re concerned,” she told him. Which was the whole point. He wasn’t going to be that much of an entity in her life...right?
“Hey, Talley,” she said, bending down to the dog, who was wagging her tail at Amelia. “You going to run with us today?” she asked, petting soft fur. Scratching Talley’s neck. And laughing when the dog’s tongue gave one short lick on her cheek.
She really should think more seriously about getting another dog. Tiki had added so much to their lives growing up. And she was settled now, had a place.
The first part of the ride was mostly silent. A few comments on Talley’s ability to keep up, was all. She wanted to ride slower, for the dog’s sake, but Craig kept up their usual pace until Talley showed signs of tiring.
“You did great, girl,” he said, stopping his bike to give the dog a drink from a folding bowl he pulled out of a small pack on the back of his bike. Rubbing her head, her ears, he praised her as she drank.
It was the first time Amelia knew a human being could be jealous of a dog. And of a pat on the head. He was so tender, his hands so gentle, and...
“Do you mind if we stop by my place, drop her off?” he asked as he shook the bowl and put it back into the pack.
“Of course not.” Truth was, she had to pee. She was drinking more as the weather warmed, and having to urinate with more urgency. But going into his home...
Shouldn’t be an issue. They were friendly acquaintances. She trusted him implicitly. So why would it be a problem? He’d been in her home.
She fought with herself for the next block. They were traveling more slowly, for Talley’s sake, and she figured if she could just keep riding she’d be fine. And then asked herself why she didn’t just let herself go so she’d be more comfortable, why she was making herself suffer. She changed the subject back to being fine as long as she kept moving before she could answer herself.
In the end, her needs won out. As he stopped his bike at a three-car garage, next to a gate that led to the back of the property, and bent to unleash Talley, she asked him if she could use the restroom.
Of course he was immediately hospitable, letting the dog into the backyard, and taking Amelia into a laundry room not far from the back gate. Washer and dryer matched. And were clean. There were no clothes hanging on the bar in between the machines. Cupboards hung above them, holding the bar on either side.
“There’s a bathroom right here,” he said, showing her a door right outside the laundry room.
It was stupid to feel embarrassed for having to relieve a bodily function. Everyone did it. Even Craig. And he was a doctor. Bodily functions were all in a day’s work to him. He could probably tell her what parts went together, worked together to...
She was out of there as quickly as she could make it happen.
Craig wasn’t standing nearby, thank God, and she went back outside, thinking she could play with Talley until he returned. She’d been right to refuse herself a bathroom visit. Being inside Craig’s home was messing with her. Getting her all emotional and worried and het up and uncomfortable and...wanting more from him than she knew she needed.
No. She shook her head. Not wanting. Not really. She’d never been like this before, so easily aroused, sexually and otherwise, around anyone. Not even Mike. Not even in the beginning.
Talley was nowhere to be seen, but with more than an acre of trees in front of her, she wasn’t all that surprised. Still, Talley had been tired, not likely to go play in the trees. It only took her a couple of seconds of looking to see the doggy door that led into the house farther down. Into a room she hadn’t seen. One Talley was welcome to enter.
“There you are...”
She spun as Craig came out the same door they’d entered through. “I was going to ask you if you’d like something to drink. Since we’re here. I’ve got a fresh stash of juice.”
She was going to say no, of course. She couldn’t accept his hospitality. Seemed too personal.
While she fought with herself, her hormones answered for her. “I’d like that, thank you.” It was rude to just leave the man standing there.
“You want to come inside?” He held the door.
She shook her head instantly. Brusquely. “I’ll wait out here. It’s lovely...all those trees.”
He stood there for a second, studying her, and then went back inside.