Sugar

Poppy decided to drop the stick and run over to the dog, yipping and jumping, clearly wanting to play with him. Before the man could rein in his canine companion, Poppy and the big, brown shaggy beast started running around together. Sugar couldn’t help but smile, but a look at the stranger just a few feet from her told her he still had a stick up his ass.

“You can relax, you know,” she said with a lighter tone. She didn’t know what was going on in his life. Maybe he’d had a bad day, or was dealing with personal things that made him a cranky asshole. Either way, she didn’t have to have a nasty attitude toward him like he was with her.

Sitting back on the bench and working on her emails again, she could see him out of the corner of her eye. He still stood there stiff as hell, his arms crossed over his broad chest, his back arrow straight. She lifted her head and looked over at him, hoping he didn’t see her checking him out.

For being so rude he was extremely attractive. And for some eye candy she could look past his sour personality.

With broad shoulders and a narrow waist, Sugar had no doubt that he was sporting a defined abdomen under that too-starched shirt. The slacks fit his muscular thighs and ass to perfection.

He glanced over at her and this time he was the one who lifted a brow. She felt her face heat and glanced away.

Busted.

“Maybe I should hire you to train him since it’s clear you’ve got a way with animals.” Although she could’ve taken that as a compliment, his brisk tone made her feel like he was almost talking down to her again.

She looked over at him and smiled as sweetly as she could. “Honey, although I’d love to help you with your animal, I’m not a dog trainer. Animals just know when someone is an asshole.” Sugar smiled, flashing her teeth but holding in her chuckle as she saw his lips purse and his eyes narrow. Nope, he definitely was not used to being talked to this way. Well, good, served him right.

She held her hand out. “The name is Sugar, by the way.” His lips twitched and she knew what he was about to say before he spoke.

“Sugar, as in the condiment?” It was her turn to feel her body stiffen as if she had a stick jammed up her butt.

“That’s right, but don’t let the name fool you.” She grinned wider. “I’m not always as sweet.” She said the last part with a bite in her voice.

“Colton McGuire.” They promptly looked back at the dogs. “My name’s not nearly as interesting as yours,” he said and she saw the way the corner of his mouth lifted up. He looked over at her and all-out grinned this time and she couldn’t help but reciprocate the act. He acted like he had this hard exterior, but she could tell that shell could be broken. Too bad she didn’t have time to chisel away at it.

A relationship was certainly not on her agenda.

2

Colton didn’t know the first thing about dogs and he actually didn’t care for them. He was a busy man and that didn’t give him time to deal with pets of any kind. After his sister’s passing a few months ago, he would’ve been tempted just to let the dog go to a new home. But he knew how much she’d loved the damn thing and he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He and his sister hadn’t gotten along all the time but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to remember her.

“Yeah, you’re so funny,” Sugar said.

She glanced back down at her cell phone and he saw her roll her eyes.

It had been a long time since he’d dealt with a woman. Work always come first and that still hadn’t changed even though his business was one of the best modeling firms in the country. Still, they were hoping to get a deal with an advertising firm and so far, the company wasn’t budging to even suggest a meet, let alone negotiating terms for advertising.

“That fluffy thing is your dog?” he asked.

“Wow, you’re really not a dog person.”

He wasn’t much of a people person if this was how his first time at the dog run was going to go.

“I’m not used to this,” he said. He held his cell phone up. “My work has been my whole life.”

“Why get a dog then?” She didn’t pay him any attention and he found himself drawn to the dark-skinned woman. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a ponytail and she wore a pair of worn jeans, a shirt, and some sneakers. She looked ready for anything or at least anything that came from walking dogs. He wondered how much dog walking paid. The phone she was using was pretty expensive.