What in the hell was he doing coming over here? I had nothing to do with the RV blocking the road. I didn’t have a problem with it, either. I assumed it would be moved shortly and the world would keep turning.
Hero did not need to come over here.
I shot up, pulled Mikey behind the counter, and put him in the cage by the sink. He was up next as soon as I finished with Oscar.
The bell dinged above the door, and I didn’t need to turn around to know who had walked in.
“Sunshine.”
Ugh. His voice was like honey, and it took everything I had to not melt into a puddle right then and there. Oscar stood and barked once.
“Uh, hey,” I called.
I moved to Oscar and patted him on the head. His eyes were trained on Hero, and his tail wagged excitedly. I swear to God, it was like Hero looked like a juicy pork chop to these dogs. Their eyes lit up when they saw him, and they wanted to be right next to that delicious piece of meat.
So did I.
“Sorry about the road.”
“Road?” I asked, feigning ignorance.
“Uh, the big ass RV blocking the road. The whole road.”
“Oh,” I gasped. “I didn’t even know.” Oh, my God. Why in the hell was I acting like a moron who couldn’t see a forty-foot RV in the road?
He tipped his head to the side and smiled. “Yeah, there’s an RV blocking the road. That lady that just came out of here said you knew about it.”
Fucking hell, Pam. “Oh, that RV.” As if a forty-foot RV blocking the road in front of my shop was a normal thing.
“Yeah. The guys will have it out of the way soon. They have to load the bikes onto the trailer and then they’re out of here,” Hero explained.
I nodded as if I actually knew what the heck he was talking about. “Sounds great.” Mikey barked from the cage at my feet and whined.
“Is that Barbara?” Hero called.
I glanced down at Mikey. “Nope. Barb went home yesterday. That’s Mikey raising a ruckus.”
Oscar whined, joining Mikey.
“You kind of got your hands full there, huh?” Hero asked. He moved to the front desk and leaned forward to look at Mikey. “Mind if I pet him?”
“I…uh…well…” I stumbled over my words, and Hero took them as an invitation to come around the counter and crouch down in front of Mikey's cage.
“Aren’t you a handsome guy,” he cooed to Mikey. Mikey pressed his face to the cage and stuck a paw out to Hero. Hero laughed and shook his paw.
Hero had to have a link of pepperoni in his pocket or something. That was about the only way these dogs would be so excited to see him.
“What’s in your pockets?” I blurted out. OH, MY GOD. I just said that. I JUST SAID THAT OUTLOUD.
Hero tipped his head back to me. “Uh, what?”
I shook my head. “It’s pepperoni, right?” As if me asking that was going to clarify why I asked him what was in his pockets? My God. I wished I had the ability to disappear because that would have been pretty handy dandy right now.
Hero stood, and I realized how close he was to me. He put his hands in his pockets and turned them inside out. “Nothing in my pockets, Sunshine. Especially not pepperoni.”
My cheeks heated, and I knew I was turning a bright shade of red. “I was trying to say you must have pepperoni in your pockets since every dog you meet loves you.” There, now I made some kind of sense. Sort of. A little.
Ugh. Hero needed to go because I only seemed to know how to make a fool of myself in front of him.