I forced a laugh. “No, sir. Not afraid at all.”
My eyes swung to Chuck, who lifted his brows, then focused back on Cap. “I think it would be good for Flash to actually bond with one of the guys.”
Captain Adams tried to hide his smile, but failed. “I agree. And since Ward here isn’t afraid of a little challenge, take him home with you when your shift ends. Bond with him so he trusts you.”
I swallowed hard. “I thought the station dog stayed at…the station?”
Captain Adams looked at me and frowned. “You not up for the challenge?”
I lifted my hands. “No. I mean I’ll gladly take him home, sir. And…um…bond with the little guy.”
Flash started jumping on me.
Captain Adams pointed to him. “First thing is to get him to stop jumping. I’m tired of the little son-of-a-bitch all over me every day.”
I reached down for Flash and said, “No! Bad dog. Sit.”
Flash did just that. I straightened and looked at the beast. Hell. This is going to be easy. The dog’s already listening to me.
“See. He likes you already,” Cap said with a laugh. “Let’s try something new with this one. He’s your partner for the next four months.”
My legs about buckled out from under me. “Four months? Sir?”
“Train up, Ward. This is your special project.”
Once he’d walked off, I turned back to Chuck. “What in the hell was that? You totally set me up for that.”
He laughed. “Please. You don’t think I know about you snooping around asking about Rory Adams? Tell me someone finally told you she’s the captain’s daughter.”
Scrubbing my hands down my face, I gave him a pained expression. “You set me up.”
“Hell yeah I did. I’ve been doing this shit for too long to be stuck with another fucking puppy. The whole taking-him-home thing was Cap’s idea, and I have to say, his choosing you to do it tells me things don’t look to good for you, son. I don’t think he likes you all that much.”
Groaning, I dropped my head and silently cursed.
I was fucked. In more ways than one. But not in the way I wanted—or by the girl I wanted, but would no doubt never have.
—
“Flash!” I yelled out as my arm was practically yanked from my body.
“No! Walk! Walk, boy!”
I was two seconds from dropping the damn dog’s leash as he pulled me through the Fens on the way home.
Oh, just take the dog home. Bond with him. What the fuck! I began to hate Captain Adams with a passion as I watched the damn dog make a beeline for a female jogger.
Shit. This is not going to turn out good.
“Stop! Flash, no! Bad dog. Bad. Boy!”
The girl stopped running and dropped down, right in time for Flash to slam into her, knock her back on her ass, and cover her with sloppy kisses.
“Shit! I’m so sorry, he’s a puppy and I’m trying to train him.”
“Flash! Baby boy, hello!”
The world stopped and my heart jumped to my throat.