“All right, you two, let’s get you some treats, and back into your crates you go.”
“Jeff?”
My heart seized the moment I heard her voice.
Fuck.
I turned to see Ari standing there. She was glancing between me and the dogs. I had to push down the urge to walk up to her and kiss her. She was so beautiful. So I did what I always did. Called her the nickname she hated more than anything.
“Hey, Squirt. How’s it going?”
Her eye twitched, but this time she didn’t lash out at me like normal. “It’s going. What are you doing here?”
I opened Hank’s crate and ushered him in. “I’m putting a dog in a crate—what does it look like?”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. “No, I mean why are you here?”
I shrugged. “I volunteer here every now and then.”
“You do?” she asked, shocked as hell. “I didn’t know you liked dogs.”
Not responding, I started over for the hose. Might as well fill up everyone’s water while I’m here trying to avoid telling Ari she looked hot as fucking hell.
“I already did that, like an hour ago.”
“Well, I’m doing it again.”
Ari opened her mouth to protest but stopped herself. That was a new one. Usually she would go on and on about how she had already taken care of this or that and how I could be doing something better with my time. Maybe she wasn’t in the mood to argue with me.
“How long have you been volunteering here?”
“A few months.”
She followed behind me. “Did you know I volunteered here too?”
I stopped and glanced at her from over my shoulder. “No kidding. I didn’t know.”
Her brow raised. “Ellie didn’t tell you?”
I laughed. “What, do you think I’m stalking you, Ari?”
Her shoulders slumped slightly, and I felt like a total jerk. “No, no, of course not. I’ll let you go.”
When she turned to walk away, I cursed under my breath. I was fucking stalking her, and I must have made her feel like a fool. “Ari?”
She looked back at me. “I did know you volunteered here. Ellie mentioned it not too long ago.”
Liar, liar. She told me the very same day you signed up, and I rushed to sign up as well.
Her eyes widened slightly, and she nibbled on her lower lip for a few seconds before letting out a small chuckle. “That’s crazy we both volunteer here. When do you normally come?”
“Depends. Lately it’s been Tuesdays, sometimes Fridays.”
There went that goddamn smile of hers. “That’s when I come!” She quickly shrugged her excitement away. “I mean, those two days. I can’t believe we haven’t seen each other before.”
I was going to make sure at least twice a month I would show up a little early so we would accidentally run into each other.
“Yeah. Hard to believe.” Not really. I’m actually stalking you, Ari, because I secretly want to kiss you and drag you back to my truck and do things to you I shouldn’t want to do to you.