This is Effortless (Checkmate Duet 4)

“Oh, shit,” Courtney mutters as soon as she opens the front door. I can tell she’s not really angry by the concerned tone in her voice. “Buddy, what did you do?”

I step around her and see what she’s referring to. Fluff from inside of his dog bed is all over the floor from the door all the way to the living room. The outside layer of the bed is also in pieces and spread around like a fertilizer machine got ahold of it.

I groan, dropping my keys on the table. So much for getting him out of my damn bed.

“Buddy!” I shout and Courtney’s eyes fly up to mine.

“Babe, don’t be mad. He probably doesn’t even know what he did wrong.” She tries to calm me down, but I’m more than annoyed that he destroyed it in less than an hour of buying it.

“Well, I’m a little mad. We bought him like a hundred chew toys and his bed is the one thing he decides to chew up?”

“Maybe it had a weird odor or something that he didn’t like. I’m sure he thought he was just playing.”

I turn my head and roll my eyes because I know that’s a load of shit. She loves him and is trying to make excuses and I can’t even be that mad knowing how much she wants me to love him, too.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart.” I kiss the top of her head. “I’ll go grab the vacuum.”

Courtney takes Buddy outside while I vacuum up the mess. He’s also afraid of the loud noise and the first time we brought it out, he freaked out and peed on the floor. We learned the hard way to take him outside beforehand.

Once it’s all cleaned up, I meet Courtney and Buddy outside where she’s throwing him one of the new toys we just bought. Buddy’s running around, happy as can be. Courtney’s smiling and praising him each time he catches it and brings it back. It’s hard to be mad when she looks so damn happy, something I know she’s been struggling with ever since we got back from Vegas.

“Perhaps it’s time to get a bigger bed instead,” I tell her.

“Really?” she squeals. “You don’t want to get rid of him?”

I furrow my brows and reach for her hand so I can pull her closer to me. “Of course not. He’s still a work in progress. We’ll figure it out, and for now, if you both feel safer and more comfortable with him in the bed, then we’ll make it work.”

She looks up at me and smiles wide. “I love you. Thank you.” Wrapping her arms around my neck, she pulls our faces together and presses a deep kiss against my lips.

“I love you, too, sweetheart. Quirks and all.” I smile back down at her as she chuckles. “Now, let’s go take him for a walk so he actually sleeps tonight. I plan to do some not-so-nice things to you later.” I lower my hand down her back and slap her ass. She yelps out in surprise and scolds me for spanking her in front of the dog. “I plan to do a lot more than that in front of him if he decides not to sleep tonight, so let’s go.”

“Yes, sir,” she says, mocking me with a salute. “But now that Travis mentioned a second dog…”

“Don’t even think about it,” I warn, cutting her off as soon as I hear her words. “Maybe we can get a plant and see if we can keep that alive first before adding any more members to our home.”

She laughs, squeezing my hand. “Okay, deal.”

CHAPTER NINE

COURTNEY

Friday morning arrives much too soon, and I’m already dreading the entire day. I don’t know if I’m more nervous about seeing her face to face or just the fact that we have to stand in front of a judge and explain why we need a permanent restraining order. Even though Jake will be doing most of the talking on our behalf, I can’t keep the nerves away.

“Ready?” Drew asks, adjusting his tie and looking adorable as hell in his dress slacks and button-down shirt. He’s even wearing black dress shoes and everything about him is making me want to strip him down right here and now.

I chew on the inside of my cheek. “No,” I respond bluntly. “I just want to close my eyes and have it all be over.”

He walks toward me, cups my cheeks, and places a soft kiss against my lips. “It’ll be over before we know it.” He flashes a sincere smile, meant to comfort me, but I feel more nervous than before.

Shrugging, I say, “Well, let’s get this over with!”

The next hour goes in slow motion as we arrive at the courthouse, stand with Jake in front of Judge Henderson, and watch as he gets impatient that Mia doesn’t show up. Her attorney arrives late, still chewing on his breakfast. One look at the judge and it’s obvious he’s beyond irritated.