“I know you. If you care for her at all, you won’t step over any lines. What’s the problem?”
“She’s Amish.” From the startled look on Colin’s face followed by a look of empathy, Mitch knew he understood without anything else being said. With the exception of Colin preferring a full-time sub and Mitch preferring a submissive woman for sex only, their proclivities ran along the same lines.
“Oh shit,” Colin muttered in heartfelt sympathy.
“Yeah, my sentiments exactly. Let’s go whip your brother’s asses in cards.”
“Works for me.”
Chapter Nine
“Oh! No, no, Roxy. Outside!” Hannah picked up the puppy in midstream and carried the bundle of curly, cream colored fur out the back door so she could finish her business outside. “Bad girl, Roxy.” Adorable black eyes stared woefully up at her and for the millionth time since bringing the poodle/lab mix home from Anna‘s veterinary clinic yesterday, Hannah felt herself cave. “I know, baby, you’re trying. But if you don’t try harder, I’m going to lose my business before I even get it started. Now,” she told her as she picked her up again, “time for you to take a nap and me to work.”
Hannah carried the already twenty pound three month old puppy back inside and put her in her crate next to her desk. She hated the crate, but Hannah knew she wouldn’t get anything done today, just like yesterday, if she didn’t keep Roxy contained for an hour or two. Resuming her seat at the computer, her back to the sad look on Roxy’s face, she once again pulled up the pictures she had taken of Melanie last week. Here it was Tuesday already, and she had only managed to edit half of them. Of course, she couldn’t blame all of the delay on getting Roxy. Spending the rainy morning on Saturday baking brownies, followed by spending the rainy afternoon having the best sex of her life, followed by hours of sexual torment that could only be described as frustratingly awesome then accumulating with another bout of mind-blowing sex the next day had to account for some of the blame. She did manage to get started yesterday as well as meet with a new client, but then got distracted by the call from Anna. Was it her fault poor Roxy had been the unwanted runt of a litter as well as unloved because her deformed leg had to be amputated? It was love at first sight, something Anna predicted, but Hannah had never had a puppy before, and she found the last twenty-four hours almost as challenging and rewarding as the hours she spent with Mitch over the weekend.
Getting Roxy had been a much needed diversion from her roiling, conflicting emotions and thoughts about entering into their affair. Unfortunately, the ‘what ifs’ were sneaking their way back into her subconscious and threatening her concentration. When she first approached Mitch for sex, she had done so with the idea it would be a one-time, curiosity filling encounter. But instead that encounter fueled the need for another and then another. Mitch’s ultimatum took all those decisions from her and she had been grateful for the reprieve. She hadn’t realized she would have to deal with the stress of growing feelings for her neighbor. She couldn’t put a name to how she felt about Mitch, she only knew that it was slowly developing into something more than friendship. She worried that soon Mitch would tire of her, especially of her inexperience. She knew she couldn’t hold his interest for long. A man of forty had been around, knew what he liked and wanted, as opposed to someone like her who had absolutely no idea about what she liked or wanted. She felt as if she was on a slow journey of discovery with a seasoned traveler who preferred a faster pace and riskier adventures. What she didn’t know was how long she had before he was ready to move on and or what she could possibly do to keep his interest as long as possible.
Hannah resolutely shoved aside worries she couldn’t deal with right now and clicked on the next row of pictures. These were taken on the walkway spanning between the annual flower beds and the then closed Home Fruit and Nut Tree garden. A flash in the trees interrupted the background of one shot. In the next one the rude couple who had slipped around the barrier could be seen in the shadows behind Melanie. She had no idea what the flash was but would try to edit it and the couple out of the pictures before deleting them. By late afternoon she had twenty really good pictures put up on her website and sent Melanie an e-mail. Shutting off her computer, she pushed back from her desk and looked for Roxy whom she had released from captivity over an hour ago. “Oh, darn,” she muttered when she saw the puppy was nowhere in sight. Well, she sighed in resignation, at least dealing with whatever shenanigans the dog had been up to will keep her mind off the disappointment that was creeping insidiously past her barriers over the fact she hadn’t heard from Mitch in two days. Feelings like that had no place in the relationship she had agreed to, at least that’s what she kept telling herself.
By Thursday evening, Hannah was a physical and emotional wreck. Her little furry bundle from hell had chewed the left shoe of both pairs of her sneakers, chewed a hole in her bedspread, gnawed on Aunt Mary’s antique dining table legs, piddled and pooped in every room in the house, most of the time just after coming in from outside and managed to jump up onto a kitchen chair with only one hind leg and eat half of an applesauce spice cake. An hour later, the little darling had thrown up the entire wad and she had rushed her to Anna’s clinic in tears, worried she was deathly ill. Thankfully, Anna had laughed away her concerns, shoved a pill down poor Roxy’s throat to settle her stomach and promised Hannah the puppy stage didn’t last long. Her advice for the sleepless nights was to crate her at night, but Hannah still couldn’t bring herself to do that despite how tired she was.
She did crate her when she went on another photo shoot with her first engaged couple, but it bothered her so much thinking of her in that cage that she had vowed to get her some training so she could bring her to work with her. Anna had given her information on puppy classes and they start next week.
Between work and puppy turmoil, Hannah still managed to think about sex and Mitch, Mitch and sex about every other minute. His silence since last Sunday hadn’t put a damper on her fantasies, fantasies that kept alive the constant, lustful need Mitch had inspired since their first meeting. An aching need that hadn’t been dented by the multiple orgasms she enjoyed four days ago. Her emotions were all over the place concerning his silence. One minute she was grateful that he was keeping their encounters to weekend dalliances with no other involvement and the next she found herself missing him, wishing he would pop over on any pretext just so she could see him and reconfirm her reaction to him. It was that second thought that was making her irritable this evening.
Well, that and the fact she couldn’t find Roxy anywhere. Again. She had followed Hannah into Aunt Mary’s bedroom, but when she emerged from the closet after spending thirty minutes struggling to find a pair of jeans that fit her, it was to discover the little minx had disappeared, and that meant trouble. “Roxy!” she called for the tenth time as she looked behind furniture and in every corner to no avail. This was her fault, she admitted as she checked the bathtub. If she hadn’t been thinking of Mitch, hadn’t decided that the next time she saw him she wanted to be wearing something other than her skirt and blouse, then her baby wouldn’t be missing, getting into God knows what mischief. The sound of the doorbell was an unwelcome distraction but, since she was right there, she answered it with the intention of getting rid of whoever it was quickly. That decision died an instant death when she opened the door to see Mitch on her front porch.
To avoid berating himself for his weakness where Hannah was concerned, Mitch had been praising himself for the last ten minutes for being able to hold out for over four days before seeking her out again. When she opened the door looking flushed, irritated and frustrated, her hair coming loose from its braid, bare foot and wearing a snug pair of jeans, he felt a strange tightness in his chest and knew his plan to keep this affair a temporary fling had just been blown to hell. “Having a bad day sweetheart?” he asked thinking how fond he was becoming of that disheveled look.
“I can’t find Roxy.” Ignoring the heat pooling low in her stomach at the sight of him as well as the elation sweeping through her at seeing him again, Hannah turned and called out for Roxy again.
“Who’s Roxy?” Mitch closed the door behind him as he followed her, trying to ignore the way her tight jeans showcased her world class ass. He didn’t know she owned anything but her plain skirts and blouses, but his fantasies had been spot on. She looked fantastic in tight deni
m.
“The spawn of Satan, otherwise called a Labradoodle.”
Mitch heard the worry and the threat of tears in her voice and knew she had grown fond of the dog even though she couldn’t have had her more than a few days and he sensed it had been a stressful few days. He spotted a Housetraining for Dummies book on one end table and Puppies for Dummies on another as he pitched in, calling for the dog then pushing her sofa out when she tried to look behind it. “What color is the little spawn?”
“Cream. She’s curly, and soft, and has big black eyes. Thanks,” she told him when he moved the sofa for her. It was nice of him to help her, she thought even as she was wondering what brought him over in the middle of the week. Not that she wasn’t happy to see him, just curious as well as hopeful that he was ready to deliver on another night of sexual surprises.
Mitch smiled at her description. “Sounds cute. Where haven’t you looked?”
“My office and the basement.” Hannah hated going down into the unfinished basement and never ventured there unless it was time to do laundry. Taking her office first, she led the way, hoping Mitch didn’t comment on the mess.
There was a small crate, dog toys strewn on the floor and a water bowl as well as three more books for Dummies; Photoshop, photography and digital photography. “Hannah, sweetheart, is there a Dummies book you don’t have?”
“I don’t think so,” she mumbled absently, completely missing the humor in his tone. “She’s not here. That leaves the basement.”
A small yip echoing up the stairs as they started down sent her flying the rest of the way. “Roxy!”
“Hold on, Hannah,” Mitch said as he followed her into the laundry room and they heard a pitiful cry coming from behind the dryer. Shoving the machine out, he bent and picked up the furry, squirming bundle. A wet tongue swiping his face was his thanks before Hannah snatched her out of his hands.
“Bad dog, Roxy. Bad, bad girl,” Hannah scolded her as she rained kisses on her nose, returning her affection. “Thank you, Mitch. I’m sorry; I didn’t ask what you needed. I assume you came over for a reason.”
Mitch slung his arm around Hannah and led her back upstairs into the kitchen. He didn’t know how much Anna told her about the puppy’s lineage, but he didn’t have the heart right now to tell Hannah she was going to need a bigger crate. One look at that dog’s paws and he knew Hannah wasn’t going to be carrying her around for long. There was a large pot still steaming hotly sitting on the stove, the smell making his stomach growl loudly, reminding him he hadn’t eaten since lunch. “I wanted to ask you out to dinner Saturday night. I figure I owe you after all the times you’ve fed me, and maybe,” he added as he walked over and saw it was beef stew on the stove, “get a bowl of this?”
Hannah closed the door to the cellar, replying, “Of course, help yourself,” as she pondered his invitation. She was thrilled he wanted to take her out even though she knew she was risking heartbreak. After the way she had been pining to see him again these past few days, she had a feeling their relationship, and her feelings, were going to go there whether she was ready for them to or not. Before she could think it to death, she quickly gave him her answer. “And I’d love to go to dinner with you Saturday.”