Lady's Man

Lady's Man Read Free Page B

Book: Lady's Man Read Free
Author: Tanya Anne Crosby
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the buff.”
    Annie’s face warmed.
    Thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice the blush that crept into her cheeks. He stopped where he stood on the stairs and took handfuls of the skin around Lady’s muzzle, massaging it thoroughly—as though he somehow knew it was her favorite way to be petted. “Pretty girl,” he cooed, shifting his gaze to Annie, lingering a long, awkward instant before returning his attention to her dog.
    It was a perfectly harmless glance, but his gentle smile and something about the way he was stroking Lady’s fur made Annie’s face burn a little hotter.
    She watched the muscles in his forearm flex while he stroked her dog and unwelcome images materialized in her head.
    “What’s her name?”
    “Jesus!”
    His head shot up. “Jesus?”
    Annie swiped her palm on her thigh. “Uh, no, Lady.”
    He smiled knowingly and returned his attention to her dog.
    Little doggie ho.
    He spent an inordinately long time paying attention to her traitor dog, rustling her hair, massaging her, petting her, cooing to her and somehow it only served to annoy Annie all the more. Finally, he peered up at her and said, “Amazing animal. I’ve always wanted a Lab. You can see real intelligence in those big brown eyes.”
    Lady wagged her tail, shamelessly loving the attention and not quite ready to be dismissed. He came all the way up the stairs, but his hand remained on the top of Lady’s head, fingers caressing and for just an instant Annie experienced a ridiculous pang of envy.
    When was the last time a man had touched her so gently? Geez, her dog was getting more action than she was!
    “Here you go… ” He reached out and handed her a cashier’s check. “As promised.”
    Annie sat up and took the check, inspecting it. “Seriously?”
    “We had a deal, right?”
    “Well, yeah, but that was fast!”
    “I worked it for you,” he said, winking again and before Annie could ask him if he had an affectation with his eye, he turned to leave, heading back downstairs. “You’re making out like a bandit,” he announced as he descended. “So don’t waste the entire week holed up in your room just to avoid me.” And the last thing he said before closing the door was, “Lady’s not the only one who needs a little sunshine!”
    At the top of the stairs, Lady stared after him and then once the door closed she turned those big brown eyes on Annie.
    Annie narrowed her eyes at her dog. “What does he know?”
    Lady continued staring, those dark, soulful eyes seeming far too knowing, and Annie slammed her book shut and set it down on the armrest.
    “I should have named you Benedict! Do you know who Benedict Arnold is?”
    Lady whined, swishing her tail nervously on the wooden floor.
    “He was a traitor,” she informed her dog. “Just like someone we know.”
    Seriously, what could some guy she just met know about her outdoor habits?
     
                            
     
    On the way back from the bank, Annie kept peering into her rearview mirror to see what he saw. Her skin wasn’t exactly tawny, but she didn’t look like a vampire either. She was still bristling over the insult when she returned to the house to find him hauling a hose into the back yard. Her instinct was to keep driving, but since the road ended abruptly in approximately one hundred feet and he’d already spotted her, she didn’t intend to prove his point.
    She wasn’t compelled to avoid him.
    She didn’t even know him! Why on Earth would he think that? Just because he’d treated her to the full Monty didn’t mean she couldn’t be an adult and put it out of her mind.
    However, the problem, precisely, was that she was an adult and it had been way too long since she’d seen a naked man—and maybe never one quite so generously endowed.
    Damn it.
    He stopped and waited for her to pull into the driveway and get out of the car and Lady bolted to his side the instant Annie opened the car door.
    “Turncoat,” Annie

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