he could tell she wasn’t cut out for an occasional romp in the sack. He sensed an underlying vulnerability in Sunny that brought out his protective streak. Did he still want to get involved with her and chance being played for a sucker again? Did he want to take things any further?
He was still paying for the mess Marla had made in his life. His and Jay’s. He wasn’t ready to jump back into something serious. Jay was his first priority.
But something about Sunny Outlaw Payton—
Oh, hell, McKee. You’d better cut and run while you have the chance.
ON TUESDAY MORNING, SUNNY followed her usual routine: a quick breakfast, paperwork, then a visit to the nearby animal shelter. She loved animals, but with her schedule, she’d never felt comfortable having more than Sadie, her nine-year-old cat. Sadie had been a feral kitten she’d saved from euthanasia, and the small Siamese mix still spent most of her time under Sunny’s bed or in some other secret hiding spot. Sometimes the only way she was sure she really had a cat was when the food and water disappeared. She’d tried to adopt another cat, hoping Sadie would adjust better with a companion. It had been a disaster, and the second cat had ended up with a friend to prevent it from being totally traumatized.
Sunny loved dogs. She always had, but living in the apartment above the café, combined with dreadful working hours and Sadie’s temperament, wasn’t conducive to having a dog. She’d tried that once, too. Sadie had terrified the poor little mutt and had shredded her couch, so Sunny re-covered the couch and found another home for the pup. Now she volunteered at the animal shelter for a couple of hours a week. She walked dogs and played with them and tried not to get too attached. Dogs that were there on one Tuesday often were gone by the next.
Annabelle, a permanent employee, gave her a new dog to walk. A beautiful, mostly German shepherd about three years old, he was extremely well behaved.
Sunny squatted down and scratched his ruff. “You’re a beauty, sir. How did you come to be here?”
“Somebody was moving out of the country and couldn’t take him,” Annabelle said. “A real shame.”
“We need to find you a good home, boy.”
Maybe Ben’s son would like to have a dog. Or maybe he already had one. She’d have to ask. If she ever saw Ben again. He hadn’t called or dropped by for lunch the day before, but he’d probably been busy.
Had he been disappointed in their date?
No, she told herself. Don’t go there. If he asked her out again, fine. If not, that was fine, too. No big deal.
BEN HELD OUT UNTIL THURSDAY. Sunny had been on his mind most of the time. And a sudden cold snap made it a great day for chili. He stopped by about half past twelve, and it seemed as if half the people in town had the same idea. The place was packed.
He didn’t even see Sunny. He looked around the crowd, trying to spot an empty place. Some lanky college kid in a red shirt pointed him at a table for two behind a post, and another one brought tea and took his order. He finally glimpsed her behind the bar pulling a tray of drafts. He tried to catch her attention. Tried, hell, he practically stood on the table and flagged her. She smiled and nodded toward him, then said something to a waitress and motioned his way before she hoisted the tray and went off to deliver the beer to the other room. The waitress came over and filled his tea glass, and that was the last he saw of Sunny except for a fleeting glance of her back now and then.
Damn.
Against his better judgment, Ben had planned on asking her out again. He spent a long time over his lunch, but he was finally forced to pay up and leave. He had to get back to work. Once the crowd had thinned out, he’d been tempted to ask for her, but his pride had gotten in his way.
Guess he wasn’t the only one who had reservations about their getting involved. He’d thought their date had turned out well. She’d seemed to be enjoying herself, but maybe he’d misread the situation because for sure she was treating him like a leper today. Marla had called him a loser more than once. Maybe Sunny was looking for somebody more exciting than he was.
Damn.
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