Texas Wedding

She loved the mischievous sparkle in his hazel eyes. Those eyes—with their green and brown and amber flecks—were almost hypnotizing.

“I don’t remember you asking me for a date. The last I remember is my offer to cook for you. What? You don’t like my cooking?”

Shane smiled and picked up one of the Tailgater sliders. He took a bite and chewed. AJ couldn’t help herself, her gaze dropped to his lips and for a moment, she lost herself, wondering if they tasted as good as they looked.

But then he swallowed the bite, and her gaze skittered back up to meet his. Their eyes locked.

“If today is any indication of your talents, I’m fairly certain I’ll fall in love with your cooking. But why don’t we start with a first date?”

Chapter Four

Shane couldn’t remember the last time he’d asked a woman out on a date. Sure, he’d enjoyed his fair share of feminine company over the years, but as far as asking someone out... It had been a long time since the traditionalist he’d claimed to be had surfaced as it had today.

The folded half napkin she’d written her number on was in his front right pocket. After he unlocked his truck and slid behind the wheel he reached in his pocket and took it out again.

The leather seats were warm, the heat penetrating through the legs of his jeans. Still, he sat there for a moment gazing at the black ink on the napkin, the numbers that would connect him to AJ.

But before that could happen, he had to get home and get the smell of barbecue sauce off him before it became his permanent scent.

He tucked away her phone number in the car’s console, turned the ignition key and the engine purred to life.

As the light turned green at the corner, he noticed that the hoodlums who were hanging out earlier were gone. However, right before Shane accelerated to get through the intersection, the same dog he’d seen loping through traffic as he walked to the square darted in front of his car.

He slammed on the brakes just in time, narrowly missing the mutt.

Did that family have a death wish for their dog? Surely, they didn’t. Maybe the animal was the crafty sort that got out despite their efforts to contain him, a regular Houdini.

Or maybe he was just an animal with wanderlust who hated to be confined. He could relate to that.

Shane pulled over and got out. He couldn’t just let the dog wander. No, the least he could do was see the dog home safely. Maybe the boys hadn’t closed the back gate or had inadvertently let him out as they started a new game of ball. Whatever the case, Shane decided, he would hand the dog over to an adult who would look after the creature.

By the time Shane got to the sidewalk, the dog was trotting along about thirty yards ahead. Shane whistled and to his surprise, the mutt turned and sprinted back to him.

The smelly animal jumped up on Shane’s legs, licking at the stain on the front of his shirt.

“Down, boy! Sit.” Shane put up a knee to discourage the jumping. Surprisingly, the dog obeyed and lowered himself to his haunches, calmly panting and looking up at Shane.

“We need to get you home before you get hurt.” He tested the dog’s demeanor by holding out his closed hand, which the dog sniffed and then licked. Shane gave him a few strokes, and then took a hold of the mutt’s collar, which, he noticed, had no tags. The good-natured animal trotted alongside Shane the entire two blocks to the house where he’d seen the boys shooting hoops. They weren’t in the driveway anymore. So Shane guided the dog up the bricked path onto the porch where he rang the doorbell.

A man who looked to be in his forties opened the door.

“Excuse me, but your dog has gotten out again,” Shane said. “I almost hit him. I don’t want him to get hurt.”

The man looked confused and shook his head. “That’s not my dog. We don’t have any pets. Wife’s allergic.”

Shane looked from the man to the dog then back again to the man. “But I saw your boys playing with him out in the driveway earlier this afternoon.”

“Must be a stray,” the man answered.

“Dad, who is it?” called a young voice. Seconds later, the smaller of the two boys he’d seen earlier with the dog poked his head around the doorjamb and looked at him. The boy reached out and petted the animal. The dog whined and panted appreciatively.

“Greg, don’t touch that animal.”

“Aww, but he’s a nice dog, Dad.”

“Yeah, I hear you and your brother were playing with him this afternoon. What have I told you about touching strays? They could have rabies. Now, go wash your hands.”

The boy mumbled something under his breath that Shane couldn’t hear, then disappeared from the doorway, leaving Shane and the dad face-to-face.

“If he’s not yours, do you know who he belongs to?” Shane asked. “I hate to see him running loose out there. That won’t do anyone any good.”

“That’s for sure. But sorry, I’ve never seen the mutt before. Maybe you can take him to animal control.”

“I’d hate to have to do that. You know what happens to animals there.”

“Wish I could help you, but...” The man shrugged again, then shut the door, leaving Shane and the dog on the porch.

“Now what are we going to do?” Shane asked the dog.

He let go of the collar to adjust his grip and was surprised when the dog didn’t sprint away. Instead, the animal sat down next to him, leaning his weight possessively against Shane’s leg and staring up at him with soulful brown eyes.

Since the sun would set in a couple of hours and Shane was coming up short on leads as to who the dog belonged to, there seemed to be only one option.

“You want to come home with me tonight?”

* * *

AJ didn’t expect Shane to call. Not that she was a pessimist, but since he’d been so adamant about taking her number and being the one who called for the date, she suspected it might have been his way of letting her down easy.

She all but snorted to herself. He was the one who’d called it a date. She’d simply offered to make dinner for him as compensation for the misery she and her grandmother had put him through.

She suspected he hadn’t known what he was getting himself into when he’d told Maya he would deliver the chocolates.

That’s why, as she dried the last of the equipment she’d used at the festival, she was more than surprised when her phone rang just after six-thirty, and it was Shane asking about...dog shampoo?

“A stray picked me up on the way home from the food festival,” he said. “It must have been because I smelled like barbecue.”

He laughed and she was glad to know he really did have a good sense of humor. So many guys would have gotten bent out of shape over being splattered with sauce—especially since he hadn’t really gotten to take in much of the festival before it happened.

It occurred to AJ, when applying her qualities-a-man-must-possess list to Shane, she could check off two more items: someone who didn’t take himself too seriously, and someone who was compassionate but masculine. He had to be compassionate if he picked up a stray dog. And masculine...well, all it took was one look at Shane Harrison and his masculinity was as apparent as red paint on a fire hydrant.

She paused, drying her wet hands on a dish towel, waiting for a feeling of absurdity to engulf her. But it didn’t. Maybe it was because he was the one who had brought up the possibility of having a date—and he had actually followed through on calling. In the same night, no less—even if it was to ask about dog shampoo. Actually, because of this, she didn’t feel quite as ridiculous dusting off the list and checking off items.

“Any idea if it’s safe to use people shampoo on a dog?” Shane asked. Judging by the noises coming from his end of the line, it sounded as if he were on a headset, like he was calling her as he drove.

Teetering on the edge of uncertainty—and it wasn’t just the shampoo question that made her hesitate—she smiled at the sound of his voice.

“I’m not sure, but I can look it up on my smartphone. Hold on a second.”