Read Online What I Love About You by Rachel Gibson - Free Book Online

such chaos lay on his back in front of her, paws in the air, fast asleep. The wine racks lining the room from floor to ceiling were empty except for one bottle of Johnnie Walker. The room was just wide enough for Natalie to kneel next to Charlotte, and the hard floor chilled her bare knees. She brushed a strand of hair from her daughter’s wet cheek. “Come on, baby.”
    Charlotte shook her head. “I love Spa-ky.”
    “I know, but I’m sure Mr. Junger loves him, too,” she lied. “And he loves Mr. Junger.”
    “We could share Sparky.”
    Natalie looked over her shoulder and up. Way up into his Hollywood-handsome face and eyes, cool and watchful. “Share a dog?” She didn’t even try and keep the aggravation she felt from punctuating her words. “Like parents share kids?”
    “Why not?”
    Because she didn’t want to share a dog. Because he was devious, and she was sure she’d end up with it full-time. “Do you have kids?”
    “No.”
    She supposed that answer was obvious given his interaction with her child.
    “Yeah.” Charlotte nodded as she looked up at the neighbor. “Like Mama shares me with Nana and Papa.”
    Every other weekend, Charlotte stayed with Michael’s parents across the lake. Regardless of Natalie’s relationship with their son, Charlotte was their only grandchild and they loved her.
    “Pleeeeasse, Mama. I’ll be weally good and eat all my celery and carrots.”
    “ Re ally good.” Natalie returned her attention to her daughter and corrected Charlotte’s habit of dropping random R’s.
    “ Re ally good,” Charlotte repeated, all pitiful and heartbroken. “Rrrr-weally good.”
    “Okay.” She sighed, giving in to her child’s heartbreak. “We’ll take the dog every other weekend.”
    “I was thinking half the time. Fifty-fifty.”
    Of course he was. “We’re not home during the day.” She grabbed a part of the empty wine rack and stood. “So, every other weekend and Wednesday night on our free week.”
    “Tuesday and Thursday nights on your free week.”
    She frowned because she was going to make a deal with the devil. A devil that smelled like soap and a cool breeze against warm skin.
    “I’ll throw in the food.”
    “Every other weekend. Tuesday and Thursday nights, and you pay for the first vet visit.”
    “I’ll buy him toys,” Charlotte threw in as if she had her own bank account.
    He grinned and stuck out his hand. “Deal.”
    This wasn’t exactly what she’d planned when she’d walked over earlier, and she wasn’t quite sure how she’d ended up with part-time custody of the neighbor’s dog. She slid her hand in his. His hot palm heated up her cooler skin and the pulse at the base of her wrist. If Charlotte hadn’t been kneeling at her feet, Natalie might have forgotten that she didn’t like Blake Junger. That he was arrogant and pushy. Not to mention rude and foulmouthed and judgmental. And those were just the qualities she knew from her few brief encounters. She might forget all that and wonder what it would be like to slide up his chest and smell his skin on the side of his neck. “I expect that dog to be house-trained by Wednesday.”
    His throat moved as he swallowed. “Tuesday.” The word whispered between them like a heated ribbon. It brushed her cheek and slid beneath the collar of her coat.
    “Yeah!” Charlotte stood and wrapped her arms around Natalie’s waist. “I got half a dog.”
    Natalie laughed without humor because there was nothing funny about having half a dog. Nothing funny about lust tickling her skin and making her tingle. Nothing funny about wondering what it would be like if Blake Junger did something to satisfy all those tingles.
    He’d been stuck with the dumbest dog on the planet. Blake folded his arms across his chest and stared at the puppy tangled up in the purple leash Charlotte Cooper had provided to match his collar. The leash was wrapped around the puppy’s legs and body and wound around the lone branch of the