Going All the Way (7 page)

Chapter Nine

Carrie stared into space for a full minute after Stu left, contemplating everything he said, how desperately he needed her help, and how tempted she was
to help him—to get back on that merry-go-round. And then she remembered Riley. “Oh, no!”

She jumped up and ran toward the dog park, but didn’t see him inside the fence anywhere. Wide-eyed, she turned and hurried toward the pond. Riley was jumping through the water, chasing the ducks, looking absolutely adorable. She immediately took out her camera and started shooting away. He was beautiful. The light was just right. As she moved closer, she overheard a group of mothers.

“Look at that dog, what is he doing in there?”

“What kind of owner lets their dog run loose in the park?”

“Obviously one who can’t manage their dog,” a short brunette pushing a stroller said.

Carrie stiffened, dropped her camera and looked around her. Everyone was staring at Riley.

”Riley, get out of that water!” she yelled, and hurried toward him. He had practically swum the entire length of the pond. All the ducks were in a frenzy. Kids were scared and crying, and now everyone was staring at her. Of course they were. She was the one who couldn’
t manage her dog.
“Riley!” she called again. “You have to get out of there right now.”

“What were they thinking, putting a duck pond in the middle of a dog park?” Hands on her hips, she wondered how she was going to get Riley, who was apparently having the time of his life chasing the ducks out of the water.

“The dog park ended over there.” A park ranger, who was suddenly standing next to her, pointed toward the chain link fence. The one Riley had run into. She’d been so deep in the conversation with Stu, she barely remembered when Riley came back out.

“I’m really sorry. I must have missed it,” she said to the officer with a bright smile.

Apparently it was lost on him. “You need to get your dog out of the pond and back on his leash.”

Like she couldn’t figure that out on her own. “Yes, sir,” she said respectfully, and took another step toward the putrid water. “Riley! Get your furry butt over here!”

A mother gasped. Her child giggled. The ranger pulled out his ticket book.

“Riley, come on, please.” She was beginning to whine. Maybe Stu was right. What did she know about dogs? About trying to make a go of it on her own? She was made for the corporate world. Even if it wasn’t good for her? No, she had to find a way to make this work. She wasn’t a quitter, and she didn’t give up over the first obstacle to come along. “Riley!” she called again until finally he came loping out of the water, a big-ass grin on his face, his tail wagging a mile a minute. He ran straight toward her and jumped up on her pants and shirt, making a muddy mess, and then proceeded to lick her face. “Riley! Get down,” she insisted as she clicked the leash onto his collar. But he was so happy, jumping up and down, barking, his tail beating whatever got in its way. She’d never seen him so animated, so…joyful. Her annoyance instantly dissipated.

“You think this is really funny, don’t you?” she asked him.

He jumped up again, his head cocked to the side and looking at her like she was the answer to all his prayers. She couldn’t help grinning like an idiot.

“Chasing the ducks, getting all dirty, getting me all dirty.” She glanced around her and then lowered her voice. “And getting me in trouble.”

She caught a whiff of him and then herself, and grimaced. “Come on, boy. We both need a bath.”

“Ma’am?”

She turned back to the ranger, who promptly handed her a ticket. “Thanks,” she muttered.

The man smiled for what was probably the first time all day. “My pleasure.”

…

Ryan picked up a couple sandwiches from the Italian deli after work and decided to take a chance that Carrie might still be in the park with Riley. As he crossed the street to
the park’s entrance, he was surprised to see Stu pulling out. Stu didn’t seem like the lunch in the park kind of guy, but then he supposed there were a lot of things about his client he didn’t know.

As he got deeper into the park, a ruckus over by the pond stopped him in his tracks. Riley was running out of the water, barreling straight toward Carrie. And boy did she look good in tight-fitting yoga pants and a tee shirt—until Riley jumped on her, almost knocking her over with his exuberance. Ryan swore and hurried toward them as a park ranger handed her a ticket. If he wasn’t careful, he might just lose his dog sitter.

“Ryan, where did you come from?” Carrie said as he ran up. Her eyes widened and she quickly glanced down at Riley and then herself.

“It’s my lunch hour. I thought I’d bring you lunch and check to see how you’
re doing.
”

Riley immediately jumped on him and started barking. “Down, boy,” he said, and petted Riley on the head. He looked down at his work slacks in disgust. “Geez. You smell awful.”

“Oh, boy. You should have known better the moment you saw me.” She gestured toward her muck–sprayed clothes. “I’m afraid he had a little more fun than I had planned.”

He smiled at her. He couldn’t help himself; she was so darned cute with her clothes a mess, a smear of mud on her cheek, and several curls pulled loose haphazardly from her ponytail. “I’m really sorry about this.” Ryan brushed the mud off his clothes. “He should be better behaved.” He gave Riley a stern look.

“I should have kept a better eye on him,” she insisted.

“Okay, we’
re even.
”

“Almost,” she said. He looked at her. “This is for you.” She handed him the ticket. “Obviously that ranger has no sense of humor.”

“Obviously.” He pocketed the ticket. “Come on, let’s get him home. I brought sandwiches.”

“You did?”

He held up the bag and grinned.

“You better make sure Riley doesn’t get ahold of those.” They walked quickly, trying to get Riley back to the house as fast as they could before he caused any more trouble.

“
I don
’t think we should take him inside,” Carrie said as they crossed the street toward their houses.

He thought of her white pristine couches and agreed. “
I have dog shampoo.
”

She smiled. “I have a hose.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Except Riley apparently hated the hose as much as he hated being left outside alone. Once he saw what was happening, he sat on the ground and refused to budge.

“Come on, Riley,” Carrie said, still pulling the leash when Ryan came back outside with the shampoo.

Riley held his ground.

“I think he’s winning,” Ryan said.

“I’ll hold him, you get the hose,” she said

Riley wasn’t going to have any of it. As soon as he saw Ryan pick up the hose, he tried to run back toward the park.

“Riley!” Carrie called and clicked the button on his extension leash, stopping him. She dragged him toward her, the leash tightening to the breaking point. Ryan smothered a laugh at the comical look on Riley’s face—abject fear of the hose and absolute stubbornness.

Ryan hurried to her side and took the leash from her. She ran to Riley and tried to usher the dog toward him. Riley splayed his legs, digging his paws into the grass.

“Come on, Riley!” She wrapped her arms around his middle, lifted his front legs, and duck walked the dog toward him. “You are the biggest baby in the world,” she muttered. Ryan almost felt sorry for her as Riley’s muck covered her from head to toe, even swiping across her cheek.

“You’re not helping!” she barked at him.

She was right. He wasn’t. He was enjoying himself too much. He turned on the hose’s nozzle and let it rip. A stream of water covered them both with icy spray.

Carrie yelled in outrage as Riley squirmed in her arms. And then Ryan was on them, spraying them both down. Carrie flung herself on top of Riley, pinning him to keep him from bolting. Ryan managed to spray them both thoroughly before turning off the nozzle. He grabbed the shampoo and poured it down the length of Riley’s back. The smell emitting from his wet pond-scum coat was overpowering.

He and Carrie both worked the shampoo into his fur, rubbing and massaging until the dog was covered in suds. And still he flailed around, trying to escape.

“
I don
’t think there’s a dog on the planet who hates getting bathed more than this one,” he said as he struggled to hold on to the slippery animal. By the time the dog was thoroughly washed, he and Carrie had as much shampoo on themselves as Riley did on him.

“Are we ready to rinse?” he asked.

“Now is as good a time as any,” Carrie muttered. She didn’t look like she was having fun. Neither was he, but he was having a damn good time looking at her in her wet sudsy clothes.

Ryan picked up the hose and turned on the nozzle. As expected, Riley fought them at every turn. Ryan practically had to jump on top of the dog to hold him steady enough to rinse all the suds out of his long fur. But then Riley started to turn, to rotate around in an attempt to shake him off. Carrie jumped in, throwing herself across the dog and trying to hold him steady, when the hose got loose.

Ryan grabbed for it, but fell off Riley and onto his back. The house sprayed high in the sky to rain back down on them both.

“I got it!” Carrie grabbed for the hose, pinching it in her hand and gasping in deep breaths as she collapsed again. “Why couldn’t your sister have had a Chihuahua?”

“What, and miss all this fun?” He couldn’t remember the last time he laughed this hard.

She turned her head and looked at him. “You call this fun?”

He glanced at her tee shirt and waggled his eyebrows. “Very fun.”

She looked down and saw her vibrant pink bra showing clearly through the wet fabric. “I can’t believe you!” She released the hose and gave him a face full of water.

“Hey, now!” He grabbed for the hose. She pulled back and then they were rolling on the wet sudsy grass, wrestling for it, Riley barking up a storm. The next thing he knew, he was lying on top of her, water raining down on them both and without giving it another thought, he kissed her.

…

The
moment Ryan
’s lips pressed against Carrie’s, the chill brought on by her wet clothes evaporated in a surge of warmth. His tongue swept into her mouth and it was all she could do to swallow a deep moan. W
hat was she doing? She should stop him. Her fingers clawed at his arm, sweeping up his strong biceps to do just that. But instead of pushing him away, she clutched his shoulders and kissed him back. So much for taking things slow, keeping it casual. She was lying on the grass in front of her house, soaking wet and ready to rip off her clothes and screw this man until she was senseless.

To hell with slow. She’d wanted this man since she’d met him, and maybe the thing she needed to de-stress was to finally give in to what she wanted, for once.

“Carrie,” he groaned as he broke the kiss and rolled off of her.

Come back
, she wanted to say.

“We can’t do this,” he said aloud, though she didn’t know if he was talking to her or himself.

She rolled toward him. “What? Kiss? Why not?”

“I’d say that was more than a kiss.”

The mere fact that her insides were still burning was testament to that, and apparently it affected him as much as had her. The thought made her want him even more. “Was it?” she teased.

He gave her a look that asked
are you kidding
? “
I don
’t know how I’m going to be able to go back to work and focus on my job when all I want to do is lay here and stare at you.”

“Just stare?”

He pulled her against him. “I already have enough distracting thoughts racing through my mind, are you trying to give me more?”

“Never,” she insisted. “I know how important this job is to you. I wouldn’t want to do anything that would get in the way of your success.” Her gaze slid down his wet clothes to linger on the pronounced bulge in his pants. She slipped out her tongue and licked her lips.

“You are pure evil,” he said.

“Am I?” Her tone was innocent, but the playful thoughts circling her mind were not.

He kissed her again. Long and hard and fervently. “Very evil.”

“I just want what I want,” she breathed.

“Later,” he promised.

“Later.” She took a deep steadying breath. “You’re right. If we continue making out in the front yard like a couple of teenagers, the neighbors are going to talk.”

“In San Francisco? I doubt it.”

“Hey, this is a family-oriented neighborhood.”

“Then we better get you and your wet tee-shirt in the house.”

She grinned.
“Yes, sir.”

“I’m going in to take a very cold shower. I’m late back to work as it is already, but I will be back to continue this.”

“Is that a warning?”

“A promise.”

Carrie watched him walk away, then got up to go inside and take a cold shower of her own. “Come on, Riley. Let’s go in,” she called, a smile still lingering on her lips.